- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: NeWest Press (Mar 15 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1897126379
- ISBN-13: 978-1897126370
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 13.7 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 227 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #233,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Quill & Quire
The “Bacon” in the title of this enjoyable comic debut from Calgary author Michael Davie is Bacon Sobelowski, an unprepossessing young man just out of high school and wondering what to do with his life. His options are limited, since the only thing he seems to like doing is fishing, and he isn’t even very good at that. His one goal in life, inspired by the wisdom of Kenny Rogers, is to find his special “someone.” This sets up a conventional plot, as Bacon, armed only with his secondhand Spincaster fishing rod with thumb-button trigger and Kamlooper lure, is nearly undone by a wild-at-heart first love, the evil ways of the big city (in this case, Calgary), the charms of a cousin who arrives by surprise from Korea, and a game of sexual bingo at a tourist camp. As with fictional progenitors like Candide and Joseph Andrews, Bacon is somewhat of a passive protagonist in all of this. Despite all of his agonizing over hormonal urges, he is at heart an innocent, naive in the ways of the flesh and the world. The fun revolves around the novel’s supporting cast of loonies, especially the horny, tough-as-nails, predatory women. Indeed, the world Bacon travels through is very much a woman’s world. The men he meets tend to be romantics – sentimental, kind-hearted, and obliging. Even the mysterious Laszlo Maximilian Mursky, one of the more bizarre creations in recent Canadian fiction, is a weirdly effete, uxorious villain. It is the women who are in control. Timing is the essence of comedy. Bacon complains of his “bad timing” throughout the book, but Davies’ timing is excellent. The dialogue maintains a nice rhythm for humorous emphases, the gags are well placed and developed, and the plot keeps all its balls in the air for the duration. Though it doesn’t entirely come together at the end, leaving a number of those balls still in play, Fishing for Bacon nevertheless makes for a fun ride, with many laughs along the way.
Book Description
My name’s Bacon Sobelowski, and I’m trying to find my someone. Kenny Rogers sings a song that says there’s someone for everyone, and in Bellevue where I live, Kenny Rogers’ word is gold. It’s just too bad my mother thinks girls turn boys into pigs, but that’s probably just because my father had enough of her Eggos and walked out.But maybe she’s right. I’m not sure if Sarah is my someone because she got mad and smashed chili peppers into a cut on my head, and maybe my someone wouldn’t do that. Karla could be it because she lets me stay at her condo, but she might be too old to be my someone. Then there’s Mr. Kwon’s daughter, but she’s sort of my cousin and I’m not sure if sort-of cousins can be someones at the same time.I think it might all come down to timing, and if that’s true then I’m in trouble. I’m Bacon Sobelowski—who knows if I’ll ever find my someone.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mmmmm.... Bacon...., April 23 2009
By James - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Fishing for Bacon (Paperback)
Yup, the main character's first name really is Bacon. The story of how he got his name takes up an entire chapter (#2), although this chapter is less than a page long. The story of his name had tears streaming down my face... because it was so damn funny.Many parts of this book are laugh-out-loud funny. It is a fast, enjoyable read that has the right mixture of peril facing our protagonist that keeps you turning pages to find out what's going to happen to Bacon next.
Bacon is a lovable oaf. He's not too bright. He's not too popular. He's nice and seems to have a solid moral compass, but he is naïve and seems to be easily led astray. He can fall in with some folks who don't necessarily have his best interests at heart, including his own family.
He's looking for his someone.
But it's much more than that. Sure, the guy is 17-18, so he's thinking about sex most of the time, which can get him in trouble (I remember those days), but the story is not just Bacon's quest for a woman to let him touch her naughty bits. It's the fact that his quest to touch women in their naughty bits seems to put him in regular peril.
As the character mentions, he has bad timing.
I don't want to give too much away, but as I read I couldn't wait to find out how Bacon was going to get out of one mess only to find out he'd gotten into another one. The tension level may not be generated like Jack Bauer taking on terrorists on 24, but there is tension that I think your typical reader can identify a lot more closely with.
I had to keep reading late into the night to find out what happened, and I will close simply by saying I found the ending to be highly satisfying. The writing is witty and charming, and the author has mastered the art of first person storytelling, which is no easy feat. I look forward to his next book.
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