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South of the Pumphouse
A dark, clever tale of two brothers, a fishing trip, drugs, and murder, this novel skillfully combines classic motifs of epic struggle and intelligent layers of imagery, reminiscent of The Old Man and the Sea , and the raw, tweaked perspective of a Hunter S. Thompson novel.
Les Claypool established himself as the most original rock bassist in the 1990s, as front man for the hit band Primus. They toured the world with groups like Jane’s Addiction, Public Enemy, and U2. Claypool penned the theme song to TV's South Park , and has guested on albums by many other artists, including Jerry Cantrell and Tom Waits.
Les Claypool established himself as the most original rock bassist in the 1990s, as front man for the hit band Primus. They toured the world with groups like Jane’s Addiction, Public Enemy, and U2. Claypool penned the theme song to TV's South Park , and has guested on albums by many other artists, including Jerry Cantrell and Tom Waits.
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
43 people are currently reading
596 people want to read
About the author
Les Claypool
2 books49 followersLeslie Edward "Les" Claypool is a musician, best known as the bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's funky, creative playing style on the electric bass mixes finger-tapping, flamenco-like strumming, a Larry Graham-like slap technique, and Geddy Lee influences. He is a multi-instrumentalist, novelist, music producer, actor, and film director.
Claypool has also self produced and engineered his solo releases from his own studio "Rancho Relaxo." Les got the studio's name from a joke in an episode of The Simpsons. 2006 saw the release of a full-length feature film Electric Apricot written and directed by Claypool as well as a debut novel South of the Pumphouse.
Claypool has also self produced and engineered his solo releases from his own studio "Rancho Relaxo." Les got the studio's name from a joke in an episode of The Simpsons. 2006 saw the release of a full-length feature film Electric Apricot written and directed by Claypool as well as a debut novel South of the Pumphouse.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
May 28, 2013
No one read South of the Pumphouse for any reason besides that fact that Les Claypool penned it. However, for those of us who did read it just to get a take a ride in the mind of Claypool, I think it was well worth the trip. Well, it certainly was for me. Was it Thompson-esque as the description promised? Hardly. Was it a piercing, dark satire? Here and there. Was it entertaining, clever, and, above all, any good? Yes, yes, and yes (especially for a man who is not a writer by profession). The prose was dull in spots and the ending was predictable (The Tiny Tuna recipe came from the back of a box, for Christ's sake!) but the story was fresh as a strugglin' Sturgeon and had something meaningful to say without being heavy handed or dim witted. A good read from Metal's McCartney!
April 11, 2008
This is bassist Les Claypool's first novel. It is set in the East Bay, mostly in the lovely slow town of El Sobrante, and some in Berkeley. The story is about a couple of local brothers and a fishing trip they take after their father passes on.
I thought that the characters were fairly dead-on. Many of the places where things take place are within a 5 mile radius of my house. So it was easy for me to follow them around town, to the local fishing haunts and to the local Shell gas station down the hill from here.
The main characters are all male, and we get to hear some lovely woman-objectifying, homophobic rants and O-pinions from a red-necked bigot friend of the brothers. It bothered me as much as it did the younger brother from Berkeley.
I don't know if I'd recommend this to my mother's book club, but it is a great read for all East Bay/Berkeley/El Sobrante folks, Les Claypool fans and fishing buffs.
I thought that the characters were fairly dead-on. Many of the places where things take place are within a 5 mile radius of my house. So it was easy for me to follow them around town, to the local fishing haunts and to the local Shell gas station down the hill from here.
The main characters are all male, and we get to hear some lovely woman-objectifying, homophobic rants and O-pinions from a red-necked bigot friend of the brothers. It bothered me as much as it did the younger brother from Berkeley.
I don't know if I'd recommend this to my mother's book club, but it is a great read for all East Bay/Berkeley/El Sobrante folks, Les Claypool fans and fishing buffs.
April 19, 2017
if you're a big Les fan like me, you can hear the soundtrack as you read. this book shares a universe with the stories straight out of the lyrics of Primus and all of Les' various side projects. The book doesn't miss a beat.
i really want Les to write more. a mind like his is fascinating.
i really want Les to write more. a mind like his is fascinating.
