Ninety-two in the Shade (edit title)

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Liked It Rated 4 stars “Thomas McGuane is a novelist who broke through in the 1970s, and he was also briefly involved in Hollywood as a screenwriter during that time. This was his third novel, and probably his best known. In the book, Thomas Skelton moves back home to Key West in Florida to try to build a new career...” see full review » see other reviews »

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  • Rated 3 stars

  “Interesting book. He has a very gonzo writing style with some great moments. Some of the ideas in the book were a lot of work, but some very good moments as well.”

  Crossbike wrote this review Sunday, October 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No

  
  
  • Rated 4 stars

  “Thomas McGuane is a novelist who broke through in the 1970s, and he was also briefly involved in Hollywood as a screenwriter during that time. This was his third novel, and probably his best known. In the book, Thomas Skelton moves back home to Key West in Florida to try to build a new career as a skiff guide. This plan puts him in the watchful crosshairs of the always territorial and sometimes homicidal Nichol Dance, a hard-livin’ man who has established himself as the king of the water-jungle in this profession. McGuane’s style at this point was very ornate: an exceptional command of the English language and packing a lot of content (dry and absurdist humor, cultural references, etc.) into each sentence. A reader may feel worn down by this after too long, wishing for more ‘space’ to breathe (I’ve read that his works nowadays show considerable more restraint). Still, there are some classic lines to be found in this one: “This was the epoch of uneasy alliances,” “with the fame of maddened rages on his side,” “the two principal questions of citizenship, Will-I-be-caught? and Can-I-get-away? dominated his mind entirely,” “So he convinced himself that he was safe, forever really,” and “who would fistfight shrimp captains over principles not even believed.” This novel, by the way, also remains the only film McGuane ever directed, starring a great trifecta of ‘70s indie-actors: Warren Oates and his frequent co-stars Peter Fonda and Harry Dean Stanton. Fonda told McGuane: “If you don’t get Warren Oates to play Nichol Dance, then you don’t even know your own book!””

  Joe M wrote this review Friday, June 6 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No