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The Honk and Holler Opening Soon
Caney Paxton wanted his cafe to have the biggest and brightest sign in Eastern Oklahoma-the "opening soon" part was supposed to be just a removable, painted notice. But a fateful misunderstanding gave Vietnam vet Caney the flashiest joke in the entire state. Twelve years later, the once-busy highway is dead and the sign is as worn as Caney, who hasn't ventured outside the diner since it opened. Then one blustery December day, a thirtyish Crow woman blows in with a three-legged dog in her arms and a long-buried secret on her mind. Hiring on as a carhop, Vena Takes Horse is soon shaking up business, the locals, and Caney's heart...as she teaches them all about generosity of spirit, love, and the possibility of promise-just like the sign says.
290 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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9971 people want to read
About the author
Billie Letts
9 books916 followersBillie Dean Letts was an American novelist and educator. She was a professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 856 reviews
October 23, 2024
“Blessed are the meek - for they shall inherit the earth.”
It's a Perfect World - for the meek, unobtrusive nonentities that proliferate and multiply in unpopular One Horse towns - but these souls never know it. All they know is that things always have a habit of Working Out OK in the end.
Santayana called it animal faith (the dumb optimism of Nature). The world calls luck of the draw.
Yet luck is exactly what happens one perfectly ordinary out-of-the-blue to the poor harassed souls of this banal little Texas town. And, we zero right in to the real nitty gritty losers within this misbegotten dot on the sprawling Texas map -
Especially on the woebegone losers who hang out at The Honk & Holler (perpetually Opening Soon)...
When I was named Head Boy at our High School 60-odd years ago all I saw within my little virginal pea brain was not a glorious chance to shine but an abysmal ignorance of the merest rudiments of living. As high on the Spectrum as the deep water in the pool is from the bottom!
I was so Green, Kermit the frog seemed downright sketchy in comparison.
That year, the only thing I saw in my exercise of power that might end well was the school year, and with it this so-called honour. Like the losers at the Honk and Holler (opening later or sooner) I was Faking it! I kept smiling.
Like the Honkers 'n Hollerers always do.
But know what? No one had really noticed I was floundering that year. Cause the Big Guy Upstairs had made my path straight (and only crooked in the world's eyes)...
This novel is about the help that is given to us helpless, Always.
"But don't go there... To the Honk and Holler, I mean, cause it's a greasy old Truck Stop. The guys in it are real nut cases."
Yet... And yet... BLESSED are those Nuts! Good things happen to all these good people.
No joke.
Billie Letts (playing God) gives good luck to the Good Guys and nasty Chills 'n Spills 'n Pratfalls to the bad. At the end of the book you just marvel how incredibly naturally Goodness is Always Rewarded in this forgotten barbed speck of dust, in our wildly careening race through space.
"Always, huh?!"
Yes - ALWAYS.
Five Happy-Ever-After Stars!
It's a Perfect World - for the meek, unobtrusive nonentities that proliferate and multiply in unpopular One Horse towns - but these souls never know it. All they know is that things always have a habit of Working Out OK in the end.
Santayana called it animal faith (the dumb optimism of Nature). The world calls luck of the draw.
Yet luck is exactly what happens one perfectly ordinary out-of-the-blue to the poor harassed souls of this banal little Texas town. And, we zero right in to the real nitty gritty losers within this misbegotten dot on the sprawling Texas map -
Especially on the woebegone losers who hang out at The Honk & Holler (perpetually Opening Soon)...
When I was named Head Boy at our High School 60-odd years ago all I saw within my little virginal pea brain was not a glorious chance to shine but an abysmal ignorance of the merest rudiments of living. As high on the Spectrum as the deep water in the pool is from the bottom!
I was so Green, Kermit the frog seemed downright sketchy in comparison.
That year, the only thing I saw in my exercise of power that might end well was the school year, and with it this so-called honour. Like the losers at the Honk and Holler (opening later or sooner) I was Faking it! I kept smiling.
Like the Honkers 'n Hollerers always do.
But know what? No one had really noticed I was floundering that year. Cause the Big Guy Upstairs had made my path straight (and only crooked in the world's eyes)...
This novel is about the help that is given to us helpless, Always.
"But don't go there... To the Honk and Holler, I mean, cause it's a greasy old Truck Stop. The guys in it are real nut cases."
