Killer Diller

by Clyde Edgerton

"Wonderful...Clyde Edgerton tells us another of his lovely tall tales."

LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Listre, North Carolina, is jumping. The Sears twins, Ted and Ned, who run a Baptist college, have opened Nutrition House for overweight Christians. Meanwhile their Project Promise is busy matching the educationally disadvantaged with wayward youth who want to share their talents. Enter Wesley Benfield, a prime candidate for Project Promise, with a special place in his heart for Baptist songwriting, preaching, and a wide, iron-pumping girl over at the Nutrition House. The Lord only knows where Wesley will go from here....


From the Paperback edition.

Genres: Fiction, Southern, Humor, Novels, Comedy, Book Club, Adult Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Clyde Edgerton is widely considered one of the premier novelists working in the Southern tradition today, often compared with such masters as Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor.

Although most of his books deal with adult concerns--marriage, aging, birth and death--Edgerton's work is most profoundly about family. In books such as Raney, Walking Across Egypt, The Floatplane Notebooks, and Killer Diller, Edgerton explores the dimensions of family life, using an endearing (if eccentric) cast of characters. "Edgerton's characters," writes Mary Lystad in Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, "have more faults than most, but they also have considerable virtues, and they are so likable that you want to invite them over for a cup of coffee, a piece of homemade apple pie, and a nice long chat."

Raised in the small towns of the North Carolina Piedmont, Edgerton draws heavily on the storytelling traditions of the rural south in his novels. Without the distractions of big-city life and the communications revolution of the late twentieth century, many rural Americans stayed in close touch with their relatives, and often shared stories about family members with each other for entertainment.

Among Edgerton’s awards are: Guggenheim Fellowship; Lyndhurst Prize; Honorary Doctorates from UNC-Asheville and St. Andrews Presbyterian College; membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers; the North Carolina Award for Literature; and five notable book awards from the New York Times.

Reviews

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is sometimes unfortunate to compare a book you really enjoyed to the next in the series, because when is a sequel ever as good as the first? Oh, I know there are some exceptions, but in this case the rule prevails.

The misadventures of Wesley Benfield continue from Walking across Egypt, and he is the prime character in this novel, continuing to make bad decisions despite good advice from Mattie Rigsby. She makes some supporting role appearances, but too few for me. The one sometimes endearing thing about Wesley is how he tries to teach and Vernon, a mentally challenged young man. But I grew tired of the novel towards the end, and then, I didn’t care for the ending, which I found confusing.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this 5 stars because it was a fun read and not because it's great literature. Wesley is naive, well-meaning, and exhibits a folksy type of wisdom. The hook for me to read this story was the storyline about a Baptist college having a program for overweight Christians and at the same time running another program to match workers with former inmates.

Something that stuck with me was Wesley's notion of the shallow voice and the deep voice in Chapter 12: "You get the deep voice from somewhere saying you ain't supposed to do something, then you get this little shallow voice telling you it's okay."

The ending was abrupt and confusing with the dream interwoven with the reality.

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the dumbest books i have read in awhile. There were a couple decent parts, but not much. The ending was one of the worst I've ever read.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book up until the end. It was an enduring, funny story with previous characters "Grandma" & Wesley returning. However I was disappointed with the ending. I found it left me with many unanswered questions. It just felt incomplete. Kind of like Edgerton forgot to write an ending. Just no closure.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Killer Diller is a charming story about juvenile delinquents who receive acclaim through the band they create. What I liked about the story is the acceptance of their piano player who’s an autistic savant. It was nice reading a story about teens with a heart.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was based on my alma mater. Classic stuff if you know the University.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not read, Walking Across Egypt. Killer Diller is book #2 in the series. I noticed while I was reading that there must had been a first book, but I didn't feel like I couldn't understand what had already taken place, as situations were explained well.

Wesley is the main character. He got into some trouble in the first book, and is currently living in a half way house in this book. He is a Christian, plays in a band, is a brick layer, has a crush on the Dean of the Christian Baptist College daughter, who is in the Nutrition House program (also set up by the Baptist College - brother's Ted and Ned Sears owns both) for overweight Christians. He reads the Bible and he has some legit questions when he's reading the Bible, that when he voices it, everyone seems to brush him off and tell him to look elsewhere for the more "wholesome" stories. Wesley had a lot of valid questions that I would also like for someone to explain to me.

Killer Diller was written in 1991, making the book dated, and at times it really showed in the language, and choice of words people used back then. It seems unreal that only a short 28 years ago people were using such derogatory words such as, "mentally retarded", "honky", that black men and women were serving dinner, and when it wasn't known if the newly man hired on the board was widowed or divorced and Ned or was it Ted (?) was alarmed about it until he found out that, wipe his forehead, he was widowed.

I found one particularly scene absolutely hilarious, near the ending of the story. The luncheon with Wesley's band, the retirement home residents, Santa Claus, the press, and the Baptist Board.... I found myself giggling out loud at the chaos, how everything was messing up, and when everything was going wrong.

The ending was weird, and I was left rereading it as it didn't feel like it was a completion to the book; it didn't jive with the rest of the story and I felt like we were left hanging without knowing an ending.

[Aarti Patel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched the movie based off this book first and that may have been a mistake. Vernon is an integral character in the movie, but he doesn't get his due spotlight in the book. He seems like more of an afterthought in Wesley's girl-crazy world. In the movie he's intriguing, funny, and memorable. He's an easy and natural sidekick to Wesley and you can feel their bond through music. Because music also seems secondary to Wesley's girl-crazy thoughts in the book, this bond gets glossed over. Wesley himself has more dimensions in the movie as well. The long drawn-out Ted/Ned mental monologues and Wesley's sermon also get a bit boring, although there are a couple moments during the sermon that stand out. This book is a great intro to the main characters of the book and holds some humor for sure. I just wildly liked the movie better.

