#hap and leonard: blood and lemonade

[tachyonpub]

Tachyon tidbits featuring Kameron Hurley, Joe R. Lansdale, Patricia A. McKillip, and Jane Yolen

The latest reviews and mentions of Tachyon titles and authors from around the web.

Kameron Hurley, Joe R. Lansdale (photo: Karen Lansdale), Patricia A. McKillip (Stephen Gold/Wikimedia Commons), and Jane Yolen (Jason Stemple)

NETGALLEY recently featured Kameron Hurley’s forthcoming APOCALYPSE NYX.

Reviewers and librarians can get their review copies of the acclaimed Kameron Hurley’s APOCALYPSE NYX at NETGALLEY.

At TEXAS MONTHLY, Eric Benson discusses the possible cancellation of SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard.

Over the past two weeks, fans have been rallying around another show that appears to be on the brink of death: Sundance TV’s East Texas–set Hap and Leonard. The series—a rural noir about a middle-aged crime-fighting odd couple and their battles against murderous preachers, the Ku Klux Klan, and all manner of corrupt and semi-corrupt lawmen—completed its third season on April 11, and despite strong ratings, it has yet to be renewed for a fourth. “A lot of people are nervous about whether it will happen or not,” Joe R. Lansdale, a co-executive producer and the author of the novels upon which the show is based, told me. Lansdale had an idea to try to help Sundance make up its mind. “All of these fans who were writing me or were on my Twitter or my Facebook who were just absolutely fanatic, I wanted them to express how they felt about the show to Sundance,” Lansdale said. So he took to the internet to try to help the network and its executives see just what they’d built.

Michael Kenneth Williams and James Purefoy as the titular characters

Most media outlets stopped covering Hap and Leonard after their initial reviews of the first season, but as the series progressed, writers at more niche entertainment websites like Collider, Den of Geek!, and Black Girl Nerds consistently championed the show. Before the beginning of the third season, Vox, one of the few general-interest publications to stay with Hap and Leonard, called it “one of TV’s best-kept secrets,” a sentiment that has been echoed elsewhere. Hap and Leonard has learned to juggle its many parts—the fights work as fights, the hallucinatory sequences are trippy, and the skewering of racists is fun not preachy, mostly because Leonard as played by Williams is so irresistible. And even though Hap and Leonard closely follows novels written more than two decades ago, was conceived of and premiered during Barack Obama’s presidency, and takes place in the late 1980s, the show has increasingly seemed tailor-made for the Donald Trump years, with its left-behind working-class protagonists, economically disadvantaged setting, and ever-present in-your-face racism.

Lansdale himself has been unsurprised the show has become so topical. “The Aryan Nation, the Klan, all these anti-immigrant groups—they’ve never really disappeared, and if you think they have, then you’ve been living in a bubble,” he says. “I was having a conversation with another producer and he said, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to make this Klan stuff seem relevant,’ and then the next day they had Charlottesville.”

At its best, Lansdale’s work bewitches you with an idea common to all great noir: that behind the walls of every clapboard bungalow and beneath every grassy lawn there’s both a hidden rot and a hidden goodness, and we all need to look a little harder in order to see things as they really are. In its serpentine twists and profound sense of place, Hap and Leonard has begun to offer a tantalizing promise: that clear vision and bold action from a few brave men and women can unmask the hidden order of the world. If it gets a fourth season, there’s little doubt that our protagonists, Hap and Leonard, will confront more evils lurking just beneath the surface, and—at least for a few fleeting moments on-screen—show all of us that noble principles, a few well-timed wise-cracks, and a healthy dose of derring-do can save the day once again.

THE LITTLE BOOK OWL recommends Patricia A. McKillip’s World Fantasy winner THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD.

THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD / Patricia A. McKillip / ★★★★★

If you enjoy fantasy with a fairy tale feel to it then I highly recommend checking out this fantastic book. This was my first book by this author so I didn’t really know what to expect but I loved this book. The writing is fantastic, the plot is compelling and the characters are so well written.

Jack Rightmyer for ALBANY TIMES UNION interviews Jane Yolen.

Jane Yolen has often been referred to as the Hans Christian Andersen of America. This year her 365th and 366th books will be published and they range from picture books to poetry collections, graphic novels to books for children, young adults and adults.

"People ask me all the time 'How are you able to write so much?' and I wonder why other writers don't write so much," she said. "I'm a writer. That's what I do. I wake up every morning and I have six or seven story ideas all ready to go in my head."

Her most recent book THE EMERALD CIRCUS (Tachyon Press, 281 pages, $19.95) is a collection of some of her best stories over the past 20-25 years. The stories deal with Dorothy from Oz, Merlin from the King Arthur stories and such writers as Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson.

"I wrote most of them for anthologies, magazines and journals. All the stories were about characters from famous fantasies or about writers of fantasy. It was fun to go back and reread many of these stories that I hadn't read in years."

For the last twenty-eight years she has lived half the year in Amherst, Mass., and the other half in St. Andrews, Scotland. "I'm an American Jew. My DNA is mostly European Jew, and why I would be interested in Scotland is hard to understand." Her husband hailed from West Virginia with Scotch Irish origins so years ago they decided to visit Scotland to see where some of his people came from. "When we entered the Highlands I turned to him and said, 'This makes no sense at all, but I feel at home here.'"

For more info on APOCALYPSE NYX, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Wadim Kashin

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE BIG BOOK OF HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

For more info on THE EMERALD CIRCUS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

[jacensolodjo]

I think these passages from Hap and Leonard Blood and Lemonade are rather apt.

“That’s the way we should have kept it. Self-defense is permissible.” 

“A stick was a little much,” I said. 

“Yeah, but these kids in school now, they’re being taught to accept being victims. Why there’s so many goddamn whiners, I think.” 

“That right?” 

“You don’t learn justice by taking it like the French. That’s not how it works. Someone doesn’t give you justice, you got to get your own.” 

“Or get out of the way of the problem.” 

“Alright, there’s that. But then the motherfucker just moves down the road a little, and picks a new victim.” 

