- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; paperback / softback edition (6 Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141009861
- ISBN-13: 978-0141009865
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 891,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Tishomingo Blues
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Product Description
Review
By now just about everyone knows that a visit to Leonard country is at least going to be a trip. With cool dudes. And whipcrack dialogue. And angles, lots of angles. Tishimongo Blues, aficionados will be relieved to hear, is all that and more. When professional high diver Dennis Lenahan arrives at the Tishomingo Lodge and Casino, in Tunica, Miss., and sets up his 80-foot ladder and nine-foot deep pool, almost the first thing he sees is Floyd Showers getting taken out. Five bullets, neat, but noisy. Next he meets Robert Taylor, a blues-loving operator just down from Detroit, and Dennis starts to get sucked into a whole other lawless world of gangsters, girls and Civil War re-enactments. As weird a slice of Americana as you could wish for.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Dennis Lenehan is a class act. A high diver, turned pro in 79, who's fetched up at the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino near the Mighty Mississippi, diving from an eighty-foot-high platform into a tank with just nine feet of water. All to entertain the guests. Except that Dennis just loves his job. Too bad then that his pleasure is spoiled when one day he witnesses a killing from his position high up in the sky. Pretty soon Dennis is deep in trouble as some cool dudes from up north attempt to muscle in on the local Dixie Mafia - moonshiners, bootleggers, truck-hijackers and amphetamine manufacturers - and decide that Dennis has just what it takes to run a racket.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Let me qualify this firstly by saying I've read a fair bit of Elmore, I started with Bandits, moved through Freaky Deaky and Get Shorty, to Cuba Libra, Out of Sight, Glitz, Be Cool and Riding the Rap. Tishomingo is easily the best of the lot for me. A great central character, Dennis, with an interesting back story as a high diver, is paired up with a shady out of towner called Robert and helps him take over the business interests of the Southern Mafia. As you would expect, the dialogue and characterization are typically excellent; well drawn heroes and villains and their molls spitting out barbed language that sounds so fresh and real it's hard to believe Elmore hasn't been out on the streets with these actual people and recorded it.
Naturally the plot contains as many satisfying twists as ever, but what really made this one stand out for me above all the rest of Elmore's work was the sheer joy he seems to have taken in writing it. He clearly loves talking about old blues and civil war re-enactments from the way he goes into such detail about them, which makes it much more interesting for the reader. The locations are lush and vividly depicted, the action tense, and the conclusion hugely satisfying. If you're a fan already, get this. If you're a newcomer to Elmore, this will convert you. I hear it's going to be filmed as well, pray Soderbergh or Sonnenfeld gets it.
Naturally the plot contains as many satisfying twists as ever, but what really made this one stand out for me above all the rest of Elmore's work was the sheer joy he seems to have taken in writing it. He clearly loves talking about old blues and civil war re-enactments from the way he goes into such detail about them, which makes it much more interesting for the reader. The locations are lush and vividly depicted, the action tense, and the conclusion hugely satisfying. If you're a fan already, get this. If you're a newcomer to Elmore, this will convert you. I hear it's going to be filmed as well, pray Soderbergh or Sonnenfeld gets it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is no doubt that Mr Leonard is king of his pulp fiction genre but this story is mediocre at best. The author must be laughing all the way to the bank as he goes to make another deposit. He is on to a winning format but this kind of writing is very simplistic and only brilliant in the sense that it is so successful. I was glad when the story came to its semi-predictable conclussion and I could move on to something more entertaining. Elmore Leonard kept me reading, I'll give him that, but I was left with nothing in the end. As the song goes, 'Money for nothing and chicks for free.' Even though the chicks in this story the only bear commenting on because they were remarkably unremarkable.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Elmore Leonard writes character driven stories where the good and bad guys are not always obvious, because they are human. He also doesn't spoon feed to you the plot or insult your intelligence with a need to explain every move or motive, unlike the likes of Dan Brown, John Grisham etc.
This is the first Elmore Leonard novel I ever read and at first I found the book a little hard to get into because it isn't immediately obvious what it is about but that is also much of it's charm. It is a narrative built plot, with the characters building the story bit by bit. I loved not knowing where it was going. I found this book highly original and I loved the humour and loved the characters. It kept me interested all the way through as i feverishly turned page after page after page. Highly recommended!
This is the first Elmore Leonard novel I ever read and at first I found the book a little hard to get into because it isn't immediately obvious what it is about but that is also much of it's charm. It is a narrative built plot, with the characters building the story bit by bit. I loved not knowing where it was going. I found this book highly original and I loved the humour and loved the characters. It kept me interested all the way through as i feverishly turned page after page after page. Highly recommended!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Leonard loses his way
Despite a slow start, this book builds up to a pacey finish, and as usual, Leonard's dialogue and his feel for his characters is spot on. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2007 by T. Burkard
***** LOVED THIS *****
This is the first Elmore Leonard novel I ever read and at first I found the book a little hard to get into because it isn't immediately obvious what it is about but that is also... Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2007 by Mr. N. Carnegie
Tishomingo Blues
I bought this book in an airport. I'd missed my plane by about fifteen minutes and had to stay there over night. Read more
Published on 5 July 2004
A cracking yarn
I have just listened to the unabridged audio version of this book, and my daily commute to work passed without my noticing. Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2003
Page-turner, but not particularly memorable
As a fan of "bizarre crime" novels (having worked back to Elmore Leonard from Christopher Brookmyre and Carl Hiaasen) I enjoy the smart dialogue, the quirky situations,... Read more
Published on 7 April 2002 by Barn Close
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