All names have been converted to initials unless the person has listed their
name in a published review or given permission.
MH
"Had to order a copy of
this unique book for my daughter. I imagine she'll laugh her head off."
AJ
"Wow! A book about death, now how cool is that?"
NR
"I'm 10 years old and I liked your book. There were a couple bad words but I'm
not the type of person that it bothers."
RB
"A really funny book."
MH Writes again
"Ordered 4 more!"
BJ
"Ordered three for gifts to friends. (At
least they were my friends before I gave them the books)."
PR
"Mom marked out the bad words and that
was so funny."
AC 10/13/2008 A fantastic read! The writing style is so
creative. I never realized there could be so much humor in such a serious
subject! I anxiously await the sequel!
JS
Weepin' Willie is a pretty unique little book. I liked the
cover thinking maybe this would be a
Dead Like Me ,
A Dirty Job Grim Reaper type novel so I decided to give
it a go. But I actually had no idea what this book was about
when I picked it up, as it has no information about the plot
written anywhere on the cover. Plus a few paragraphs in, I
realised all the praise on the back of the book is written
by people from a town with the same name as the town this
novel is set in, who are probably a little biased seeing
their town's name make the readers' map. Plus the fact that
the main character also shares the author's name had me a
bit worried I'd been conned into buying a stinker. However I
did read on and was pleasantly surprised to find out this is
not a bad book. It's a bit of surreal Carl Hiaasen/Bill
Fitzhugh type adventure full of eccentric characters. A lot
of the action is located inside Weepin' Willie's business
(hence the title of the novel) which is a cut price funeral
home so the reader also gets to learn how embalming is done,
bodies a prepared for viewing and a lot of history of the
funeral industry (including how frequent necrophilia is).
It's a fun read, check it out!
The basic plot is Richard Grayson receives a call in the
middle of the night telling him his former best friend and
ex army buddy Dwayne has died, and that Richard was one of
the people listed to be immediately notified upon his death.
Richard hasn't seen Dwayne in many years but when he is
informed he is in Dwayne's Will, and that he will only
inherit and be told what that inheritance is if he attends
the funeral in Dwayne's small rural town of Hayville, he
decides he should say goodbye. Upon arriving in town he
quickly discovers the residents are not like the rest of
civilization. For starters the petrol pumps in the only gas
station (and there's only one of everything in town) have no
price information and he can't get a straight answer out of
the inbred who owns the place until he fills it up. The only
place to get food, Joe's Pork Palace, has a waitress who
tells him there's no menus and will only answer if they have
something or not if he asks her if they have each particular
meal. The waitress also tells him she has been waiting and
saving herself for his arrival for more than ten years, that
her destiny is to marry him, as his name begins with R,
something a fortune teller prophesised and there has not
been another male in town before him that fits that
criteria. His hotel room doesn't look like it's been cleaned
in years, and overlooks the graveyard where he swears he
sees a heart beating on a tombstone from his window. The
church has a picture of a frog in its plate glass window,
but the weirdest town inhabitants of all can be found in the
funeral home. Richard can't wait for the funeral to occur so
he can leave this town of freaks. It is not long however
before Richard learns that Willie forgot to mention a small
fact to do with the Will, in order to get anything he must
first stay three nights in Hayville. Richard's problems are
also enhanced by the fact that sometimes he thinks out loud
without knowing it. Plus the fact that there's a good reason
why you don't eat at Joe's Pork Palace on Thursdays.
L. L.
My review may not be the most verbose. My review might not
get in the book review of any publication, but I have met
the author and have participated in some of his endeavors.
This book is the most hilarious and, at the same time, the
most thought provoking book currently in print. LL
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