“Here’s the thing, you get more shit from the meanies because the good folks don’t stand up, don’t know how, and don’t learn how. And they’re taught to just take it these days, and do it with a smile.”

“Everyone now, they don’t have an idea what’s just, what’s right, because they punish everyone the same. Ones that did it, and ones that didn’t. I can see that if no one knows what went down, but now, even when they know who the culprit is, one who started it, it comes out the same for both. The good and the bad.”

“Don’t treat the just and righteous the same as the bad and the willfully evil, or you breed a tribe of victims and a tribe of evil bastards. Learning to be a coward is the same as learning to be brave. It takes practice. And that, my good brother, is the parable of the stick.” 

[brigdh]

Reading Wednesday

The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Symbols by Genevieve von Petzinger. A non-fiction but breezily readable book about cave paintings. Many people are aware of the famous Ice Age paintings of animals – the horses and bison of Lascaux, the lions and bears at Chauvet – but less well-known are the abstract, geometric signs which pop up in this art just as often: dots, lines, X's, empty squares, etc. Mostly this is because the geometeric signs have been largely ignored by archaeologists themselves, who have a tradition of assuming that they're meaningless doodles, patches where the artists were testing their paints, or otherwise unimportant. Fortunately those assumptions are beginning to change. von Petzinger is an archaeologist herself, one whose research has focused on documenting and analyzing the geometric signs, but this book is very much aimed at a non-specialist audience. She does a great job at providing the background to understand why this is such a fascinating topic (short version: it's the beginning of humans' making art, and may well be evidence of the oldest human language and capacity for symbolism as well). She is also great at mixing her theories with more tactile, personal experiences of crawling around in dark caves or visiting obscure museums, keeping the book from spending too much time in the realm of the abstract. She covers various theories for what the art might "mean" (were they painting animals they wanted to hunt? painting their religious experiences? representing a battle between maleness and femaleness?), and though von Petzinger makes her own personal favorite explanation clear, she keeps from ultimately declaring any single one to be THE answer. Which I appreciate. I've seen some reviewers annoyed that the signs remain mysterious, but honestly, any book claiming to definitively solve a centuries-old scientific mystery is probably a book you should be suspicious of. Overall, a really great introduction to the topic, and one that I think could be interesting to a lot of people, especially if you like worldbuilding in fantasy or sci-fi. I always think that the Upper Paleolithic art is a great example of how utterly alien other humans can be while still being recognizable as ourselves, and it's endlessly fun to speculate on what they were like. Hap and Leonard: Blood and Lemonade by Joe Lansdale. Hap & Leonard is a mystery/thriller series that I discovered a year or two ago and have been slowly making my way through. The basic premise is that Hap is a liberal white straight ex-hippie, Leonard is a black gay conservative Vietnam vet, and together they fight crime! And also are best friends in rural East Texas, despite the problems that caused in the 60s and 70s and sometimes still today. Lansdale writes with an ironic, self-deprecating tone that makes the series appeal to me much more than a more straightforward 'tough guys beat up bad guys' take on the same idea would. This book is collection of short stories, though Lansdale himself describes it as a "mosaic novel". In summary: Hap and Leonard spend a night driving around town, shooting the shit and doing nothing much in particular. As their conservation drifts along and they pass by places they used to know, memories spark off flashbacks which lead into short stories, mostly about Hap's childhood, his parents, and particularly his relationship to racism, but also covering the first time Hap and Leonard met and the first time they got into trouble together. (Two of the stories were published previously in another context, but they're integrated so well into the rest that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't already read them: "The Boy Who Became Invisible" and "Not Our Kind".) But despite mostly taking place in the past, I don't think this would make for a good introduction to the series; a lot of the power of the stories depends on already knowing these characters and having an emotional connection to them and their relationship. On the other hand, if you do know them, this is a wonderful expansion of their history. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

(LJ post for easier commenting | DW, ditto)

[thespeakeasypodcastnetwork-blog]

This here brand new JDP goodness is hotter than a billy goat in a pepper patch! On this episode, Tanky takes the topic reins again (Even the sun shines on a dog’s ass twice a day) and delves into one of his favorite TV series- “Hap and Leonard”. He expounds to Adam & Mike all about the critically acclaimed SundanceTV show adaptation and dips into the book series it’s based off of by the great author Joe R. Lansdale. Each season’s theme, the incredible actors playing the characters, and all the bloody ass kicking dark humored buddy crime noir aspects that makes the show and source material so special are discussed. So tune in and we hope you get sold on a exceptional new show(and book series) that’s sweeter than stolen honey.

Please rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes at HERE (Thank you in advance as this helps out the show a lot!)

Email: thejunkdrawerpod@gmail.com

Twitter: @drawerofjunk

Facebook: http://bit.ly/Junkdrawer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejunkdrawerpodcast/

[roughjustice-crimefictionlover]

Tonight's thriller - Hap and Leonard: Blood and Lemonade, written by Joe R. Lansdale. ARC provided by Tachyon Publications. (at Boylestone)

[tachyonpub]

Visit with HAP AND LEONARD creator Joe R. Lansdale, his ownself

Joe R. Lansdale will be hitting the trail this month in celebration of the new Hap and Leonard Jackrabbit Smile. Be sure to stop by and say howdy to the affable Joe.

Photo: Karen Lansdale

Tuesday, March 27 7PM at BookPeople in Austin, TX

Wednesday, March 28 7PM at Interabang Books in Dallas, TX

Thursday, March 29 6:30PM at Murder by the Book in Houston, TX

Saturday, March 31 2PM at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, CA

Sunday, April 1 4PM at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA

Wednesday, April 4 7PM at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ

Friday, April 6 7PM at Murder on the Beach in Delray Beach, FL

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

[tachyonpub]

HAP AND LEONARD: TWO BEAR MAMBO premieres TONIGHT

The third season of the acclaimed SundanceTV series based on the eerily prophetic books by Joe R. Lansdale, HAP AND LEONARD: THE TWO BEAR MAMBO, premieres tonight 10pm EST/9PM CST.

And if that’s not enough Hap and Leonard (as if there really is ever enough), check out the collection HAP AND LEONARD and the mosaic novel HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE that recounts the duo’s teen years. 

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

[tachyonpub]

Tachyon tidbits featuring Joe R. Lansdale, Peter S. Beagle, Jacob Weisman, Patricia A. McKillip, and Bruce Sterling

The latest reviews and mentions of Tachyon titles and authors from around the web.

Joe R. Lansdale (photo: Karen Lansdale), Jacob Weisman and Peter S. Beagle (Jill Roberts), Patricia A. McKillip (photo: Stephen Gold/Wikimedia Commons), and Bruce Sterling

At GINGER NUTS OF HORROR, Bob McLeod includes Joe R. Lansdale’s HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE in his top books of the year.

There is no denying that Joe Lansdale is a master of storytelling and the latest Hap and Leonard novel is a triumphant return to the world of these two hapless heroes.  Written as a prequel to their very first adventure Lansdale gives us an emotionally charged insight into what makes the two of them tick.

"At times this is a hard book to read, due to its cultural setting, Lansdale has captured the sociopolitical zeitgeist of the era perfectly.  A period where racism was rampant and times were excruciating for Black people and those who didn't fit in with the general feeling towards them.  Be warned the use of the N-word is utilised many times in this book, but it is never used for shock value, it drives the story to such an extent it almost feels as though your soul is taking a beating as you read it.  BLOOD AND LEMONADE is an emotionally compelling tale  which puts the reader through an emotional whirlwind in a way that only a great writer such as Lansdale can do.  

Angela Matano for CAMPUS CIRCLE recommends Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman’s THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY as a book for every stocking.

If your idea of fantasy begins and ends with Hobbits or Mothers of Dragons, you’re missing out on a vibrant part of literature. Peter S. Beagle has assembled a collection of stories from the hottest young writers in THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY, including modern classics from Ursula Vernon, Usman T. Malik, Kelly Sandoval and more.

In the same piece, Matano also suggests collections from Charlie Jane Anders and THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY contributor Ben Loory.

Ben Loory returns with his unique brand of short short stories in “Tales of Falling and Flying.” These deceptively simple, absurdist fables and surreal allegories add up to an emotional punch.

“Six Months, Three Days, Five Others” collects six stories from “All the Birds in the Sky” author Charlie Jane Anders, who explores philosophical “what-ifs” with doses of whimsy and quirky humor, while grounding it all with relatable characters.

In a five star review, LOOKING GLASS READS praises Patricia A. McKillip’s World Fantasy Award-winner THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD 

Patricia McKillip’s novel THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD was republished by Tachyon Publications. This World Fantasy Award winning novel is a true treasure, a book that is most definitely worth reading.

I have never read prose quite as lyrical as McKillip’s. The language is incredibly descriptive without being overly dense. It is fairy-tale like, adding to the air of magic within the novel. There isn’t a paragraph, a line, a word, that is unnecessary. Despite all of her works having this to at least some extent, this is probably the tightest prose I have read in one of her novels.

I always admired Patricia McKillip’s book. But this is, by far, the best of her work I have read. THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD is a book that will delight any fantasy reader. Take a chance on this book. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

LOOKING FOR A GOOD BOOK reviews Bruce Sterling’s Sidewise Award-nominated PIRATE UTOPIA.

The last third of the book (or so) is an interview with Sterling who gives a brief account of the real history of Fiume.  I enjoyed this and it had me doing a quick Google search of my own to learn a little more.

Perhaps the best part of the book is the beautiful art by John Coulthart, who captures the Art Deco/war years style to lead off the chapters and divisions of the book. The art alone is worth checking out this book.

Looking for a good book? Pirate Utopia by Bruce Sterling is a short book about some idealizing ‘pirates’ in the 1920’s who take over and develop their own country. Buy it for the art and enjoy the story.

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info about THE NEW VOICES OF FANTASY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Camille André

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

For more info on PIRATE UTOPIA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover and images by John Coulthart

[tachyonpub]

Happy birthday to the literary and martial arts master Joe R. Lansdale

Photo by Karen Lansdale

Probably the only person in the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame who has received an Edgar, ten Stokers, a Grandmaster of Horror, the British Fantasy, a Spur, and the Herodotus Awards, Joe R. Lansdale has written more than 40 novels, 400 shorter works, and devised the Shen Chuan Martial Science.

His novels include the Edgar Award-winning THE BOTTOMS, COLD IN JULY, NIGHTRUNNERS, FLAMING ZEPPELINS, A FINE DARK LINE, THE DRIVE-IN, THE THICKET, PARADISE SKY, and BUBBA AND THE COSMIC BLOOD-SUCKERS. Beginning with BY BIZARRE HANDS, Lansdale’s numerous short stories have been collected in several volumes including THE BEST OF JOE R. LANSDALE, WRITER OF THE PURPLE RAGE, HIGH COTTON, SANCTIFIED AND CHICKEN FRIED, DEADMAN’S ROAD, DEADMAN’S CROSSING, BLEEDING SHADOWS, MIRACLES AIN’T WHAT THEY USED BE, and DEAD ON THE BONES: PULP ON FIRE. He’s edited 15 anthologies including RAZORED SADDLES (with Pat LoBrutto), DARK AT HEART (with Karen Lansdale), WEIRD BUSINESS (with Richard Klaw), RETRO PULP TALES, CROSS PLAINS UNIVERSE (with Scott Cupp), CRUCIFIED DREAMS, and THE URBAN FANTASY ANTHOLOGY (with Peter S. Beagle). As if this wasn’t enough, Lansdale has written comics for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, and others.

Lansdale’s most famous creation is the unlikely duo of Hap and Leonard. Hap Collins is white, liberal, and even tempered. Leonard Pine, who is quick to anger, is black, conservative and gay. In a series of nine novels, beginning with SAVAGE SEASON, and several novellas, the best friends encounter violence, racism, and adventure in their East Texas haunts. The often humorous tales have garnered much praise and a legion of loyal fans. Many of the Hap and Leonard novellas and shorter tales were collected in HAP AND LEONARD and HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN. The 10th and 11th novels, RUSTY PUPPY, and HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE came out earlier this year. In early 2018, the pair return to SUNDANCETV for a third season of HAP AND LEONARD, starring James Purefoy and Michael K. Williams.