June 15, 2011
Remember when you heard that quote about how the Rock Bottom Remainders play music as well as Metallica writes books? Well, this is a book that shows that a musician can also be a pretty decent writer and be taken seriously. According to Les, this book was written in 1994 and was something he kept stored away for a number of years. The story is very clever; the story revolves around a man who takes a fishing trip with his brother that leads to an act of murder. This Hemingway inspired combination of tragedy, suspense, and a dramatic climax will stay with you for a long time. I've found myself reading this book again every once in awhile finding it more entertaining than the last time I read it.
August 24, 2009
Am I crazy to find Les Claypool sexy for writing a book like this? I have always wanted to write a book about El Sobrante, having grown up in a town just ten to fifteen minutes from it, and having two cousins who were raised there. I think I lived in El Sobrante in a past life. I've always felt this deep connection to it. I got a kick out of the references to the local spots like El Rancho and the San Pablo Reservoir...where, in fact, *I* went fishing with *my* father as a child. I devoured the book in about two days of lying on my living room loveseat, and while I did feel that it dragged in the middle, I never lost interest. Quite a feat, I might add...considering I have literary ADHD.
June 20, 2011
What a very cool, interesting first book. I honestly hope he writes more.
The story is simple and shows that even the oddest things can happen to ordinary people and one hitch in every day chain of events can change your life.
I think the writing flowed very well, kept you interested and wanting to keep reading. The ending is something you would never expect, which is always nice and there is a leeson to be learned there also . . very cool - write some more Les Claypool!
The story is simple and shows that even the oddest things can happen to ordinary people and one hitch in every day chain of events can change your life.
I think the writing flowed very well, kept you interested and wanting to keep reading. The ending is something you would never expect, which is always nice and there is a leeson to be learned there also . . very cool - write some more Les Claypool!
January 7, 2022
Like some other reviewers, I only picked up this book because I was curious what a novel by Les Claypool would be like. I’ve been an off and on fan of Primus’s music for years and always found Claypool’s lyrics strange and interesting.
It’s really a kind of dancing bear of a book. The bear doesn't have to dance all that well, it's remarkable that it dances at all. And Claypool's book actually dances pretty well.
As I read it, I kept thinking about Claypool and Prmus and whether or not this is the kind of book I would expect from him. It’s not really quite what I would have expected.
It’s a conventionally told story, mainly about a fishing trip on San Pablo Bay, which is the northern reach of the San Francisco Bay. The oil town of Richmond sits on San Pablo Bay, as does the smaller El Sobrante, where the main characters in the story come from.
Ed is visiting his brother Earl in a kind of family reconnection. They grew up in El Sobrante, where Earl still lives, while Ed has gone away to college and become a different sort of person from his brother and his now deceased father.
The two plan to revisit old times and old feelings by taking a fishing trip together on the bay for sturgeon, like they did with their dad when they were growing up.
Earl’s best friend, and Ed’s childhood nemesis, Donny joins them. it’s kind of an unpleasant surprise for Ed when Donny shows up at the boat launch to make it a threesome.
So . . . “Fish on.”
If Earl and Ed have grown apart, Donny is a distant third point in the triangle. He’s a self-proclaimed good ole boy, drinking Coors beer, making jokes about women, black people, and college people like Ed.
Things go south a little bit too predictably, I suppose. Donny rides Ed. Ed finds his bliss in a bag of psychedelic mushrooms he’s brought with him. Earl fishes, and at least makes some attempt at peace, until he doesn’t.
Donny won’t stop, and things go way south. WAAAAAY south.
Up until that point, I was thinking, wow, this is Les Claypool? I expected something more unconventional than a you can’t go home again story about Ed. It stays conventional, as far as storytelling goes, but darkness and weirdness find their way.
Donny might be the most interesting character. He’s everything Ed left when he left home. He’s everything that holds Earl in place. And Donny’s there to defend his town, the good ole boys, and all the rest from everyone else who is coming to destroy the old town, with its bars and its attitudes. After all, “those damned blue-collar tweekers are the backbone of this town.” I ALMOST have some sympathy for Donny.
It turns pretty freakin’ dark, and the second half of the story isn’t for the squeamish.
If it weren’t written by Les Claypool, like I said, I wouldn’t have read the book. Given that he did write it, and that a lot of people who read it are reading it for the same reason I did, it’s kind of an interesting experience, obviously drawn from Claypool’s own life, like the lyrics in his song.
So I’ll give it a stronger recommendation for those readers. Not so much for others who aren’t drawn to it to see how the bear dances.