[Giorgi Baskhajauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

რელიგიური აკრძალვების პირობებში მცხოვრები ახალგაზრდების ძიება პასუხების მიღებისკენ და სქესობრივ თუ რელიგიურ საკითხებში გარკვევის მცდელობა,შეიძლება საინტერესო იყოს, მაგრამ ჩემთვის უკვე აღარ იყო აქტუალური. ზოგჯერ ძალიან სასაცილოა, ზოგჯერ მტკივნეული, ავტორი ძალიან დახვეწილად თამაშობს მკითხველის ემოციებზე, პირადად ჩემთვის ერთიანობაში მაინც დაკარგული დრო იყო.

[Patrick Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book features the continuing adventures of Wesley Benfield who previously appeared in Walking Across Egypt. In this book Wesley finds love and forms a Baptist song singing rock band with fellow inmates at a halfway house. Filled with Edgerton's gentle Southern humor, you will understand Wesley better if you read Walking Across Egypt first.

[Cy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For every breathtaking passage about humanity, there is a clumsy passage about human behavior, especially by those who are not the main character. It is a novel of great emotion but hamfisted plotting that sells its heartfelt characters short.

[Patsy Tindell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wesley, the orphan boy from Walking Across Egypt, and Mattie, the elderly woman who took him in are back again is this funny story that involves a local Baptist college and its efforts to gain good publicity. Lots of laughs, but the ending is a bit weak it seems to me.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, about a 3.5; it was slow going at first. I didn't realize this was actually a sequel and while it stood as a book on its own, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had known more about the background. Funny and satiric.

[Linda Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting some friends from another of his books. Enjoyed this one.

[Lawanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook performed by Norman Dietz. A great satire by one of my favorite writers.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a hard book to get through. I liked some other of Edgerton's much more.

[Dani Shirilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting message but the way it’s written probably isn’t digestible to those who need to hear it

[Carol Stanley-Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very strange story...but, enjoyed reading....

[Chip Watts · Rating 1 out of 5]

A disappointing sequel to a favorite novel (“Walking Across Egypt”).
I’m going to try to put it out of my mind and pretend there was never a sequel at all.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

To date, I’ve enjoyed most of Edgerton’s novels, but reading this one in 2022 had a few cringe-worthy moments. Killer Diller attempts to pick up where Walking Across Egypt left off, and while it’s wonderful to see Wesley and Mattie again, the over-arching plot that attempts to bring all the new characters together left me wanting. Maybe the trouble is that any attempt at satirizing Christian higher education is always going to fall short of what we eventually read in today’s headlines (see: Jerry Falwell, Jr). Still, you can’t help rooting for Edgerton’s underdogs.

[Richard B · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first exposure to Clyde Edgerton and I'll definitely be back for more. Set at around a Baptist College in Summerlin, NC, this small but darkly hilarious book tells the story of a young man trying to do the right thing in life and the interesting cast of friends he surrounds himself with. Edgerton a NC native captures the area perfectly in all it's goodness and badness.I honestly can't say too much more without spoiling the story but it is an enjoyable and page turning read.

[Sally Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I love about Edgerton's writing is his ability to describe what his characters are thinking in the littlest ways. His characters are real. They are trying to do the best they can. The humor comes from the realistic collision between the character and his world. Walking Across Egypt is still my favorite of his books. I did not pick up on this being a sequel like other reviewers have mentioned. This is a nice, light read which I enjoyed.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Killer Diller by Clyde Egerton (Ballantine 1981) (Fiction – Mystery). This is set in the small fictional town of Lister, North Carolina. The brothers who run the Baptist College have just opened a Christian weight loss center called “Redemption House” before the business plan was so rudely interrupted. My rating: 7/10, finished 1984.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually really like this author's books. This one was a little different. I couldn't get into the plot and the characters were too simplistic and one dimensional. Previous books included some humor, especially with some of his older characters. There is an older character in this book, but she did not play a very big part in the plot.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually listened to this as an audio book. It is the story of a boy who is in a half-way house as he tries to get back into society. He works at the local Baptist college and is in a band. It tells of the various people (the other band members, people at the college, his girl friend, etc.) that he meets as he goes through life.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as "Walking Across Egypt" but it was good to find out what happened to Wesley Benton and Miss Maddie. Edgerton sure has a knack for writing physical comedy--I was laughing at the scene of 80+ yr old Miss Maddie swinging on the screen door to her porch in her bare feet.

[Lauren Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not really a sequel, but it continues the story of two of the characters from Clyde Edgerton's earlier Walking Across Egypt, which I loved. If you like Southern fiction, read these books. His characters are so real and funny. I laughed out loud a lot in both books.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fave — better than his 'Walking to Egypt.' A big rackety cast of misfits find each other and end up forming a band. Music is a redeeming force. Several characters lead lives of uncomplaining sacrifice, which deepens the moral tone.

[Pam Stackhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, light read, written by an excellent storyteller. A good book to read if you need to smile. I felt like I was sitting with my Grandpa, listening to him spin a yarn. Edgerton did a great job of creating fun characters without making fun of them. Well, without making fun of the good ones.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to seeing what happened to the characters from Walking Across Egypt. However, this book ended up seeming just a bit too strange. I have mixed feelings about this one!

PG-13