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Liked It “I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Brooks and Dunn are probably my favorite country artists today, but I had my doubts when I started reading this book. I was worried when I'd see little hints and traces of their songs throughout the first few chapters. I remember thinking, "This is going...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Brooks and Dunn are probably my favorite country artists today, but I had my doubts when I started reading this book. I was worried when I'd see little hints and traces of their songs throughout the first few chapters. I remember thinking, "This is going to be pretty lame if we are going to go through their extensive catalog of songs." The song names stopped soon enough, and the adventure took off.
Todd P wrote this review Monday, March 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This modern day western story really grabbed my attention. It was just a fun read that was unpredictable. I would recommend this book.”
“Loved this book, as I have all of Fitzhugh's novels. I wasn't sure I'd like it since I'm not a country music fan by any means, but my music preferences had no bearing on my enjoyment. Bill did another great job with this one! If your looking for an entertaining read, this will satisfy. Great characters! Now that a partnership of sorts has been forged between Slim & Howdy, I'd love to read a sequel.”
Jen F wrote this review Wednesday, March 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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Libby H wrote this review Friday, January 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The Adventures of Slim and Howdy by Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn
A fun book to read; the authors are country western singers who had a little help.
"You know, as many times as I've played here, I don't think I ever met your brother."
"No, he doesn't get over this way very often," Jodie said, shaking her head. "So you probably didn't meet." There was something in her tone that gave the impression they weren't the closest of siblings. But at the same time, it didn't sound like there was any real animosity between them, as indicated by the fact that she didn't refer to him as her "sorry-assed excuse for a brother" or words along those lines. If anything, there seemed to be a shade of regret in her voice when she said, "We don't actually see each other that much. He's always traveling for work, you know, pretty busy." Like she was making excuses for him.
"Still," Slim said, trying to put a sweet spin on things, "it's good having family around, even if some of 'em are lawyers."
Jodie answered with a shrug and a bittersweet smile. (116)
Jodie came out from behind the bar to greet her brother. She looked pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless. She gave him a warm hug before stepping back to get a look at him. "You look great," she said, as if he usually didn't. "What brings you in here all dressed up?"
Grady put on a face like his feelings were hurt by the implications of everything coming out of her mouth. He said, "A man needs a reason to visit his sister's place of business?"
Jodie was tempted to make a snarky comment about how he hadn't been to the club more than two or three times since she took over the place and how he never even seemed to have time to meet her for lunch and how he always had an excuse for not accepting her invitations to Sunday dinner, but she held her tongue, gestured at the bar, and said, "Well, it's good to see you. Can I get you something?" ....
Grady had always been a big talker. Had the same fondness for promise and disregard for delivery as a six-term senator. At fifteen, when he could finally jump high enough to touch the basketball rim, Grady swore he could dunk. And people believed him. He should've run for office. Jodie wasn't sure if all the big talk stemmed from insecurity or if Grady just like to bullshit people because he was good at it. (127-8)
Howdy went on to make a brief, if haphazard, argument that it was the same way people seemed to settle for so many things in life. They settled for things that were easy and adequate but not perfect and told themselves they loved it because perfect took too much work and even then there were no guarantees. But otherwise, he said, that all too often, you end up one day looking back at a decision and thinking, Why didn't I hold out for something better than that?
"That's a cliche because it's true," Howdy said. "I mean, how many people you know who are miserable, and got nobody to blame but themselves, because they settled for something less than what they really wanted?" He put the top on the shaker as if to cap his argument.
"But not you," Slim said. "You're holding out for perfect, aren't you? No matter what the cost....An imagined ideal," Slim said. "The search for which has left many a man as unhappy as anybody who ever settled for less." (136-7)
"You mean other than the fact that there's no evidence of a crime?"
Rosy turned to the teenage runaway and said, "That's what I keep saying. Where's the crime? Ain't no eva-dence against me, 'cause I wasn't nowhere near there when it happened."
Along with a whiff of Rosy's breath, the sullen teenager caught a glimpse of his future and the kind of people he'd be rubbing shoulders with if he didn't get his act together. Years from now he would look back at this moment as the turning point in his life. But that's another story. (145)”
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