It’s really a kind of dancing bear of a book. The bear doesn't have to dance all that well, it's remarkable that it dances at all. And Claypool's book actually dances pretty well.
As I read it, I kept thinking about Claypool and Prmus and whether or not this is the kind of book I would expect from him. It’s not really quite what I would have expected.
It’s a conventionally told story, mainly about a fishing trip on San Pablo Bay, which is the northern reach of the San Francisco Bay. The oil town of Richmond sits on San Pablo Bay, as does the smaller El Sobrante, where the main characters in the story come from.
Ed is visiting his brother Earl in a kind of family reconnection. They grew up in El Sobrante, where Earl still lives, while Ed has gone away to college and become a different sort of person from his brother and his now deceased father.
The two plan to revisit old times and old feelings by taking a fishing trip together on the bay for sturgeon, like they did with their dad when they were growing up.
Earl’s best friend, and Ed’s childhood nemesis, Donny joins them. it’s kind of an unpleasant surprise for Ed when Donny shows up at the boat launch to make it a threesome.
So . . . “Fish on.”
If Earl and Ed have grown apart, Donny is a distant third point in the triangle. He’s a self-proclaimed good ole boy, drinking Coors beer, making jokes about women, black people, and college people like Ed.
Things go south a little bit too predictably, I suppose. Donny rides Ed. Ed finds his bliss in a bag of psychedelic mushrooms he’s brought with him. Earl fishes, and at least makes some attempt at peace, until he doesn’t.
Donny won’t stop, and things go way south. WAAAAAY south.
Up until that point, I was thinking, wow, this is Les Claypool? I expected something more unconventional than a you can’t go home again story about Ed. It stays conventional, as far as storytelling goes, but darkness and weirdness find their way.
Donny might be the most interesting character. He’s everything Ed left when he left home. He’s everything that holds Earl in place. And Donny’s there to defend his town, the good ole boys, and all the rest from everyone else who is coming to destroy the old town, with its bars and its attitudes. After all, “those damned blue-collar tweekers are the backbone of this town.” I ALMOST have some sympathy for Donny.
It turns pretty freakin’ dark, and the second half of the story isn’t for the squeamish.
If it weren’t written by Les Claypool, like I said, I wouldn’t have read the book. Given that he did write it, and that a lot of people who read it are reading it for the same reason I did, it’s kind of an interesting experience, obviously drawn from Claypool’s own life, like the lyrics in his song.
So I’ll give it a stronger recommendation for those readers. Not so much for others who aren’t drawn to it to see how the bear dances.
October 20, 2019
This Californian novel has the brothers Earl and Ed as main characters. A day’s fishing on San Pablo Bay is the focus of the novel. It is something of a reunion for the brothers after meeting up briefly at their father’s recent funeral. They both share a passion for angling – especially the pursuit of sturgeon. The legendary tales of successful and failed attempts to land one of these, and the childhood reminiscences centered on this elusive marine specimen, make up a large part of their field of reference and is inextricably bound to the fond memories they both cherish of their late father – an angler of note and the man responsible for cultivating their love of fishing. Everything would have been perfect out on the water, except for the fact that the brother’s glorious day of sun, beer and baited rods turns the slightest bit sour by the inclusion of foul-mouthed Donny – Earl’s friend, and a dyed-in-the-wool bigot and self-proclaimed sexual athlete who tormented Ed when they were children. And maybe the consumption of some magic mushroom caps by Ed at a point prior to departure was not such a good idea after all.
As the day unfolds with Donny treating the brothers to pornographic tales of his bedroom antics while flaunting his homophobia and racial intolerance like a proudly-worn badge, Ed’s hallucinogenic perception of the world around him (including some philosophical conversation with a grass shrimp in the bait bucket) is not quite enough to ward off his growing dislike for the obnoxious Donny. The tale gains momentum along an ever-tightening arc until that fateful moment when Earl makes a startling discovery in Donny’s cooler.
I don’t know anything about author Les Claypool besides the biographical details provided on the back cover that tell about his accomplishments as a bassist and frontman for various bands and as a collaborator with people like Henry Rollins. Be that as it may, but I think I’m in a position to add the profession of full-fledged novelist to his musical talents. I do this without reservation based on my considerable pleasure in reading his debut novel. This is not superior literature by any means (and certainly not intended as such), but it makes for a damned entertaining read, laced as it is with humour and irony and not shy to bring on the lewd stuff in loads. Fainthearted readers should beware.
