Beer! Beer! Beer!

by Avram Davidson, Or All The Seas With Oysters Publishing LLC (Editor)

A young Avram Davidson would have been seven years old at the time, when prohibition was the law of the land and beer barons like Dutch Schultz sold illegal alcohol to the public. In 1962 Avram wrote Beer Like Water, which was part of a book of Davidson’s true short stories titled Crimes & Chaos.In this book, in Avram’s typical fashion, he plays with the setting such that it’s a bit more special than reality. Beer! Beer! Beer! exists at the intersection of magical realism (just a hint) and historical fiction, with the streets of Yokums representing the Yonkers of his youth in the 1920s and 1930s much in the way that the British Hidalgo of Limekiller! parallels Belize.If you pay attention, you’ll notice little nods to you, his readers, along the way—could Yokums somehow be connected in Avram’s universe to the goings-on in the fantastical empire of Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania?

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 14, 2021

About the author

Avram Davidson was an American Jewish writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy Awards in the science fiction and fantasy genre, a World Fantasy Life Achievement award, and a Queen's Award and an Edgar Award in the mystery genre. Davidson edited The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from 1962 to 1964. His last novel The Boss in the Wall: A Treatise on the House Devil was completed by Grania Davis and was a Nebula Award finalist in 1998. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says "he is perhaps sf's most explicitly literary author".

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book set in "Yokums," a fictional city in New Jersey based on Avram Davidson's hometown of Yonkers, New York.

**************************

Some Yonkers references:

Capt. Henri Rochard (a French military officer in World War II, played by Cary Grant): "You from Brooklyn?"

Sentry: "Yonkers."

Capt. Henri Rochard: "What are those?"

---------Movie: I Was a Male War Bride

(Davidson uses essentially the same joke late in the book.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We'll go to Yonkers
Where true love conquers
In the wild

--------Song: "Manhattan" by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

**************************************


It's a pleasure having a new book by Avram Davidson in 2021. It's also a surprise; Davidson died in 1993. Even more surprising is that another new book by Davidson, Skinny, was published in 2021 as well. And what's more, the publisher has announced another "new" Davidson for 2022 and yet another for 2023. Could Davidson now be an actual ghost writer?

The introduction to this volume by Avram Davidson's godson, Seth Davis, says that in 2020 he had finally looked through some of the material left when Davidson died:

When I looked through the collection, I was astounded by the sheer number of manuscripts. There were short stories, novels, and yellowed, hand-typed pages marked up with pen and pencil... I realized I'd stumbled upon something priceless that I owed Avram's fans a chance to see.

(Can one really "stumble upon" material that has been in one's possession for almost thirty years? Why on Earth did Davis or someone he designated not look through this stuff decades sooner? Better late than never, I guess, but this is very late. Still, I am genuinely grateful that there are new works by Davidson appearing.)


Avram Davidson was a writer of frequently wonderful prose. He won awards in the fields of mystery fiction and science fiction and fantasy. He wrote excellent essays and fine book reviews. He also served for a time as editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He was known for his wit and his erudition; he seemed to know something about everything. He was particularly celebrated for his skill in writing fine, convincing dialogue. Although I did not love every single word that he ever wrote, he was unquestionably among my favorite authors. I believe that I have almost every book that he wrote. (I have never been able to find Incest Street, a reportedly pornographic paperback original novel that he wrote under the pseudonym Carlton Miller.)

That, of course, refers to the works that Davidson wrote during his lifetime as well as some posthumously published material that had already appeared before these newly published books. Seth Davis states that Davidson "was never a fan of editors, so in respect to his legacy, we changed Beer! Beer! Beer! as little as possible." Davis adds that he "can't believe it was never published."

Beer! Beer! Beer! is a fictionalized version of an incident that had actually taken place in Yonkers in 1930. Davidson had written about this in his article "Beer Like Water" in his 1962 collection Crimes and Chaos. In 1930, the country stood at the confluence of two tremendous social forces: the world-wide Depression and Prohibition, the famous "experiment, noble in motive and far reaching in purpose" by which most alcoholic beverages were prohibited throughout the entire United States. Public Works employees clearing a large fetid pile of assorted rat-infested trash from an obstructed stream found a section of hose. As they attempted to lift the hose, it broke. This turned out not to be a discarded section of hose but rather a hose that was in use. And what came gushing out of that hose was beer. Crowds gathered, bringing containers for the beer and taking it away. Eventually the beer stopped gushing forth. The hose was traced to a recently abandoned garage, which appeared to have been used as a bottling plant. When the authorities went back to trace the hose to its source, it had been removed.

