Wonderdog

by Inman Majors

With Wonderdog , Inman Majors brings us the unlikely Dev Degraw, son of the iconoclastic governor of the state and former child actor on the historically bad television drama "Bayou Dog." Dev inhabits Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama, ferocious wiener dogs, butter-eating contests, jackleg lawyers, and one-eyed stalkers. It's in this funky Southern milieu that Dev moves among the denizens of Tuscaloosa's local watering holes, the political bigwigs of the state capital, and the sundry elements of B-movie Hollywood.

As the story unfolds, Dev is trying his underachieving best to stay out of his father's heated bid for re-election, as well as a co-star's incomprehensible plans to organize a "Bayou Dog" cast reunion. Fortunately for the reader, his efforts to remain uninvolved in the political fray and as far away as possible from his TV alter ego are foiled by one comic entanglement after another: star-crossed love affairs, a halfhearted legal practice, and an ex-wife dating a male cheerleader. As he tries to rectify past glories with more recent foibles, we come to know the Dev who, knowingly or unknowingly, gets thrust upon a career path that will at last begin to define him. The result is a tour de force of American revelry.

Written with verbal energy, lyricism, and a knife-sharp eye for comedic detail, Wonderdog is a hilarious Dr. Frankenstein concoction of Henry the IV, Kingsley Amis, and John Kennedy Toole. But Inman Majors has created a comedy all his own, one that springs from a love of human speech and compassion for the minor geniuses in the dusty corners of life. Here, with Wonderdog , Majors sets out to examine the comic vagaries of the human condition. What he ends up with is a wholly original work of fiction, breathing new life into the Southern comedy along the way.

Genres: Southern, Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published November 3, 2004

About the author

Inman Majors grew up in Tennessee and now makes his home in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a professor of English at James Madison University.

PENELOPE LEMON: GAME ON!

“Penelope’s adventures in online Christian dating and parenting are hilarious.”—New York Post

"A laugh-out-loud funny tale...Majors' latest is a riot from beginning to end."
—Booklist

"Don't plan on getting anything done once you pick up the funniest book of 2018."
—CharlotteLit

"A light and lively sendup of modern woes."
—Kirkus Review

“Majors’ mixture of “sinners and saints” in his make-believe town of Hillsboro is a laugh-out-loud read.”
—Memphis Commercial Appeal

“Saucy and profane and funny on every page.”
—Nashville Scene

"Seriously racy and laugh out loud funny."—StyleBlueprint

“(Majors) willingness to put his characters through rough patches, that are both absurd and hilarious, makes the book a diverting page-turner.”
—Memphis Flyer

“Penelope Lemon is a high-spirited character who will keep you laughing.”
—Read it Forward

“Inman Majors is a sparklingly funny, immensely charming writer. PENELOPE LEMON gives us a hapless, scrappy, loveable heroine to root for and a whole cast of great characters.” —Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man and The Last Cruise

“If Penelope Lemon wasn’t taken, I’d be dating her myself. As hilarious as she is tough, Penelope is a heroine you can’t help rooting for. She also happens to be a fiercely loving mom with a giant heart. Once again, Inman Majors delivers a wildly entertaining Southern tale that’s funny, smart, poignant, and deliciously subversive.” —Michelle Richmond, author of The Marriage Pact


“In PENELOPE LEMON, Inman Majors captures a subversive, outrageously funny middle America. It’s like Bridget Jones’s Diary, but with a hilarious, small-town, rocker mother as its lead. I laughed out loud A LOT and cheered Penelope every step of the way.”—John Hart, author of The Last Child


LOVE’S WINNING PLAYS

“(A) delightful new comic novel about SEC football.” —Wall Street Journal

“One of the 20 best books of 2012.” —Bookpage

“Funny, irreverent and savvy." —Publisher's Weekly

“Laugh-out-loud comedy populates the narrative...A sardonic, fun take on big-time college football.” —Kirkus Reviews

“It is a gem of a comedic novel, so laugh-out loud funny that readers might not even notice that if also captures the essence of the sport with humanity and grace.” —Knoxville News Sentinel

“Genuine laughs on nearly every page.” —Bookpage

“The comedy, which ranges smoothly from broad to subtle, is nonstop…(T)he writing is witty and razor—sharp throughout.” —Booklist (starred review)

“You know how sometimes you read something that makes you laugh so hard you’re embarrassed to read it in public? That’s how I felt about Love’s Winning Play." —Eliza Borné, Book Case blog, editor-in-chief of the Oxford American

“A rollicking tale of Southeastern Conference gridiron madness.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Majors targets the ridiculousness of hype and hysteria over college football teams and is very funny doing it.” —Baton Rouge Advocate

“Strap yourself in—it’s a wild ride." —Library Journal

“I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud this much reading a book.”—Metropulse

“One of our sharpest, funniest writers.”—The Classical



WONDERDOG

“A sharp and hilarious novel.” —Booklist

“Majors scores big points with his cast of friendly eccentrics, zingy dialogue, and a plot that wanders across the Southern landscape like a crazed raccoon chased by a pack of wild dogs.”
—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Irreverent, hilarious, reportorial…Majors does it all.”—Knoxville News Sentinel

