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Drive Like Hell: A Novel
Luke Fulmer belongs behind the wheel of a car. Taught to drive at the age of ten by his father, Luke can do more damage with a stick and a clutch than most men can do with a bottle of whiskey and a lousy mood. He counts down the days to his sixteenth birthday when he can finally get his license. Unfortunately, the first thing he does with it is "borrow" his neighbor's car.
When Luke is pulled over and found in possession of an air pistol, a ski mask, a stolen TV, and a bag of pot, the unforgiving local magistrate takes scissors to his license and vows to lock him up if he ever stands in front of her again. As Luke's mother explores bad relationships and the lure of vodka, Luke moves in with his older brother, Nick, an easygoing ex-con who wants to steer Luke onto the straight and narrow. In the gnarled, muggy summer that follows, Luke contends with a lovely kleptomaniac girlfriend, a duffel bag full of cocaine, and the realization that he must save his family from themselves even as he plots to beat a path out of town.
Dubbed the "Great American Redneck Novel" by Big Fish author Daniel Wallace, Drive Like Hell is a hilarious one-of-a-kind tale set in late '70s Georgia, complete with stock car racing, honky-tonk dancing, pro wrestling, drug dealing, and syndicated television. Dallas Hudgens brilliantly evokes Southern culture in this unforgettable debut that is raucous and wrenching, funny and wise.
When Luke is pulled over and found in possession of an air pistol, a ski mask, a stolen TV, and a bag of pot, the unforgiving local magistrate takes scissors to his license and vows to lock him up if he ever stands in front of her again. As Luke's mother explores bad relationships and the lure of vodka, Luke moves in with his older brother, Nick, an easygoing ex-con who wants to steer Luke onto the straight and narrow. In the gnarled, muggy summer that follows, Luke contends with a lovely kleptomaniac girlfriend, a duffel bag full of cocaine, and the realization that he must save his family from themselves even as he plots to beat a path out of town.
Dubbed the "Great American Redneck Novel" by Big Fish author Daniel Wallace, Drive Like Hell is a hilarious one-of-a-kind tale set in late '70s Georgia, complete with stock car racing, honky-tonk dancing, pro wrestling, drug dealing, and syndicated television. Dallas Hudgens brilliantly evokes Southern culture in this unforgettable debut that is raucous and wrenching, funny and wise.
- GenresFiction
336 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2005
3 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Dallas Hudgens
4 books3 followersDallas Hudgens is the author of the short-story collection "Wake Up, We're Here" (Relegation Books, 2012), and the novels “Drive Like Hell” (Scribner, 2005), a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, and “Season of Gene” (Scribner, 2007), a Book Sense Notable.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 3, 2013
Luke's lust for driving was inspired by late night rides in his father's '66 Chevelle Super Sport. During the wee A.M. hours somewhere on the backroads of a small town in Georgia, his father, Lyndell, would take his then 10 year old son along as he drank, smoked, engaged in some light B & E, imparted questionable nuggets of wisdom about life and women, and taught him to drive like hell. At 16 years old, Luke Fulmer now has only one thing on his mind: getting his driver's license so he can be like dear old dad. As a result, Luke's driving days are numbered when he's caught in a stolen car (he "borrowed" it from his neighbor) with marijuana, an air pistol, and contraband during an ill-fated attempt to get retribution against his mother's lowlife ex-boyfriend for stealing their RCA television. Now Luke has a suspended license and six months to prove to the judge that he can get his act together before he can drive again.
Drive Like Hell is an okay book with some strong points. It's well-written and very clearly rooted in a particular time and place (although sometimes desperately so; the characters take every opportunity to mention as many television shows, movies and songs as possible). However, one of the strongest points--realistic characters, is also the reason why I did not enjoy the book more. The novel is about the type of people for whom I have no sympathy. This family doesn't live on the brink of poverty: they have jobs, they have a house, they have vehicles, they have television, they apparently have plenty of money for booze, cigarettes, marijuana and food. There's no indication of any "want" here. It's almost as if Hudgens didn't want us to dislike this group of rednecks and so pulls his punches in terms of emotional neglect or criminal activity: mom's a beautiful slut with a heart of gold, but she cares; dad is a shiftless drunk, but he cares; big brother is a small time drug dealer, but he cares. These are the type of people who create drama to simply alleviate the boredom of small town Southern life and instead of channeling all of that energy into something productive, they purposely screw things up the very minute life seems to be headed in an okay direction. They're scared of success. They're scared of doing better. They've mistaken being ever-so-slightly on the wrong side of the law as "having character." In other words, this isn't the Dolly clan from Daniel Woodrell's superior Winter's Bone.
