4 replies to this topic

[TakkunEG]

I finally got to read Bradley Denton's short story, The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians, which features John Belushi as one of the main characters. It first appeared in his short story collection of the same name, which I had avoided buying for so long because it hovers around US$15 used, and I admit that I'm just that cheap/broke.

However, it has also appeared in a more recent collection, One Day Closer to Death: Eight Stabs at Immortality, which includes all of the stories from the previous collection, plus a new one. This usually costs under US$10 (I got mine, an ex-library copy, for under US$3, before shipping.)

I enjoyed this story SO MUCH, mostly because it's exactly the kind of fantastical writing I've come to expect from Denton. I am a huge fan of his Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede (which I read after searching for Denton when I learned about John in "Coolidge". Seeing as I'm from Lubbock, I couldn't not read "Buddy"), and I also enjoyed his novel Lunatics. I'm still working my way down the list.

However, the one hangup is that John is not as central a character as I had thought. He's kind of like the main supporting character. The real main character is Lenny Bruce, and though I don't know much about him myself, I found the writing of him to be believable. John's dialogue and personality was well written too, IMO, considering the events that occur in the storyline. IMO, it's still worth reading to have John as a character in published fiction.

The story is basically about an afterlife rehab center for dead comedians, where they can shape up and redeem themselves after a life of vice and dirty jokes. They arrive without many memories of their life. An ID bracelet with a first name is their only real clue (ie, Lenny is "Leonard".) They also arrive with their swearing vocabulary missing, which causes them to come up with some hilarious alternatives. The home is run by a pious little woman with strange powers who is there to set them on the straight and narrow. A marker board in the hallway marks their progression toward the day the can go to the "top of the hill".

Beyond this, I can't let on any more without spoiling the heck out of the story. Trust me, any way you get your hands on this story to read it, library, Amazon, etc, you really should. Denton's writing voice is unique and nobody else could pull of this plotline quite the way he does.

[Blueblood]

WoW! Sounds like an awesome book Takk!
Now that you've piqued my interests, it sits on the must have list!!!

[Blueblood]

Update! I just ordered it from Amazon for $1.87!

[TakkunEG]

Woo-hoo! I'll wait a bit and then we can have a little book club together. I read "Coolidge" first, then I went back to the beginning and started "The Territory", which is about Mark Twain. I'm not very far along -- I've been reading at work and I've actually been busy the last few days.

[Blueblood]

Cool beans!