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Perdido River Bastard
What if everything you thought you knew about your past was a lie? As they say in this family, the country road to hell and back is paved with the good intentions and secrets of Southern women.
Prodigal son Duddy Doogan has a promise to keep. He is going home, to a place where generations of his eccentric storytelling kin await his first visit since his father went missing. Home to where a powerful river carves an age-old border between Florida and Alabama. Home to a family tree of hidden secrets, lies, memory, and skin colors—but there is nothing black and white about the mysteries buried in its roots. Haunted by the trauma of a terrifying childhood accident and the love of i too many Southern women, Duddy begins to excavate the bones of his family history and put his broken life back together. When tragedy suddenly strikes, a promise to return home becomes a quest to reclaim the remains of his father from a long-lost uncle living deep in the Alabama swampland.
For Duddy Doogan, a journey into the heart of darkness will lead him to a shattering revelation about his own past, and a secret truth hiding in plain sight could change the lives of everyone living on the Perdido River.
A Southern Multi-generational Family Saga About Race, Secrets, Truths, Love, Hate, Life, Death, and History
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 19, 2014
68 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
D.B. Patterson
15 books20 followersD. B. Patterson writes fiction for adults, teens and kids. His short works have been published in Elephants & Other Gods, Ramble Underground, Shalla Magazine, Larks Fiction Magazine, and Cerulean Rain. Books for young readers include The Christmas Witchling and Little Tiger and the Dragon King of Beijing. Books for early readers include four illustrated Lamby Lambpants storybook adventures and a Lamby coloring book. Aside from writing, Mr. Patterson is a vocal and artistic mechanic, classically-trained actor (Shakespeare's Globe Theater, for one), sometime-puppeteer, graphic designer, illustrator, co-founder of a toy company, a songwriter, and the 1995 1st Runner-up National Karaoke Champion (don't tell anyone). He is married and currently lives in beautiful Tarpon Springs, Florida, with his wife and business partner Tina.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
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August 26, 2014Thanks to Goodreads, I got to read this book. Between growing to like Dub's aunts and great aunts,and trying to figure out what the secret was that Dub was suppose to uncover, I couldn't put the book down. His family may be dysfunial, but, boy, do they sure enjoy it.
September 4, 2014
A real rollicking of the good old southern style story telling. Although the novel is spun from the authors' imagination, the characters are believable and the honesty with which the story develops is so real that you'll find yourself crying and laughing alongside them. A good story that is note worthy, with a lesson on finding love through forgiveness is a blessing. As the author tromps through the southern geography of the Perdido River, we are caught in the vividness of his creation in all its sublime beauty. This story is poetically tweaked in world of his own making, yet he makes it so real you are carried along right with it, laughter and tears, you will feel it all. A story not easily forgotten, and it will be recalled to memory many times after you have finished the book. Congratulations to the author, D B Patterson, for creating this lovely story to help us escape into his characters' world. "A Southern multi-generational family saga about the bonds of love, blood, and history". I was given this book for my honest review, and honestly I would recommend this book to anyone of age. It is a great book. Thank you for sharing.
September 12, 2014
This venture into adult ficton is phenomenal! Stunning literary imagery pulls you far into the Deep South and the lives of those along the Perdido River. Mr. Patterson weaves you deep into the lives of his characters as if you were watching it play out from the riverbank. One minute you're laughing hysterically, the next you reading through tear-filled eyes and snuffling into your tissue. An emotional roller coaster that leaves you ready to ride again! A must read!!!
November 28, 2014
If y'all are looking for a barn burning, character-driven, atmosphere filled awesome read, I more than recommend this book. Especially if you're a fan of Southern gothic... think "To Kill A Mockingbird" meets "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" with a little "True Blood" in the mix... sort of. It's not War & Peace, but it's a page turning epic read in its own right.
(And check out these character vignettes! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...)
(And check out these character vignettes! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...)