Yet... And yet... BLESSED are those Nuts! Good things happen to all these good people.
No joke.
Billie Letts (playing God) gives good luck to the Good Guys and nasty Chills 'n Spills 'n Pratfalls to the bad. At the end of the book you just marvel how incredibly naturally Goodness is Always Rewarded in this forgotten barbed speck of dust, in our wildly careening race through space.
"Always, huh?!"
Yes - ALWAYS.
Five Happy-Ever-After Stars!
May 31, 2010
Reading a Billie Letts books is like reading a Hallmark movie with none of the terrible dialogue and poor scripting. In each of her books you instead find valid characters, moving events and a great sense of both Oklahoma and the community these characters find there. All of these things are encompassed by a great story and succeed in conveying these things in a way that very few Hallmark films have ever been able to or honestly ever tried to do. In essence its feel good drama for the soul with only a smidgen of the guilt you get from watching the schmaltz on lifetime and other such networks.
All that being said I have to say that while this was another good book from her I felt like it had a bit of either a rushed quality or an edge that indicated this was her real first novel a book written before Where the Heart Is the book that brought her major success and a film.
How so? Well while all the characters are great and generally were conveyed well some of the plot lines never really played out as completely as they should have and as a result the book doesn't quite pack the punch you're hoping for in the end. I liked Bui as a character but also felt he seemed a bit stereotypically foreign and Vena's actions at the end of the book seem a bit nonsensical outside of completing her plot resolution about her sister Helen. Brenda also suffers as a character here because you end up wishing there was more to her story. The storyline with the bully Sam is also a bit rushed.
With these things in mind the novel doesn't quite feel as polished and complete as Lett's first book and so leaves you wishing more had been done to complete and round out the story.
As with Where the Heart is
All that being said I have to say that while this was another good book from her I felt like it had a bit of either a rushed quality or an edge that indicated this was her real first novel a book written before Where the Heart Is the book that brought her major success and a film.
How so? Well while all the characters are great and generally were conveyed well some of the plot lines never really played out as completely as they should have and as a result the book doesn't quite pack the punch you're hoping for in the end. I liked Bui as a character but also felt he seemed a bit stereotypically foreign and Vena's actions at the end of the book seem a bit nonsensical outside of completing her plot resolution about her sister Helen. Brenda also suffers as a character here because you end up wishing there was more to her story. The storyline with the bully Sam is also a bit rushed.
With these things in mind the novel doesn't quite feel as polished and complete as Lett's first book and so leaves you wishing more had been done to complete and round out the story.
As with Where the Heart is
November 7, 2022
This is a pleasant read about some unpleasant times. A Vietnam veteran confined to a wheelchair who owns and lives in the back of a small cafe in small-town Oklahoma, which he hasn’t been outside of in 12 years, employs, within few days of each other, a Vietnamese refugee and a young native American woman. Their lives are changed dramatically.
July 27, 2018
I picked this book out for a new book group I just started at our library. I wanted to begin reading Oklahoma Reads like we did in the last book group that I attended. So, I went to the Oklahoma Reads website and found this book and then decided that we should read one book a year that was written by an Oklahoma writer or was at least set in Oklahoma.
I wasn’t sure if I would like this book even though I had read Where the Heart Is years ago and found it entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised; I loved it, the way it was written and the characters. They reminded me of the people I knew in Creston, CA, where I lived for 5 years. Population 200. Cattle country. Pickups with gun racks and dogs in the back bed of the truck. You didn’t have to lock your truck, car, or even your house.
One of our book group members said that it didn’t seem to her that the people in this book were real. I thought of her life and realized that she had never been around the kind of people that were portrayed in this book. While we live in a small town in Oklahoma, where this book takes place, not Sequoyah as in the book, just Oklahoma, it really depends on the circle of people with whom you associate.
I grew up in a town like this. Of course, the people I grew up with were just going to high school, they were only beginning to develop their minds or not. It was in later years, when I moved to Creston, that I began to really know and love the people that were like the characters in this book. Billie Letts has created them perfectly, and she did this by sitting in a small café in a small town of Oklahoma.
I think if our new book group finds a book on next year’s list that is horrible, I will suggest another book by Billie Letts.