In Winter's Bone, we have a family who is shaped and created by poverty, whose meanness of spirit and unapologetic grit in the face of adversity is not chosen, but tools necessary for survival. We feel pity for them because life dealt them a shit hand in a shit place and has given them a shit chance of ever doing better. To hang onto even a shred of dignity, as the teenage Ree Dolly does, is a miracle in such circumstances. Compared to the Dollys, the Fulmers of Drive Like Hell seem like a whiny ass bunch of rednecks who just need to get off the damn porch because life for them just isn't that bad. Heck, it's not even that boring where they live--why, in the course of 300+ pages, young Luke has met Jack Nicklaus at a Waffle House, smoked marijuana in Paul Newman's car while Newman stays at the local Holiday Inn, and met a football legend.
Yes, these types of people exist, but I'm not sure why we needed a story about them. By the end, no one is transformed, no one rises above, we have a bildungsroman that is severely short on the "bildung" as young Luke seems to have learned very little about life by the novel's ambiguous end (he's even late for the court date at which his license might be reinstated). He doesn't realize he wants to be the catcher in the rye--he doesn't have an epiphany of any kind that's worth two bits. We can be pretty sure that young Luke will be out there driving like hell as soon as possible. So why did we ever go along for the ride?
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
Drive Like Hell is an okay book with some strong points. It's well-written and very clearly rooted in a particular time and place (although sometimes desperately so; the characters take every opportunity to mention as many television shows, movies and songs as possible). However, one of the strongest points--realistic characters, is also the reason why I did not enjoy the book more. The novel is about the type of people for whom I have no sympathy. This family doesn't live on the brink of poverty: they have jobs, they have a house, they have vehicles, they have television, they apparently have plenty of money for booze, cigarettes, marijuana and food. There's no indication of any "want" here. It's almost as if Hudgens didn't want us to dislike this group of rednecks and so pulls his punches in terms of emotional neglect or criminal activity: mom's a beautiful slut with a heart of gold, but she cares; dad is a shiftless drunk, but he cares; big brother is a small time drug dealer, but he cares. These are the type of people who create drama to simply alleviate the boredom of small town Southern life and instead of channeling all of that energy into something productive, they purposely screw things up the very minute life seems to be headed in an okay direction. They're scared of success. They're scared of doing better. They've mistaken being ever-so-slightly on the wrong side of the law as "having character." In other words, this isn't the Dolly clan from Daniel Woodrell's superior Winter's Bone.
In Winter's Bone, we have a family who is shaped and created by poverty, whose meanness of spirit and unapologetic grit in the face of adversity is not chosen, but tools necessary for survival. We feel pity for them because life dealt them a shit hand in a shit place and has given them a shit chance of ever doing better. To hang onto even a shred of dignity, as the teenage Ree Dolly does, is a miracle in such circumstances. Compared to the Dollys, the Fulmers of Drive Like Hell seem like a whiny ass bunch of rednecks who just need to get off the damn porch because life for them just isn't that bad. Heck, it's not even that boring where they live--why, in the course of 300+ pages, young Luke has met Jack Nicklaus at a Waffle House, smoked marijuana in Paul Newman's car while Newman stays at the local Holiday Inn, and met a football legend.
Yes, these types of people exist, but I'm not sure why we needed a story about them. By the end, no one is transformed, no one rises above, we have a bildungsroman that is severely short on the "bildung" as young Luke seems to have learned very little about life by the novel's ambiguous end (he's even late for the court date at which his license might be reinstated). He doesn't realize he wants to be the catcher in the rye--he doesn't have an epiphany of any kind that's worth two bits. We can be pretty sure that young Luke will be out there driving like hell as soon as possible. So why did we ever go along for the ride?
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
January 13, 2011
I thought this was a pretty sleepy book. I was sucked in by the blurbs on the cover pronouncing it, "hilarious," "the funniest book," and "comedy." It didn't live up to any of these descriptions. The title is pretty catchy, too, but ultimately VERY misleading.
OK, it's a "nice" book, but not something I'd recommend you take the time to read if you have several other novels waiting to be read. Despite the fact that this book has a car on the cover and the synopsis of the book on the inside flap plays up the driving/racing theme of the book, the protagonist has his driving privileges revoked in one of the very first chapters. Sure, he continues to drive throughout the novel for various reasons, and he constantly reminisces about his father's racing days, but the bulk of this book doesn't have much to do with driving or racing, which is what I expected. Instead, the book weaves in and out of his relationships with his alcoholic mother, drug dealing brother, absent father, his angst fueled girlfriend, the miserable feelings they harbor about their failed and dysfunctional relationships and the mild adventures they embark on to keep the plot moving.