October 20, 2014
I grew up in the South not far from here, in a little town called Gulf Breeze just east of Pensacola, and much of my family is from and still resides in Jacksonville. All in all I'm very familiar with North Florida (though I used to consistently call the part of it I inhabited "South Alabama"). Clearly, Patterson is familiar with it too - his representation of the area and its unique culture is spot-on. Fellow current and former inhabitants of the region will appreciate his memories that manage to echo our own.
True to form, Perdido River Bastard is a rich tapestry of Southern kitsch, heritage and dysfunction - a more bourgeois Thorn Birds (I dare not reference GWTW) in the most charming way. Patterson builds a realistic and compelling character cast who together create a montage of my youth, with a little additional tragedy and psychological intrigue.
What I loved most about the story was that, while most authors would birth from this setting a dank, bleak landscape with a future worthy of Joyce's Dubliners, Patterson instead finds hope and sets a positive tone. Read to find out how; it's impressively done, and doesn't lack for any Southern attitude.
True to form, Perdido River Bastard is a rich tapestry of Southern kitsch, heritage and dysfunction - a more bourgeois Thorn Birds (I dare not reference GWTW) in the most charming way. Patterson builds a realistic and compelling character cast who together create a montage of my youth, with a little additional tragedy and psychological intrigue.
What I loved most about the story was that, while most authors would birth from this setting a dank, bleak landscape with a future worthy of Joyce's Dubliners, Patterson instead finds hope and sets a positive tone. Read to find out how; it's impressively done, and doesn't lack for any Southern attitude.
October 21, 2016
DNF 22%
If they know what happened to the man just tell him. Everybody is walking around with a piece of information and they're waiting until "just the right time" to tell him. Whatever...
If they know what happened to the man just tell him. Everybody is walking around with a piece of information and they're waiting until "just the right time" to tell him. Whatever...
June 11, 2024
Hard work
Reading this book was really hard work for me.
The use of local dialogue was beyond my comprehension and every character was not right in the head.
The family are all insane and bonkers and I can’t say I took to many of them.
I can’t call it Duddy’s quest to find out his and his family’s past as it was foisted upon him by some who thought it was high time he found out the truth.
It’s a painful journey and quite disjointed but Duddy gets there in the end.
If I’m honest I only enjoyed the last 10-15% of the book.
Reading this book was really hard work for me.
The use of local dialogue was beyond my comprehension and every character was not right in the head.
The family are all insane and bonkers and I can’t say I took to many of them.
I can’t call it Duddy’s quest to find out his and his family’s past as it was foisted upon him by some who thought it was high time he found out the truth.
It’s a painful journey and quite disjointed but Duddy gets there in the end.
If I’m honest I only enjoyed the last 10-15% of the book.
October 15, 2024
A mystery without being a mystery, I was prepared not to like Perdido River Bastard, but I found I really enoyed reading it. The characters, mostly foul-mouthed which is usually a hard no for me, were consistent and authentic and had their own voices. The relationships were complex on many levels, and the writing stayed true to the story.
July 5, 2015
I'll start by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. You can read the plot summary in the book description or other reviews, I'll talk here about some of the elements of the book that I found significant.
I would have thought you might have to be from the South, or to have been immersed in Southern culture at some point to really like this book, but I see some Yankee reviewers also gave it high marks, so I could be off base about that. One thing I love about Southern authors is the lyrical prose, and Patterson doesn't hold anything back in this work of story-telling. Occasionally hyperbolic, but often just very descriptive, I found myself smiling throughout at isolated passages of entertaining prose. Some readers may be put off by the profanity that peppers the dialogue, or perhaps by the fact that much of that comes from the mouths of the story's prominent older women, who gleefully insult one another and anyone else within their range, while doling out love and wisdom at the same time. I did not find it offensive at all, but saw it instead as a fairly realistic depiction of the strong women who carry the burden of coping and keeping everyone moving forward in the hard, sometimes brutal, life that can be found in the rural South.
