Eric Coyote

I decided to review this at the request of the author who sent me a free copy. My first impression was that the cover is awful. [Checking recently, I noticed it had been changed.] The book’s description seems to pander to a particular audience segment, “Set in the gutters, bars, and alleys of Venice, California, this darkly comic crime/detective saga is filled with sex, violence, booze, and plenty of foul street talk,” a segment that wouldn't necessarily exclude me, but it’s not a description that would make the book leap on to my TBR list either.

OK, now putting aside all that crap. I liked this book. The premise is that Murphy, a homeless drunk (“I’m not stupid, just a drunk,”) former NFL player with a Super Bowl ring suffering from multiple concussions and numerous injuries, is swept up in a police raid to discover if any of the homeless in Venice, CA, might have seen something of use to them in their investigation of a car shooting. Murphy is forced to leave his companion Rottweiler, Betty Bonaparte (because she can take bones apart,) while he’s in jail. After his release he searches frantically for Betty Just as he sees her across a highway, the dog runs to him and is hit by a lady in an SUV (talking on a cell phone, of course) who runs the light. Gathering up Betty into a shopping cart, Murphy runs four miles to the nearest vet hospital he knows of where he learns that Betty might survive but will need hip surgery. She also has lymphoma that will require chemotherapy, all to the tune of $15,000. (The scene with the compassionate vet and Murphy is very well done.) Learning that a $25,000 reward has been posted for the killer in the drive-by, Murphy figures he has to solve the crime to earn the reward so he can pay for his dog’s surgery.

Coyote uses Murphy's homelessness to poke not so gentle fun at the foibles of the rich that surround him. Using Raymond Chandler's books as a guide, he detects by asking questions. It was interesting to read some of the negative reviews on Amazon, which focused on the rather sad aspects of Skid Row and “the depths to which people can sink.” Ironically, it’s the “bums” and unfortunates that have more character than those in the book who haven’t had to resort to living off society’s detritus. How realistic the portrayal might be I don’t know.

The second volume of a proposed trilogy has yet to appear. Not for the squeamish.

“Interview” with the author at http://www.ericcoyote.com./interview.pdf… (altro)

One of the best things readers can experience is the surprise of finding a good book where they really don’t expect to find one. Sometimes that’s almost as good as finding a $20 bill inside the pocket of a pair of pants you haven’t worn since last winter. No offense intended to Eric Coyote, but his debut novel, The Long Drunk, was one such surprise to me.

The novel is billed as “ultra noir,” and that may actually be a bit of an understatement. Set in Venice, California, and featuring a “homeless detective” by the name of James Murphy, The Long Drunk shares many elements of the LA noir style of mystery writing Raymond Chandler helped make popular. But in these more liberal times, Coyote has the option of offering us a much stronger cup of coffee than Chandler dared serve up in his day - and he uses it.

Murphy, a one-time professional football player who suffered a career-ending gunshot wound on the eve of his debut with the New Orleans Saints, is now a drunk. He lives on the Venice streets with a few men (and one woman) every bit as focused on finding their next drink as he is. The love of Murphy’s life these days is a Rottweiler he calls Betty, the dog he credits with saving his life and giving him a reason to go on living. Now, it’s Murphy’s turn to save Betty’s life.

When Betty is struck by a car, Murphy gets her to a veterinarian before she dies, and learns there that the dog also suffers from cancer. But even at the rate offered by a good-hearted animal doctor like this one, it will take $15,000 worth of medical attention to extend Betty’s life. Murphy – a man who only ever keeps money in his pocket until he can spend it at the liquor store – promises to raise the cash needed to save his dog’s life. The vet can only allow him one week to do it.

Our homeless detective soon realizes that his only chance to get the job done is the $25,000 reward being offered for information that will identify a murderer local police desperately want to find. So, mostly sober by day, but wildly drunk by night, Murphy and his pals begin pulling on a few loose threads to see where they might lead. Let the fireworks begin.

The mystery element of The Long Drunk, however, is probably not what most of the novel’s readers will remember longest about it. They are more likely to be intrigued by what Coyote reveals about the rather unique lifestyle of California’s homeless, and the personal and community loyalties that evolve within the culture. In this noirish world, so much high-quality food is being thrown out by Venice’s restaurants and high-end groceries that Murphy and his friends can afford to be a little picky about what they eat. They might get by on the cheapest rotgut they can get, but come dinner time they discuss various cheeses, salad dressings, and desserts as if they eat their meals inside gourmet restaurants, not near the dumpsters behind the buildings.

But, believe it or not, at its heart The Long Drunk is a love story, a tale about the pure love of a man and his dog for each other – and it’s a rather beautiful story, at that.

Rated at: 4.0… (altro)

The Long Drunk is a story of people living on the streets of Venice, California. The climate is good for sleeping in hardscrabble patches between trendy restaurants and low rent apartment buildings. The food is good scavenged from the dumpsters in alleys behind the eateries. The cardinal rule is never to sleep in the same place two nights in a row. That way, the players are seen as homeless and transient in the eyes of themselves, residents, and authorities. Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose and the means to grab some more booze.

The problem that Eric Coyote describes in his novel is that everyone has something to lose, regardless of his condition of sanity and sobriety. Consider the situation of Murphy, a former college football player who loved to party as a young athlete and still managed to get drafted into the NFL. In any drunk's life, though, the party becomes more important than continuing to function rationally. Murphy ends up on the street, filthy and stinking, and guzzling anything with alcohol in it.

What did Murphy have to lose? He loved his rotti, Betty who saved his sorry behind on a beach that was being bulldozed to minimize storm damage. The two bummed together for years after that. Murphy and Betty are not isolated; no man with dog is an island. Murphy and Betty hang loosely with a collection of losers who effortlessly form a bohemian society in the Venice border world. The caravan of fools comes together when Betty is injured and Murphy can't pay the vet bill. Murphy sees a reward flier and decides to solve a 6 month old Venice murder that no one can figure out.

Reading a Raymond Chander novel for inspiration and instructions on how to be a private eye, Murphy stays partly sober during the day (roaring drunk at night) and sets out to ask questions of people who may know something about the murder. Maybe he'll get lucky and find evidence the police have not discovered. Murphy's adventures in crime solving and his association with his street crew are described in funny and serious scenes with no excuses given or sermonizing by Coyote. A bottom line is this: booze takes away cares of the future and regrets of the past leaving the bums existing in the immediate moment of each day and night. The problem here is that the shortened time line of the characters does not bring them closer to rational experience but rather makes them react impulsively to events, and exist in a state that is not themselves.

The Long Drunk is the "ultra noir" Book One of The Homeless Detective Trilogy. It is fun and fast-paced with quite a bit of street language and violence as you would expect in a story of homeless drunks. Even though the characters lived somewhat successful pasts, they are now living in degradation on the berm of paradise. You too can live a drunk's life, without a debilitating hangover, by reading this novel. If you like hard-boiled and ribald detective stories, give it a try.… (altro)