A Southern gothic novel if you ever read one, this book features two aging sisters who live together -- and live for the annual "graveyard working" (cleaning the cemetery), which is their small town's best time. A memorable, moving and horrifying scene that involves bees (I won't spoil it for you) will stick with you, believe me. Gerald Duff has a keen ear for the southern drawl and renders characters so real you'll think about them later, as you would dear old friends. This book might be getting far off the new releases list, but it's well worth a fresh look.

Snake Song is a mature work - a storytelling banquet filled with drama, mystery, humor, myths and the tension of disparate cultures. Duff intertwines history and circumstance in a clever, and frequently eye-popping, retelling of legends from the Alabama-Coushatta Nation of East Texas. The author's use of dialect is gifted and illuminating and his mastery of revealing time in its linear and spatial dimensions is provocative. Austin Bullock, the central character and voice of disquiet duality, is subtly realized as he seeks to find a comfortable skin in which to live. His history unfolds as he circles the road between his self-created world in Annette and the world of his ancestors in the Big Thicket. He is a post-modern hero: consumed with self-knowledge and constrained by ennui. He knows humor will dull his pain, but he cannot free himself of the demons that possess his divided spirit. Highly recommended.

Although this book is about a 48-year old divorced man, which is not the kind of subject matter I normally look for in my reading material, I decided to give this one a shot anyway, and I am so glad I did! This book is entertaining: it's hard to put down and there were several laugh-out-loud moments to be found. I really enjoyed this book, although I must say that the ending was rather anticlimactic, overall I would definitely recommend it. Enjoy!

Gerald Duff's Coasters is a deftly written novel that alternates between dark comedy and surreal tragedy as it chronicles Waylon McPhee, a divorced middle-aged man who coasts through life without the escape velocity he once had in his youth. Entangled between his widowed father's love life and a manipulative sister who wants her inheritance before it goes to a possible second wife, Waylon juggles responsibility while struggling to recover some of the drive and spirit he once had... or at least to be something more than just another coaster. With witty, sardonic dialogue and a thought-provoking core, Coasters is original, compelling, and highly recommended.

Did you read that piece in the latest Atlantic Monthly about overrated, ill-written books by current literary darlings? This book is a good antidote to that kind of stuff. Duff's characters talk like natural people, only funnier. And he doesn't lay a lot of woolly lyricism on you--he shows people getting up to things. These are real literary values.

A wild fantasy of what would have happened if the world knew that Elvis' twin Jesse Garon had really survived! This is wild and crazy and can hit some subjects a little closer to home than some may care to see. It's just fun, but if you get your feelings hurt when bad things are said about Elvis, steer clear! I enjoyed it and recommend it to Elvis fans with a sense of humor!

If you want to immerse yourself in a terrific, imaginative piece of fiction, then I highly recommend this book. Whether or not you're an Elvis fan, this literary work is not only entertaining, but also gives the reader that taste of southern culture and dialog that only few writers can accomplish. While the plot may seem to be a bit far-fetched,it is truly engaging and written in a way that makes it seem quite plausible.

Gerald Duff does an interesting job mixing comedy and violent crime--no easy task. Memphis cop J.W. Ragsdale is a well developed character, who goes about solving the murder of a tourist during the International BBQ Cooking Contest and the Cotton Carnival. Duff's Southern dialects and colloquialisms are a little in the stereotypical vein, which is surprising from a former Memphis college prof. The story lines are tied up cleanly at the end, but left this reader wondering what purpose this excercise served. The framework for a great story is in place, and a good revision could have gotten this tale on track.

Gerald Duff's Memphis Ribs is a funny book. Its best quality lies in the dialogue engaged by its main character, Memphis police detective J.W. Ragsdale. I'm from Minnesota, where the best we can come up with is "yah" and "you betcha," so I can't say how accurate the dialect is. But it was enjoyable reading. The comebacks and phrasing were hilarious. Ragsdale is an immediately likable protagonist. Duff's ability to write dialogue reminds me of Robert B. Parker.

The story develops nicely too: drugs and murder all set against the backdrop of Memphis and Ragsdale's passion for barbecued pork ribs. I was surprised by how much there is to learn about barbecuing pork. Up here we just throw a couple of beer-soaked brats on the grill and take 'em off when they split. Duff teaches us that the subtleties in cooking methodology and geographical origin of barbecued pork are as varied and consequential as in the world of fine wines.

Though the ending left me a bit confused, Memphis Ribs is overall a good effort.

This is not a historical document, so who cares if the "fact checkers" weren't out in force in proofing this novel? It DOES capture the feel of a good portion of Memphis-- and some of Northern Mississippi as well. It's a good, fun read... well worth the time.