I wasn’t sure if I would like this book even though I had read Where the Heart Is years ago and found it entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised; I loved it, the way it was written and the characters. They reminded me of the people I knew in Creston, CA, where I lived for 5 years. Population 200. Cattle country. Pickups with gun racks and dogs in the back bed of the truck. You didn’t have to lock your truck, car, or even your house.
One of our book group members said that it didn’t seem to her that the people in this book were real. I thought of her life and realized that she had never been around the kind of people that were portrayed in this book. While we live in a small town in Oklahoma, where this book takes place, not Sequoyah as in the book, just Oklahoma, it really depends on the circle of people with whom you associate.
I grew up in a town like this. Of course, the people I grew up with were just going to high school, they were only beginning to develop their minds or not. It was in later years, when I moved to Creston, that I began to really know and love the people that were like the characters in this book. Billie Letts has created them perfectly, and she did this by sitting in a small café in a small town of Oklahoma.
I think if our new book group finds a book on next year’s list that is horrible, I will suggest another book by Billie Letts.
August 11, 2018
I loved Billie Letts "Home is Where the Heart Is" and I'd have to say I loved this book, too. Her narrative and characters are fun and interesting and from the first page I find myself engrossed in the lives of the people, the setting and the story. The only negative thing I could say about this book is the ending came too quickly and a couple of the supporting story lines were not wrapped up leaving me to wonder if Bui's wife ever arrived in America or Brenda ever became a star. (Read the book)
September 2, 2014
This is a great read because it's like the comfort food served at the Honk. By the end of the book I cared a great deal about these quirky characters and their marginal lives. I finished the book on a road trip where it was reported Billy Letts had died. Her writer's voice was one on most naturally genuine and full of heart on the landscape of American fiction. I salute Billy Letts and wish she would have lived to produce a larger body of work. Her voice will be sorely missed.
July 27, 2012
Billie Letts’ Honk and Holler Opening Soon is definitely one of my all-time top 50 favorite books. Re-reading it pleases me immensely.
The reader is introduced to simple but genuine, quirky and amazingly touching characters. Most of them are regular customers and patrons of “The Honk & Holler (Opening Soon)”, as they come together mainly to drink coffee, have breakfast, lunch or dinner, and visit at this side-road café, owned by Caney Paxton, a war veteran. The majority of the characters living in Sequoyah, Oklahoma feel quite authentic; they are plain and decent people (sometimes eccentric) and that representation of "normal" folks appeals to me tremendously.
This time around – rereading - I was mostly moved by Bui Kahn, the Vietnamese immigrant. That man has the purest soul. Contrary to the book blurb, I don’t think Vena Takes Horse is the one healing, or the force bringing people together - although she's an empathic soul, but rather that courageous little Vietnamese immigrant, barely mastering the English language, but touching everyone's heart. By the way, his turn of phrases in the English language are often hilarious.
Strangely enough, you can’t put an age to Bui Kahn. You can’t put an age to most of the main characters really – you can only guess, and it's a bit like real life - not every fact is revealed. The events happening here are a slice of life. No more to it. Also to me, it’s so refreshing that an author invites you into the life of plain people, and each one of them have possibly a good story to tell.
As a European, generally speaking, I haven’t been confronted with as many references to the Vietnam war. And it’s a topic I haven’t read much about, but here in this lovely little story, its repercussions are part of the scars people wear, and the author has a very fine way of briefly touching the subject and making it a part of the story.
The only thing I can add at this point is: READ THIS BOOK and you won’t regret it. It’s an effortless and disarmingly charming read.
The reader is introduced to simple but genuine, quirky and amazingly touching characters. Most of them are regular customers and patrons of “The Honk & Holler (Opening Soon)”, as they come together mainly to drink coffee, have breakfast, lunch or dinner, and visit at this side-road café, owned by Caney Paxton, a war veteran. The majority of the characters living in Sequoyah, Oklahoma feel quite authentic; they are plain and decent people (sometimes eccentric) and that representation of "normal" folks appeals to me tremendously.
This time around – rereading - I was mostly moved by Bui Kahn, the Vietnamese immigrant. That man has the purest soul. Contrary to the book blurb, I don’t think Vena Takes Horse is the one healing, or the force bringing people together - although she's an empathic soul, but rather that courageous little Vietnamese immigrant, barely mastering the English language, but touching everyone's heart. By the way, his turn of phrases in the English language are often hilarious.
