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The Caveman's Valentine
Romulus Ledbetter has discovered a frozen corpse outside his front door. A fairly unusual circumstance as it is - but even more so as Romulus' front door is a cave in Central Park. A former musical prodigy, Romulus opted out of society and has been living a life of deluded paranoia in the cave for some time. His version of events, involving drug abuse, sexual deviancy and a criminally-inclined celebrity, are viewed with understandable scepticism by the police officers on the case. So Romulus has no choice but to find out what happened on his own...
374 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
60 people are currently reading
930 people want to read
About the author
George Dawes Green
6 books265 followersGeorge Dawes Green is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of the Moth. His first novel, The Caveman's Valentine, won an Edgar Award and became a motion picture starring Samuel L. Jackson. The Juror was a bestseller in more than 20 languages and the basis for the motion picture starring Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin. Ravens was chosen as one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal and many other publications. Green grew up in Georgia and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
June 25, 2013
I was blown away by this. I thought a black man had written this gorgeous, thoughtful novel about personal space and one's right to define it any way they wanted. No, it was a white man with an unfortunately moderate writing success. It was one of the best books I've read in a while, and I've had back to back to back awesome books. It's an impressive debut which should belong to the library of modern classics. Yet another valentine from the gods of bibliophilia that leaped at me from the clearance bin of an used book store.
George Dawes Green's treatment of a mentally ill self-exiled homeless man reveals and romanticizes a highly intelligent and self-made man. Quite the opposite of the usual treatments of the homeless, and when Romulus embarks on his ill-fated and ultimately redeeming journey away from his comfort zone to investigate the death of a boy dumped near his cave. He meets all sorts of people in his quest for the truth, and although he does discover the truth, he finds out more about himself.
The conclusion of The Caveman's Valentine is a masterpiece within a masterpiece, its structure like that of a joke, which is funny because of that which contrasts, but what occurs is not a joke but a revelation, a larval collision of soul and mind exploding soundlessly into the night like an eclipse of moths.
George Dawes Green's treatment of a mentally ill self-exiled homeless man reveals and romanticizes a highly intelligent and self-made man. Quite the opposite of the usual treatments of the homeless, and when Romulus embarks on his ill-fated and ultimately redeeming journey away from his comfort zone to investigate the death of a boy dumped near his cave. He meets all sorts of people in his quest for the truth, and although he does discover the truth, he finds out more about himself.
The conclusion of The Caveman's Valentine is a masterpiece within a masterpiece, its structure like that of a joke, which is funny because of that which contrasts, but what occurs is not a joke but a revelation, a larval collision of soul and mind exploding soundlessly into the night like an eclipse of moths.
March 27, 2025
The tone of this book reminded me of Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. This writing style is just hard for me to get into. It makes the characters so unlikeable.
This is a story of the boy that cried wolf. Thanks to Romulus’ psychotic behavior and schizophrenia delusions, no one knew when he was actually in trouble and not just spewing more crazy stories.
This is a story of the boy that cried wolf. Thanks to Romulus’ psychotic behavior and schizophrenia delusions, no one knew when he was actually in trouble and not just spewing more crazy stories.
April 21, 2023
This debut novel was incredible. Green has a unique voice that still echoes after you turn the last page.
As with his other works, this is more than a mystery/thriller; his brilliantly crafted characters carry the story and take the whole thing to another level. Romulus Ledbetter’s fragile soul and strength of spirit make him one of the best characters I encountered in my journey as a reader. Decades after its publication, this book is still fresh and relevant. Highly recommended!
As with his other works, this is more than a mystery/thriller; his brilliantly crafted characters carry the story and take the whole thing to another level. Romulus Ledbetter’s fragile soul and strength of spirit make him one of the best characters I encountered in my journey as a reader. Decades after its publication, this book is still fresh and relevant. Highly recommended!
July 7, 2025
crazy concept. GREAT character! The plot was almost not good enough for how interesting of a character Romulus Ledbetter is.
October 3, 2025
I couldn't have asked for a better detective than Romulus.
May 2, 2015
I first saw the film that was based on this book many years ago and fell in love with it. It never occurred to me to read the book, though, because thrillers aren't my usual thing. A few years ago, a friend recommended the book to me without realizing that the movie even existed. This put it on my radar, but it still took me a while to decide that I was in the mood to read it.
I enjoyed the book. The author does a great job of presenting the story from the titular character's perspective without making the story too disjointed. The descriptions of the settings and characters were great, although most of the characters were a little flat; they'd have one or two interesting characteristics that made them part of the story but there wasn't much to them beyond that. A dog is presented with as much color as Rom's daughter, Matthew, or Leppenraub and, in saying so, I'm not complimenting the authors decision to give depth to the dog.
