Road Kill by Kinky Friedman Review
Simon and Schuster, Sept., 1997.252 pp. ISBN: 068480378X
Hardcover.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Kinky Friedman, ex-country singer for the Texas Jewboys and current
New York private detective is feeling restless and a bit on edge. Of
course, seeing a gypsy looking back at you in the mirror can do that
to a man. Especially when the gypsy tells him to get out of town
fast. When Kinky's old friend, country singer legend Willie Nelson,
seems worried and invites him to go on tour with him, the Kinkster
hightails it for distant parts to join up with Willie and his
traveling show on the famed tourbus The Honeysuckle Rose. As they
fandango across America, Kinky decides to do his best to find out
what's eating his old friend. Apparently, while traveling through a
lonely portion of Arizona The Honeysuckle Rose had a head-on
collision with a Native American medicine man. The result is a dead
medicine man and a mysterious and deadly curse which has Willie (who
is part Native American himself) and his cohorts extremely nervous.
When Willie's look alike is shot by mistake, Kinky springs into
action, determined to find out who is set on silencing his old friend
forever. The suspects are wide-ranging: from the FBI to one of
Willie's 97 ex-wives and Kinky is running out of time if he wants to
save his friend's life.
Kinky follows the trail of clues from Arizona to Manhattan assisted by his oddball friends, the Village Irregulars, a critical cat, a bottle or two of Jameson's and some contraband. The result is a classic Friedman adventure -- hilarious, irreverent, politically incorrect, seemingly out of control and yet somehow literate and insightful. Sound like an impossible mix? Well, that describes Kinky Friedman and his adventures perfectly. Friedman is not for everyone, certainly - you need a strong constitution and a broad sense of humor to go on this outrageous and gleeful joyride.
Return to the December 1997 issue of The IWJ.
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