Strangely enough, you can’t put an age to Bui Kahn. You can’t put an age to most of the main characters really – you can only guess, and it's a bit like real life - not every fact is revealed. The events happening here are a slice of life. No more to it. Also to me, it’s so refreshing that an author invites you into the life of plain people, and each one of them have possibly a good story to tell.
As a European, generally speaking, I haven’t been confronted with as many references to the Vietnam war. And it’s a topic I haven’t read much about, but here in this lovely little story, its repercussions are part of the scars people wear, and the author has a very fine way of briefly touching the subject and making it a part of the story.
The only thing I can add at this point is: READ THIS BOOK and you won’t regret it. It’s an effortless and disarmingly charming read.
January 21, 2008
LOVED this book! I am a huge fan of Billie Letts now. I read Where the Heart Is many years ago and loved it, so I picked this one up in the US for something to read, didn't get to it until I got home but loved it the minute I started reading it. She creates the most wonderful characters, and like my other favourite author Tim Winton, her skill is in creating characters that are flawed but beautiful.
July 23, 2017
This is at least the second time I've read this book, and it hasn't lost anything with age. It is still a good read with interesting characters. It is a bit funny, and yet contains real life problems, and real people working out their problems.
April 15, 2024
In the small Oklahoma town of Sequoyah, business is suddenly hopping at the Honk and Holler Opening Soon Cafe, now that paraplegic Viet Nam vet Caney has hired a cook, Bui Knanh - a Vietnamese refugee waiting for his wife to join him in the U.S., and and a second waitress, Vena Takes Horse - a Crow woman who has hitch-hiked into town with an injured dog. When Vena joins the crew, waitress Molly O pretends they don't need Vena and makes life difficult for her. Caney and his long-time waitress Molly O have known each other all their lives. She is used to the fact that Caney hasn't ventured outside for 12 years, but the newbies at the cafe have other ideas. The cast is rounded out by regular Life Halstead, a widower who eats all his meals at the Honk and Holler so he can be near Molly O.
Any writer who has put out something like the novel Places in the Heart will have me for a fan. The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, which takes place from Christmas 1985 to Christmas 1986, is first and foremost a story of souls thrown in together who each have their own cross to bear. Letts flavors the novel with lots of humor and pathos. Readers get to listen in on the town gossip. And I love how regulars and employees at the cafe call songs on the jukebox by their number rather than name - "Play B-7 !"
Lett explores sub-themes of kindness, evil, compassion, love of varying sorts, devotion, faith, forgiveness, racism, toxic relationships, persistence and the strength and fragility of family. As such, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon would be a great vehicle for group discussions, especially for faith groups, senior groups and high school English classes. I'd be interested to hear from other readers how it has been used in this capacity.
Any writer who has put out something like the novel Places in the Heart will have me for a fan. The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, which takes place from Christmas 1985 to Christmas 1986, is first and foremost a story of souls thrown in together who each have their own cross to bear. Letts flavors the novel with lots of humor and pathos. Readers get to listen in on the town gossip. And I love how regulars and employees at the cafe call songs on the jukebox by their number rather than name - "Play B-7 !"
Lett explores sub-themes of kindness, evil, compassion, love of varying sorts, devotion, faith, forgiveness, racism, toxic relationships, persistence and the strength and fragility of family. As such, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon would be a great vehicle for group discussions, especially for faith groups, senior groups and high school English classes. I'd be interested to hear from other readers how it has been used in this capacity.
October 1, 2020
I’ve officially read all of Billie Letts’ books and I’m a little sad!
January 26, 2011
Right off the top, I must confess that I hold a special place in my heart for stories that magically, profoundly, and brilliantly, bring together a collection of people that “normal” society has labeled “misfits”. Brown shriveled leaves, blowing with wild abandon and caught up in a maelstrom of loneliness and isolation. Emotionally crippled with the impossible reality of Never ... Never finding that place of belonging. No denying, Billie Letts has a special way of gathering these lost souls. Reverently placing them on the puzzle board of misshapen hearts, and having them fit together as the “Powers That Be” always intended.