The discussions of visual art and music are decent, though not terribly exciting if you are an art or music lover. If the setting of the piece among a community of artists is interesting, the book doesn't really do terribly much to play on the idea of the arts scene.
That said, it is a thriller and it is an effective one. Using a mentally ill, homeless man as the protagonist made the fact that nobody believes him when he tries to get help solving the murder or protecting his own life very believable. The scheme that he uncovers, too, is reasonably believable within the arts community in which it is set. Overall, I'd say that this is a very readable, clever, and engrossing book even if it lacks any real depth.
I enjoyed the book. The author does a great job of presenting the story from the titular character's perspective without making the story too disjointed. The descriptions of the settings and characters were great, although most of the characters were a little flat; they'd have one or two interesting characteristics that made them part of the story but there wasn't much to them beyond that. A dog is presented with as much color as Rom's daughter, Matthew, or Leppenraub and, in saying so, I'm not complimenting the authors decision to give depth to the dog.
The discussions of visual art and music are decent, though not terribly exciting if you are an art or music lover. If the setting of the piece among a community of artists is interesting, the book doesn't really do terribly much to play on the idea of the arts scene.
That said, it is a thriller and it is an effective one. Using a mentally ill, homeless man as the protagonist made the fact that nobody believes him when he tries to get help solving the murder or protecting his own life very believable. The scheme that he uncovers, too, is reasonably believable within the arts community in which it is set. Overall, I'd say that this is a very readable, clever, and engrossing book even if it lacks any real depth.
December 6, 2023
I bought this book on impulse, with no real expectation of its contents. It's the best book I've encountered this year.
Romulus is now one of my favorite protagonists of all time. He is charming, exhausting, tragic, and above all, just so interesting to follow! From page 43: "The young composer's music was moving but destructive. He'd take sappy pop tunes and shake them till they cracked open and the syrup poured out of them, till they were rattling carcasses, but bone-lovely."
Green's writing style is like none other... Every sentence builds upon what came before, to establish character, feeling, motion, interaction. I'm someone who highlights as I read, and I was scarcely able to set down my pen before being gripped by yet another delicious phrase.
Approximately five pages in, I realized this book is one of those rare reading experiences that feels entirely unique. Every time I sat down to read, I'd find myself engulfed, waking up only after downing some hundred pages like water. I had to make a conscious effort to pace myself, because I wanted this reading experience to LAST... Alas, it's over now.
How am I supposed to follow this reading experience up? It feels like a disservice to whatever book I pick up next, like asking Taylor Swift to take the stage following Beyonce.
I'm ending this review with my favorite Romulus quote, from page 265: "As a prophet, I suck, ma'am."
Romulus is now one of my favorite protagonists of all time. He is charming, exhausting, tragic, and above all, just so interesting to follow! From page 43: "The young composer's music was moving but destructive. He'd take sappy pop tunes and shake them till they cracked open and the syrup poured out of them, till they were rattling carcasses, but bone-lovely."
Green's writing style is like none other... Every sentence builds upon what came before, to establish character, feeling, motion, interaction. I'm someone who highlights as I read, and I was scarcely able to set down my pen before being gripped by yet another delicious phrase.
Approximately five pages in, I realized this book is one of those rare reading experiences that feels entirely unique. Every time I sat down to read, I'd find myself engulfed, waking up only after downing some hundred pages like water. I had to make a conscious effort to pace myself, because I wanted this reading experience to LAST... Alas, it's over now.
How am I supposed to follow this reading experience up? It feels like a disservice to whatever book I pick up next, like asking Taylor Swift to take the stage following Beyonce.
I'm ending this review with my favorite Romulus quote, from page 265: "As a prophet, I suck, ma'am."
June 7, 2010
Romulus Ledbetter is a great character in search of a better story. By making the denouement of the story the solution of the crime he determines to solve, he is done a disservice; this should have been his story, not a generic mystery novel. If you just read the "parlor room" scene where he reveals the culprit, you might imagine that there was a whole slew of "Romulus Ledbetter mysteries" out there, where out homeless schizophrenic musical genius solves murder after murder with Hercule Poirot's panache. It's such a bland,unimaginative scene, the sort you've read a million times before, where the author decides he better tell us just what the hell happened before things get any more convoluted. And its a good thing too that Romulus is having one of his cogent period and not raving about no-faces.
The mystery has not stuck with me, but Romulus' own tragedy has. It is an endearing story in spite of this eleventh hour bungling, and as a prose stylist Dawes is in great form. A book that you can appreciate while seeing what it could have been.