This was Prohibition and there were no legal breweries in Yonkers. Well, there was a "permit brewery," "licensed to make 'near' or 'de-alcoholized' beer." Also in Yonkers was the home of the gangster known as "Dutch" Schultz.

In Beer! Beer! Beer!, a very similar incident takes place in the city of Yokums. And Yokums also had such a brewery. And living in Yokums was a fellow known as "Dutch" Stoltz. The story tells of the involvement of a number of folks in Yokums with what occurred after the beer-carrying pipeline was discovered.

Many of the people in the book were involved at some level in municipal services, from the mayor down to the cleaners. Almost everyone from the mayor to the cleaners had something else in common; they were, to some degree, corrupt.

Some of the main characters did not share in that political corruption. There are two newspaper reporters, one male and one female, working for rival papers. There are also the captain and crew of the packet boat Sadie Howell. (The "crew" consists of the Chief Engineer and... well, nobody else until late in the book.)

There may be reasons why this unpublished work was unpublished. There are fine things in this book but it is far from smoothly written. I suspect that the central character in the first chapter, thirteen year old Elmer Dugan, was intended to play a bigger part in the book as a whole and would have if the book had been made ready for publication. That first chapter is my favorite part of the book. I think that Davidson working with a good editor might have spread the spirit of that chapter throughout the book.

Davidson's acclaimed talent for writing dialogue is not much in evidence. Davidson often wrote speech in the way that he thought the speaker would really talk. In the stories in his book Limekiller, for example, he captures perfectly the accent of folks in the land of British Hidalgo. (It probably helped that he invented the country, but it was based on Belize, where Davidson had once lived.) Some of the major characters in Beer! Beer! Beer! speak in normal accents; many do not. In the following passage, the first speaker is young Elmer Dugan. He is speaking to his uncle:

"But, uh, Uncle Bob? I'm not fourteen yet! I couldn't get working papers. And, uh, the Truant Officer -"

This seemed to revive Uncle Bob. "Wuhykin papers! Dthe Trune Awfissa! Who's gonna ask ya f' wuhykin papers? Ciddy Hall? Ann, uh, dthe Trune Awfissa! He ain't gunna bahda yuz! Ya lucky enough ta get a job. Dthese days. - Leave me worry about him!")

Translating Yokums-speech into English does get tiring. And how are "wuhykin" and "dthe" pronounced? I believe that the "dth" is intended to indicate a sound somewhere between "d" and "th"; the word "dthat," for example, would be a combination of "dat" and "that." I don't think that it is possible to come up with that sound, but perhaps Davidson could.

Another thing for which Davidson's writing is known is the frequent use of quotations or references to things apart from the subject being discussed. Beer! Beer! Beer! is filled with these. Some of them are pretty obvious if one is familiar with the reference. For example, a gangster who has come to the United States from Britain is named Maddy Owens; the real gangster to whom this refers was Owney Madden. Others are more complex. The sentence, "And see if we can wonder what the brewer buys one half so precious as the stuff he pipes," is a reference to the lines from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:

I often wonder what the vintners buy
One half so precious as the stuff they sell.

The name of the city "Yokums" seems to have an obvious source in the Yokum family in Al Capp's famous comic strip Li'l Abner.

I may be thinking that I see references that Davidson did not intend. I believe that a reference to a newspaper story stating that "Some mad, vile old man had confessed to the murder of a dozen children" refers to the 1930s murderer Albert Fish, but it certainly might not. Even more obscurely, a minor character in the book noted for his concupiscence is named Bob Blaine, which is also the name of a character in Davidson's book Limekiller who shares that quality.

(I could mention many more of these but I will be kind enough to refrain from doing so.)

I must add that the book is quite funny, another Davidson specialty.

I think that readers who do not expect near-perfection from a book by Avram Davidson will be more content than I am. This is the only non-genre novel that I know of by Davidson, and I am sure that also affected my enjoyment; Davidson's 1969 novel The Phoenix and the Mirror is one of my favorite fantasies.

The publishing company for these new volumes is named Or All The Seas With Oysters Publishing LLC, derived from Davidson's Hugo Award-winning story "Or All the Sea with Oysters." I have every intention of reading other new works as they are published. I am pleased that Avram Davidson has not been forgotten.

