The Great Depression, East Texas. The woods are thick, the rivers wild, the weather ripe with tornadoes, and the Crane family, like most families in that neck of the woods, are eking out a thin living. When young Harry Crane discovers a mutilated body bound to a tree with barbed wire in the river bottoms, the underbelly of East Texas is exposed. Whites fear a renegade Negro. Blacks fear a vengeful massacre, or, if the killer is white, that the law will let him slip through their fingers. Harry believes the murderer is the ...
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The Great Depression, East Texas. The woods are thick, the rivers wild, the weather ripe with tornadoes, and the Crane family, like most families in that neck of the woods, are eking out a thin living. When young Harry Crane discovers a mutilated body bound to a tree with barbed wire in the river bottoms, the underbelly of East Texas is exposed. Whites fear a renegade Negro. Blacks fear a vengeful massacre, or, if the killer is white, that the law will let him slip through their fingers. Harry believes the murderer is the Goat Man, an East Texas monster of legend who lurks beneath the swing bridge on the Sabine River, like the Billy Goat Gruff. Harry and his sister have actually seen the Goat Man, or something much like him, in his nocturnal haunts. As the bodies mount up, an elderly black man is lynched, both blacks and whites are terrorised, and Harry's father - the local law - and grandmother investigate, searching for a killer who may be a lot closer than they think. Not only a nov el of riveting suspense, The Bottoms is a novel of a unique place and time, and shows the protean talents of Joe R Lansdale setting off in a new direction.
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Seller's Description:
Clark, Alan M. 332 p. 1st Limited Edition hardcover from Subterranean, 2000. SIGNED BY JOE R LANSDALE! One of 400 such numbered, slipcased copies. FINE IN FINE DJ AND CASE. Alan M Clark jacket and interior art. EDGAR AWARD WINNER!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Clark, Alan M. 332 p. 1st LETTERED EDITION hardcover from Subterranean, 2000. SIGNED BY JOE R LANSDALE! Copy "H" of 26 such. FINE IN FINE DJ AND CASE. Leather-bound with red ribbon marker, additional art, including original color piece mounted inside the traycase! Alan M Clark art. EDGAR AWARD WINNER, AND NOW, SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!
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Seller's Description:
Used; Like New. Used; Like New. 28-E-14 Subterranean Press 2000 hardcover. SIGNED by author on limitations page. This edition of the book (which predates the trade version) is limited to 400 numbered copies of which this is an unnumbered PC copy. Book Condition: New Jacket Condition: New. 2000. HARDCOVER.
This is classic American storytelling told in rich, evocative prose about what is, in some ways, a simpler time.
Two things that are never simple however: murder and racial tension.
1933 - Marvel Creek, East Texas:
Eleven-year-old Harry Collins and his younger sister, Thomasina, come across the mutilated corpse of a black woman in the Sabine River Bottoms.
Harry rushes home to tell his father, Jacob.
Jacob Collins is the constable for the area as well as a farmer and part-time barber.
Jacob is a good man, husband and father.
He will soon become overwhelmed by the directions this case will take.
The body is eventually identified as a local prostitute. She will be the first of several similarly disfigured bodies.
It seems there's a serial killer on the loose.
Harry thinks it's a local legend - the Goat Man, a monster said to lurk in the bottoms.
Harry and his sister have seen him.
People in the area suspect that it has to be a black man committing these atrocities and the racial tension reaches its boiling point. In horrible ways.
This goes deeper than skin color.
Harry sets out to discover who the real killer is, and to do so they will search for a truth that resides far deeper than any river or skin color.
Lansdale uses the backdrop of the murder investigation to paint a gritty, realisic portrait of Depression-era Texas. The language and detail are vibrant opening up a window on an insular, poverty-stricken, racially divided community.
This is one fine novel.
SJWillie
Aug 12, 2010
Literary Grade Mystery
Wow! This novel goes beyond a mere horror/mystery genre novel ... and provides a more substantial and haunting literary experience.
tktowne
Feb 5, 2009
master storyteller
I don't know when I've enjoyed a book more. You are sitting at the feet of a master storyteller. It's not a "pretty" book as it deals with racisim, murder, and poverty but you love the young narrator and are compelled to keep turning pages.
Sleuth
Apr 3, 2007
An Intimate Trip...Get Onboard
I have been struggling with this review. I think that is because "The Bottoms" was such a personal experience that trying to find the words to share my thoughts with others is a bit difficult. However, I believe this deserves telling because "The Bottoms" is a very special book and I wish to share the experience with others.
This is the tale of Harry, a boy grappling with bridging that difficult gap between childhood and manhood. Along the way he confronts the search for a serial killer, race relations and his love for his parents with all their faults that we are loathe to accept in our parents.
The story takes place in Eastern Texas during the Depression. Although this is not a time and place I am familiar with, I found myself meandering through the woods, creeks and rural roads without feeling like a stranger to this part of the country. Mr. Lansdale made it so real to me that I could feel the heat, smell the air and want to swat at flies or scratch imaginary mosquito bites. It was as if I were hiding in the woods, in the barn or behind a chair in the farmhouse watching the story enfold before my eyes. Mr Lansdale has a wonderful talent for bringing you into the pictures he creates. His ability to do this reminds me of Stephen Booth's writing in "The Black Dog."
Although I figured out who the murderer was early in the book, that didn't detract one iota from my pleasure in reading this book. I was so caught up in lives of a family that I had come to love that catching a serial killer became superfluous to their story.
Of all the characters in the book, I was most drawn to Jacob, Harry's father. Aside from the fact that I wished I had grown up with a father like Harry, I suffered with him during his crisis of faith in his core moral beliefs and the very purpose for his existence.
This book will hold you in its grip until the very last page. The last chapter lulled me into a sense of complacency only to find myself in tears when reading the last few paragraphs.
I would urge you to read "The Bottoms" and experience your own personal trip.