The mystery has not stuck with me, but Romulus' own tragedy has. It is an endearing story in spite of this eleventh hour bungling, and as a prose stylist Dawes is in great form. A book that you can appreciate while seeing what it could have been.
December 8, 2017
Although this book is old enough to be slightly dated, I am glad that I came across it at the bargain book section of one of my favorite bookstores. I liked the main character of this story, Romulus Ledbetter. He's a homeless man who lives in a cave in NYC and who deals with mental issues. In this case, his paranoia helps solve a murder. I thought that George Dawes Green did a fabulous job of showing the challenges that someone who has voices and irrational fears in their head, but also gave the main character the intellectual qualities that make him likable and admirable. A good, quick read that had me continue turning the pages. I don't think that I will look at the Chrysler Building the same any more, but the issue of insanity versus sanity is one that is occupying my thoughts these days. Cheers.
April 2, 2011
This is a top-notch mystery-thriller, surpassing much of the genre. Full of well-drawn, interesting, and quirky characters, none moreso than Romulus Ledbetter, the protagonist, a Julliard-trained musician, a pianist, who has schizophrenia and is living in a cave in a park in New York City. When Rom gets involved in investigating a murder, the novel takes off into all kinds of odd directions. An excellent debut novel. There's a good movie version, too, with Samuel L. Jackson.
August 3, 2019
A homeless man with paranoid delusions solves a murder mystery.
Very well written and with enough twists and turns to keep me guessing whodunit right until the mind-blowing end.
Very well written and with enough twists and turns to keep me guessing whodunit right until the mind-blowing end.
October 2, 2022
A brilliant, inventive, unique story told through the eyes of a paranoid homeless man.
This story had me hooked from the off, a proper quirky skew to the proceedings.
Dawes Green manages to get inside the head of someone suffering from paranoia and makes the story feel genuine and honest.
Entertaining, captivating, different.
Highly recommended.
This story had me hooked from the off, a proper quirky skew to the proceedings.
Dawes Green manages to get inside the head of someone suffering from paranoia and makes the story feel genuine and honest.
Entertaining, captivating, different.
Highly recommended.
September 23, 2021
It is a sadness that this man hasn't written more books. The first book of his I read was The Juror after seeing the movie. The book was way more edge-of-your-seat, bite-your-nails suspenseful than anything I'd read before; one of those you started to read & couldn't put down because you had to know what would happen next, but were almost afraid to know. I knew there were only two more books to his credit & it took me a long time to track this final (actually his first) one down until now. The title character in this one is just that--a man who lives in a cave in a New York City park. Misdiagnosed as crazy & schizophrenic, Romulus Ledbetter is an accomplished musician, an intelligent & resourceful man, who just couldn't handle the everyday rat race of reality. Leaving his wife & daughter, who grows up to become a police officer, he moves into his cave, insisting he's not homeless as the cave is his home. He usually minds his own business, but has a mystery thrust upon him when a frozen dead body is left at the mouth of his cave & turns out to be the loved one of a drug addict, homeless friend who asks the Caveman to help him get justice for the murder that no one else believes is murder. Rom goes to his friendly neighborhood cop who doesn't believe him either; the dead man froze to death on his own. Following information from his druggie friend, Rom is led to the country to investigate a well-known artist that had used the dead man as a model in his most popular works. The story becomes more twisted & confusing as he follows the trail that no one believes happened while dealing with his own demons that cause him to have sudden angry outbursts. The suspense ramps up until the final twist & revelation which you don't see coming. This is one of the most interesting & endearing, complex characters I've read about & I love Mr. Green's language in telling a story; I had to re-read several passages just because the wording was so wonderful. The Caveman's Valentine was his first book written in 1994 after he gave up his clothing business & decided to write novels. The Juror was written the following year. Both were made into movies. His next & most recent book, Ravens, didn't appear until 2009. I did read this one also & was just as impressed. Sadly, he's written nothing else & I place him along side another amazing author of memorable books & characters, Mary Willis Walker (born in Fox Point, Wisconsin--my home state) who also wrote only four books in the 1990s. I would love to read new books by either/both of these authors; until then I will have to re-read their work again & again.
June 25, 2014
Romulus (Rom) Ledbetter lives in a cave in Manhattan’s Inwood Park, wears a sauce pan on his head, and believes a corporate businessman named Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant is trying to kill him by sending out Y-rays through the air after him. However, Rom also fights his classification of “homeless,” has a police officer daughter with whom he’s on good terms, is a Julliard-trained pianist, and has a brilliant mind in “The Caveman’s Valentine.”
