The Phantom Father: A Memoir

by Barry Gifford

The author explores the many-sided legacy of his father, a man well-known in his Chicago community as the owner of an all-night liquor and drugstore next to a popular nightclub and as a reputed gangster. By the author of Baby Cat-Face.

Genres: Memoir

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Barry Gifford is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and film noir- and Beat Generation-influenced literary madness.

He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barry Gifford's work is not exactly linear or hermetically sealed. Characters, places, and other elements may float in and out of several stories or novellas, as in Southern Nightsand/orSailor & Lula: The Complete Novels. All this is cool and likely one of the reasons I enjoy his stuff.

But Gifford fans face another dilemma. The author's publishing history is equally porous, with same or similar collections published under different titles by several(at least 5 that I've counted) publishers.

So, as it turns out, Phantom Father contains a big chunk of
Memories from a Sinking Ship: A Novel, which I read this past year and just loved. Although TPF contains additional material (and the evocations of the old neighborhoods are great), I got less of a charge from it, obviously. But I'm a fan, and picked up this lovely hardcover edition for next to nothing, so I'm not unhappy.

Readers be advised...