Synopses & Reviews
A darkly comic novel of class, struggle, and crime within three generations of an African- American family in the Deep South.
Jesmond Toak is a repo man in the fictional town of Johnsonville, Florida. A poor African-American in a hurricane alley on the coast, Jesmond has a troubled relationship with his father, Feddy, who is seeing a white woman who only sleeps with black men. Peaches Richmond, the woman Jesmond loves, is married to a threatening man they all call "Special Ed." And their pastor's gay son, Bayonne, has been implicated in the suicide by gas asphyxiation of his boyfriend, Smullian. As the deaths, disasters, and disappearances mount, Hurricane Aretha approaches.
Woodward ties together these unruly plot points with madcap glee and skill; it's not every day one runs across the word "homunculus," references to Kierkegaard, and the phrase "get kronked for Christ!" in the same book. As lyrical as Cormac McCarthy, as sexy as Zane, Woodward has crafted a genre-defying, present-day romp that reveals a side of Florida far removed from Disney World.
Review
"Exhilarating. . . . A strongly original voice combined with a very unusual approach to his material."
Margot Livesey, author of Banishing Verona
Review
Dion Graham brings Woodward's unorthodox tale to life in this inspired reading so realistic and enjoyable it makes listeners feel as if they're eavesdropping on the Toaks family of Johnsonville, Fla.
Publishers Weekly
Review
Just sit back and go for a joy ride with narrator Dion Graham in the driver's seat. . . . Savor the richness of his dialect-smart reading, the way his voice slides over speech rhythms, and his mini-portraits of the large cast of characters.
AudioFile
Synopsis
"Jesmond Toak works as a repo man in the fictional town of Johnsonville, located in a hurricane alley on the Florida coast. He has a troubled relationship with his father; their pastor"s gay son, Bayonne, has become implicated in a suicide by gas asphyxiation of his boyfriend; and the woman Jesmond loves, Peaches Raymond, is married (to a threatening man they call and#8220;Special Edand#8221;). As various deaths, disasters, and disappearance occur in the days leading up to the arrival of Hurricane Aretha, Woodward ties together these unruly plot points with madcap glee.
As lyrical and Charles Baxter, and as sexy as Zane, Woodward writes with an agile maturity that belies his status as a first-time novelist. Cadillac Orpheus is a crafted, genre-defying rompand#151;by turns terrifying, hilarious, brave, brazen, and above all, sincere."
Synopsis
In a town called Johnsonville on the northern Florida coast, a family called the Toaks have pushed every possible social boundary to its logical extreme for three generations. Feddy Toak, in his forties, is a medical school dropout, recovering alcohol and cocaine addict, and former handyman. His father, Teo, is one of Johnsonville's most prosperous bail bondsmen, slumlord, and idol to a diminishing old guard of hustlers and con men. Jesmond Toak, Feddy's son, haunted by his father's violent past and current failures, is turning toward the low road.
The entire city seethes with schemes and intrigue. Suicides and murders, infidelities and violence mount and converge with shattering precision on the eve of a hurricane, forcing the entire community to struggle with its demons—and search for some chance at redemption.
Chronicling a slice of American landscape and culture with rare levels of depth and originality, Cadillac Orpheus defies categorization: it is by turns exuberant, terrifying, hilarious, brave, brazen, and, above all, wondrous.
About the Author
DION GRAHAM currently appears on The Wire on HBO. He also narrates The First 48 on A and E. He has performed on and Off-Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. Award winning and critically acclaimed, his performances and narration have been praised as thoughtful and compelling, vivid and full of life.SOLON TIMOTHY WOODWARD was a David R. Sokolov Scholar in Fiction at Breadloaf and a 2005 Scholar at Sewanee. His short fiction has appeared in publications including The Gettysburg Review and Shenandoah. His story, "A Touch of Lubitsch," is featured in Harcourt's Best New American Voices 2007. Woodward is a practicing physician at the Mayo Clinic.