CHESTER STUBBS

Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.: Dennis McMillan Publications, 2001. 1st edition, March 2001, so stated, fine in dust jacket. New and unread. Author's first novel. Once again, Dennis McMillan has discovered a fine author who makes us think about those often overlooked in our society. Much hailed in the tradtion of Willeford and Jim Thompson. Joe Servello designed and illustrated dust jacket. "Miller's first novel is a Florida panhandle picaresque following the adventures of a regular piece of work named Chester Stubbs, an ex-navy heavyweight boxing champ. Chester narrates his close encounters with trouble and various bottles of George Dickle whiskey with self-deprecating wit and a lot of shaky grammar. A year after he is abandoned by his wife, Marleen coming home one night, she finds him on the garage roof having sex with a check-out girl from the local grocery store Chester is slovenly, drunk and ornery. His best friend, a black ex-boxer named Crow, finds him a job as a warehouseman, but Chester loses it when he is hospitalized for a broken rib acquired in a fight. He is rather astonished that two of his co-workers, Vietnamese refugees "Wayne" and "Duck," come to visit him. He is further astonished by the friendship that springs up between him and his neighbor, Cecilia Guffins, a feisty old woman who is Chester's polar opposite...Chester is dealing with Wayne's rebellious daughter, Tam, for whom he feels both responsible and guiltily lustful. Miller's northern Florida is the country cousin of Carl Hiaasen's South Florida, a place where whiskey is more important than cocaine, Bob Wills more likely to come out of the juke box than rap and gospel roots still show through the beachfront hedonism." -- Publishers Weekly. First Edition. Hard Cover. New/As New. Illus. by Joe Servello. Book.