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Sailor & Lula, Expanded Edition: The Complete Novels
"The Romeo and Juliet of the South" are back in this new edition of the internationally best-selling Sailor and Lula novels, now including for the first time the culminating novel, The Up-Down , by American master Barry Gifford.
"Barry Gifford invented his own American vernacular--William Faulkner by way of B-movie film noir, porn paperbacks, and Sun Records rockabilly--to forge the stealth-epic of Sailor & Lula"--Jonathan Lethem
Here for the first time in print together are all eight of the books that comprise the saga of Sailor Ripley and Lula Pace Fortune, "the Romeo and Juliet of the South": Wild at Heart , Perdita Durango , Sailor's Holiday , Sultans of Africa , Consuelo's Kiss , Bad Day for the Leopard Man , The Imagination of the Heart , and The Up-Down.
"Barry Gifford invented his own American vernacular--William Faulkner by way of B-movie film noir, porn paperbacks, and Sun Records rockabilly--to forge the stealth-epic of Sailor & Lula"--Jonathan Lethem
Here for the first time in print together are all eight of the books that comprise the saga of Sailor Ripley and Lula Pace Fortune, "the Romeo and Juliet of the South": Wild at Heart , Perdita Durango , Sailor's Holiday , Sultans of Africa , Consuelo's Kiss , Bad Day for the Leopard Man , The Imagination of the Heart , and The Up-Down.
784 pages, Paperback
Published May 14, 2019
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About the author
Barry Gifford
144 books205 followersBarry 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 4, 2025
Sailor & Lula, Expanded Edition: The Complete Novels, by Barry Gifford. 2019.
I first learned about Barry Gifford due to his involvement with Black Lizard in the 80s. I credit him with introducing me to many of what have since become my favorite noir writers. On top of that, I am a huge fan of both David Lynch and Álex de la Iglesia, both of whom adapted stories for the screen that were originally penned by Gifford for his Sailor & Lula saga (Wild at Heart and Perdita Durango, respectively).
Needless to say, I was quite excited when I discovered this volume that collects all eight stories together, including the most recent and final one, The Up-Down. I've been meaning to read these for quite a while. This Expanded Edition, published by Seven Stories Press in 2019, was just what the witch-doctor ordered. Everything under one cover. And what a wild ride it has been! You can see the pulp and (Southern) noir influence here, yet Gifford has his own unique voice, with forays into pop culture, music, literary history, philosophy, cults, serial killers, and gangsters. To name a few. It really worked for me, this blending of high-brow and low-brow into a tasty jambalaya that kept me dipping my spoon in for another mouthful.
Each of the stories are fairly short. Novella length, with chapters that are between one to three pages each. There are eight stories in total. Collectively, the entire volume is close to eight-hundred pages.
This Expanded Edition contains the following titles:
Wild at Heart
Perdita Durango
Sailor's Holiday
Sultans of Africa
Consuelo's Kiss
Bad Day for the Leopard Man
The Imagination of the Heart
The Up-Down
I first learned about Barry Gifford due to his involvement with Black Lizard in the 80s. I credit him with introducing me to many of what have since become my favorite noir writers. On top of that, I am a huge fan of both David Lynch and Álex de la Iglesia, both of whom adapted stories for the screen that were originally penned by Gifford for his Sailor & Lula saga (Wild at Heart and Perdita Durango, respectively).
Needless to say, I was quite excited when I discovered this volume that collects all eight stories together, including the most recent and final one, The Up-Down. I've been meaning to read these for quite a while. This Expanded Edition, published by Seven Stories Press in 2019, was just what the witch-doctor ordered. Everything under one cover. And what a wild ride it has been! You can see the pulp and (Southern) noir influence here, yet Gifford has his own unique voice, with forays into pop culture, music, literary history, philosophy, cults, serial killers, and gangsters. To name a few. It really worked for me, this blending of high-brow and low-brow into a tasty jambalaya that kept me dipping my spoon in for another mouthful.
Each of the stories are fairly short. Novella length, with chapters that are between one to three pages each. There are eight stories in total. Collectively, the entire volume is close to eight-hundred pages.
This Expanded Edition contains the following titles:
Wild at Heart
Perdita Durango
Sailor's Holiday
Sultans of Africa
Consuelo's Kiss
Bad Day for the Leopard Man
The Imagination of the Heart
The Up-Down
Displaying 1 of 1 review