As the day unfolds with Donny treating the brothers to pornographic tales of his bedroom antics while flaunting his homophobia and racial intolerance like a proudly-worn badge, Ed’s hallucinogenic perception of the world around him (including some philosophical conversation with a grass shrimp in the bait bucket) is not quite enough to ward off his growing dislike for the obnoxious Donny. The tale gains momentum along an ever-tightening arc until that fateful moment when Earl makes a startling discovery in Donny’s cooler.
I don’t know anything about author Les Claypool besides the biographical details provided on the back cover that tell about his accomplishments as a bassist and frontman for various bands and as a collaborator with people like Henry Rollins. Be that as it may, but I think I’m in a position to add the profession of full-fledged novelist to his musical talents. I do this without reservation based on my considerable pleasure in reading his debut novel. This is not superior literature by any means (and certainly not intended as such), but it makes for a damned entertaining read, laced as it is with humour and irony and not shy to bring on the lewd stuff in loads. Fainthearted readers should beware.
January 17, 2024
About what you'd expect from ol' Les.
November 21, 2018
This is a simply mapped, scene oriented novel with a very sparse amount plot action. What moved this story forward was the character of the area; Berkeley, the San Pablo Bay and the town of El Sobrante. This being the case, my main points of enjoyment with this novel come from being (1) a swamp redneck who (2) attended UC Berkely with (3) decades of Primus lyrics in my head. So, the sense of familiarity allowed me to enjoy a novel that could slow down and take its time to flesh out well-worded descriptions of scene and character before moving to a fast crush of plot action near the very end. While I think many bookworms will take too little away from it, I'll definitely be reading it again.
September 3, 2016
I don't know where to start. Well, fist off, Les Claypool is a fairly darn good writer and if he's got any more books out there or in the works, I want to read them. How do you describe this book? Noir? Horror? Human horror? Two brothers who haven't seen each other in years plan a fishing trip after the passing of their father. Unfortunate circumstances occur and the older brother's friend, who tormented the younger brother all throughout their adolescence decides to come along. No spoilers here; things rapidly get out of hand but the bond between brothers is strong. The twist at the end although I almost expected it was well played and definitely a mind bomb for the older brother. You could spend hours wonder what happens after the story ends. That's the sign of a good author. Powerful, twisted, warped with not a little overt illegal substance abuse and racists commentary. Certainly not a book for kids.
April 1, 2010
I'd been meaning to give this 'ere book a read for a while now, but it went by completely forgotten in the crazy year of reading that was '09. Now I've finally read the damn thing, and I feel I wasn't missin' much. Its got its charms, but its not a terribly well-written story. And while the climax is not only surprising and thrilling, the ending manages to cheapen it with a silly twist so obvious I made the mistake of assuming it couldn't possibly be the way the book ends. But this is a book by Les Claypool, a man I have a deep reverence for. Characters and locations from his extensive catalog of music make neat cameos, and my heart fluttered every time I recognized a name. Wouldn't recommend this book unless you're a fan of Les's, or have a soft spot for good ol' boys and tweakers alike.
June 2, 2009
A dark, clever tale of two brothers, a fishing tip, misconceptions, drugs and murder, South of the Pumphouse skillfully combines classic motifs of epic struggle and intelligent layers of imagery. Like Les Claypool's music, the material is innovative, highly independent and excruciatingly though provoking.
We met Les Claypool when he visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. You can listen to him talk about South of the Pumphouse here:
http://www.authorsontourlive.com/?p=90
We met Les Claypool when he visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. You can listen to him talk about South of the Pumphouse here:
http://www.authorsontourlive.com/?p=90
June 1, 2018
This book gets five stars because its a book that has made me laugh the hardest so far. Its not funny the whole time, but is downright entertaining from front to back. All the reviews saying this is a graphic book must be written from those who believe that every waking minute of life needs to be politically-correct.
January 6, 2024
A masterpiece of Tweaker Gothic that I should have read 15 years ago, when I said I was gonna.
Claypool's writing voice is (understandably) stylistically identical to the verses in Tommy the Cat, which busts up the immersion a little, since your internal monologue will translate the book's prose into that affected staccato twang.