Rom and his wife Sheila divorced after Rom’s mental illness became too much to live with. Rom stays in contact with his family and they come to his cave annually to throw him a birthday party. They still love him, they just cannot understand his paranoia about the imaginary Stuyvesant.
Therefore, when a frozen corpse is deposited at the entryway of Rom’s cave one night, no one believes him when he goes on about how he witnessed a car leaving the scene, and how he’s sure that famous photographer David Leppenraub is the murderer.
The corpse, a homeless teen named Scotty, was known to be Leppenraub’s model for a series of famous photographs. Scotty’s lover, Matthew, lives in the same park as Rom and has told Rom stories that Scotty had passed on about the level of torture and sexual abuse that went on at Leppenraub’s home, that eventually led to Scotty’s death. Matthew convinced Rom that Leppenraub was behind the murder, and Rom went to his daughter Lulu and another police friend of his, Detective Jack Cork, to try to help them in their investigation.
The problem is, what Rom believes and what is reality are often inconsistent. Rom decides to take matters into his own hands, forcing him to enter the real world he chose to leave years ago. He begs a suit from a businessman he often sees walking past and the businessman also offers Rom a shower, shave and all-around clean-up when he realizes Rom is more than just a dirty bum.
Rom then goes to the Leppenraub estate under the guise of a pianist/professor who is there to perform after a charity dinner. He gets involved with Leppenraub’s sister and finds out a lot of background information before his brain fails him and he has a fit that causes a phone call to the police.
Rom decides there’s enough to the story that he must investigate further, however after his fit he has given his investigation away to Leppenraub and is now being chased by people who want to murder him to shut him up.
An interesting mystery and an unusual hero lead this strong story, a great debut novel.
Rom and his wife Sheila divorced after Rom’s mental illness became too much to live with. Rom stays in contact with his family and they come to his cave annually to throw him a birthday party. They still love him, they just cannot understand his paranoia about the imaginary Stuyvesant.
Therefore, when a frozen corpse is deposited at the entryway of Rom’s cave one night, no one believes him when he goes on about how he witnessed a car leaving the scene, and how he’s sure that famous photographer David Leppenraub is the murderer.
The corpse, a homeless teen named Scotty, was known to be Leppenraub’s model for a series of famous photographs. Scotty’s lover, Matthew, lives in the same park as Rom and has told Rom stories that Scotty had passed on about the level of torture and sexual abuse that went on at Leppenraub’s home, that eventually led to Scotty’s death. Matthew convinced Rom that Leppenraub was behind the murder, and Rom went to his daughter Lulu and another police friend of his, Detective Jack Cork, to try to help them in their investigation.
The problem is, what Rom believes and what is reality are often inconsistent. Rom decides to take matters into his own hands, forcing him to enter the real world he chose to leave years ago. He begs a suit from a businessman he often sees walking past and the businessman also offers Rom a shower, shave and all-around clean-up when he realizes Rom is more than just a dirty bum.
Rom then goes to the Leppenraub estate under the guise of a pianist/professor who is there to perform after a charity dinner. He gets involved with Leppenraub’s sister and finds out a lot of background information before his brain fails him and he has a fit that causes a phone call to the police.
Rom decides there’s enough to the story that he must investigate further, however after his fit he has given his investigation away to Leppenraub and is now being chased by people who want to murder him to shut him up.
An interesting mystery and an unusual hero lead this strong story, a great debut novel.
August 19, 2011
I loved this book. I bought it at the Unchained storytelling event in Athens earlier this year. It was written by the man who founded The Moth. For some reason it took me awhile to pick up this book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. Apparently a film was made based upon this book starring Samuel L. Jackson. I'm not sure if I want to see it because the book was so good. I bought it from the author himself and I'm glad I hadn't read it first because I would have started blabbering on in a starstruck manner. But I still managed to come across as an idiot. Here's how:
I had just seen Dan Kennedy tell a story that night, and for those of you who are fans of The Moth, you know him. Anyway, there is something about Dan that strikes a chord with me because he's such an honest goofball. He's from Seattle, and he's not that much older than I am, so there's something there that I relate to with him. So, I said to George when I was talking to him before signing the book that I really enjoyed the show. He asked me who in particular I enjoyed. I told him that I could kind of relate to Dan Kennedy. If you know who I"m talking about, you will know what a ridiculous statement this was. So, George signed my book with: "Dear Sara: No one relates to Dan Kennedy. George Dawes Green." Another doorknob moment brought to you by Sara Beresford.
I had just seen Dan Kennedy tell a story that night, and for those of you who are fans of The Moth, you know him. Anyway, there is something about Dan that strikes a chord with me because he's such an honest goofball. He's from Seattle, and he's not that much older than I am, so there's something there that I relate to with him. So, I said to George when I was talking to him before signing the book that I really enjoyed the show. He asked me who in particular I enjoyed. I told him that I could kind of relate to Dan Kennedy. If you know who I"m talking about, you will know what a ridiculous statement this was. So, George signed my book with: "Dear Sara: No one relates to Dan Kennedy. George Dawes Green." Another doorknob moment brought to you by Sara Beresford.
January 6, 2022
Torture. Need to get that said in the first sentence. This novel has scenes of torture. It comes as a bit of a shock because the tone of the story overall is somewhat light. The protagonist is paranoid, and sometimes angry, but also kind of a wiseacre and mildly humorous at times. The whole contrivance that a mentally ill street person could have enough lucidity to track down a murderer is so far-fetched that you have to take it as kind of a joke, but then whoops! Torture. Not funny at all. Disturbing.
So parts of the book are 3 stars, but the torture is 1 star, so I averaged it out for two stars.
When the mystery is solved, the solution is very convoluted and unbelievable. But the protagonist's clever way of unmasking the villain is pretty fun.
So parts of the book are 3 stars, but the torture is 1 star, so I averaged it out for two stars.
When the mystery is solved, the solution is very convoluted and unbelievable. But the protagonist's clever way of unmasking the villain is pretty fun.
March 16, 2014
Wow- who would think that a story about a homeless schizophrenic who lives in a cave and flips out fairly regularly could be so gripping and upbeat? I didn't, but wow- loved it. Romulus Ledbetter is the homeless man who takes on solving a murder for one of his (homeless) friends because no one believes the fellow was murdered and the body was dumped right out side Rom's cave. His attempts to get information and make him self socially presentable, his relationships with his (cop) daughter and another cop, a bankruptcy lawyer and wife and a beautiful artist are all fascinating. I was gripped to the end.
January 20, 2020
A schizophrenic, Juilliard-trained pianist living in a cave in Inwood Hill Park? And recommended by the staff at the Inwood Public Library? I had to read this book and I'm glad I did....a highly entertaining murder-mystery.
December 15, 2018
I thought this book was a tour de force : a mystery solved by a homeless man with paranoid delusions! The caveman is Romulus Ledbetter, once a student at Juilliard and budding composer. Now he lives in a cave in a NYC park, trying to stay out of reach of the lethal Y-rays that an evil genius called Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant is shooting out from the top of the Chrysler building. He has his friends among the homeless and the street kids, and his daughter Lulu, a cop, makes sure the other cops leave him alone. But then, on Valentine's Day, he finds the body of a young man deposited neatly outside his cave. This turns out to be Scotty, erstwhile model of a controversial photographer. The community of junkies and runaways is convinced that Scotty has been murdered. So Romulus summons up his moral courage and starts investigating.
I thought it was incredible how the author managed to move the narrative back and forth between Romulus' delusions and hallucinations, and his lucid spells. His constant mental battles with Stuyvesant minions, and the noisy Seraphs in his head... they pop up at the most inopportune moments, just when he's trying to play the role of a well-adjusted member of society. Rom is convinced he's just chosen to live a complicated life, rather than to give in to the blandishments of a society totally controlled by the evil Stuyvesant... and the power of the novel is such that you totally sympathize with him!
One of the things I liked in the book was that there was not just the underlying evil of the story of Scotty and his entourage, but also a lot of kindness, even love. Rom's extended family gathers near his cave on his birthday, and a tirade against Stuyvesant is considered part of that day's traditions- the family just hopes it comes later rather than earlier in the course of the festivities. The local cop, Jack Cork is not exactly warm-and-fuzzy with Rom, but never mistreats him and even lets him spend the night in his house at one point. A bankruptcy lawyer and his wife help Rom out. A lonely woman in North Carolina keeps her son's cottage clean and ready for him, should he ever decide to come back. And the homeless characters, huddled around their bonfires, tend to look out for each other. So, all in all, the book left me with a bit of a warm glow.
I thought it was incredible how the author managed to move the narrative back and forth between Romulus' delusions and hallucinations, and his lucid spells. His constant mental battles with Stuyvesant minions, and the noisy Seraphs in his head... they pop up at the most inopportune moments, just when he's trying to play the role of a well-adjusted member of society. Rom is convinced he's just chosen to live a complicated life, rather than to give in to the blandishments of a society totally controlled by the evil Stuyvesant... and the power of the novel is such that you totally sympathize with him!
