The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover

By Kinky Friedman

Book Overview

What do Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Jackie Collins, Joseph Heller, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson have in common? They're all Kinky Friedman fans, of course. These notables, along with a posse of critics, discovered the Kinkster some time ago, and immediately began heaping praise and other assorted objects on him: The world's funniest, bawdiest, and most politically incorrect country music singer turned mystery writer . . . a classic. . . . The humor gleams as bright as Kinky's brontosaurusforeskin cowboy boots. -- The New York Times Book Review Kinky is the best whodunit writer to come along since Dashiell what's-his-name. -- Willie Nelson The Kinkster is a catcher, not in the rye, but in the sagebrush, and that's what is truly appealing about him and his work. -- Los Angeles Times Kinky, Mozart, Shakespeare -- with what could I equal them? -- Joseph Heller Well, if you don't know what these folks are so excited about, then read The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover and you'll soon find out. Filled with adventure, passion, excitement, and a fair amount of talk about cats and puppet heads, this latest installment in the on-going saga of man's inhumanity to the English language find New York's most cosmic private detective launched once again on an investigation that leads him far afield of both the law and the lower Manhattan loft he calls home. In The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover, Kinky Friedman, the author, has Kinky Friedman, the detective (in real life, the two are not related), rush to the aid of a lovely young woman, only to find that he is up to his shin splints in trouble of a disconcerting kind. Soonafter Polly Price hires him to find her missing husband, Kinky smells a rat. But it's not until he's been shot by the D.C. police and locked in a burning limousine by a Chicago chauffeur that he realizes he may be the one with his tail in a trap. Then, when Michael McGovern, longtime friend and loyal member of the Village Irregulars, complains first of being watched by mysterious men, then of getting threatening phone calls from a dead gangster named Leaning Jesus, and finally disappears -- and along with him, the lovely Polly -- Kinky comes to the only conclusion the conceivably could link these disparate events: the FBI is after him As The Washington Post Book World said, Nothing is sacred in a Kinky Friedman book. Friedman and his characters will take on any subject and have at it. Therein lies his charm. Well, in The Love Song of J. Edger Hoover, readers will find the ever-insouciant Kinky at his charming best.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345415094
• ISBN13: 9780345415097
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Kinky, you're great!

I read everthing that Mr. Friedman puts out and am always very amused. This book is no exception.

Amusing, Offebeat, Politically Incorrect and Entertaining

...I stumbled across this book on a bargain rack, and it was also my first experience reading the "Kinkster". However, I must confess that I found this novel to be well worth the couple of bucks I paid for it, and well worth my time in reading it (although it surely won't take very long, Friedman's books are a very quick and painless read).Friedman's writing style is infectious- you either like it right from the start, or it's not for you. Virtually every page has a wisecrack and witty retort, and the author throws in references to such diverse characters as Charles Dickens, Tom Bodet (of Motel 6 fame), Martin Luther King, J. Edgar Hoover and mass murderer John Wayne Gacy. No topic is off-limits. The narrator lives in a 4th floor apartment in NYC, and a lesbian dance instructor lives over him. He mentions, as he goes through the papers of a missing man, that one check stood out "like a Jew with an antfarm." Friedman pokes fun of everyone, but in a playful and witty manner that I really enjoyed. The novel's main storyline revolved around a missing person, the husband of Kinky's client, as well as a secondary theme involving suspicious characters that seem to be following Kinky's Irish journalist friend McGovern. I am unfamiliar with the author's prior works, but I understand that many of his usual cast of characters are here, as well as the habits and style that have made his loyal fans look forward to Friedman's annual novel.I should add a word or two about the rating, since I gave the book 4 stars yet I certainly don't think Friedman is a better novelist than say John Irving or Howard Norman, whose books I have given 3 stars. I think you have to judge a book like this in the context of his genre, and for those looking for a witty mystery novel with an occasional unexpected plot twist, interspersed with humor and biting sarcasm, I think this book ranks up there with similar novels by Carl Hiassen.

An Exercise in Controlled Hilarity

Richard "Kinky" Friedman, irreverent country singer turned irreverent mystery author, is back in action with his ninth novel, "The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover." First-time readers of the Kinkster - who practiced political incorrectness long before anyone bothered coining the phrase - will no doubt be jarred by the author's quick, scatalogical wit. Regular readers will be pleased to find each of the Village Irregulars in attendance, to assist their leader in a case involving pal McGovern, the FBI and a mysterious character known only as Leaning Jesus. The novel proceeds at a breakneck pace, with the author happily skewering everything in his path. An exercise in controlled hilarity, this book is worth the manic trip