Claypool's writing voice is (understandably) stylistically identical to the verses in Tommy the Cat, which busts up the immersion a little, since your internal monologue will translate the book's prose into that affected staccato twang.
March 31, 2011
decent effort. glad i read it-- about the tone i expected from old les. like much of his music it was lacking in depth and beauty. unlike much of his music there wasn't enough style, fun, or inventiveness so that you didn't care.
January 27, 2018
A quick read but a slow burn. Claypool does a great job of setting the scene for a tense day on the water that culminates in a gleefully ironic twist.
September 3, 2024
If you’re reading this review then there’s probably better than 50-50 chance you are, like me, a Les Claypool / Primus fan. And looking at others reviews, we have a lot of company. Overall, this book carries a lot of the lyrical references to Claypool’s musical writings, and is very recognizable as his work. And for me, that alone made the book a worthy read. But if you are not familiar with his music, I suspect the book won’t connect quite as much.
The book centers around two brothers Earl and Ed Paxton on a sturgeon fishing trip (of course it does) after the death of their father. The brothers have grown a bit apart and are in different places in their lives. The older brother, Earl, brings his best friend Donny, who has always been a thorn in the younger brother’s side. The tale centers on the trip and time spent on the water, with a bit of a twist along the way.
This is a short book and as such, the plot is somewhat limited in scale. I found the climax and ending to be quite good and a fine piece of storytelling. But the build up to it was a little long winded. Much of the story is just a group of fishermen bs’ing on the water with a lot of dialog. Sort of the Quentin Tarantino method of storytelling.
Unfortunately, the dialog really is a bit flat, wooden, and somewhat repetitive. Character says something, followed by another, followed by them laughing loudly. I get what Claypool is trying to capture here, and the gist of it definitely captures what time spent fishing is like, but it’s too long and repetitive. I think there could have been other means (more flashbacks or such) to break up the monotony. It crossed my mind that Claypool is using this monotony as a literary device, symbolizing what time spent fishing is like when one isn’t catching anything. If so, kudos to Les, but it just doesn’t work for me— though it may for others.
In the end, this still is a solid debut novel for Les Claypool, and if he choses to continue writing, I think he has potential to build on what he has composed here. His ideas were solid.l, and the climax and end were wild. I tried to judge this at arms length given I’m a fan and I think a solid three stars is fair here.
The book centers around two brothers Earl and Ed Paxton on a sturgeon fishing trip (of course it does) after the death of their father. The brothers have grown a bit apart and are in different places in their lives. The older brother, Earl, brings his best friend Donny, who has always been a thorn in the younger brother’s side. The tale centers on the trip and time spent on the water, with a bit of a twist along the way.
This is a short book and as such, the plot is somewhat limited in scale. I found the climax and ending to be quite good and a fine piece of storytelling. But the build up to it was a little long winded. Much of the story is just a group of fishermen bs’ing on the water with a lot of dialog. Sort of the Quentin Tarantino method of storytelling.
Unfortunately, the dialog really is a bit flat, wooden, and somewhat repetitive. Character says something, followed by another, followed by them laughing loudly. I get what Claypool is trying to capture here, and the gist of it definitely captures what time spent fishing is like, but it’s too long and repetitive. I think there could have been other means (more flashbacks or such) to break up the monotony. It crossed my mind that Claypool is using this monotony as a literary device, symbolizing what time spent fishing is like when one isn’t catching anything. If so, kudos to Les, but it just doesn’t work for me— though it may for others.
In the end, this still is a solid debut novel for Les Claypool, and if he choses to continue writing, I think he has potential to build on what he has composed here. His ideas were solid.l, and the climax and end were wild. I tried to judge this at arms length given I’m a fan and I think a solid three stars is fair here.
October 9, 2024
I gave myself a night to sleep on this before jumping on here and tapping out my thoughts. I managed to read this all in one sitting last night, in about 2.5 hours. So basically, this novel follows two brothers in northern California who go on a fishing trip, unfortunately accompanied by one of the most horrifyingly annoying characters that I have read in some time, a crass, low-end guy named Donny who spits out racial slurs and sex jokes galore. The thinness of such a plot became more apparent to me as I read, when I realized that this premise would have probably worked better as a short story that begins when the characters are already on the water fishing, or as a longer novel.