Society would have you blinded of there existence, let alone be troubled by having to acknowledge that they too have a right to be seen. Ah yes ... Most feel safe in the illusion that everyone is equal, but the ugly truth of it is that our “perfect society” is divided into - the ones that count, and the ones that don’t. If you happen to be of the latter ... Then sadly, you are nothing but grains of sand sifted through the bottomless cracks of society - totally, unreservedly - forgotten. Until ... That magic moment.
For me, this is the true uncovering of fantasy. That magical moment of creating something immensely beautiful from all the discarded broken pieces that have been carelessly, cruelly, and arbitrarily pushed aside, or worse, rendered invisible, through the countless eyes of - The beautiful people.
Billie Letts masterminds this extra ordinary collision at The Honk & Holler Opening Soon. Nothing more than a rundown diner in the middle of nowhere, USA. Sparsely populated by a motley collection of wounded souls going about the business of survival in the best way they can. Suddenly, this seemingly insignificant hole-in-the-wall transforms an endless existence into a meaningful life, by uncovering that mystical place where the wandering misfit belongs. Unconditionally accepted and cherished for the misshapen puzzle piece that you are. Because you finally fit. You are finally “seen”. You found that special place called home. Impossible Magic.
Society would have you blinded of there existence, let alone be troubled by having to acknowledge that they too have a right to be seen. Ah yes ... Most feel safe in the illusion that everyone is equal, but the ugly truth of it is that our “perfect society” is divided into - the ones that count, and the ones that don’t. If you happen to be of the latter ... Then sadly, you are nothing but grains of sand sifted through the bottomless cracks of society - totally, unreservedly - forgotten. Until ... That magic moment.
For me, this is the true uncovering of fantasy. That magical moment of creating something immensely beautiful from all the discarded broken pieces that have been carelessly, cruelly, and arbitrarily pushed aside, or worse, rendered invisible, through the countless eyes of - The beautiful people.
Billie Letts masterminds this extra ordinary collision at The Honk & Holler Opening Soon. Nothing more than a rundown diner in the middle of nowhere, USA. Sparsely populated by a motley collection of wounded souls going about the business of survival in the best way they can. Suddenly, this seemingly insignificant hole-in-the-wall transforms an endless existence into a meaningful life, by uncovering that mystical place where the wandering misfit belongs. Unconditionally accepted and cherished for the misshapen puzzle piece that you are. Because you finally fit. You are finally “seen”. You found that special place called home. Impossible Magic.
March 12, 2014
This was a book that took me on a nice, winding journey. "Nice" being the optimal word. I didn't find it particularly amazing but there was SOME character development and the bad guy got his/her comeuppance.
The Brenda storyline left me unsatisfied though, and while I released that not everything can be tied up in a nice tidy package, there were bits that didn't ring true for me - for example, the introduction and picture of my mind of Vena really didn't match up with eh outcome at the end of the book.
I found Bui delightful though! Fav character by far.
The Brenda storyline left me unsatisfied though, and while I released that not everything can be tied up in a nice tidy package, there were bits that didn't ring true for me - for example, the introduction and picture of my mind of Vena really didn't match up with eh outcome at the end of the book.
I found Bui delightful though! Fav character by far.
November 21, 2020
Such a fun read! Letts has created not only a set of interesting and lovable main characters, but all of her minor ones - the folks who hang out at the H&H - are also a lot of fun. Letts writes with humor and pathos. I hung onto her stories and cared what happened to the people about whom she writes. I was, however, disappointed that she didn’t tie up all the loose ends with two of her VERY main characters. You can’t just leave a reader hanging like that, can you? I suspected that she was setting up for a series, but then saw that this book is more than 20 years old, so I guess THAT isn’t going to happen.
March 11, 2013
A very character-driven novel which at its core is a love story. Flavored by distinctive characters, the restaurant provides the setting for the rebirth of the Vietnam vet, his employees and friends, and the welcome for two strangers who just add spice to the mix. Love Vena and Bui as characters who change the town (and Caney) for the better. Two errors seen: it should have been stent, not stint and jonboat, not johnboat.
August 16, 2011
I really loved this book - it was a very quick read for me. I instantly became caught up in the lives of the crazy and quirky characters that inhabit the town of Sequoyah in Oklahoma and either work at or frequent the Honk and Holler. Letts does a fabulous job with the dialogue and the characters ring true. No great themes or layers of deep symbolism here, but definitely lots of
good laughs and cries for the shenanigans of those that mingle regularly at the diner.
good laughs and cries for the shenanigans of those that mingle regularly at the diner.
