“Out of the box writing” would best be the genre for Chad
Coenson’s creative work titled, Me and
Bobby McGee. We all know the song,
but Chad Coenson created a witty and wild novel involving booze, women,
gambling, kidnapping and yes, sex and violence, plus the daily hangover into a
fast moving “guy novel.” He used a cool way with words that only the narration
of a man’s inner most thoughts would expose. If this would become a movie, I would envision Chad to cast someone like
Uma Thurman as Bobby, the femme fatale
as he puts it, with a Mickey Rourke or Bruce Willis (as long as they gave him
hair) protagonist, Keesey Chypher. Keesey is an ex-CIA trained assassin turned drunk. The star of the novel is tequila, with
the co-star being a beer chaser. Seriously this book is not recommended reading for recovering
alcoholics!
If my lead paragraph above is different than most reviews,
let me simply say Chad Coenson has rubbed off on me. His writing is only believed after read, as
he takes the reader through thought processes far beyond the boundaries of his
plot and characters, and into the comedic reflections of our society, “Mars vs.
Venus” relationships, and greed. Just when
you think the book is about smuggling dope across the Mexican border, you get
blind-sided with a twist and turn and off it goes in a new direction. The narration is something of a Guy Noir type of private detective
portrayed on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie
–Home Companion, mixed of course with 80 proof alcohol and teamed up with a Charlie’s Not-So-Angelic antagonist. At first I wasn’t able to feel sympathetic to
Keesey, as he staggered around New Orleans looking for his car, but after he
got kicked in the balls three times in two days one has to feel sorry for the
guy. This is the type of raw humor
embedded in every sentence, a masterpiece of comedic literature. The book is not hard to put down … it’s impossible.
Reading Me and Bobby
McGee I became relaxed feeling privileged to be brought into the lives of
his characters, as Keesey’s smart witted tongue makes light of even the direst
of situations. Bobby plays Keesey like a
violin, or rather like a trained rat holding her feminine attractiveness the
lure for good behavior. It’s a fantastic
dynamic interaction of love and hate, attraction and disappointment – truly
memorable. Something I hope to read more
of these guys or see them in a movie; should this get adapted for the silver
screen. Even the type style of the book’s
galley text, for example, has a candid and inviting way about it, mixing some
handwritten author’s notes along with an occasional pen & ink illustration
by E. Cobb Holzer, bringing an artistic embellishment into the storyline.
Chad W. Coenson’s writing can best be illustrated by this
paragraph which I highlighted when reading the book, so as to include an
excerpt here in my review. On the risk
of being verbose, I shall reprint the entire, unedited paragraph:
“So often in life we come to that obligatory crossroad, the mandatory
intersection of all things ambiguous and life altering. Be it the lyrics from your favorite blues song
or a mental collision that happens every time you make a choice, we’ve all been
to “the crossroads.” Or maybe we haven’t. Maybe the metaphorical crossroad is only a conceivable abomination for
those of us who constantly make bad decisions. All my life I’ve been trying to find a place to call home and it finally
dawned on me. My address, home sweet home, the place I hang my head because I
don’t wear hats, is “the Crossroads.” It’s the place where the sun stops shining just long enough for the
devil to get his due. It is truly the
lost settlement of indecision, a place devoid of reason, like a giant scale
that never lies or tells the truth. And
yet, I find solace in this purgatory for consequence, because despite its
infinite indifference, the next step is always clearly defined: heaven or hell.”
This book is a surprise from the start. It’s a great book to throw into your carry-on bag and open on a chaise
lounge by a swimming pool or to page while waiting in an airport or on a
plane. If you have a friend graduating
school – get him this for a gift. Besides the engulfing enjoyment, it may steer him away from the swinging
door entrance to a sleazy local watering hole, especially if the lure of a
woman to beautiful to logically be there is baited inside. In Keesey’s famous words, “Make mine a Jack with
a beer chaser."