My first area of critique is the pacing. Because we have such a thin plot, many scenes are painfully slow, with dialogue being spaced out between overly graphic descriptions of poop, sex scenes, farts, and various functions of the penis. Seriously, did that scene of Donny and Ed in the bathroom really need to be stretched for five pages? Don't get me wrong. I can appreciate a good fart or dick joke, but when they appear as excessively as they do in this, they get old quickly. I got the feeling that Les might have been going for a "slow burn" type of tone with this, especially in the second half, but it ultimately didn't quite work for me. There were obvious attempts at creating suspense once the fishing began, but when the climax eventually happened, I found myself more confused than startled or scared. It didn't feel like anything had led up to it. It just happened. I was eager to see Donny get his just deserts, but it happened in such an unsatisfying, anticlimactic way.
I was really surprised and kind of disappointed with how "toilety" the writing was in this considering how well-written and smart Primus lyrics tend to be. Primus lyrics succeed at weaving smart humor into songs about heavier subject matters like war and drug use (songs like "Sgt. Baker," "Jilly's on Smack," and "Too Many Puppies" come to mind)
I think the part of this that made me cringe the hardest was the hilariously bad description of Tasha at the beginning of Chapter 5, specifically phrases like "a rampant display of female bonding" and "...tonight, it was more than the urge to pee that made her tingle." I reread the first page of Chapter 5 around 4 times because I couldn't believe it. I actually took a picture of that page and texted it to my sister. We both had a good laugh. That's about all the two female characters amount to, anyway. Just a couple of sex-hungry, "awful cool, little slut(s)" that are never pleased with anything and complain constantly, much to the dismay of their husbands, because there's absolutely no way that it's their faults that their wives aren't happy (sarcasm completely intended). I can't confirm that though, because the characters are too underdeveloped for me to really tell you anything about their lives or personalities.
This leads me to my next area of critique: the lack of characterization. Overall, I thought Ed and Earl sounded too similar. There were times when dialogue would be exchanged without any dialogue tags, so I honestly couldn't tell who was talking. I think if less time was spent on stretching out scenes through semi-erotic descriptions and more on adding depth to these characters, I would have been able to forgive the thin plot. I've read plenty of great novels more centered on characters than on plot. When I think of novels of a similar length to this, I think of titles like "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson, "The Vegetarian" by Han Kang, and "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess
This reading experience isn't going to put a damper on my love of Primus at all. I look forward to being down in the pit for their New Years Eve shows in Oakland. :)
My first area of critique is the pacing. Because we have such a thin plot, many scenes are painfully slow, with dialogue being spaced out between overly graphic descriptions of poop, sex scenes, farts, and various functions of the penis. Seriously, did that scene of Donny and Ed in the bathroom really need to be stretched for five pages? Don't get me wrong. I can appreciate a good fart or dick joke, but when they appear as excessively as they do in this, they get old quickly. I got the feeling that Les might have been going for a "slow burn" type of tone with this, especially in the second half, but it ultimately didn't quite work for me. There were obvious attempts at creating suspense once the fishing began, but when the climax eventually happened, I found myself more confused than startled or scared. It didn't feel like anything had led up to it. It just happened. I was eager to see Donny get his just deserts, but it happened in such an unsatisfying, anticlimactic way.
I was really surprised and kind of disappointed with how "toilety" the writing was in this considering how well-written and smart Primus lyrics tend to be. Primus lyrics succeed at weaving smart humor into songs about heavier subject matters like war and drug use (songs like "Sgt. Baker," "Jilly's on Smack," and "Too Many Puppies" come to mind)
I think the part of this that made me cringe the hardest was the hilariously bad description of Tasha at the beginning of Chapter 5, specifically phrases like "a rampant display of female bonding" and "...tonight, it was more than the urge to pee that made her tingle." I reread the first page of Chapter 5 around 4 times because I couldn't believe it. I actually took a picture of that page and texted it to my sister. We both had a good laugh. That's about all the two female characters amount to, anyway. Just a couple of sex-hungry, "awful cool, little slut(s)" that are never pleased with anything and complain constantly, much to the dismay of their husbands, because there's absolutely no way that it's their faults that their wives aren't happy (sarcasm completely intended). I can't confirm that though, because the characters are too underdeveloped for me to really tell you anything about their lives or personalities.
This leads me to my next area of critique: the lack of characterization. Overall, I thought Ed and Earl sounded too similar. There were times when dialogue would be exchanged without any dialogue tags, so I honestly couldn't tell who was talking. I think if less time was spent on stretching out scenes through semi-erotic descriptions and more on adding depth to these characters, I would have been able to forgive the thin plot. I've read plenty of great novels more centered on characters than on plot. When I think of novels of a similar length to this, I think of titles like "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson, "The Vegetarian" by Han Kang, and "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess
This reading experience isn't going to put a damper on my love of Primus at all. I look forward to being down in the pit for their New Years Eve shows in Oakland. :)
February 21, 2019
I read this book for the same reason as almost anyone who picks it up: it was written by my favorite bassist. Okay, so maybe Les isn't everyone's favorite bassist, but you get the idea.
Anyway, I loved it! The story is fairly straight forward and I loved the ending. It was also fun for me getting to learn about and come to understand, at least a bit, about Les' stomping/fishing grounds and to better understand the references in his music.
One of the things I admire most about Les is his seemingly bottomless creativity. Whether it is making music, wine, videos, or his writing, he is true to himself and his roots and does things his own way. While his oddball perspective on many subjects may not be for everyone, it is something I really enjoy. Couple that with the humility he consistently displays and one can see why he is so beloved by so many. He always comes across as a down-to-earth, good hearted person who just wants to have some fun and try something new.
If you are any level of Primus/Claypool fan or if you just happen to like fishing or stories about fishing, I'd say this book is for you.
"When I grow up I want to be
One of the harvesters of the sea..."
Anyway, I loved it! The story is fairly straight forward and I loved the ending. It was also fun for me getting to learn about and come to understand, at least a bit, about Les' stomping/fishing grounds and to better understand the references in his music.
One of the things I admire most about Les is his seemingly bottomless creativity. Whether it is making music, wine, videos, or his writing, he is true to himself and his roots and does things his own way. While his oddball perspective on many subjects may not be for everyone, it is something I really enjoy. Couple that with the humility he consistently displays and one can see why he is so beloved by so many. He always comes across as a down-to-earth, good hearted person who just wants to have some fun and try something new.
If you are any level of Primus/Claypool fan or if you just happen to like fishing or stories about fishing, I'd say this book is for you.
"When I grow up I want to be
One of the harvesters of the sea..."
March 1, 2019
Got this book not only because I love Primus, but mostly because I’ve always found Les Claypool to be such an interesting man and this book for me was a nice trip inside Les’s brain. In addition to being an amazing bassist, the guy can write. He’s wonderfully descriptive in his scenarios and characters and really knows how to paint a mental picture with his words. He kept his storyline simple. A bit too simple for my preference, but it was easy to follow and broken up nicely flashbacks and other explanations. The heavy usage of profanity, sexuality and drug use references might bother some. I found it amusing. The biggest annoyance to me was the constant usage of the word “bro” in the character’s dialogue. I’m assuming that’s the way Les envisioned his character’s speech based on their personalities, but I still found it annoying. The little twist at the end is very nice. Predictable for some, but nevertheless very nice. Overall this is a good fiction read. I hope Les Claypool pens another book in the future!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2017
temevo il peggio, temevo un libro pubblicato giusto perchè l'autore è -sia pure in un altro campo che non la letteratura- famoso e poteva garantire un buon numero di copie vendute.mi sono imbattuto nella migliore delle ipotesi: una versione sione letteraria dei personaggi delle canzoni del buon les. come in quei brani i personaggi sono quasi dei freak (sia i rozzi earl e donny, sia pure il mite ed) che in una situazione altrimenti normale -una battuta di pesca: vecchia ossessione dai tempi di "sailing the sea of cheese", se non erro- passano il tempo a raccontarsi rozze storie di vita, bizzarre opinioni e -in un caso- vivere assurdi trip psichedelici grazie ad una manciata di funghi allucinogeni, fino ad un finale che non ti aspetti. e che stile: secco, privo di fronzoli, a cui bastano pochi termini per rendere perfettamente l'atmosfera di un luogo o il carattere di un personaggio.
peccato per certi errori tra le pagine, sennò era perfetto.
peccato per certi errori tra le pagine, sennò era perfetto.
June 28, 2023
I will admit that I picked this up solely because Les Claypool is the greatest bass player of all time and I love his musical works. That being said, it was a pretty decent little book.
Something I love about the lyrics of Claypool is that it feels like each song is a story. A tale about weird and wonderful people and their lives, so it’s no surprise that he was capable of putting together a book in the same vein.