The story itself is a bit convoluted, and it does seem as though everyone knows what's going on except the protagonist, Dean Adam "Duddy" Doogan (and thus the reader, as it's told from Duddy's POV). Obstacles are deliberately placed in his way, and clues planted years ago lead him forward. Those bits of artifice are what stop me from giving the book 5 stars instead of 4. Beyond that, though, this is a rollicking good yarn set in the context of a verdant southern river community, populated by a collection of Characters with a capitol C. Everyone here is related to everyone else, and the history of this huge and twisted, sometimes circular, family tree is as relevant to contemporary characters as the current events are.
Some elements of mythology are present here; the protagonist himself is a prodigal son; he is given a quest (to collect a dispersed set of music boxes that will lead Duddy to the remains of his father); the Fates (in the form of great-aunts and godmothers) are pulling some of the strings to simultaneously steer his course and confound him; heck, even the River Styx makes an appearance, complete with a bargeman to carry the protagonist into the underworld. In spite of this, the hero never becomes larger than life. Duddy is a fairly relate-able guy, confused and well-intentioned, just trying to do what needs to be done. He stops short of being either hapless or Heroic-with-a-capitol-H, when blundering into bad situations he just puts his head down and does what he needs to do to survive and go on. Villainy is abundant, in the family's dark history as well as in the living descendents. And though there is great darkness in the family and in the story, goodness and hope are everywhere, in small actions and great sacrifices.
I expect I'll be mentally chewing on this book for some time to come, and to my mind that's what makes a good read.
I would have thought you might have to be from the South, or to have been immersed in Southern culture at some point to really like this book, but I see some Yankee reviewers also gave it high marks, so I could be off base about that. One thing I love about Southern authors is the lyrical prose, and Patterson doesn't hold anything back in this work of story-telling. Occasionally hyperbolic, but often just very descriptive, I found myself smiling throughout at isolated passages of entertaining prose. Some readers may be put off by the profanity that peppers the dialogue, or perhaps by the fact that much of that comes from the mouths of the story's prominent older women, who gleefully insult one another and anyone else within their range, while doling out love and wisdom at the same time. I did not find it offensive at all, but saw it instead as a fairly realistic depiction of the strong women who carry the burden of coping and keeping everyone moving forward in the hard, sometimes brutal, life that can be found in the rural South.
The story itself is a bit convoluted, and it does seem as though everyone knows what's going on except the protagonist, Dean Adam "Duddy" Doogan (and thus the reader, as it's told from Duddy's POV). Obstacles are deliberately placed in his way, and clues planted years ago lead him forward. Those bits of artifice are what stop me from giving the book 5 stars instead of 4. Beyond that, though, this is a rollicking good yarn set in the context of a verdant southern river community, populated by a collection of Characters with a capitol C. Everyone here is related to everyone else, and the history of this huge and twisted, sometimes circular, family tree is as relevant to contemporary characters as the current events are.
Some elements of mythology are present here; the protagonist himself is a prodigal son; he is given a quest (to collect a dispersed set of music boxes that will lead Duddy to the remains of his father); the Fates (in the form of great-aunts and godmothers) are pulling some of the strings to simultaneously steer his course and confound him; heck, even the River Styx makes an appearance, complete with a bargeman to carry the protagonist into the underworld. In spite of this, the hero never becomes larger than life. Duddy is a fairly relate-able guy, confused and well-intentioned, just trying to do what needs to be done. He stops short of being either hapless or Heroic-with-a-capitol-H, when blundering into bad situations he just puts his head down and does what he needs to do to survive and go on. Villainy is abundant, in the family's dark history as well as in the living descendents. And though there is great darkness in the family and in the story, goodness and hope are everywhere, in small actions and great sacrifices.
I expect I'll be mentally chewing on this book for some time to come, and to my mind that's what makes a good read.
August 26, 2015
I cannot say enough good things about this book. I'm always on the hunt for new authors & I so very pleasantly surprised to discover Mr. Patterson's talents.
The book follows central character Duddy Doogan through a Odyessy-like journey of discovery, not only of himself but of his family, which is dominated by some truly wonderful & wonderfully hilarious females. The story flowed so easily & the hours slipped by as I read on and on. My favorite scene, without revealing too much, too place at a funeral & I was laughing so hard while reading it (at a restaurant, no less), that I had to put my head down on the table & let the tears run down my cheeks. Needless to say, I was sorry for the story to end, but I look forward to reading more from D.B. Patterson.