March 16, 2016
People will meet other people during
the course of their lives who will
help them resolve the difficult issues
they have been unable to solve by themselves.
At least that's what I got out of this book.
the course of their lives who will
help them resolve the difficult issues
they have been unable to solve by themselves.
At least that's what I got out of this book.
February 23, 2017
Good story line and character development. Like a literary version of TV shows like Cheers that center around a place but the rich characters are what drives the story! Enjoyed it :)
October 20, 2025
3.75
This was a good story about several people lives coming together, in the same place, at the same time. People, who at first are on totally different paths, with basically nothing in common except the need to feel and find comfort, even if they don't even realize it themselves.
This was a slow-paced story, with the author offering characters that the reader, IMO, became invested in. I found myself cheering their individual moments of happiness, and also a great sadness when things went awry for them.
I am now interested in pursuing other stories by this author.
50 State Challenge-Oklahoma- #45
This was a good story about several people lives coming together, in the same place, at the same time. People, who at first are on totally different paths, with basically nothing in common except the need to feel and find comfort, even if they don't even realize it themselves.
This was a slow-paced story, with the author offering characters that the reader, IMO, became invested in. I found myself cheering their individual moments of happiness, and also a great sadness when things went awry for them.
I am now interested in pursuing other stories by this author.
50 State Challenge-Oklahoma- #45
May 8, 2022
A perfect read-aloud book. Well-developed characters who could be found in any small town, with just an added dose of eccentricity. Pleased that not all issues were resolved by the end of the book. Will Brenda ever return?
May 16, 2012
ISBN 0446675059 - I find myself put off by books that have a Reading Group Guide, which strikes me as wildly presumptuous on someone's part. That alone didn't have me thinking highly of this book, but it did get better.
Caney Paxton, wheelchair bound but broken in far more important ways, returned home from Vietnam and opened a cafe. One drunken phone call changed the name from "The Honk and Holler" to "The Honk and Holler Opening Soon", a name that - considering the people it is home to - is more appropriate than you'd think. Caney lives in a room in the back and hasn't been out of the cafe since it opened. His waitress, Molly O, pines for the return of her high-school-dropout daughter, who ran off to seek fame and fortune as a country singer. The regulars come and go like clockwork, new customers are rare and nothing really ever happens. So when the door opens for Vera Takes Horse, no one is prepared for the changes she will bring to the Honk.
A nice, if not particularly great, story about fairly average people whose dramas are bigger in their own minds than they are in reality, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon distracts the reader from the story with some of the unusual names and characters' weird behavior. Not a book I'd recommend, but it's not terrible, either.
- AnnaLovesBooks
Caney Paxton, wheelchair bound but broken in far more important ways, returned home from Vietnam and opened a cafe. One drunken phone call changed the name from "The Honk and Holler" to "The Honk and Holler Opening Soon", a name that - considering the people it is home to - is more appropriate than you'd think. Caney lives in a room in the back and hasn't been out of the cafe since it opened. His waitress, Molly O, pines for the return of her high-school-dropout daughter, who ran off to seek fame and fortune as a country singer. The regulars come and go like clockwork, new customers are rare and nothing really ever happens. So when the door opens for Vera Takes Horse, no one is prepared for the changes she will bring to the Honk.
A nice, if not particularly great, story about fairly average people whose dramas are bigger in their own minds than they are in reality, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon distracts the reader from the story with some of the unusual names and characters' weird behavior. Not a book I'd recommend, but it's not terrible, either.
- AnnaLovesBooks
October 29, 2014
I started reading this book this afternoon and stayed with it 'til I finished it late this evening. Needless to say I was enthralled by it -- all 371 pages of it.
I won't make any attempt to summarize "Honk and Holler...." You easily can find a summary of it yourself, and, also, I don't want to spoil anything for you as Goodreads reviews have occasionally done for me.
What makes this book so delightful are the characters delineated by the author's craftsmanship. You'll meet a young Vietnam vet confined to a wheelchair, who owns a nondescript cafe in a small Oklahoma town. Most of the people are lower-middle class, and some of them are persons marginalized by society. There's a young Indian woman, Vena Last Horse, who has lived on the edge of society's norms for most of her life. Then there's the Vietnamese refugee, B'iu, pining for his love and future wife, who is still stuck in Vietnam. Then there's Big Fib, who claims multiple abductions by aliens. And many others whose lives have come together from different places and for different reasons all to become a part of "Hoot and Holler." As B'iu says, "Boats goes where it going to go."
