Book-a-book of the Month Club discussion

There are so many characters in this story - very colorful ones for sure! This has the potential to be a very extensive and interesting discussion!

So may interesting characters - this book is definitely more about the characters than the story itself. The most important character of all is Savannah - I never thought much about it, but I want to visit it now.

Once the author got into all the little anecdotes about the various people he met I was drawn in. I kind of feel like he may not have set out to write a book, but he realized that all the strange and interesting people he met were too good not to write about.

I agree that the book is mostly about the characters. I was reading waiting for "something to happen" when I finally am realizing that the characters are the story. Matthew, you are right, they definitely are colorful!

yeah, while the characters are definitely enough reason to keep reading, I'm hoping there's a greater tie in to the overlapping events. i know from the first chapter that things eventually lead up to a murder. with all the giant personalities and even bigger notions or grandeur i'm on edge about when it will happen and whom it will involve. That was a great little hook, it could be anyone.

I felt that way, too, Joe. I remember being about halfway through and thinking "this is pretty good, but I know it is designated "true crime", so when is that going to happen?"

There are no many characters! I think Joe Odom was one of my favorite characters. Pretty solid name and all. I liked him because he was no bullshit. Everyone else in the town felt like they had a secret agenda.

Wait, what am I saying. Joe Odom was a fraudulent bastard that was mostly out for his own good. But he was likeable. I was endeared by his fly by the seat of his pants lifestyle and that he was reliably unreliable. He was always upfront with opinions. The thing that made him the most attractive was his passion for life and love. I couldn't live that way, but the idea that someone does is quite humbling. Floating between marriages, inviting strangers into his house at all hours and playing the piano every chance he got without trying to get rich or famous.

I have the hardest time imaging that he slept at all.

I never knew what to make of Jim Williams. The only thing that I could say for certain was that he was a collector. He filled his house with beautiful and rare things. To some degree I think that's why he kept Danny around. He was another item in Jim's collection.

It seemed strange to me that Jim, a man that was so private that he was able to easily live his double life would keep someone so disasterous around.

When it all started coming together I wondered what it would be like if Danny did make it to be older. What if there was a time in his life where he wasn't the "streak of sex" that he was in his early twenties. Would Jim keep aroud then?

I kind of felt like whether or not he was truly guilty, Jim Williams would have deserved some jail time. I was irritated by his "nothing can touch me attitude" and "boo-hoo, I am so oppressed". Interesting character, but so annoying!

Oh, haha. I didn't even think about that. It was definitely very hard to tell if he was guilty or not, especially because he came back and mentioned his "new version" of events.

The opposition against him was very compelling. It annoys me more that while he was serving jail time he was only limited from throwing parties at his house. Why does he have so much access in a prison? I think it annoys me more because that's how it works. People with money, even a decent sum of it, can dictate what jail time means to them.

I was leaning more towards him being completely innocent. The circumstances may have been shady and maybe it was hard to tell what Jim's intent was with Danny, but I genuinely felt like he was in a threatening situation and reacted as such.

On the other hand with his reaction to having just slain another person lead me to believe that he had no feelings for Danny whatsoever. Which could back up or break down the idea that it was self-defense. Or he could be a socio-path.

I felt like his entitlement to not caring about the case was that to him it was closed. He was innocent because he acted in self-defense.

I could see other side of the coin, but if I was a juror I would have voted not-guilty on all accounts.

I see that Chablis seems to be the favorite character of most. Why wouldn't she be? She had a lot of energy, spunk and told it like it was.

I thought it was interesting, as with most of the characters in the book, that she was so willing to spill her guts upon just meeting the author.

I thought it was moist poignant how the two of them meet. He's just driving his beat up car around and Chablis pushes herself in and declares that he's going to give her a ride home. To be with her man, nevertheless.

It makes me wonder how many 'friends' she keeps in this manner. I guess it's a good thing that the author was open to her because she may have been the best character of his book.

It was very much worth his time to drive her around.

I like Joe, he was very interesting to me. I didn't mind MInerva either, she was entertaining.

I really liked Luther Driggers the most, I just wish we had gotten more of him.

As for Chablis, she bugged me. I can't exactly figure why, but yeah, didn't like her.