“Uniquely entertaining.” —Seattle Times

"If (Barry) Hannah is Southern Fiction's Howlin' Wolf, then Majors may well prove to be its B.B. King...Quick-witted and irreverent.” —Planet Weekly

“Wonderdog reads like Charles Portis cross-pollinated with Barry

Reviews

[Hentyal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I am somewhat biased due to the fact that the author was one of my college professors. However, I still loved this book. It was a fun read and it had me laughing out loud a lot. He, himself, is a very funny person so I was happy to see that his writing reflects his personality well.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inman Majors was my favorite professor at James Madison University. He taught me a great deal about character development and comedic timing, so naturally, I wanted to read one of Inman's novels. I am happy to report that his writing reflects his wonderful sense of humor. Wonderdog's protagonist, Dev Degraw, is a bitter drunk with a sharp wit. The novel's first person narration does an excellent job of developing Dev and slowly transforms him from an ass that we pitty, to an ass that we care about. His supporting cast is equally strange and the plot expertly utilizes each character. At times Dev can become a bit whiney and I did find myself wondering what all these women see in him, but these problems were minor and did not diminish the overall experience. Having been a student of Inman Majors, I had high expectations going in to this book, and I was not dissapointed.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a blog post I wrote in 2005:

This is a great book! The author is Inman Majors and his style is a cross between Carl Hiaasen's and Wastnawa's. By that I mean he has kooky characters and ignores punctuation rules (though he does use paragraphs).

The main character is a divorced and somewhat depressed lawyer whose Dad is the Governor of Alabama and who was a bad childhood TV actor on a Lassie type show. The kooky characters include his C&W stepmom, his TV Dad, a bunch of political cronies and his bar buddies (he spends a lot of time in bars which probably had a lot to do with why I liked him).

I could tell you more but you should just read the book. It's a hoot!

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hilarious! The writing style is a bit unorthodox and free flowing. It's as if the author literally let his brain chatter right out onto the page. Loved it & stayed up way too many nights laughing... Hope there's a sequel soon!

[Douglas Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny read with some memorable scenes. Worth a read.

[Branden Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dev Degraw is one of the most uncensored, raw narrators I've ever read. He doesn't care if you know the bad about him with the good, and lets you in on his harsh sarcastic commentary on everyone with complete abandon. And that is what, at first, can make him incredibly jarring and frustrating. Of course, there's plenty to be frustrated about, where Dev is concerned: he's a bit of a man-child, raunchy, and lazy. But he's also a good guy to the people he cares about, friendly, funny, and most of his vices are just things that the average person would do if they got the chance. And his uncensored quality is unique: the only person we tend to see this way is ourselves, and we're great at making excuses to ourselves that nobody else would buy.

Long story short, I was hard on old Dev at first but I came around. It felt good to watch him grow in the end, to become the person he had the potential to be. Some of us are late bloomers, and so if Dev, and that's really nothing to be ashamed of.

The book doesn't have the likeable main character that Love's Winning Plays does, or the serious highbrow content and experimentation of The Millionaires, but if you approach it with an open mind, you should enjoy it. I know I intend to read it a second time with a far more open mind.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard Inman Majors read aloud from this book at a conference and loved it, and the book does lend itself to oral reading. Now, maybe I'm being hard on this book, but the sarcastic narrator's voice got tiresome, and what was supposed to be funny became depressing. Yes, I laughed some throughout the book, but the plot literally plodded from one bar to the next, and the characters were caricatures. (Maybe if I'd had more experience with good ole boys, bars, and politicians I could have related more.) The positives were the familiar Tuscaloosa setting, the dry (sometimes dark) wit, the jazzy dialogue, and the good writing with its inventive punctuation. In all, it was well done, but not my cup of tea.

[Megan Farley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, didn't love it. Bits of it were hard to read - the character was lost and his inner dialog was scattered to reflect that, but a bit too much so for my liking at times. I enjoyed that it was set in Tuscaloosa and I smiled when I read the last chapter, ended well. I'll give Majors another try.

[Alex Norcross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel by one of my former professors at JMU. It really took me by surprise. Wonderdog is a fun, witty, humorous story about a former childhood actor turned lawyer. Perhaps it does not qualify as canon literature, but its an enjoyable read all the same.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny. Quick easy read. Nothing special but a good book.


Quotes:

"Hell son, he says, you were born on third base. Me and the governor had to work to get this far. That's why it means something to you."

[Anita · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was about my hometown with a bar named McRaes and I still was unable to have any feeling about the main character except "what a douche". If your main character is a ne'er do well, there should be something remotely likeable about him.

[Dan Awesome · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this while on vacation at Walden Cabin in PEI this summer. Good, if a little difficult to follow which character is which.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up on the book! It was hard to know who was talking or if the main character was just thinking. Virtually no flow.

[Brian Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It draws comparisons to two of my favorites - The Moviegoer and Dog of the South. But I'd go with the originals.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://prairieprogressive.com/?p=399

[Rebecca]

First Edition: 2004