[Michael Sova · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0

The beer flows and the irreverence flies in this tightly packed tale about the discovery of a hose funneling beer through the sewers of a Prohibition-era New Jersey town. Although this is a work of fiction, there is precedence for its outlandish storyline. It comes from the newspaper headlines of the day. Davidson just uses that as the vehicle to drive the narrative, which is filled with clever, deadpan humor and a carnival-like atmosphere. The characters — mostly made up of immigrants from a swath of different countries — are mad, zany, and vivacious. Their dialogue is always interesting if even a little hard to understand (To a fault, Davidson matches the grammar and syntax of the spoken word). The major plus is having created life-like people that feel as real as those you might meet in an alternate 1920s urban universe.

I’ve never read Davidson’s work before so I wouldn’t be privy to his style or storytelling ability. But if the book file I received mistakenly labeled Michael Chabon as the author it wouldn’t surprise me one bit. It’s like the long-lost cousin to one of his works in more than just the idiosyncratic prose. It’s also ingrained with an undercurrent of immigrant life and, specifically, Jewish life and idioms. Sometimes pointing out the funny and absurd with the wit of a Coen Brothers film. It also takes its time working through a laundry list of characters that make up the town of Yokum, NJ — the whole of which becomes a character much like that of a Steinbeck novel. There’s a quaint, rustic, vintage feel to it. And somehow it feels like it could have been written yesterday.

Adding to the indefinable sense of wonder and elation that surrounds Davidson’s writing, there’s an About the Author section included with one brief description that sums up my feelings about this novel. He’s written many different types of stories across several genres, but there are also those that defy any discernable categorization. This one certainly falls into that category. It’s a hybrid of sorts that only the author — with his wholly original and unique style — could concoct. Just for that alone it makes my time spent reading it more than worthwhile.

[Unbridled Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s exciting to discover a new author. Except Avram Davidson is not new. In fact, his library of work is so vast, varied and still admired nearly three decades after his death that there is a podcast The Avram Davidson Universe and companion website www.avramdavidson.com dedicated to this award winning writer. But I knew none of this when I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Beer! Beer! Beer! And immediately, I understood what all the buzz was about. The story centers around the true story of Dutch Schultz and his legendary feat of engineering magic during Prohibition when he illegally brewed his beer in Yonkers, New Jersey and piped it under the streets of the city. Avram references Schultz by name and provides plenty of historical facts to fill in all details surrounding the beer baron’s partnership with powerful political figures in Yonkers. Except the setting is Yokums not Yonkers, the site of brewery is Turkey Island not Chicken Island and many of the political figures have pseudonyms. And the discovery of the beer brewing operation amongst the sewer system makes for laugh out loud reading – and totally justifies the unusual title of this novel. All the while, Avram punctuates the main storyline with a narrative about a young teen, Ethan Dugan, walking through the streets of Yokums and recording for the reader the sights and sounds of his community as well as the dark side of poverty. The author would have been the same age growing up in Yonkers when the beer brewing operation took place so the narrative of Ethan likely echoes Avram’s own memories. This reminded me of Betty Smith’s young Francie Nolan’s opening walk through Williamsburg, New York in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, recording the wonders of her own neighborhood. Seen through the eyes of youth, this unveiling of a setting is unjaded and true. And while the rest of the story is based on a historical event, it is so outrageous and recounted with such imagination that Ethan’s interludes anchored the story for me. Overall, this novel demanded my full attention. Avram’s insistent use of the vernacular language in all his dialogue was at first hard to digest. At one point I began reading it aloud and only then could I appreciate the genius behind recording the voices Yonkers, Wales, Poland exactly as spoken. Personally, I would toss that into the same barrel with his account of Ethan’s streets of Yokums, lending an authenticity to the story. This story crosses the line of historical fiction into magic realism with some comedic wit for good measure. But I have a strong feeling that Avram Davidson was not interested in catering to one genre. Neil Gaiman summed it up best when he said “If you love fantasy, if you love alternate worlds, or if just love stories well-told, that’s who Avram Davidson is – someone who knows a great deal more than you do and is damned if both of you aren’t going to have a great time.” Thank you to Seth Davis for resurrecting and sharing previously unpublished works of Avram Davidson with the public. The world needs more good stories told inventively – and Avram Davidson absolutely does just that.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy! A new Avram Davidson, after 28 years! Avram's storytelling was always incredibly funny, descriptive, and well-crafted. This book is set during Prohibition and the Depression, in New Jersey, and it was far before I was born, but oh! the sense of time and place it imparts! I love the way he writes the language of the various Dutch, Irish, etc characters in the story, and how concerned they all are about beer, ultimately. Reading Avram Davidson is like eating a delicious meal, I just chew slowly and carefully, savoring each word and phrase. And, miracle of miracles, there's ANOTHER new Avram Davidson coming next year, _Dragons In The Trees_! I am so grateful to Seth Davis for digging through Avram's manuscripts and finding this gem. Although I've pre-ordered this on Kindle, I was fortunate enough to get an ARC from Seth, which I just finished reading. I'm pretty sure I've read everything that Avram published before he died, frequently finding paperbacks in used book stores back in the '90s. Darn it, Seth, now I'm going to have to re-read everything, it's all so good! If you haven't discovered Avram Davidson already, don't waste any time, get started! He was a treasure!