I just kind of thought the book was boring. It is well written, but definitely not very funny at all, which is what I expected from the praise filled quotes on the back cover.
And although I concede this is a work of fiction, I had a hard time accepting the maturity and logic assigned to the 16-year-old protagonist. He didn't speak like a 16-year-old and, despite the constant marijuana smoking, alcohol consumption and sleepy Southern ennui that permeated his existence, he actually sounded like a pretty mature kid with an advanced vocabulary and well-developed thought processes. In other words, I think the author didn't do a very good job with limiting the protagonist to his years and maturity level.
Lastly, I kept having this sneaking suspicion that the book wasn't fact-checked very well. I don't think the author is old enough to have actually lived in the time period his novel took place in, so I kept thinking I was encountering the occasional anachronism. If I had been more thorough with looking up the odd fact that I doubted, I might have actually discovered more. But I can say for sure there was no way he could have been watching the movie Midnight Express on HBO approximately six months after his 16th birthday, which took place in March, 1979, when this movie was only released in movie theaters in the USA in the Autumn of 1978. Maybe I'm wrong, but if a movie stayed in the theater about six months, as movies did back in the late 70s, I find it hard to believe they would let HBO show it a scant six months later, especially because this was a pretty well regarded movie. In the early 80s I remember waiting for years for movies to appear on HBO after they had finally stopped running in the theaters. Remember the "second run" theaters that you could go to for, like, a buck or two, to see movies after they had left the big "first run" movie theaters? It just made me wonder if several of the other music, film and other time sensitive references the author made, that I thought might not be right, were actually wrong. I wish I had been more diligent with looking into these matters when I was in the process of reading the book, because I certainly have no desire to reread it a second time.
Final thought: This book was neither funny, nor did it have all that much car culture material in it. Yes, there are several references to driving, and even one racing episode, but this book is mostly about an unbelievable character struggling with the mundane existence and choices he must make as a 16-year-old. This novel is a classic example of "don't judge a book by it's cover."
I gave it two stars, instead of one, because it was very well written.
OK, it's a "nice" book, but not something I'd recommend you take the time to read if you have several other novels waiting to be read. Despite the fact that this book has a car on the cover and the synopsis of the book on the inside flap plays up the driving/racing theme of the book, the protagonist has his driving privileges revoked in one of the very first chapters. Sure, he continues to drive throughout the novel for various reasons, and he constantly reminisces about his father's racing days, but the bulk of this book doesn't have much to do with driving or racing, which is what I expected. Instead, the book weaves in and out of his relationships with his alcoholic mother, drug dealing brother, absent father, his angst fueled girlfriend, the miserable feelings they harbor about their failed and dysfunctional relationships and the mild adventures they embark on to keep the plot moving.
I just kind of thought the book was boring. It is well written, but definitely not very funny at all, which is what I expected from the praise filled quotes on the back cover.
And although I concede this is a work of fiction, I had a hard time accepting the maturity and logic assigned to the 16-year-old protagonist. He didn't speak like a 16-year-old and, despite the constant marijuana smoking, alcohol consumption and sleepy Southern ennui that permeated his existence, he actually sounded like a pretty mature kid with an advanced vocabulary and well-developed thought processes. In other words, I think the author didn't do a very good job with limiting the protagonist to his years and maturity level.
Lastly, I kept having this sneaking suspicion that the book wasn't fact-checked very well. I don't think the author is old enough to have actually lived in the time period his novel took place in, so I kept thinking I was encountering the occasional anachronism. If I had been more thorough with looking up the odd fact that I doubted, I might have actually discovered more. But I can say for sure there was no way he could have been watching the movie Midnight Express on HBO approximately six months after his 16th birthday, which took place in March, 1979, when this movie was only released in movie theaters in the USA in the Autumn of 1978. Maybe I'm wrong, but if a movie stayed in the theater about six months, as movies did back in the late 70s, I find it hard to believe they would let HBO show it a scant six months later, especially because this was a pretty well regarded movie. In the early 80s I remember waiting for years for movies to appear on HBO after they had finally stopped running in the theaters. Remember the "second run" theaters that you could go to for, like, a buck or two, to see movies after they had left the big "first run" movie theaters? It just made me wonder if several of the other music, film and other time sensitive references the author made, that I thought might not be right, were actually wrong. I wish I had been more diligent with looking into these matters when I was in the process of reading the book, because I certainly have no desire to reread it a second time.
Final thought: This book was neither funny, nor did it have all that much car culture material in it. Yes, there are several references to driving, and even one racing episode, but this book is mostly about an unbelievable character struggling with the mundane existence and choices he must make as a 16-year-old. This novel is a classic example of "don't judge a book by it's cover."
I gave it two stars, instead of one, because it was very well written.
January 3, 2014
I thought this was a very good debut novel. Set in small town Georgia during the late seventies the story line follows young Luke Fulmer through the six months he must endure after getting his driver's license suspended. The first person narration was very engaging since Luke is smarter and more articulate than your usual pot smoking, aimless teen and his struggles to try and keep on the straight and narrow despite his family situation kept me turning the pages.
October 19, 2022
What’s not to like? Stockcar racing and rock n’ roll and bootlegging and burgers at the Varsity. Georgia, I love you.
October 25, 2012
Drive like Hell was and is an amazing story. It is intense as well as romantic and inspiring. It is about a young boy named Luke Fulmer. He goes thorugh a very hard time but gets through it and comes out with a girlfriend and a life plan. Luke Fulmer is a young boy who lives in the southern part of the US. He has a brother named Nick. His brother sells pot and is in a band with his crazed girlfriend and his hilarious best friend. One day, when Luke's mother is robbed of her telivision set by her ex, Luke goes to his house with his brother's air pistol, a ski mask, and a bag of pot. He breaks into the man's apartment and points the gun at him. He finds out that the man sold their television set so, instead, Luke steals a more expensive T.V. from him. As he's driving back he lights up some of his pot and is on his way. He then gets pulled over. The only thing wrong is that the car that Luke was driving was not his. It was his neighbor's. The officer who pulled him over was, luckily, a friend of his mom's. The officer doesn't charge him for the gun or for the pot. Luke has his license revoked. Later in the story, he gets a job at a hotel restaraunt. There, he meets a beautiful girl who he later dates. Luke goes through alot of troubling and intense situations that he has to solve. but the book ends with him living happily ever after with his girlfriend.
The main theme of this book is, simply, driving. Luke's dad teaches him the perks and secrets to driving. He get's very close to his dad because of this...
The main theme of this book is, simply, driving. Luke's dad teaches him the perks and secrets to driving. He get's very close to his dad because of this...
September 18, 2007
Reading this as part of the Fountain Bookstore bookgroup. Author appearing at Fountain mid September...
Just finished. Really enjoyed his depiction of life in the rural south. It meshed with my experiences of rural Minnesota in my teens. If you like car culture, or rural culture, you'll probably like this book. (Or outlaw culture: NASCAR, moonshine, Dukes of Hazzard, etc) Also strong themes of old country music.
Just finished. Really enjoyed his depiction of life in the rural south. It meshed with my experiences of rural Minnesota in my teens. If you like car culture, or rural culture, you'll probably like this book. (Or outlaw culture: NASCAR, moonshine, Dukes of Hazzard, etc) Also strong themes of old country music.
November 25, 2012
3 1/2 stars. Fully a guy's book. Read it since I know the author's wife, plus it had been on my TBR pile for a few years. Interesting story, decently written. Full of small town, drug taking, drug dealing, teens behaving badly because it's all they know, lots of vulgar language. Definitely explains how one can end up drug dealing, profane, skipping school, etc. Would only recommend to a few select people. But, it was good for what it was.
January 1, 2009
Fun book. There are some great lines in here (none that I can really repeat here, as there may be young ones ready this...doubtfull, but could be.)
The ending was a little abrupt, and didn't really close it up well, but it was good.
Did make me want to slap some of the characters in the back of the head for being so stupid sometimes.
The ending was a little abrupt, and didn't really close it up well, but it was good.
Did make me want to slap some of the characters in the back of the head for being so stupid sometimes.
March 19, 2014
I made fun of my friend for having this book on his shelf because it looks like a nascar romance novel from the side, and he told me to read it. I was wrong - it's a decent enough redneck coming of age story. Nothing special, but better than the silly cover would suggest.
June 20, 2014
Drive Like Hell is funny as hell. I laughed aloud so many times the people riding the bus with me gave me weird looks. Great balance of subtle depth and layered humor. Kinda want to sit around stoned watching shitty TV with Luke Fulmer now.
June 7, 2008
a porch and whiskey kind of book.
October 30, 2008
Funny and touching 6 months in the life of a dysfunctional-but-trying redneck family of 3 living just outside of Atlanta in the 70's.
January 9, 2009
I recommended this to my friend, Shane. I wonder if he ever read it...it's a great "boy" book--the kid is 15-16 and driving, pot, rock n'roll, and loud music is in the air in the 1970's
November 7, 2011
I could not put this book down. From the first page to the last, I couldn’t believe the twists, turns and fast-paced action. it’s the seventies, man, in all its polyester and hard-rock glory!
November 10, 2012
Ganding 2
August 22, 2014
fun read...not as funny as the reviews had said, but it was an enjoyable light summer read.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews