20 jan 15, tuesday afternoon, 1:39 p.m. e.s.t.haven't read story one from jones, matthew f. this is the 1st. i'm certain that box top right readers also enjoyed with the scroll-work of covers brought me here. saw it. clicked on it. read a bit in the way of description, review. here i am. last story i read, john d macdonald's Please Write for Details a story that does not fit in any of the genre labels people like to use, simple straight-forward fiction, comedic, at that. there's a story on the copyright page:copyright, 1996, matthew f. jones...originally published 1996. oh okay, was thinking it wasn't published 'til later...2011a quote to every good life chased from the good life it was born to. ...or a dedication i guess.story begins: six angles of wrathin a time when reliable standards of personal conduct have allegedly eroded and, no longer anchored by religious conviction or cultural cohesion, have diminished to irresolute situational postures and secular mumbles, an older, less elastic code of honor may seem vastly appealing, even heroic. to avert the confusions attendant on choice, such codes are simplified, starkly so, but clearly: do that to me, you can rely on me to do this to you.verily. okee dokee then, as the good doctor said (cookies for da-da, 1967), onward and upward.oops. that's not the story start. that's the foreward by woodrell, daniel. it happens.story begins:sundaybefore the sun is up, john moon has showered, drunk two cups of coffee, and changed into his blue jeans, sweatshirt, and timberland hiking boots. he has eaten two pieces of toast, a bowl of cereal, and put out food for his wandering dog. before leaving the trailer by the front door, he gets his 12-guage shotgun and a handful of slugs from the gun cabinet off the kitchen.a note on the narrationpresent tense. i like it. if you want another good read that uses the same sense of time, give The Silent Wife a shot. and since i am up to the next chapter, monday, i'm probably safe to hazard that the time is lineal but i was mistaken above. we can adjust if need be. and...yes...each succeeding chapter is titled by a day of the week. up to "friday" now most of the way through this paperback...not a kindle, but the paperback has this cover though it is not listed. story is told through the 3rd-person eye of john moon and he can't make heads or tails out of what is happening. weird goings-on. time place scene setting*sunday*monday*early june*not stated but strongly implied that the story takes place in the state of new york, rural area6/18/95, the day the girl died*rural setting, mountains, a trailer, a nearby farm, the old moon family farm now owned by cecil nobie...dairy farm*the woods nearby...a quarry*6/94...date of a photo in the wallet of the dead girl*the undertaker's driveway*office of daggard pitt, above j.j. newberry's*puffy's diner, where moira, john's wife works...parking lot outside the diner*the three-story, white, flaking clapboard building where moira rents on the 3rd floor*a liquor store*a pond*the oaks...a motel/hotel...and skinny leak's office there at the oaks*#229 at the oaks...another room couple doors down*the bus station...bus station restroom...a couple buses*the river...old bridge abutments nearby, no bridge*6/24/95 date at the end of the story, note there from john*the dark, one-story cabin of simon breedlove*john moon's truck...cellar space beneath his trailer...an upturned stump and the space beneath*hidden pondcharacters major minor peripheral name-only famous-real hypothetical*john moon, our hero, 30-year-old, separated from his wife and child, his father (and presumably his mother) deceased, the father dying when john was sixteen. john lives in a trailer nearby the old family farm on an acre and a half he inherited from his mother. john did not graduate high school, alas, although his wife is taking classes at night to be a teacher. he had his heart set on being a farmer, raising a farming family*cecil nobie: who now farms the moon family farm*conservation officer, two teenagers, a hiker*old man hollenbach, ira and molly hollenbach, who were murdered, cut up with a knife*simon breedlove, a nam vet wounded there though he don't talk about it and simon has been like a father-figure to john*his father, robert moon, deceased*his grandfather, who possessed the farm before his father*his wife and son, moira and nolan*a dead girl with two others:*man, tools, germ*a couple in their 50s...photograph*heavyset man late 20s early 30s...photograph*waylon...who knows the dead girl*grabass high school boys*quentin...of quentin's swamp*god*latter-day frankenstein*levi dean, co-worker of john moon's*cole howard, co-worker of john moon's...has a dump truck*cole's wife*daggard pitt, john's attorney, has a gimpy leg and hand, born to it*daggard's receptionist, secretary, looks like pitt's sister*gerhard lane: moira's attorney, former college football*dean got laid the night before...so, lay*jerry puffer, owner/operator of puffy's diner*hank williams, jr. john moon listens to in truck*two men emerge, one vaguely familiar*two kids...middle fingers extended to the police*undersheriff ralph nolan*a thin toothless man eating soup*patrons in three or four different booths*a set of hands behind the swinging doors*the doctor....who john probably did not see, recommended tossed salads*couns'lors...to whom john is now willing to go with moira though she is not willing*a giant...as in 'a giant's belly'...noises and so forth*milk inspectors...major land developers (they're pretty much everywhere)*the other men*the driver, a long-haired kid (pizza delivery)*a naked woman holding a pizza slice, carla, moira's friend and babysitter, they work together at puffy's diner*three men in wolves' masks are screwing little red riding hood (tv)*obie/obadiah cornish, who was a foster kid to ira/molly...he is also called "the hen" and he was raised by about eight different people because his parents didn't want anything to do with him*including an aunt who badly mishandled him*mutt, is a three-colored stray, and john's dog. mutt doesn't have a christian dog name, just mutt and mutt comes and goes*annie and the kids gone to her sister's...nobie's wife and family*eban, nobie's oldest*a real-estate developer*ira's sister...ira hollenbach*women...in the magazines john looks at*a woman's voice...a man's voice...when john makes a call*the dead girl's parents*ichabod crane...a character is likened to*two naked women...with simon breedlove*big colette, is one of the naked women*she is married to ralph gans*the other is her cousin, a daugther to beano dixon, her younger sisters nicknamed her mincy*who has three daughters*einstein*jesus*downstate hunter killed his companion*a breather one time (phone)*joan collins...police...pervert (phone)*diablo, is the name of a horse that abbie nobie rides up to john moon's trailer one night*abbie nobie...smart girl, college-bound, has plans*indians native to this region*abbie's english class*a man shooting a pistol...which...i think is john's reflection in a dying television though he don't know it...that it is him.*souls, good and bad*pastor mclean...who visited robert moon*leonard pine, the pharmacist*a pretty young thing in here*half-naked kids run in the street*skinny leak...who is a kind of manager at the oaks, a motel nearby*mickey moon? no*a breast-sagging, middle-aged woman, florence, who rented a room in the oaks, she just got there*a man, some guy in a bar...who hit florence with a beer bottle*two maids*sister in boston...of florence*one of the fitch boys*a bus half full of passengers*the man selling tickets at the coutner*two black men came out of the john*ingrid banes, from rock gap, pennsylvania...the name of the dead girl, i think...name and face on a poster, anyway, at the bus station*her seatmate...florence*lois cobb, a 300-pound girl john went to school with*her parents*fouror five other boys in the school corridor*everyone he passes...his old work crew, cole howard, levi dean, gumby talon*dozens of farmers they used to meet*a boyfriend...moira has a boyfriend...a professor*bob and melanie banes, parents of ingrid*a drunk*an albany banker and his teenage girlfriend...who died in the cadillac that simon breedlove rescued and put a new engine in it*two people side-by-side and a smaller person or animal*simon mentions "my daddy"*billy boy (from a song)*willie nelson...garth brooks...the iroquois...davy crockett*john moon's father's home health aides*burton doomas...who lost two fingers in a machine that makes bowling pins*the few people he sees on his way back out of town*carter sey...as in carter sey's old rock-infested lumber road*a naked woman swimming*a naked man, conservancy hikers, naked in hidden pond*ling, a vietnamese girl the only girl simon loved*vietnamese immigrant family in san franciscoupdate, finished, 21 jan 15, wednesday morning, 10:14 a.m. e.s.t.something else. i'm glad it's fiction. but it reads like it really happened. and the sorry truth is that it probably could. really happen. i dunno. maybe five stars is being too...something. i considered what i'd award this story as i approached the end. a real page-turner, this. say like that business about fingerprints on the slug. one, the reader could dismiss that as the failed imagination of john moon. or two, the failure of the man who wrote the story. don't see how one would find fingerprints on a shotgun slug in the body of the deceased. come on. there'd be none. i read that right? or say, that business with waylon, .308-shot, the face no less...and would the monster still move? oh you bet it would. happens all the time. bad thing falls ten stories onto a cast-iron picket fence, pulls its bad self off, and does damage to others. it happens...i've heard the stories or read them. but it all balances out, i imagine...lower ratings 'cause a dog died poorly, this that the other. you don't want to break down side of the road in that neighborhood is what i'm saying. or the thought one is being...what? shocked and awed? nasty sex all o'er the place? naw. reality is ralph. i'll be reading some more from jones, matthew f. good read.
i was fooled. i opened the book, as you do, and i started reading.in a time when reliable standards of personal conduct have allegedly eroded and, no longer anchored by religious convictions or cultural cohesion, have diminished to irresolute situational postures and secular mumbles, an older, less elastic code of honor may seem vastly appealing, even heroic. to avert the confusions attendant on choice, such codes are simplified, starkly so, but clearly: do that to me, you can rely on me to do this to you. do that to my kin, watch for smoke from your garage. say that to my wife, and this is the bog where your worried relatives will find you facedown and at peace foreverand i was like - "ooh, it's going to be this kind of narrator - wonderful." i like the twisty-wordy backwoods narrator with vengeance in his heart. and it wasn't until i turned the page that i realized "of course i like this "narrator". this is daniel woodrell, and i am reading the introduction." fool. books, please label your introductions as such, because some of us will forget there is supposed to be an introduction and will read "six angles of wrath" as a chapter title and that will throw off our whole day, because this is not a similar voice to the narrator, and it is jarring to dummies like me to have to re-acclimate.however - this book is fantastic. it came into the store before i got there one day, and greg set it aside because it had an introduction by daniel woodrell (yeah- i know - i just forgot, okay?? jeez), and was compared on the back to tom franklin, cormac mccarthy, and ron rash, who are three of my favorites (why can't castle freeman jr ever get any recognition??) but, yeah - it is exactly my kind of book. in his dizzyingly flattering introduction, woodrell compares jones to jim thompson, and if this book is any indication, this is a more perfect comparison than the others. this protagonist is a little scary. but not in the way you would expect from reading the plot: a poacher goes buck hunting in the woods and accidentally kills a young girl. he also finds a sackful of money. so he covers up the crime and takes the money (take notes here, greg). but you find a sackful of money, eventually the owners of that money are going to track you down, right? right. so that's the plot, if you also throw in a wife and son who have left, a neighbor and his very confident teenage daughter, a physically damaged lawyer, some sexually uninhibited ladies, assorted thugs, a one-eyed ex-stripper, and a dog. and that's all well and good - those are the elements that make up any good woods-noir. but, oh john moon. he is such a dappled man. overall i think he means well, but there were so many times, because of this goodness that was in him, that i wanted to scream "why are you doing that??? this is a mistake!!" and the man seems to have no normal sense of fear, or apprehension or... precaution. so many things happen that should cause a normal man to pause and reflect and perhaps adjust his course, but not john moon, he takes it all in stride, and keeps on living, just doing what he does, despite the very scary things that are happening to him by the very bad men. that absence of fear in the face of threat makes for a scarier, darker man than the bad guys doing the terrorizing. you have no idea what a man like that is capable of, do you? ooooh, it's good stuff. terrible all-around decisions, but good stuff. of his other books, only boot tracks, on europa, is still in print, but i am going to read that next week, and see about getting the other four from my book-connect.while i am doing that - read this book, you fans of the appalachia-noir. it is at the top of its genre.
What do You think about A Single Shot (2011)?
I had never heard of the book or author until a recent review on Boing Boing piqued my interest. I'm glad I picked it up. The story is deceptively simple - a fateful mistake, a bag of money a moral dilemma, the fall out. The execution though is masterful. The evocative, natural and sparse language. The depiction of small town rural mountain life which brings the environment to vivid life (definitely a book in which I had strong visual imagery throughout as I read). The violence of everyday life and the horror of man. John Moon is a brilliant creation, confused, uncertain, far out of his comfort zone, tragic and compelling. He feels real. It's not the kind of thing I often read but this is far above the standard thriller. Reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy and well worth reading. I may have to consider some of his other books. This edition has an author interview, an intro from Daniel Woodrell and some back club notes.
—Andy
Honestly, this book is no where near as good as i expected it to be. I picked up the book and read the back and thought it sounded like a great plot. I bought it for that reason. As soon as i finished the first chapter I knew it was a mistake buying it. On every page, there is at least one use of profanity and usually more. Most of it was unneeded. There was also multiple vivid sexual scenes that were completely useless to the book. The book would have been ten times better without this. Besides that, the plot was pretty good. John Moon, a redneck, drunk who lost his fathers's farm to the bank, is out hunting on private lands, when he sees a deer and shoots. When he goes to find the deer, he sees a young woman. She was in her early twenties. He takes her body back to her camp and puts her in her sleeping bag. Her boyfriend finds out John was responsible and terrorizes him. This drives John insane. By the end of the book, you can tell he has lost his mind. I would not recommend this book to anyone, especially if you are young because of the content. If you do not mind the profanity and other content, then I'm sure you will love it. Once you start reading, there is no stopping. This book will keep you hooked till the end. Also I would strongly advise you not to watch the movie. Based on the content of the book, I'm sure you can figure out why.
—Derrick
A Single Shot is a powerful, backwoods story that clips along and allows the reader to ponder and ask the proverbial, 'What would I do in that situation?' The book has received very mixed reviews, which is fine, fiction is a subjective thing. However, those dismissing A Single Shot as a story that simply rides the coat tails of works by the great Larry Brown, William Gay or Daniel Woodrell (who, incidentally gave a glowing review for the reprint of this novel) might want to have a second read. The plot is simple and fairly linear, and yes, we have all read stories where one pull of a trigger sends life into a tailspin. Where Jones differentiates, and succeeds admirably is in his thoughtful and clever portrayal of the protagonist's (John Moon) unraveling and near obsessive thoughts about how to undo the tragedy that he caused in a split second. Jones deftly handles Moon's guilt, fear and his self-doubt, and sense of impending doom, while keeping the story fluid and in full colour. A great book that gives a different treatment, shines a different light, on the country noir.
—Philip Alexander