[Kent Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before he was a multi-award-winning author and editor, Avram Davidson (born 1923 - died 1993) was a young boy growing up in Yonkers, New York. Young Avram was witness to a time when two previously lowercase nouns gained uppercase status and importance in people's lives. Those two words, Prohibition and Depression, permeated the streets and shuttered store fronts of Yonkers and Avram was there to take it all in and remember it all.

Now it is said that truth is stranger than fiction, but often the only way to tell the truth is through fiction, especially when that truth is inconvenient to the people with money or power or both, but eventually, especially if the story is a juicy one, the truth comes out. A wise writer will change some names and minor details, not to protect the innocent, who need no protection, but to protect himself from those who are not innocent at all and who pay large amounts to large men to make sure certain stories stay out of the papers.

But when a story is so amazing that it has to be true, a story of how at the height of Prohibition the mobster Dutch Schultz ran a secret brewery and piped beer through miles of secretly installed hose in the storm sewers under Yonkers, New York, when that story has to be told, the man to tell it is Avram Davidson. And even then, with Yonkers fictionalized as Yokums, New Jersey and decades after almost all the principal characters were dead, even then Avram never found a publisher for this tale.

Until now. Beer! Beer! Beer! is the story of the "legendary" beer hoses, their accidental discovery, and the very purposeful. hushing up of the tale. It is a story masterfully told by one of the great writers of our age who took the time before he died to write it all down. He was there, he remembered. As a boy, he had a perfect ear for dialog and as a man he had a lifetime of practice to get it down right on paper. This is a book where all the sights and sounds and smells are true. Avram Davidson often wrote Science Fiction or Fantasy, but this book is neither. It is instead, a funny, wonderful, perfectly crafted time machine. The time is 1931, the place is Yonkers, New York, and Avram Davidson is still alive in these pages, ready to take you there.

[Christina Molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a first time reader of Davidson I had no idea what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. If you're anything like me, a fan of historical fiction and SF, then this is the perfect read! Avram has a way of transporting you into early years of New York and creating this fascinating world that is this delicately balanced melange of his youth and imaginations of that time. It is somewhat of a delicate peek into this hyper-visualized world he creates that will keep you at enough distance to pique your interest, making you want to know more about the characters and arcs. It is vividly written and filled with great wit and laughs all the way through. I Highly recommend!

[Park Loveless · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avram Davidson's "Beer! Beer! Beer!" is a must read and soon to be classic addition to Avram Davidson's collection. With well crafted and diverse characters of Irish, Dutch, Welsh, and Polish culture, set in the captivating period of Prohibition and the Great Depression, I personally couldn't put this book down. Each character while differently focused on Beer itself, tells a whimsical, humorous, and satirical tale of the crazy times Avram Davidson experienced first hand. The play on historical fiction, setting this town in "Yokums," and not "Yonkers," "Chicken Island," Instead of "Turkey Island," there is just enough historical facts, fiction, pseudonyms, and political figures to tell a perfect tale of fictional reality. I recommend this book to both historical fiction readers, as well as people who want to experience life during the Prohibition/Depression era. This book is not one to categorize in genre. The premise itself of an underground brewing operation in the sewers captivates any reader and will guarantee a good laugh and a good time for everyone. In itself, the reader will also see a side of humanity and the dark side of poverty, a good addition to any story that makes the reader laugh hard, cry more, and love every single character they meet. With the main cast being immigrants set in the Urban 1920s, this book will make you love every second and every word you read.

[Aiden Blasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of fun to be had in this new posthumous novel from the late great Avram Davidson. Having only read a short story or two of his here and there, I wasn't quite sure what to expect going in. What I found was a whimsical, satirical portrait of a small, Prohibition-era community. Davidson packs this relatively short read with a large cast of zany characters and rich detail about the fictional town of Yokums' history, culture, and politics (perhaps even a bit too much detail for some readers at times). Almost all the dialogue is written in the speaker's dialect, which is usually a bit of a pet peeve of mine in fiction, but it definitely suits this book's comedic tone and its focus on the different communities and subcultures of Yokums so I quickly got used to it. It's a bit unconventional in that there's no real primary protagonist or antagonist, and it often meanders from what might be called the main plot, but this approach and the variety of points of view it allows really brings the setting and the characters to life. I imagine this book has a lot to offer both newcomers to Avram Davidson's work and long-time fans.

[Joan H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am delighted with this recent book by Avram Davidson. If one reads carefully the characters come to life in the carefully crafted elaborate personal descriptions and dialogue. The plot of the story moves steadfastly ahead as events and characters present themselves.However, the depth of the story is revealed in the almost casually mentioned history of the area, dating back to indigenous Americans and continuing into the early twentieth century. Descriptions of land itself, the political and social structures of the Depression and Prohibition era, are expertly woven into the and characters story. New York’s life of immigrants and bosses of the early 20th century are richly embedded in the narrative. The book reads like a movie. One can imagine the scenes of Hokum, New Jersey come to life. Best of all, this book is funny and sarcastic and a great read.

[Shawnnatta Dollson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been a very long time since I have had to read in my historical reading voice. Especially, the early 1900s, I feel as if I am switching between modern and historical language. That's when Beer! Beer! Beer! became an easy read. I liked the fact that Davidson implemented two stories into one. Only for the two stories to be intertwined. The historical facts given to the reader were defined for clear understanding and well organized. I definitely enjoyed the sarcasm and funnies. 'A' plus for throwing in a little romance for us romantics'. Avram Davidson's Beer! Beer! Beer! is definitely a "Goodread".
This book is exciting, witty, and historical. Davidson gives the reader knowledge of how 'Beer' affected the American families during Prohibition years ago. You may have to dumb down your English language to be in character but it's well worth it.

[Kayla Roysetr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book honestly reminded me of Fahrenheit 451; a classic and bestselling novel. This book has a great mixture of historic accuracy, humor, and excellent character development. Set during a time in which alcohol was banned and people were struggling (not a good pair), you are introduced to a multitude of characters, from different backgrounds, all embarking on a similar journey surrounding their love for beer.

[Lisa Ganzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book and author on a Yonkers, New York Facebook page. It intrigued me that someone would write a story about my birthplace, the place I grew up in and lived until the age of 24. The author changed the name of the "town" to Yokems, NJ. But that did not matter – the story takes place during the Prohibition. The characters, from many different walks of life, all commiserate (and pine for) their love of beer! Eye-opening, heartwarming, nostalgic and humorous!

[Armanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute gem of a period piece. From the very beginning, the characters stand out as varied and unique individuals. What starts out feeling like almost random, unrelated slice of life moments; it soon becomes a woven tapestry of experiences that drags you in and makes you really consider your place in society and the effects you have in your community, and that they have on you. There’s a certain fantastical feel to the way the setting jumps from the pages and pull you in. Definitely an experience worth having!

[Pat Dages · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gift from an author who obviously loved to write, to those of us who love to read. You’ll recognize your friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances and assorted other personages among the cast of characters who populate the Prohibition-era fictional town of Yokums. It’s not Tolstoy...it’s Davidson! Beer! Beer! Beer! won’t make you weep...it’ll make you laugh.

[Niffy Fash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avram Davidson is one author I wish I'd found earlier! The language, style, wit, humour, and skill is one to study. I enjoyed every page, especially the switch between accents carefully outlined in the conversations. Beer! Beer! Beer! is a wonderful depiction of the prohibition era with the nuances that must have been present in the private and work lives of characters. Avram makes a thoroughly good read.

[Nigel Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sit back and enjoy the view as Avram Davidson takes you on a guided tour of Yokums. With an unforgettable cast of larger-than-life characters, the story of a prohibition era town’s discovery of a mysterious source of beer, and their obsession in finding where it comes from, is funny and engaging.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've already read some of Davidson's work, you won't be surprised at the novella's slower pace or the antique-sounding phrases, as it describes Yonkers ("Yokum" in the novel) during the 1920s and 1930s. But this is not one of his fantasy, sf, or crime stories (at least not the kind of true crime by contemporary authors). If this is your first encounter with Avram Davidson, I offer one piece of advice: wait for it. Reading Beer! Beer! Beer! is a bit like sitting down to a home-cooked meal with multiple courses: first, the table is laid with great pains and precision; then each chapter--like a good course--gradually layers complementary flavors that build up to a satisfying meal, er, . . . conclusion. I say "home cooking" because it's not "fancy": Davidson writes much of his dialogue in phonetically spelled dialect, with the exception of one or two writerly characters. He chooses his details deliberately, and fans may be rewarded with "easter eggs," or allusions to some of his other works. He presents seemingly mundane elements with delightful turns of phrase; instead of rushing through them to get to the action, such phrases are meant to be savored as each detail informs the overarching story.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avram Davidson's writing was new to me, but a refreshing take on historical fiction. I enjoyed his ability to convey the variety of accents and conversation set in prohibition New Jersey from the scope of a variety of characters. While the style itself is not something I'm typically drawn towards, I reveled in the snaps of vivid imagery in the pages- I could see the throngs of people clamoring for Beer! Beer! Beer! and the general camaraderie as people gathered like a more relevant telling of the known folk story "Stone Soup."

[Sean King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avram Davidson's Beer! Beer! Beer! is a hilarious prohibition tale. Reminiscent of oil gushing from a Texas field, the beer gushing in Avram's Yonkers emerges from below and causes a frenzy. Avram paints a vivid picture of a diverse group of Yonkers citizens who are changed forever by this momentous event. Underlying all the craziness are historical facts and human truths. This makes Beer! Beer! Beer! all the more hysterical.

[Bruce Byfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a mainstream book, but it has all the characteristics of Davidson's fantasies: lovingly portrayed idiosyncratic characters, dead-on dialog, attention to detail, a conversational tone, a sense of whimsey, and, most of all, a seemingly rambling plot that somehow is pulled together at the end.

If you are already a Davidson fan, this previously unpublished book should delight you. If you are new to Davidson, sit back and enjoy a ride unlike anything any other writer can offer.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a fictionalised New York the twin pains of the Depression and Prohibition are making life dreary and difficult. Someone, however, is pumping beer to the mouths of the thirsty, which is all very well until one of the pipes is discovered. A rich, vibrant, hilarious period comedy, with hints of darkness round the edges. A pure joy of a read.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a gigantic fan of Avram Davidson. I have read most of his stories and novels.

This is for completist only. This book was just published by a small press, Or all the Seas With Oysters Publishing, which is dedicated to bringing Davidson's works back into print. The introduction is not clear, but it appears that he wrote this in 1963 or 1964. He was just starting to write novels after several years of publishing short stories. This novel is not very good. I understand why it was not published during his lifetime.

The story is set in the fictional Yokums, New Jersey in the early 1930s. It is based on Yonkers, New York where Davidson grew up.

Prohibition is still in force. A pipe flowing with beer is accidently opened in downtown Yukums. It spills beer for hours into the streets. The Mayor, the Police Commissioner, the Commissioner of Public Works, the FBI, several reporters, a ship captain and mate, an anti-alcohol crusader and a young boy all get involved in figuring out where the beer is coming from.

The plot is confused and diffuse. There is no suspense or structure. The ending is not satisfying. It seems like a collection of scenes more than a novel.

The most embarrassing thing is Davidson's attempts at dialect. He has a bunch of ethnic characters, Italians, Greek, Slovaks, Irish, Blacks etc. He tries to have them talk in dialect. He is not good at it. We get dialect like;

"I would suhdjest we have a cupla men get inna dthis uh soor. An uh,uh, trace this hose. To its sauce. Huh?"

What kind of dialect is that? How do you pronounce "dthis"?

How about. "You gotney nooze frus"? I think it is some version of "You got any news for us? " but I have no idea what kind of accent that is supposed to be.

This was an early attempt at novel writing by Davidson. Some of the scenes are well done. The young boy who opens the novel, who seems to Davidson as a young boy, is very well done. Some of the scenes are clever. The atmosphere of a casually crooked town run by gangsters is interesting. But this is not a good novel.

If you are new to Davidson, start with any of his short story collections. "The Avram Davidson Treasury" is probably the best.