One of the things I liked in the book was that there was not just the underlying evil of the story of Scotty and his entourage, but also a lot of kindness, even love. Rom's extended family gathers near his cave on his birthday, and a tirade against Stuyvesant is considered part of that day's traditions- the family just hopes it comes later rather than earlier in the course of the festivities. The local cop, Jack Cork is not exactly warm-and-fuzzy with Rom, but never mistreats him and even lets him spend the night in his house at one point. A bankruptcy lawyer and his wife help Rom out. A lonely woman in North Carolina keeps her son's cottage clean and ready for him, should he ever decide to come back. And the homeless characters, huddled around their bonfires, tend to look out for each other. So, all in all, the book left me with a bit of a warm glow.
November 28, 2019
I can't believe I gave this book only four stars as I usually give every book that I've ever read five stars. But then my edition included the first few pages of "Ravens" which I read and which blew me away. Jesus, this guy can write.
What can I say? It took a librarian to launch me into reading a book by a guy who's other, newest book came out ten years ago, which I bought ten years ago, and never read, because it just seemed way to scary, until now, because of the librarian whose review of "Caveman" got the whole ball rolling again.
So, once again, we experience how a librarian can save the world, and wouldn't you know, the dude's name is Isaiah. And what's more, the library I checked out "Caveman" is the Inwood branch of the the New York public library, which is also featured in "Caveman," the book itself.
So come on George and give me another. I ask myself why you and Donna Tartt don't write more. I have a feeling like it is a miracle that you've written what you have because the whole Goddamned experience is so draining that you can only put yourself through it about once a decade, if that.
But I ask you to imagine all of us folks who have monumental stories inside us that will never be published because the stories are just too monumental. Please, count your blessings and think up another yarn and soon. It doesn't have to be great, just good enough, just good enough.
And now I will do my part to keep the winds from grounding the Thanksgiving Day parade balloons later today.
What can I say? It took a librarian to launch me into reading a book by a guy who's other, newest book came out ten years ago, which I bought ten years ago, and never read, because it just seemed way to scary, until now, because of the librarian whose review of "Caveman" got the whole ball rolling again.
So, once again, we experience how a librarian can save the world, and wouldn't you know, the dude's name is Isaiah. And what's more, the library I checked out "Caveman" is the Inwood branch of the the New York public library, which is also featured in "Caveman," the book itself.
So come on George and give me another. I ask myself why you and Donna Tartt don't write more. I have a feeling like it is a miracle that you've written what you have because the whole Goddamned experience is so draining that you can only put yourself through it about once a decade, if that.
But I ask you to imagine all of us folks who have monumental stories inside us that will never be published because the stories are just too monumental. Please, count your blessings and think up another yarn and soon. It doesn't have to be great, just good enough, just good enough.
And now I will do my part to keep the winds from grounding the Thanksgiving Day parade balloons later today.
February 15, 2025
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5
Romulus Ledbetter is a Julliard-trained pianist who has had a good career, but he suffers from schizophrenia and he now lives in a cave in New York's Central Park and scavenges for food in dumpsters. He is convinced that a man named Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant is responsible for for the Y-rays and Z-rays and everything bad that has happened to people in recent times. Of course no one takes a crazy schizophrenic very seriously.
When Ledbetter discovers a body outside his cave one night, he goes out to seek answers wherein the 'crazy' man must navigate the 'civilized' world of lies, betrayal, and murder.
This is a really well-written mystery. Ultimately it boils down to our main character, Romulus, and whether or not we believe him. Author George Dawes Green has masterfully developed this character so that we can't tell when to believe him and when to question his sanity. It's this questionable sanity that keeps us fascinated for Romulus has lucid moments. He knows what he suffers from and so the mystery is as much about Romulus and where his head is at, as it is about the dead body outside his cave.
This was really a fun read and frankly, I went in to it wondering if I was going to like it. I'm very curious to see the movie.
Looking for a good book? The Caveman's Valentine by George Dawes Green is a wonderful mystery with a protagonist who will keep you guessing.
Romulus Ledbetter is a Julliard-trained pianist who has had a good career, but he suffers from schizophrenia and he now lives in a cave in New York's Central Park and scavenges for food in dumpsters. He is convinced that a man named Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant is responsible for for the Y-rays and Z-rays and everything bad that has happened to people in recent times. Of course no one takes a crazy schizophrenic very seriously.
When Ledbetter discovers a body outside his cave one night, he goes out to seek answers wherein the 'crazy' man must navigate the 'civilized' world of lies, betrayal, and murder.