The book follows central character Duddy Doogan through a Odyessy-like journey of discovery, not only of himself but of his family, which is dominated by some truly wonderful & wonderfully hilarious females. The story flowed so easily & the hours slipped by as I read on and on. My favorite scene, without revealing too much, too place at a funeral & I was laughing so hard while reading it (at a restaurant, no less), that I had to put my head down on the table & let the tears run down my cheeks. Needless to say, I was sorry for the story to end, but I look forward to reading more from D.B. Patterson.
February 16, 2016
This is a very twisty story with lots and lots of characters some of them even have other names they go by. A family tree would have been really helpful to keep them straight in the reader's mind. The story was interesting, but I had a hard time believing so many people would be able to conspire together to tell a man a secret by having small pieces of it unfold little by little. The man or main character didn't have enough curiosity to force the truth out of any one of them. Also, when the truth finally comes out, it's just told to him. This could have happened much sooner without so much violence and without all of the alcohol or drugs. I really wouldn't recommend this to anyone else.
April 23, 2017
I wish I could have liked this book. I liked the reviews, but not the drawn-out *mystery* of what happened to the main character and how everyone knows what it was but won't tell him. Really? Just tell him already! I also found the way the southern women treated each other to be stilted and false. There were lots of secondary stories that I think could have stood on their own, and it's a shame the author didn't choose to do that. If that had been done, lots of characters could have also been cut out from this book into their own and it would have been easier to keep up with who was who and how they were connected. I hate to not finish a book, but it's time to move on for me to something I like better.
July 25, 2015
As convoluted a story as A Prayer for Owen Meant and as satisfying a resolution
This is a work of fiction, which means it can tell you truth without worrying about facts. Although it is set on the Perdido River in south Alabama and Florida, it would carry the same truth if it were set on the Tennessee River in north Alabama and Tennessee with the same strong, foul-mouthed women; the same despicable male ancestors and heroes. And a big part of that truth is that you are the result of impetuous decisions your parents made -- and your parents had more interesting lives than you do.
This is a work of fiction, which means it can tell you truth without worrying about facts. Although it is set on the Perdido River in south Alabama and Florida, it would carry the same truth if it were set on the Tennessee River in north Alabama and Tennessee with the same strong, foul-mouthed women; the same despicable male ancestors and heroes. And a big part of that truth is that you are the result of impetuous decisions your parents made -- and your parents had more interesting lives than you do.
May 26, 2015
Perdido River Bastard is one of the rare books that actually had me intrigued from beginning to end. The story is very well written with just the right amount of romance, mystery, and suspense that kept me captivated as I turned each page. All of the characters, my favorite being Duddy of course, are all unique and really well put together as you go through the story. This was actually the first time I've read anything by D.B. Patterson but I must say I'm impressed. Curious to see what else is in store.
August 1, 2015
I loved this book. Having been raised in Pensacola, Cantonment and Molino I could relate to all the area's mentioned in this book. I really liked the story line , however it is one of those books that you can appreciate not only for the storyline but for the fact that the book is very well written. I don't know about you, but I have read many books that I did not like the story itself but enjoyed the way the book was written. This is another excellent book and the best thing it was free on Good Reads!
November 10, 2015
Absolutely loved this, a happy accident of a discovery through a mention by a Facebook friend. A little Lansdale, a little Irving, a little Russo, and a whole heap of South - just glorious.
(Some of the reviewers who found the size of character cast hard to keep up with have got a point - my advice would be don't try too hard. Let the writing wash over you and what you need to remember will stick)
(Some of the reviewers who found the size of character cast hard to keep up with have got a point - my advice would be don't try too hard. Let the writing wash over you and what you need to remember will stick)
July 18, 2015
Outstanding!
The story grabs you from the first page. A
Anyone from the South will understand the many twists and turns of hidden family connections, stories that are passed down from generation to generation.
Not that family scandals only happens there, but combined with all the familiar sayings it was a very entertaining story.
