- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Viking Canada; 1st Canadian Edition edition (Sep 4 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0670066842
- ISBN-13: 978-0670066841
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 14.5 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #232,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
You've got to hand it to author Will Ferguson --when he decides to stretch stylistically, he really stretches. With Spanish Fly, his second novel in a career highlighted by humorous non-fiction, Ferguson eschews his trademark Canadiana to explore the American heartland of the late 1930s--a dull, desolate place reeling from the after-effects of the Depression and Prohibition while facing down World War II.
Protagonist Jack McGreary is young man with more than his share of burdens to bear. His mom is dead, his dad is nuts, his girlfriend is apathetic and his hometown of Paradise Flats is one big, go-nowhere dustbowl of despair and poverty. So when dapper grifters Virgil and Miss Rose blow into town--scamming the local yokels with sleight-of-hand tricks and other deceits--Jack sees them as his ticket out. But what begins as a thrilling escape from the tedium of small-town life soon morphs into something more sinister. Ferguson knows how to set a scene--his descriptions of the "Negro" jazz halls Jack and his cohorts haunt are vivid and palpable. So too are his portraits of backwater towns. But Ferguson is also a sucker for clichés (hair like straw, tar-paper roofs et al). And some stuff just doesn't fly.
For example, Jack is portrayed as some kind of natural-born genius able to see through carnival scams, theological tenets and flaws in the human spirit with laser precision. An interesting angle maybe, but highly improbable. The dialog is also strained and larded with hoary banalities (does anyone really say "on account of" instead of "because?" And don't the Irish have the lock on referring to fathers as "Da?")
Ferguson succeeds in painting a striking picture of post-Depression-era America but passage to the end is bumpier than a spin in Virgil's jalopy. Coming from the author who slayed us with gems like "Manitoba - Gateway to Saskatchewan," it's a rather disappointing (albeit ambitious) ride. --Kim Hughes
Review
"Ferguson aficionados will find in it [Spanish Fly] echoes and allusions to Happiness TM...an eminently readable novel...Like Robertson Davies, Will Ferguson has the gift of linkage, of letting unlikely novelistic strands interleave and thicken into a significant braid." -- Globe and Mail
"Ferguson has written history and humour side by side many times, and this is the first time he has fused them together so successfully." -- New Brunswick Telegraph Journal
"[Will Ferguson is] excelling at something new. His novel Spanish Fly is a remarkable work, steeped in history and arcane knowledge but rooted in the intimate timelessness of the human heart and soul. There are a few laughs, but this is a serious, and ultimately heart-rending, story... Spanish Fly is the real thing. It's a novel of heart and soul, wise and occasionally clever and -- dare I say it? -- mature... it will undoubtedly draw him new admirers." -- Robert Wiersema, Vancouver Sun
Spanish Fly will be in high demand....Nuanced and enthralling, Spanish Fly is undoubtedly the best writing he has ever done, and it is no mere placebo effect. It's genuine medicine for the Canadian fiction scene. -- Quill & Quire
"Ferguson has written history and humour side by side many times, and this is the first time he has fused them together so successfully." -- New Brunswick Telegraph Journal
"[Will Ferguson is] excelling at something new. His novel Spanish Fly is a remarkable work, steeped in history and arcane knowledge but rooted in the intimate timelessness of the human heart and soul. There are a few laughs, but this is a serious, and ultimately heart-rending, story... Spanish Fly is the real thing. It's a novel of heart and soul, wise and occasionally clever and -- dare I say it? -- mature... it will undoubtedly draw him new admirers." -- Robert Wiersema, Vancouver Sun
Spanish Fly will be in high demand....Nuanced and enthralling, Spanish Fly is undoubtedly the best writing he has ever done, and it is no mere placebo effect. It's genuine medicine for the Canadian fiction scene. -- Quill & Quire
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rip Roaring Snake Oil Cons!,
By CJTM "Catherine" (Calgary) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Spanish Fly (Hardcover)
Spanish Fly is Will Ferguson's captivating and funny new novel, deserving the accolades of his debut novel, Generica a.k.a. Happiness.This new shrewd but silly tale weaves the desperation of the poverty of the Great Depression/Dust Bowl years in the American S.W. (W.F. explains his choice of location in his afterwords)with the story of young,bright,handsome,smalltown Jack McGreary finding his purpose in life. Jack tags along with experienced con artists Virgil Ray and Miss Rose to learn as Virgil says," When 'they' hand you their money willingly, it doesn't count as stealing." Jack's got the head for increasingly complex cons but does he have the heart for them? Herein lies the tension which makes the pages turn quickly to make this book such a satisfying read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Con Man Extraordinaire,
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Spanish Fly (Paperback)
I really enjoyed Will Ferguson's "Spanish Fly" as my first encounter with his writing. His literary style is a combination of rapier wit and sardonic humor that combines the wisdom of Will Rogers and the slapstick of vaudeville. The reader gets to follow a young man's quest for personal greatness during the Great Depression. Ferguson chooses the Great American Plains as his setting because they serve up all that is physically and socially challenging to the human desire to succeed. The novel is full of moments of excitement, allurement, despair, and fear as young Jack McGreary attempts to chart his course through life. Growing up in a little hay-seed of a Prairie town forces him to dream outside his own narrow existence. He starts out by opting for knowledge in books as his ticket to future success. Then he becomes infatuated with a local girl who works at the library only to realize that such aspirations will require money in order to happen. At the same time, nagging at him is a latent desire to go to war to fight tyranny. Essentially, Jack is a much conflicted adolescent who is about to fall into the clutches of Virgil and Rose, two very clever con artists who recognize and know how to exploit talent and desire, of which Jack has plenty. The narrative becomes a fast-paced Bonnie-and-Clyde hunt for the next victim as this trio moves from desolate town to desolate town. They have at their disposal a multitude of tricks - a few fascinating, most unbelievably stupid - by which to hoodwink their unsuspecting clients. Everybody in these desperate times, it seems, is willing to part with the little money they have in order to cash in on the promise of extraordinary wealth around the corner. Kind of reminds you of the times we're currently living in where greed is king. As this quixotic tale unfolds, Jack becomes increasingly uncomfortable with his rising fortunes based on games of deception dressed up as chance. Its intoxicating grip is compared to the power of the Spanish Fly to dominate and destroy a person's sex drive. I recommend this novel for how it creates and sustains a high level of human drama throughout the plot, using exceptional characters, colorful actions, timely humor and well-managed suspense. I even found myself asking the question as to how vulnerable would I be if I had found myself in similar circumstances during this era.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ferguson keeps getting better!,
By Marc A. Laplante - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Spanish Fly (Hardcover)
i just stumbled upon Ferguson's early work "Happiness" in a second hand book shop, and really enjoyed it. It was witty, populated with characters that were suitably flawed and human, and a plot that kept you reading.His latest is even better - with a wonderfully crafted backdrop of the late 1930's in the dust-bowl hard scramble U.S. Ferguson creates a foreshadowing of a dark cloud of a coming war, through small clips of events in Europe. (Ferguson is slightly off on some historical details in these snippets, but they still are used to good effect). Essentially a story of a small town young man who meets with a pair of grifters and discovers much about life, human nature and himself. An absolute pleasure to read! Marc L.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rabbitt,
By Rabitt - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Spanish Fly (Paperback)
Spanish fly is a well written book. A very good story.reminds me of el Doctorow. I wish it was available in ebooks for easier reading
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