The Two-Bear Mambo by Joe R. Lansdale: A review

There are twenty-six books in Joe K. Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series dating all the way back to 1990. Two-Bear Mambo is the third book in the series, published in 1995. I've not read any of the others and just decided on a whim to read this one. The series is set in the fictional town of LaBorde in East Texas, an area I'm somewhat familiar with.

Hap and Leonard are described as amateur investigators and adventurers. Hap Collins is a White working-class laborer who spent time in federal prison back in the day when he refused to be drafted into the military during the Vietnam War. He believes in non-violence and does his best to avoid conflict. Leonard Pine is a gay, Black Vietnam vet with some serious anger issues. He has no tolerance for racist and/or gay slurs. He is quick to anger and doesn't really understand Hap's more passive approach to life. These two opposites are the best of friends.

In this entry, Hap's ex-girlfriend Florida Grange, who is also Leonard's lawyer, had set out to try to recover some long-lost tapes of a deceased blues musician. Unfortunately, the tapes are thought to be in the Klan-infested town of Grovetown in East Texas and the ex-girlfriend has now apparently disappeared there. There is reason to fear for her safety because she is a Black woman who was asking inconvenient questions in a racist town.

She had been investigating the jailhouse death of a legendary bluesman's son who is believed to have been in possession of those missing tapes. He had supposedly committed suicide while in jail but there may be reason to question the official explanation.

As Hap and Leonard set out to try to find Florida, they also must face a threat from the weather. An East Texas monsoon is brewing with its attendant flooding and they must race to try to find Florida before the storm adds another layer of difficulty to an already difficult task.

The relationship between Hap and Leonard is an interesting and complex one and Lansdale describes it believably. Moreover, his descriptions of the East Texas landscape and zeitgeist rang true for me. As one who traveled those roads for many years as a state employee, I could clearly recognize both the people and countryside which they inhabit. In reading about the author, I was interested to see that he himself lives in Nacogdoches in the same county where I lived for many years, so I think he came by his knowledge of the area quite honestly.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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