I will read it again, just so I can understand the different family lines.
This would make a great movie!
The story grabs you from the first page. A
Anyone from the South will understand the many twists and turns of hidden family connections, stories that are passed down from generation to generation.
Not that family scandals only happens there, but combined with all the familiar sayings it was a very entertaining story.
I will read it again, just so I can understand the different family lines.
This would make a great movie!
September 26, 2015
I got this book because it was offered free from Amazon Kindle. But that wasn't the main reason. I pass up lots of free books. I mainly got it because the title refers to a river that begins a few miles from the town of my birth, and winds its short journey to the Gulf of Mexico near the home of some of my forebears. So we'll see how this goes. Wish me luck.
June 28, 2015
A Fabulous Read..
One of the best books I've ever read. Love the story, the characters, the writer's style. Lot of confusion keeping up with all the characters; actually could not keep up with them. Lots of profanity, but that's what makes the characters who they are. Highly recommend it.
One of the best books I've ever read. Love the story, the characters, the writer's style. Lot of confusion keeping up with all the characters; actually could not keep up with them. Lots of profanity, but that's what makes the characters who they are. Highly recommend it.
July 31, 2015
There's fiction and then there's clueless!
This book was so over the top. Duplicting the South like this was both insulting and outlandish. No family has this much garbage going on in it, or we, like Doogie, would cut our wrist. If only the author had included a few fairies and a talking horse
this book would get another star.
This book was so over the top. Duplicting the South like this was both insulting and outlandish. No family has this much garbage going on in it, or we, like Doogie, would cut our wrist. If only the author had included a few fairies and a talking horse
this book would get another star.
February 9, 2015
Best Book I've Read in Years!!
This is a very well written book of a much different genre than I would typically choose. So glad I had the experience to read it...I may have just found my new favorite author.
This is a very well written book of a much different genre than I would typically choose. So glad I had the experience to read it...I may have just found my new favorite author.
June 26, 2015
A Great Read
As a Floridian, The places in this book are familiar to me. Driving through these little towns in the pan handle area of N. Florida,it looks like time has stopped and you can think that this really could happen.
As a Floridian, The places in this book are familiar to me. Driving through these little towns in the pan handle area of N. Florida,it looks like time has stopped and you can think that this really could happen.
July 10, 2015
Smart
Very good reading. Loved the quirky characters, and laughed at the relationships they shared. But the story was balanced with hardships and frailties to make a complete package.
Very good reading. Loved the quirky characters, and laughed at the relationships they shared. But the story was balanced with hardships and frailties to make a complete package.
July 28, 2015
Beautiful, Haunting and Mysterious
The story is so different from others I have read. It contains so many different turns and twists of enjoyment. I think people who enjoy family sagas and mysteries will enjoy it. My thanks to the author.
The story is so different from others I have read. It contains so many different turns and twists of enjoyment. I think people who enjoy family sagas and mysteries will enjoy it. My thanks to the author.
January 30, 2017
This is a five star story but there were so many characters I couldn't keep up with who was who. The author includes a family tree but I couldn't figure that out either. It would not keep me from reading the book though. Excellent southern family saga!!!
February 7, 2015
What????
I read it but I'm not really sure what happened. Too many characters. Could have been a good story but all that was going on in the story made my head spin.
I read it but I'm not really sure what happened. Too many characters. Could have been a good story but all that was going on in the story made my head spin.
Want to read
June 24, 2015kindle
June 29, 2015
One of the best
I didn't want to put it down. Lies secrets and history. What a great family saga. Also love that it's located in the south.
I didn't want to put it down. Lies secrets and history. What a great family saga. Also love that it's located in the south.
July 14, 2015
Pleasantly surprised, but I'm a sucker for multi-generation family secrets.
June 30, 2015
Could not finish.
This was the worst book I ever TRIED to read.. Never could get past a place where it was even interesting...Too much swearing and using F word..Deleted it ...
This was the worst book I ever TRIED to read.. Never could get past a place where it was even interesting...Too much swearing and using F word..Deleted it ...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews