Goose Music: A Novel

by Richard Horan

Returning home for his estranged father's funeral, Leslie Siconski discovers that his father has left his fortune to his sister and his reclusive older brother, but when a corpse turns up near the Circus World Museum that is identified as his sibling, Leslie sets out to uncover the truth about his brother's death. Original.

275 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2001

About the author

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Reviews

[Lynne Cosmano]

Strange happenings in Baraboo......

[Colleen Mullane]

Weird, but I liked it. Different from any other book I’ve ever read - entertaining to say the least.

[Emily Barker]

Exuberant, enjoyable, and clever. Much of this novel is narrated by a character who may be the incarnation of a Native American trickster god. Or maybe not. Something to keep in mind as you read.

I try to avoid using the term "girl book" or "boy book," but occasionally they're useful terms. This is definitely a boy book, if only because of the fart jokes. Which are great, actually. The story begins with Leslie Siconski setting off to Wisconsin to trace the last years of his reclusive brother Charlie, now deceased; as Leslie relates, he soon discovers that his brother had been greeted by the Ho-Chunk Indians as a returning deity and ultimately lived out a quest to avenge old wrongs.

Cowboys and Indians, circus performers, lascivious librarians--the novel is fun and fantastical, but also full of underlying anger about the white man's legacy in the West. About three-quarters of the way through, I started to feel that there may be a little too much male wish-fulfillment going on here--all those lustful women, happily bearing Charlie's children!--but Horan is wilier than that, and the book's ending is both surprising and just right. Robertson Davies fans will appreciate this one.

[Chris]

You know, someone giving this 1 star, because they picked it based on the cover is ridiculous. I chose this because I have been to the Circus World Museum and Baraboo, Wisconsin. The story isn't terribly exciting, but to hear the stories and have them written in certain styles of voices (Brogue, German-English) made it interesting. There are some funny anecdotes and the twist at the end was a bit surprising... It's not any type of story I've ever read. The journal entries written in 3rd person at the end of every chapter were a bit unusual too. Anyway, this certainly wasn't the BEST book I've ever read, but it certainly didn't deserve 1 star. Isn't there something aboot (there's that Brogue) not judging a book by it's coover. Oh yeah, Pinch Zen Schqueeze....

[Marie Castellano]

Welllllll.....there are no words. There is a story. Sometimes it's almost like free association. There are references to history, the circus and it's traditions, Native American myths, the "taming of the West, and humorous stories. There's an ending....sort of. There's a twist.....you'll just have to figure all this out on your own!

[Jim]

I read this because one of the characters is an (amorous) librarian.

[Leesa]

It's what you get for choosing a book based on it's cool cover.

[Carol]

Overused a thesaurus and casually killed a squirrel. I'm out.