Other works that have enjoyed the film treatment include BUBBA HO-TEP, COLD IN JULY, INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD, and CHRISTMAS WITH DEAD, which Lansdale produced with a screenplay by his son, Keith. He has written many screenplays and teleplays, most notably for BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES and SUPERMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES. 

All of us at Tachyon wish champion Joe a happy birthday!

For more info about THE BEST OF JOE R. LANSDALE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio

For more info about CRUCIFIED DREAMS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Josh Beatman

For more info about THE URBAN FANTASY ANTHOLOGY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info about COLD IN JULY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about FLAMING ZEPPELINS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart

For more info about DEADMAN’S ROAD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art “The Quick and the Undead” by Travis J. Elston

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about DEADMAN’S CROSSING, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art “The Quick and the Undead” by Travis J. Elston

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

[tachyonpub]

For a limited time, get a selection of SIGNED books from Tachyon

From Jacob’s many travels and authors stopping by the offices, we have a large selection of signed books.

As with our entire catalog, these books are part of our holiday sale.

From now until Wednesday, December 13

10% off on all orders of $25 or more (use the coupon code HAPPY10)

Free Media Mail shipping on all orders for U.S. customers

SIX MONTHS, THREE DAYS (limited edition) by Charlie Jane Anders

THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD by Peter V. Brett

LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS edited by Ellen Datlow

THE VERY BEST OF CHARLES DE LINT

CONTEXT by Cory Doctorow

WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE by Daryl Gregory

WICKED WONDERS by Ellen Klages

THE APES OF WRATH edited by Richard Klaw (includes signatures by Klaw and contributors Joe R. Lansdale, Scott Cupp, Jess Nevins, and Mark Finn)

HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE by Joe R. Lansdale

WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD by Patricia A. McKillip

THE STRESS OF HER REGARD by Tim Powers 

NOT SO MUCH SAID THE CAT by Michael Swanwick

THE VERY BEST OF TAD WILLIAMS

Plus the previously announced Peter S. Beagle signed books

10% off only applies to orders of $25.00 or more

Sale ends Wednesday, December 13, at 11:59PM PST.

Free shipping via USPS Media Mail within the United States (except Alaska and Hawaii). No minimum purchase required.

Please email for other shipping options

For more info on WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty

For more info on THE VERY BEST OF TAD WILLIAMS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Kerem Beyit.

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE APES OF WRATH, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Alex Solis

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on WICKED WONDERS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart

For more info about THE GREAT BAZAAR & BRAYAN’S GOLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on SIX MONTHS, THREE DAYS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE STRESS OF HER REGARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Ann Monn

For info on WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on CONTEXT: FURTHER SELECTED ESSAYS ON PRODUCTIVITY, CREATIVITY, PARENTING, AND POLITICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more information about THE VERY BEST OF CHARLES DE LINT, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Charles Vess

[tachyonpub]

Tachyon tidbits featuring Nancy Springer, James Tiptree Jr., Joe R. Lansdale, and Kate Elliott

The latest reviews and mentions of Tachyon titles and authors from around the web.

Nancy Springer (photo: Bob O’Lary), James Tiptree Jr., Joe R. Lansdale (Karen Lansdale), and Kate Elliott (April Quintanilla)

CELINE’S BOOK CORNER praises Nancy Springer’s THE ODDLING PRINCE.

I really enjoyed this book: the writing is beautiful, the story is consistent and it does transport you back to times past. Oddly enough, I had never heard of Nancy Springer before, but I will be making sure to check out some of her other books as she has written loads! This is definitely an author that I will remember.

At HARVARD BOOK STORE, James Tiptree’s HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER is a staff selection.

An experiment: if you DON'T know who James Tiptree Jr. was, don't turn this book over and read the back. Don't read the introduction. Just charge right into the stories. THEN read the introduction. After. Otherwise, the secret will be spoiled. No one gets to enjoy that secret anymore, and the subsequent revelation.

These are some of my favorite stories in all of science fiction—bleak, difficult, and endearing takes on what it means to be human, how we think about gender, and how very small we are in the universe. I hope these stories haunt you the way they haunt me.

Robert Koehler for DGA QUARTERLY reveals that the latest wave of crime comedies employ a tricky balance between desperate drama and absurd humor. Hap and Leonard, the show based on Joe R. Lansdale’s popular series of books, typify this.

The current crime comedy wave—including such wide-ranging fare as Better Call Saul, Get Shorty, Good Behavior, Good Girls, Hap and Leonard, The Last O.G. and Sneaky Pete—could be considered the offspring of sometimes exceptionally dark sagas in which the ostensible bad guy is now the hero, starting emphatically with The Sopranos, in which there was almost never an episode without equal doses of violence and humor; Dexter, told from the view of an ironically narrating serial killer; Breaking Bad, the wild adventures of a chemistry teacher-turned-drug kingpin; Fargo, anthology reimaginings of the Coen brothers' Minnesota crime tale; and Justified, the ingenious adaptation of Leonard's short story Fire in the Hole.

Image: Sundance TV

A key part of figuring out the right tone is helping actors find their way into the genre's typically contradictory and quirky characters. Mickle notes that Corbin Bernsen came in as a guest star for Hap and Leonard's third season playing Cantuck, the police chief of racist-drenched Grovetown, Texas, a hard-bitten type who suffers from an enlarged testicle—the kind of detail that defines Lansdale's fiction.

"Corbin and I talked about the fun of working with that strange character trait," says Mickle. "There's always a challenge to be an actor who jumps into a show that has seasons under its belt. You need to give actors their space to find their way, and with Corbin, he'll do different takes during rehearsal and will sometimes improvise, all of which I encourage because I know that we'll find the best parts of the performance in the edit. Then, when an actor like Corbin says something funny, you need to get the reaction shots. In the first cut of a scene where Hap and Leonard meet Cantuck in episode two, Corbin's performance wasn't landing. But when we inserted Hap's and Leonard's responses, it turned into the right kind of comic scene where our two guys are trying to figure out if this police chief is putting them on or not."

These directors will readily point to key inspirations for their approach to the characters, guidelines helping them with the tricky business of juggling comedy and crime. For her ambitious first season finale episode of Good Girls, Anderson says, of a crucial moment when the forlorn husband character Dean (Matthew Lillard) crashes his car, that "it was really a steal from the Coen brothers, making the viewer feel the moment alongside the character."

The Coens' Effect is also felt in Hap and Leonard, Mickle observes, with the critical contribution of Ellen Chenoweth, the brothers' longtime casting director: "She brought to us several wonderful character actors, like Irma P. Hall and John McConnell, who seem to be born for this style." Mickle came to Hap and Leonard by way of directing his previous feature, Cold in July, based on a pre-Hap novel by Lansdale, "so it gave me a way of carrying over the mix of hijinks and high tension that I did in the movie into the series. But the thing that really inspired me for this was watching a huge number of Korean crime movies when I was in Korea. They drop in crazy twists and turns, dark stories with broad humor. I'm thinking of Bong Joon-ho for example, stuff that we haven't quite been able to do in the U.S."

Yet it's these constant shifts that can set dangerous traps for the director. "They're everywhere," says Arkin. "On one hand, you have to make sure that when you jump from a more comic scene to something more dramatic, you don't undercut one or the other. On the other hand, in television filmmaking, you risk falling into a static or imitative look and style just because everyone is so comfortable with it. I deliberately didn't study the movie version of Get Shorty because of this, so we wouldn't even be tempted to copy it. I remember it as being more comedic than Leonard's book, and we knew that we wanted to pull back the comedy a bit, while juggling tones so that we don't fall into a rut."

By contrast, Mickle wanted to direct the first two episodes of Hap and Leonard's third season since "I wanted to play with a broader comic approach early on that doesn't prepare the viewer for the dark tone that enters the story in the later episodes, a bit like the latter half of (Mickle's 2014 crime thriller) Cold in July when Don Johnson enters the movie and brings in a slapstick tone. It helps remind the viewer that they're in the world of the tall tale, where we can stage a huge storm, where colors are louder, where lighting is more extreme. It's not reality."

At TOR.COM, Sam Hawke includes Kate Elliott’s Court of Fives series among 5 SFF Books Exploring Sibling Relationships.

In this series, billed as “Little Women meets American Ninja Warrior in Greco-Roman Egypt,” the main character, Jes, is an athlete with a Commoner mother and an upper class Patron father. Her dream is to compete for the Fives, an athletic competition that offers a chance for glory, but due to the society’s strict rules and her father’s delicate position, the only way she can compete is in secret. When disaster strikes and a ruthless Lord tears Jes’s family apart, she is forced into a much more deadly game of politics and loyalty, and a desperate plan to save her mother and sisters. This story has so much going for it that I love (competitive girls in sports! Intricate political scheming and cultural clashes! Slow burn background magic!) but easily my favourite element was the portrayal of Jes’s family over the course of the trilogy, and particularly her complex, well-realised relationships between her sisters. Elliott really nails the layers of family dynamic, crafting four very distinct sisters with their own character arcs and motivations, and the complex mix of love, combativeness, defensiveness and trust that binds them together

For more info about THE ODDLING PRINCE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Brian Giberson

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

For more info about THE BIG BOOK OF HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Covers by Elizabeth Story

[tachyonpub]

Visit with HAP AND LEONARD creator Joe R. Lansdale, his ownself

Photo: Karen Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale will be at Pflugerville Book Pfestival in Pflugerville, TX on Saturday, April 29. Be sure to stop by and say howdy to the affable Joe.

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Sidekicks in Crime Fiction 

with authors Joe Lansdale & Minerva Koenig, Scout Montgomery & Molly Odintz of Book People, and Hopeton Hay

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

[tachyonpub]

Listen to Joe R. Lansdale discuss HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE

In a lengthy interview, the gang at UNITED PUBLIC RADIO sat down with Joe R. Lansdale to discuss HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, RUSTY PUPPY, SUNDANCETV’s HAP AND LEONARD, Batman, and other things Lansdale.

The Italian site LIBRITUDINE praises BLOOD AND LEMONADE.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Little tales from Hap's infancy, the meeting with Leonard, Their beginning (that could have been Their end too) and life in the 50's and 60's in rural south US where being a "nigger's friend" or a black homosexual could mean a very bad end. 

Small stories from childhood Hap, his meeting with Leonard, their first adventures (which could very well be their last) and life between the 50s and 60s in the Deep South of the United States, when to be " friend of a negro "or a homosexual black, could mean a bad end. 

Translation from Italian courtesy of Google.

Subterranean Press is now accepting pre-orders for BUBBA AND THE COSMIC BLOOD-SUCKERS, the novel-length prequel to Lansdale’s classic “Bubba Ho-Tep,” which is currently available in THE BEST OF JOE R. LANSDALE.

About the Book:

Part of a secret government organization designed to protect civilians, Elvis Presley and a handful of hardcore warriors set out to save the world from an invasion of hive-minded, shape-shifting vampire-like creatures from a dark dimension who have taken up residence in a New Orleans junkyard.  

Besides Elvis, among these righteous warriors is a hammer-wielding descendent of John Henry of railroad fame, a Blind Man who sees more than those with sight, Jack, a strategic wizard, and Elvis’s right hand man and journal writer, Johnny, all thrown in with Raven (real name Jenny) a female recruit who is also a budding pop star, and like Elvis, high on the charisma chart.    

Their leader is none other than Colonel Parker, Elvis’s cutthroat manager, and a warrior himself, directly in contact with President Nixon, or possibly one of his doubles.

It’s an unnerving peek into a secret world, and a possible delusion. It’s what happened before Elvis, aka Sebastian Haff, found himself in an East Texas rest home, mounted on a walker, fighting an Egyptian mummy and worrying about a growth on his pecker.

Strange monsters, wild fights, sex with a beautiful ghost, a drug-induced trip into another dimension, and all manner of mayhem ensue, along with a Mississippi riverboat ride on a giant paddle wheel, and of course, there will be 3D glasses, fried peanut butter and ’nanna sandwiches, and a few hard working zombies.

Bring the kids, but plug their ears and blindfold them. This is one wild and nasty ride to the dark side, but with laughter.

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info about THE BEST OF JOE R. LANSDALE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio

[tachyonpub]

HAP AND LEONARD: MUCHO MOJO enjoys a strong start

For DEN OF GEEK, David S.E. Zapanta enjoys the first episode of SundanceTV’s HAP AND LEONARD: MUCHO MOJO.

Overall, “Mucho Mojo” is a strong start. Six episodes may not seem like enough, but the first season covered a lot of ground in only six hours. I’m expecting more of the same this time around. And while I may be missing Christina Hendricks, this episode certainly doesn’t suffer from her absence. What matters is that Purefoy and Williams continue to work so well together.

Irma P. Hall as MeMaw 

Crime shows like Hap and Leonard may truck in violence, but a lot of their success also resides in humorous beats. There are some genuinely funny moments between Hap and Leonard, but Irma P. Hall’s elderly matriarch MeMaw is a real scene-stealer. She may laugh off Leonard pissing in drug dealer Melton’s face (as does much of the neighborhood), but she won’t suffer raunchy talk at her breakfast table.

Melanie Mcfarland at SALON discusses the series in “Me and you ain’t you and her”: How “Hap and Leonard” challenges TV’s portrayal of masculine friendship.

Strip away the so-called “swamp noir,” a label describing the East Texas twang born of a meeting between arid and sultry. Look behind the curtain of its murder mystery, which careens through turns that are at once predictable and obscenely unfair, and see Sundance’s “Hap and Leonard” for what it is — a wonderful platonic love story.

Leonard Pine (Michael J. Williams) and Hap Collins (James Purefoy)

Grounding “Hap and Leonard” in a devoted, affectionate male friendship goes counter to the standard vision of machismo or manly identity seen elsewhere on TV. Mind you, Hap Collins and Leonard Pine fit the popular concept of what it means to be masculine. (Leonard is a brawler, in fact. In the season premiere he beats a criminal senseless for urinating on his prized rosebush, topping off the incident by repaying the offense in kind.)

Since “Hap and Leonard” establishes the intensity of their brotherhood, it can take the audience into uncomfortable places and make broader topics of prejudice and injustice personal.

It’s not as if the first season of “Hap and Leonard” ignored the fact that Hap is a white ex-convict and Leonard is an African-American with dark skin having adventures in the Reagan-era South. The previous story was a caper involving Hap’s ex-wife Trudy (Christina Hendricks), who got them into trouble with nihilistic thugs. Television writers love to punctuate the villainy of such characters by having them sprinkle their vocabulary with epithets as casually as a smoker taps cigarette ash onto concrete. Leonard sustained his share of such abuse.

But the racial divide in the second season is distinct and purposeful, adding an anxious edge to Hap and Leonard’s interactions with the law — more specifically, Leonard’s troubles. And this new act makes “Hap and Leonard” into an allegory illustrating the senselessness of America’s racial divide, showing a community where black and white people live in close proximity while leading almost entirely separate lives. The drama may take place in the late 1980s, but its observations about law enforcement bias and the prejudice corrupting the judiciary are right on time.

Barbed as its observations about race and class can be, “Hap and Leonard” nevertheless embraces its audience with liberal servings of humor and the heartfelt bond between the two leads. And actually, Hap’s crush on Florida serves to spotlight their enduring loyalty as opposed to splitting them, simultaneously speaking to the societal conflict threaded through this season.

“She black,” Leonard says to Hap, later adding, “And you ain’t.”

“That never stopped me and you,” Hap retorts, to which Leonard delivers the perfect rebuttal: “Me and you ain’t you and her.”

Leonard’s right. Plainly they mean much more to each other.

SUNDANCETV offers their second exclusive excerpt from Joe R. Lansdale’s HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE.

Journey back in time to witness one of Hap and Leonard’s young adventures in this never-before-seen story by Joe R. Lansdale, “In the River of the Dead”. 

HAP AND LEONARD: IN THE RIVER OF THE DEAD — CHAPTER 1

We were seventeen when this happened, out fishing on the Sabine River.

What we learned was if we went fishing, sat in a boat and dragged some lines in the water, we might catch dinner for our night camp, but mostly we found out about each other. That’s how I learned about Leonard’s family, his feelings about being black and gay, and he learned about my family and me.

We drifted all day, had our camping supplies in the boat, and the plan was we would find a place to stop before nightfall. The boat was pretty good sized, an open boat. The outboard motor wasn’t strong on horse power, but it puttered us along as fast as we needed to go.

The river smelled sour because the day was warm. After we motored down a ways, we killed the engine and let the boat drift beneath the shade of the overhanging trees in the narrow part of the river. It was cooler there. The wind finally picked up, which was nice, because it blew the stink and the mosquitoes away from us.

At ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, Joe R. Lansdale delivers a poignant tribute to his good friend Bill Paxton.

Bill Paxton died while I was at a hometown film festival I had hoped to rope him into attending. We thought 2018 was possible.

We talked about it in January when he told me he had to have surgery for a heart condition. Bill said he was starting to think every slight feeling he had was due to the discovery of the heart problem.

He said, “I’m an actor, Joe. I can imagine anything. Tell me I’m a dog and I start barking.”

He was a little scared about the whole business, and we joked about it to disarm his worries. I told him my brother had heart surgery more than once and was fine. We ended up laughing hard about all manner of things, most of them pretty silly, before we rang off.

Bill Paxton, Jake Lansdale, and Joe R. Lansdale

I only knew Bill for seven or eight years, possibly a little more, but to know Bill for only an hour made it seem you had known him your whole life. He was a Ft. Worth boy, a Texan. Ft. Worth is where we met. At a film festival, of course.

