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A review by moreadsbooks
Raylan by Elmore Leonard
3.0
Poor planning left me almost without a book to read for the weekend for the second time in a month. Luckily, Timothy Olyphant, I mean, Raylan was sitting on the FT table at work on Saturday, so the day was officially saved. Normally I don't want to have a specific picture of someone in my head while I read a book (I refuse to watch the movie version of The World According to Garp for this reason), but in this case, let me tell you that it was not a problem at all. I'm going to write a review of this book, not Olyphant, but I can't get away with not saying that I think he's a pretty attractive individual and after reading this book, I'm even more convinced that his being cast for this show was an excellent idea. Walton Goggins and Nick Searcy were pretty damn fine choices as well.
Leonard just has such an exquisite way with dialogue (even though he does use the 'Must of' or 'Should of', which drives me insane. Must've!). The story is interesting enough, what with the kidney stealing and the mining company dropping rocks on people's houses and the lady gamblers, but it's the dialogue that makes this a real treat. B stole the book from me so I can't come up with the exact quote, but something about a guy taking Raylan out back to teach him some respect for the mining company, and Raylan says, If I don't show up, practice falling down until I get there. Hilarious. My only qualms are the logistics of the kidney thefts - how long do those things last? Because I was under the impression that once they were removed, they didn't last all that long. Also, the sex scene at the very end was atrocious, even if it did star Timothy Olyphant, I mean, Raylan.
*Edited to add: turns out that my father-in-law taught that "practice falling down until I get there" line to my husband when he was a teenager. Father-in-law's stock has certainly risen around my house.
Leonard just has such an exquisite way with dialogue (even though he does use the 'Must of' or 'Should of', which drives me insane. Must've!). The story is interesting enough, what with the kidney stealing and the mining company dropping rocks on people's houses and the lady gamblers, but it's the dialogue that makes this a real treat. B stole the book from me so I can't come up with the exact quote, but something about a guy taking Raylan out back to teach him some respect for the mining company, and Raylan says, If I don't show up, practice falling down until I get there. Hilarious. My only qualms are the logistics of the kidney thefts - how long do those things last? Because I was under the impression that once they were removed, they didn't last all that long. Also, the sex scene at the very end was atrocious, even if it did star Timothy Olyphant, I mean, Raylan.
*Edited to add: turns out that my father-in-law taught that "practice falling down until I get there" line to my husband when he was a teenager. Father-in-law's stock has certainly risen around my house.