It's a real "feel good" book.
I'm very anxious to read more books by Billie Letts.
I won't make any attempt to summarize "Honk and Holler...." You easily can find a summary of it yourself, and, also, I don't want to spoil anything for you as Goodreads reviews have occasionally done for me.
What makes this book so delightful are the characters delineated by the author's craftsmanship. You'll meet a young Vietnam vet confined to a wheelchair, who owns a nondescript cafe in a small Oklahoma town. Most of the people are lower-middle class, and some of them are persons marginalized by society. There's a young Indian woman, Vena Last Horse, who has lived on the edge of society's norms for most of her life. Then there's the Vietnamese refugee, B'iu, pining for his love and future wife, who is still stuck in Vietnam. Then there's Big Fib, who claims multiple abductions by aliens. And many others whose lives have come together from different places and for different reasons all to become a part of "Hoot and Holler." As B'iu says, "Boats goes where it going to go."
It's a real "feel good" book.
I'm very anxious to read more books by Billie Letts.
December 8, 2016
A group of the most down and out characters come together at the Honk and Holler cafe. Written over twenty years ago by the time I read it, it is a little dated. Caney, a paralyzed Vietnam vet owns and runs the little Oklahoma restaurant in the middle of nowhere. He never sets foot outside. The war is still fresh enough for a few folks to call the little oriental man who shows up looking for work a "gook." Bui soon makes himself valuable as does Vena, a female drifter who appears around Christmas carrying a maimed dog she found by the road. As Vena restores curbside service as a carhop, the cafe begins to thrive again. Molly O, the waitress who doubles as Caney's mother figure, takes a dislike to her but hardworking Vena, searching for her sister, soon grows on her by being a good listener to Molly's sad tales. They form an odd little family, helping and changing each other. Not an entirely happy ending, but close to it. Letts always finds the beating heart of America.
July 5, 2016
I always love to pick up and read a book by Billie Letts. While her characters are flawed and quirky they are only to a degree that makes them lovable and memorable. This book did not disappoint me. I was searching for an easy read with a "down home" feeling. (Also check out Sandra Dallas if you also love this type of story and characters) I really can't explain why it took so many years after this book came out for me to actually read except that I rarely see any of Ms. Letts' books on a discount rack. A huge problem for people like me. Her books are obviously perennial favorites without need for clearing but I'm a self described spendthrift (must be the Dutch in me haha) and rarely buy anything full price.
January 16, 2008
This was a surprizingly good book- I would almost say "amazing" but it was more like super good. It is about a group of people (locals and 2 strangers) who's lives revolve around a small, remote town cafe mistakenly called Honk and Holler Opening Soon. Its a bit much to review, bit if you liked Where the Heart Is, you will most likely enjoy this book.
September 4, 2017
This book is heartwarming & heartbreaking all at once! It's the story of a bunch of misfits coming together in a small Oklahoma town and somehow making a strong family -- brought together not by blood, but by friendship. There are all sorts of different elements here. Despair, pain, loneliness, PTSD, mental illness, but also tolerance, kindness, morality, love. The greatest of these is, as always love.
February 26, 2016
Letts has a gift for dialogue. You can "hear" the voices of her characters: small-town whites, Vietnamese immigrants, elder Native Americans, preachers, diner cooks, car hops, etc.
She's a joy to read.
She's a joy to read.
June 30, 2019
I wasn't sure I was going to like this book when I started it, but soon the characters became friends and I couldn't wait to visit with them. I loved the ending, and am still thinking happily about the book a few days after I finished it. For me that means it was a good read.
August 19, 2016
Loved everything about this book!
Fastest book I've read in awhile. I got attached to each character quickly and loved the way the author puts you right there in cafe. Great book!
Fastest book I've read in awhile. I got attached to each character quickly and loved the way the author puts you right there in cafe. Great book!
September 9, 2017
A sweet, but pretty predictable story set around a cafe with an unfortunate name. Can definitely see this on Lifetime VPChannel.
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