This is a really well-written mystery. Ultimately it boils down to our main character, Romulus, and whether or not we believe him. Author George Dawes Green has masterfully developed this character so that we can't tell when to believe him and when to question his sanity. It's this questionable sanity that keeps us fascinated for Romulus has lucid moments. He knows what he suffers from and so the mystery is as much about Romulus and where his head is at, as it is about the dead body outside his cave.
This was really a fun read and frankly, I went in to it wondering if I was going to like it. I'm very curious to see the movie.
Looking for a good book? The Caveman's Valentine by George Dawes Green is a wonderful mystery with a protagonist who will keep you guessing.
October 7, 2022
“All I’ve got is the truth. What good is the truth if nobody believes it?”
Romulus Ledbetter is like no other character I’ve encountered in literature. I thoroughly enjoyed riding along, living in his world. An unlikely tale, but why not? This is fiction. I have no idea what it’s like inside the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic, so any sane person’s creation of character is valid for the purpose of story. This character was drawn very well. Rom is a fascinating mix of delusion, emotion, intelligent perception, humanity, and insight. The whodunit part of the plot is secondary to character and suspenseful because of the blur between reality and delusion in Rom’s mind.
For any reader who enjoys unique imagery and creative use of language, this book is for you. To mention a few:
The novel opens on a frigid winter day “with the air tense as piano wire.”
A deputy sheriff “had a paunch, a few last good-bye strands of hair, pulpy red cheeks. When he smiled..., his lips didn’t move much, those cheeks just knotted up.”
A woman “had all her hair pulled back sharply from her face and tied in a bun back there, and it looked as though she’d pulled her skin back and tied that up, too.”
A bar owner “grinned at his own wit.... The inside of his mouth looked like a Gothic ruin. Cobwebs, tiny bats.”
It’s October, so I’ll leave you with the bats.
Romulus Ledbetter is like no other character I’ve encountered in literature. I thoroughly enjoyed riding along, living in his world. An unlikely tale, but why not? This is fiction. I have no idea what it’s like inside the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic, so any sane person’s creation of character is valid for the purpose of story. This character was drawn very well. Rom is a fascinating mix of delusion, emotion, intelligent perception, humanity, and insight. The whodunit part of the plot is secondary to character and suspenseful because of the blur between reality and delusion in Rom’s mind.
For any reader who enjoys unique imagery and creative use of language, this book is for you. To mention a few:
The novel opens on a frigid winter day “with the air tense as piano wire.”
A deputy sheriff “had a paunch, a few last good-bye strands of hair, pulpy red cheeks. When he smiled..., his lips didn’t move much, those cheeks just knotted up.”
A woman “had all her hair pulled back sharply from her face and tied in a bun back there, and it looked as though she’d pulled her skin back and tied that up, too.”
A bar owner “grinned at his own wit.... The inside of his mouth looked like a Gothic ruin. Cobwebs, tiny bats.”
It’s October, so I’ll leave you with the bats.
November 7, 2024
The Caveman’s Valentine drew me in immediately and had me captivated throughout. The writing is crisp and interesting, and the main character, Romulus the cave-residing paranoid bum driven to live his truth, is the most compelling and enjoyable fictional sleuth I have encountered. It also doesn’t hurt that his cave is literally in my neighborhood park. The depiction of pockets of 80s/90s NYC was also evocative. The mystery was solid (not necessarily better or worse than other good mysteries) but the writing and Romulus are what put this over the top. I suspect that some may find his depiction of paranoid schizophrenia to be romanticized and unrealistic. I really don’t know enough to say. I don’t think accuracy was really the goal. The paranoia was more of a vehicle to explore a critique of a society in which suffering and injustice are considered normal, and it is considered crazy to rail against the omnipresent and nearly omnipotent power (capitalism, conformism, technology, progress) that rules our lives. It’s not a complex or particularly novel critique, but it is effectively done, and in a page turning mystery to boot.
December 7, 2024
I've wanted to read this book for decades - ever since it came out (way) back in 1994. I'm not sure what got me to finally pick it up now, but I'm glad I did because it's a good read. Romulus Ledbetter is a one-of-a-kind character, a homeless, mentally ill (paranoid schizophrenia?), former Julliard-trained pianist who now lives in a cave - yes, an actual cave - in Inwood Park, NY. This is what you'd call an "amateur detective" mystery - as Rom investigates the death of a man whose body is tossed just outside his cave. While the plot struggles at times, the writing is crisp, and the voice of Romulus unique from the first lines of the book when he challenges his imaginary nemesis Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant:
You figure now you got me in your clutches, you going to read me, like a book, right? - going to look right into my brain and you going to read it page by page, like I was some cheap-jack midnight entertainment to make you forget the mess you're in - right? Get you, chuckling, get your greasy thumbprints all over my thoughts, get you through another lonely night, right, Stuyvesant?