He was what they used to call a boon companion. Witty, fun, considerate and kind. Nothing movie star about him.

In an IHOP in Nacogdoches, Texas, me and Bill and our mutual friend, Brent Hanley, screenwriter who wrote FRAILTY, a marvelous film Bill directed and starred in, were having breakfast, and Bill was recognized.

The waiter said, “You’re a movie star,” to which Bill replied with his usual modesty. “Well, I’m an actor.”

After breakfast, Brent and I went out of the restaurant, realized we had lost Bill. We soon discovered he was inside having photographs taken and signing autographs for anyone who asked, and he did it joyfully. He was thankful for his career, and for those who loved seeing him on the screen.

We spent the day tromping around in the river bottoms with my cousin, who was helping us locate possible locations for the film we hoped to make based on my novel THE BOTTOMS.

Next day we visited with my cousin’s family. Bill seemed as if he had grown up next door. Kind and considerate as he could be. Not a movie star bone in him. He made everyone comfortable.

Damn, I miss him.

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

[tachyonpub]

HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE is delightful

CRIME FICTION LOVER enjoys Joe R. Lansdale’s recently released HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE.

Hap and Leonard are unlikely friends, but friends nevertheless. They both grew up in East Texas, and both are outsiders. Leonard is black, gay, and politically conservative. Hap is white, straight, and liberal, and served time rather than serve in Vietnam. What links them, other than their outsider status, is a shared moral sensibility, an inability to mind their own business, and the fighting skills to get themselves out of trouble. It is the two characters’ friendship alongside Lansdale’s humour and ear for comedy which has given the series its longevity.

The 14 stories in Blood and Lemonade are narrated in the present day, but all relate to events prior to Savage Season. Most of them are original, but a couple have been published previously in hard-to-find anthologies. They take the form of Hap and (usually) Leonard reminiscing about their early lives, starting when they were teenagers. Tire Fire, the second story, details their first meeting; Hap was out hunting at night with a school friend when he came across a fight under a bridge. A young black man – Leonard – has challenged a group of young white boys to a fight, and has made short order of the first two, but the mood is going sour and Leonard won’t stand a fair chance if the group turns on him en masse. Both Hap and his friend Roger can see the danger, but only Hap is prepared to stand up for the stranger, even though he knows he might be making trouble for himself further down the line.

<snip>

The longest story in the book is In the River of the Dead, and reads the closest to the novels. Hap and Leonard are out fishing together and when their boat breaks down they have to make camp for the night. It is their misfortune that they are spotted by a hillbilly family out on the river at night to recover a stolen shipment of heroin sunk in the river after a double-cross. The boys may be relatively wet behind the ears but they know there is no way they are going to be allowed to leave once they have recovered the drugs. This story, with its memorable villains, crude language and daring action, was the one that most made me want to pick up one of the novels again.

All the writing is as you would expect from a seasoned pro like Lansdale, but the brevity of some of the stories (or perhaps they should be called chapters) makes it hard for him to really let loose and show off his skills. For long-time admirers of the author like me, Blood and Lemonade is a delightful addition to the novels and a much welcome answer to the mystery of how their friendship developed.

Matthew Monagle at FILM SCHOOL REJECTS discusses Jim Mickle and Nick Damici’s Joe R. Lansdale adaptations.

Much like King, Texas author Joe Lansdale has made a reputation for himself among genre fans as a purveyor of witty dialogue, diabolical characters, and geographic specificity. And while Lansdale would wait more than twenty years for a big-screen adaptation of one of his stories, thanks to two dedicated filmmakers-slash-fans, Lansdale’s work has become a hot ticket for both film and television. Director Jim Mickle and actor/co-writer Nick Damici first hit it off while working together on a 2001 NYU student film, collaborating on a series of low-budget horror films (Mulberry Street, Stake Land) in the last decade. And in the last few years, they’ve become experts in all things Lansdale by bringing the author’s most beloved works to the screen with 2014’s COLD IN JULY and the ongoing Sundance television series HAP AND LEONARD.

All told, the work of Lansdale, Mickle, and Damici serves as the high point of the modern Texas crime thriller. While movies like HELL OR HIGH WATER have breathed new life into the modern Western, Mickle and Damici’s work might only be matched by Darabont’s films in terms of their thoughtful adaptation of tricky source material. Mickle has described Lansdale’s novels as possessing “some of that Lynchian, twisted Americana vibe, but distinctly Texan,” as well as pointing out the way his books draw on multiple genres to tell their stories. Like the work of Stephen King, Joe Lansdale’s novels seem like a disaster in the hands of someone unable to understand the unique worlds the author has created. And like the films of Stephen King, Lansdale’s adaptations demonstrate an unparalleled grasp of an author’s tone.

Seattle’s KING 5 NEWS interviews Lansdale about Hap and Leonard.

A Texas novelist's bestselling series is now a hit show on Sundance TV. Hap and Leonard is set in East Texas where two best friends run into trouble with a pair of killers, and the cops, while trying to solve crimes as private investigators.

RUSTY PUPPY is the latest novel in the series, and finds Hap and Leonard investigating a racially-motivated murder that threatens to tear their community apart.. Novelist Joe Lansdale shared more about the series and the show.

Abbie Bernstein at ASSIGNMENT X interviews Michael Kenneth Williams about playing gay black Viet Nam veterans on two different shows.

However, right now Williams is in the unusual position of being on television almost simultaneously as two very different gay black Viet Nam veterans. In ABC’s LGBTQ civil rights miniseries WHEN WE RISE, running February 7 through March 3, the actor from Brooklyn plays real-life gay rights activist Ken Jones. In Season 2 of Sundance TV’s HAP AND LEONARD, coming later this year, Williams reprises his role of Southern small-time criminal Leonard Pine opposite James Purefoy’s Hap.

Michael K. Williams and James Purefoy as Leonard Pine and Hap Collins

ASSIGNMENT X: Between Leonard Pine and Ken Jones, did it strike you that you’d cornered this kind of unique character niche?

