Liquor and Prime
I’ve finished reading Liquor and Prime, the first two of the Rickey and G-man novels, by Poppy Z. Brite (who keeps a LiveJournal here).
Can I just say “Wow”?
I love these characters, especially G-man, with whom I identified heavily from very early on. His sensible but laid-back attitude resonates with me, and he’s the perfect complement to Rickey’s ambitious hot-headedness. And celebrity chef Lenny Duveteaux has just enough Emeril in him to make me laugh without turning him into a joke. PZB also has a real gift for making the day-to-day workings of New Orleans’s restaurant industry absolutely fascinating.
So fascinating, in fact, that when I got to what most people would consider the “real” action (which comes in fairly late in both books), I looked back and realized that most of what I’d read so far had been world-building and character exploration. Which most writers would be flayed alive for, but PZB pulls off so beautifully that I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
The only thing that bothered me was how long it takes us in the first book to find out that Rickey and G-man are a couple. Yes, I can see that their relationship really is also the friendship that it’s initially described as, and that from Rickey’s POV that may even be the most important part of it. But it still feels just a bit like PZB is sidling up to the issue, for fear of scaring off people who don’t like to read “gay” books.
But that’s a minor quibble.
I’m giving these books to my Mom next. She’s going to love Lenny.
pleased
bouncy
annoyed