This is a relatively short book and it’s fair to say it’s quite a concise little tale that doesn’t encompass a huge scope. It’s a series of unfortunate events, a predicament and a boat ride.
While it’s never going to be a literally classic, I found it an enticing read and while the humorous elements were what I would expect from Les, the story was much more.
Come for the story, stay for the 69 joke. 3.5, rounded up to 4
Something I love about the lyrics of Claypool is that it feels like each song is a story. A tale about weird and wonderful people and their lives, so it’s no surprise that he was capable of putting together a book in the same vein.
This is a relatively short book and it’s fair to say it’s quite a concise little tale that doesn’t encompass a huge scope. It’s a series of unfortunate events, a predicament and a boat ride.
While it’s never going to be a literally classic, I found it an enticing read and while the humorous elements were what I would expect from Les, the story was much more.
Come for the story, stay for the 69 joke. 3.5, rounded up to 4
January 18, 2025
If you are a fan of Les Claypool and his lyrical content through his musical projects, then this book will be exactly what you should expect. Claypool’s lyrics often contain stories of everyday people in unique situations, and this novel reads like an extended version of a Primus song (in the best way possible). The story is told through the eyes of someone having a psychedelic experience who is in the company of people that are not having a psychedelic experience, blurring the line between altered-state reality and actual reality. This helps the pace of the novel and is effective in keeping the reader engaged in the story. The ending is somewhat unexpected but is not so far in left field that it doesn’t make sense. In conclusion, if you enjoy Les Claypool’s characteristic dark and gritty take on Americana, you will almost 100% enjoy this novel.
March 12, 2018
This is an entertaining enough of a book. Engaging and fun at times, a bit draggy in others. I'm not really seeing the comparison to The Old Man & The Sea that the publisher seems to be pushing, other than for the fishing but I don't think that's a huge point to stick on. The writing is decently executed and the characters are fun to read. The dynamic between the characters is pretty great although the dialogue feels a bit overcooked at some points. The story takes a good turn at the end and the last third of the book was definitely more interesting than the first two thirds. I don't know if this book would have gotten the same attention had it come from an unknown author instead of Les Claypool but again, kind of pointless to speculate on that. It's a quick read and it's enjoyable.
November 9, 2020
Underholdende, snarlest og smålig forblåst liten sak. Claypools tilbøyelighet mot det merkverdige, uortodokse, pekuliære, eksentriske (lim inn ytterligere synonymer på raritasje her 🤠) etc., som mange vil påstå står sentralt i hans musikalske uttrykk, kommer også klart frem i denne, hans første(?) roman. Rent omfangsmessig kjennes narrativet mer ut som noe som hører mer hjemmet i en novelle enn i en roman, men i denne bokens tilfelle er dette slettes ingen dårlig no ting, snarere tvert imot. Claypool krydrer den korte fortellingen så godt at boka nesten gjør vondt å legge fra seg.
June 20, 2017
I know nothing about Les Claypool, and read this at the whim of a friend. This book is exactly as long as it needs to be, but that isn't a criticism. A short, oddball journey. I did not relish it, but I did find myself oddly hypnotized as I read it.
For fans dying for an insight into Claypool, this will be a worthy entry. For the curious, a decent read.
For fans dying for an insight into Claypool, this will be a worthy entry. For the curious, a decent read.
May 29, 2018
Non-challenge book: As soon as I heard that Les Claypool wrote a book, I tracked it down. I wasn't necessarily sure of what to expect, but whatever it was that I expected, that's what I read. His voice is very clear throughout, and it was a quick and visual read. I never exactly felt impressed, but my attention didn't stray too much. It was ok.
April 3, 2022
As a Primus fan, I was going to read this no matter what. Not bad for a debut novel. One character is just exceedingly crude, which is a bit tough to get through at times. References a'plenty to the songs "Fish on" and " The ol' diamond back sturgeon".
I don't imagine there's much of a market for this outside of Les Claypool fans. The claims of Hemingway-esque are a stretch.
I don't imagine there's much of a market for this outside of Les Claypool fans. The claims of Hemingway-esque are a stretch.
December 2, 2020
I'm so glad I didn't read the synopsis and had no idea what this book would be about, other than sturgeon fishing. I dig Les Claypool and his songs. His book was equally enjoyable. He writes his characters vividly. This was a quick but wild ride.
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