You figure now you got me in your clutches, you going to read me, like a book, right? - going to look right into my brain and you going to read it page by page, like I was some cheap-jack midnight entertainment to make you forget the mess you're in - right? Get you, chuckling, get your greasy thumbprints all over my thoughts, get you through another lonely night, right, Stuyvesant?
March 24, 2023
This was one novel I nearly did not finish, because at one point it seemed so unsettling, so fierce. Fortunately I did read it, and as it grew more and more in intensity, so it grew more and more, not so much in clarity as in brilliance. It has this capacity to keep its reader so involved as the Caveman (a former Juilliard pianist, who has voluntarily resigned from society), witnesses a body being dumped outside his cave, obviously to pin the murder --he is sure it is a murder -- on him. Since even his daughter, a cop, who keeps an eye on him from a distance, is almost convinced he is schizophrenic, his guess is very near the mark. As he recognises the victim, a young friend of his, he starts putting things together, nearly losing his life in the process.
This is a brilliant exploration of the human mind, as well as a crime novel beyond all expectations.
This is a brilliant exploration of the human mind, as well as a crime novel beyond all expectations.
October 15, 2022
I'm not much of a fiction reader or a murder mystery reader but read this because a friend handed me his copy and said I'd enjoy it. I did. Being a lifelong NJ resident in the NYC market, most of the story's locations were places I'd been or heard of, so that resonated with me. As is always the case with fiction, some of the story was a bid far-fetched, but it was a good story. The end was a bit confusing, which the author must've realized as he explained the entire plot in the second-to-last chapter (is that how murder mysteries always work?).
I though some of the character development was a bit lacking and a bit stereotypical, too, which is probably why I stick to fiction, but this was a pretty good and pretty fast read.
I though some of the character development was a bit lacking and a bit stereotypical, too, which is probably why I stick to fiction, but this was a pretty good and pretty fast read.
October 13, 2023
The Caveman's Valentine has a unique premise: a mentally disturbed homeless man is a witness to a murder (actually only to the body dump) and proceeds to solve it. There are obvious issues with this premise. How can he be so disturbed and paranoid that he lives in a cave and eats trash but so brilliant and gifted that he can solve complex mental puzzles and function in the wider world? The author spends most of the novel figuring this out, not always successfully. I found parts of this book entertaining (such as when Romulus infiltrates the world of the uber-wealthy art crowd and slays with his idiot savant act) but I was tired of the schtick long before the mystery was solved.
June 15, 2024
There are writers who are not thriller writers, even though they have a love for the genre. They might try their hand at one (or more, unfortunately) but the results are usually shallow pastiche at best, or pretentious slumming at worst. Looking at everything George Dawes Green surrounds his story with, you might expect him to be one such writer. He succeeds, though, in the page turning compulsion of the best thriller, while still imbuing his book with originality, intelligence, art, and pathos. His following books yielded diminishing results (The Juror was good but a stretch, while Ravens was….lacking), but The Caveman’s Valentine is the pinnacle of intelligent page turners.
August 20, 2022
i know nothing about the author or the moth, but i recently heard him interviewed on nick gillespie's podcast for reason magazine & was so impressed with him i immediately was compelled to track this down.
& i'm very glad i did. it's a fun, weird, twisty little thriller that chugs along perfectly & does not overstay it's invitation. there were a few moments in the resolution that kinda confused me, but i have a feeble middle aged memory, so i probably just didn't recall something that was set up 100p earlier.
good book!
& i'm very glad i did. it's a fun, weird, twisty little thriller that chugs along perfectly & does not overstay it's invitation. there were a few moments in the resolution that kinda confused me, but i have a feeble middle aged memory, so i probably just didn't recall something that was set up 100p earlier.
good book!
April 13, 2023
The character of Romulus Ledbetter carries this book.
His determination in the face of his internal demons and the external demons out to get him is compelling and the humor and supporting characters add to the enjoyment.
All that overcomes the torture and graphic violence in the book.
When Romulus travels south in search of a person, he finds what he is looking for all to easily. But I think it was good not to drag this part out.
This takes place in the 90s and deals with the AIDS crosses, rampant homophobia, mental illness, and homelessness.
His determination in the face of his internal demons and the external demons out to get him is compelling and the humor and supporting characters add to the enjoyment.
All that overcomes the torture and graphic violence in the book.
When Romulus travels south in search of a person, he finds what he is looking for all to easily. But I think it was good not to drag this part out.
This takes place in the 90s and deals with the AIDS crosses, rampant homophobia, mental illness, and homelessness.
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