MICHAEL KENNETH WILLIAMS: [laughs] Let’s just say I had some concerns. I called [my manager] when that revelation landed. I was like, “They’re already questioning my sexuality [after Season 1 of HAP AND LEONARD]. Now I’m really going to be in trouble after this.” I don’t know why it turns out like this, but I don’t hesitate to tell the truth, to tell a slice of life, to be a vehicle, to be a vessel. I don’t hesitate. I don’t care how misunderstood or unpopular the lifestyle may be. If there’s a human being that lives and acts and feels this way, I as a thespian, it’s my duty if I’m called to do it, to do it. And do it with empathy and humanity.

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info about COLD IN JULY, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

[tachyonpub]

HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE offers an unfortunate resonance to contemporary times

At BOOKGASM, Alan Cranis praises Joe R. Lansdale’s HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE.

The relationship of these two young outsiders grows with each passing year, to where they eventually think of each other more as brothers than mere friends. There are many challenges to their early friendship, as exemplified in “Not Our Kind,” a story that appeared in the earlier HAP AND LEONARD collection but is well worth reading again in the context of these other formative stories.

Several stories take the form of a recollection, spurred by a memory that comes up in conversation or by the duo’s drive through Marvel Creek, the town where Hap grew up. So Hap recalls his poor upbringing and the lessons he picked up along the way, either by experience or taught by his stern but quietly compassionate father. Then there are the various other children Hap encounters at school, including the unsettling account of “The Boy Who Became Invisible,” with its unfortunate resonance to contemporary times.

Leonard doesn’t appear in all the stories gathered here, but his presence is felt throughout. This is strengthened by the underlying theme of racism that permeates several of the stories. The setting is the rural south in the early 1960s, before the hard-fought victories of equality, when blacks were tolerated most diplomatically as “coloreds,” and racism was as common a household trait as church on Sunday. Leonard shoulders the additional burden of homosexuality – a trait not often discussed in those days and quickly dismissed as being “a queer.”

<snip>

“The Early Days” might have been the fitting subtitle to this latest addition to the Hap and Leonard cannon. But Lansdale wisely chose instead “Blood And Lemonade,” the title of one of the stories as well as an oddly appropriate description of the memories that it contains. 

Andrew Andrews of TRUE REVIEW enjoys many of the stories.

Like Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles,” Lansdale has written this mosaic novel -- interconnected short stories that meld into a gestalted, arching storyline -- that details the very segmented and disjointed way that Hap and Leonard, friends just trying to stay out of trouble, met.

Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, blue-collar souls trying to stay behind the law, when they can, make a motley bunch, to say the least.

<snip>

There are many recollections of Hap and Leonard’s past throughout the mosaic novel.

One is “The Boy Who Became Invisible,” about Jesse, a poor schoolboy, who only became what hate-filled and judgmental people at the school would make him be.

Here’s a tale of Hap as a kid: “Blood and Lemonade.” In this, an abandoned black boy is taken in by Hap’s Mama. The poor kid literally has no place to go. But Mama is persistent and takes him to his family, where Hap learns about the violently dark racism in East Texas and how the hatred runs both ways.

Another dark recollection of the friendship of Hap and Leonard is the grisly and frightening “In the River of the Dead.” Hap and Leonard encounter some fishing problems on the dark river, and somehow uncover a sunken boat with bodies of a murdered family. Apparently Hap and Leonard have stumbled into a drug-deal-gone-wrong crime scene. For the friends, escape is possible, but there seems to be no escaping the rampant racism and psychopathic behavior of the perpetrators.

The violent and pervasive ugliness of the Deep South rears its ugly head again in a memory Hap has while driving to a burger joint, as a teenager, in “Stopping for Coffee.” This memory only haunts him because of what he should have done, or at least tried to do, to stave off senseless violence.

“Apollo Red” details how Hap remembers how his dad, a mechanic, encounters and stands up to a bully.

Photo: Karen Lansdale

VICE MEETS interviews Michael K. Williams.

On this episode of VICE Meets, we caught up with actor Michael K. Williams for an inside scoop on his role in Hap and Leonard: Mucho Mojo, a murder mystery set in East Texas in the late 80s. Hap and Leonard: Mucho Mojo is set to debut on SundanceTV Wednesday, March 15.

Williams—who's notorious for playing underworld badasses on shows like The Wire and Boardwalk Empire and who hosts Black Market, VICELAND's series about underground economies—said he drew from his experiences with the LGBTQ community while playing Leonard Pine, a gay Vietnam veteran. Growing up in Brooklyn, Williams said he was mentored by a gay woman who "toughened him up" and introduced him to the area's larger LGBTQ community.

"This is my homage to the [LGBTQ] community, because that community has always embraced me, never judged me," Williams told VICE.

The Italian site WHY SO SERIAL? reviews the first season of SundanceTV’s HAP AND LEONARD while contrasting it with its source material SAVAGE SEASON (A SEASON WILD in Italian).

The series, which adapted the first novel "A Season Wild" in six episodes, lacks quell'imprevedibilità which is typical of Lansdale novel, which causes our heroes wield crossbows, pans, chairs, tables and anything else to defeat the villain with the biggest gun or more overt racism. Violent scenes are not lacking, and make perfectly human cruelty and crudeness to its lowest step. The series also sees an extraordinary woman by their side, Christina Hendricks , in the shoes of the former wife of Hap, in trouble with another hippie crowds of their old days. She is to recruit them for a mission that seems bullshit: recover the money ended up in the bottom of a lake. Too bad that not everyone has the loyalty of honor that our heroes and, at their expense, will find themselves in yet another spiral of trouble.

It is to see the structure of the characters, the deep friendship that can tie two such men and how yet another woman can get them into trouble (and it was only the first: D). And last, but not least, because it is Lansdale Lansdale and even a fistfight in my hiding deep social meanings (I am not entirely ironic). Already renewed for the following season, with the adaptation of "Mucho Mojo", we trust in the wisdom of the writers not only for the "veracity" of the characters but also for violence. It Lansdale, damn!

Translation form Italian courtesy of Google.

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story