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billmorrow's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tommooney's review against another edition
4.0
Before McCarthy, before Gay, before O'Connor and Farris Smith and Rash and Woodrell, there was James Ross's They Don't Dance Much.
Published in 1940, the original southern noir novel stands the test of time very well. It tells the story of Jack McDonald, a failed farmer who takes a job at a roadhouse in the small town of Corinth, NC.
He falls under the wing of the owner, Smut Milligan, who eventually embroils Jack in a brutal murder.
The novel brilliantly depicts the semi-hillbilly community, which is a mix of drunks, flashy rich guys and downtrodden wives. Ross combines a compelling plot with highly evocative writing and wonderful, eccentric characters.
From what I can tell, the book has had a turbulent history, being shifted from publisher to publisher and never doing too well. I guess some of the racial language may be a little fresh for the modern ear but it is very much a novel worth reading and is at the heart of all the southern noir, country noir and southern gothic writing that has followed it.
Published in 1940, the original southern noir novel stands the test of time very well. It tells the story of Jack McDonald, a failed farmer who takes a job at a roadhouse in the small town of Corinth, NC.
He falls under the wing of the owner, Smut Milligan, who eventually embroils Jack in a brutal murder.
The novel brilliantly depicts the semi-hillbilly community, which is a mix of drunks, flashy rich guys and downtrodden wives. Ross combines a compelling plot with highly evocative writing and wonderful, eccentric characters.
From what I can tell, the book has had a turbulent history, being shifted from publisher to publisher and never doing too well. I guess some of the racial language may be a little fresh for the modern ear but it is very much a novel worth reading and is at the heart of all the southern noir, country noir and southern gothic writing that has followed it.
leerazer's review against another edition
4.0
Set in rural 1930s North Carolina at a highway roadhouse of low repute, this novel first published in 1940 has been getting some buzz as the place where country noir began (and which was promptly lost; the book never sold well). I approached it expecting a good deal of almost over the top violence, but that is an improper modern frame to bring to it. There is violence, and a bit of gore, but Ross metes it out measured and dry. There is not the sense that he's trying to shock you and provide voyeuristic gruesomeness. So that was a noticeable surprise for me.
The story is told through the eyes of Jack McDonald, a no-accounter who loses his small farm and finds work just outside town with Smut Milligan, and old acquaintance. Smut has built up a minor bootlegging/gambling concern and he aims to expand his operation with a new roadhouse and dance hall. Jack becomes Smut's right hand man, as the only other person about the place with a lick of sense. They attract mainly a crowd of low social status - mill workers blowing their weekly paychecks and some regular drunks - that is not particularly rough for all that.
Smut develops financial problems, and sees a chance to resolve them through a murder/robbery. He brings Jack into it to assist for a cut of the proceeds. Afterwards, however, Smut cuts Jack out and threatens him. Jack plots out a plan of revenge that he hopes will take care of Smut and allow himself to get away with the money.
I found the story entertaining, and the writing smart and well done. There's a good amount of cynical humor which was also a bit of a surprise. The picture it gives of a rural 1930s South rings true and as something different to read was quite interesting. Would definitely recommend. A shame that Ross never got a second novel published.
The story is told through the eyes of Jack McDonald, a no-accounter who loses his small farm and finds work just outside town with Smut Milligan, and old acquaintance. Smut has built up a minor bootlegging/gambling concern and he aims to expand his operation with a new roadhouse and dance hall. Jack becomes Smut's right hand man, as the only other person about the place with a lick of sense. They attract mainly a crowd of low social status - mill workers blowing their weekly paychecks and some regular drunks - that is not particularly rough for all that.
Smut develops financial problems, and sees a chance to resolve them through a murder/robbery. He brings Jack into it to assist for a cut of the proceeds. Afterwards, however, Smut cuts Jack out and threatens him. Jack plots out a plan of revenge that he hopes will take care of Smut and allow himself to get away with the money.
I found the story entertaining, and the writing smart and well done. There's a good amount of cynical humor which was also a bit of a surprise. The picture it gives of a rural 1930s South rings true and as something different to read was quite interesting. Would definitely recommend. A shame that Ross never got a second novel published.
trenton_ross's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rosseroo's review
5.0
I'll admit that this caught my eye because I share the author's last name -- but when I picked it up and read the jacket copy, and saw that Daniel Woodrell was championing it, I figured I should give it a go. I was immediately caught up in the down-and-out life of Jack McDonald, whose farm in central North Carolina is in hock to the bank, and whose furniture is in hock to the town's installment-plan dealer -- even his cow has a note on it. The Great Depression has his woeful life firmly in its grip -- until he drifts into the orbit of Smut Milligan, who runs a filling station just outside town that sells alcohol on the sly, and is known to run some gambling out of a back room.
Smut has an eye to the future and thinks there's good money to made in opening a full-fledged roadhouse restaurant, with a dancing saloon, and cabins to rent to tourists. He hires Jack as a kind of assistant manager, and the story takes its time in showing them working to set up the new establishment. One of the great strengths of the book is how it captures the townspeople, from the rough cotton mill workers to the more upscale hosiery mill workers, the baseball players down for spring training, the lawyer who runs the county, the drunk newspaper man, the ex-strike breaker, the town vamp, and all manner of colorful folks. (One area of potential discomfort to modern readers are the African-American characters, whose speech is sometimes rendered in dialect, and who are referred to by the "n-word" throughout. Which is not to say they aren't fully fledged characters with their own backstories, goals, and personalities.)
Everything starts to go well -- until Smut's flirtation with the town vamp, who's married to a town bigwig, starts to heat up just as he struggles to pay back the loans he took to start the roadhouse. And when Jack and he learn of a regular patron who is said to have $20,000 buried on his property, things take a dark and extremely violent turn. Indeed, the violence is so stark and graphic that it comes as a real shock. From then on out, the tension ratchets up as the murder is covered up and the killers begin to argue about the money they find. The ending may not be satisfying to a modern audience expecting a clear payoff, but it's perfectly in keeping with the noir literature and films of the time.
The mastery of character, tone, and language make it clear why this book has been championed variously by writers as disparate as Raymond Chandler, Flannery O'Connor, and George V. Higgins. It's got a classic noir loser trapped by life with no options, a more active, but greedy collaborator, a femme fatale, and of course, the establishment (banks, the law, the sheriff) are all corrupt and in league with each other. If you like writers like Horace McCoy, Jim Thompson, or David Goodis, definitely check this out.
Smut has an eye to the future and thinks there's good money to made in opening a full-fledged roadhouse restaurant, with a dancing saloon, and cabins to rent to tourists. He hires Jack as a kind of assistant manager, and the story takes its time in showing them working to set up the new establishment. One of the great strengths of the book is how it captures the townspeople, from the rough cotton mill workers to the more upscale hosiery mill workers, the baseball players down for spring training, the lawyer who runs the county, the drunk newspaper man, the ex-strike breaker, the town vamp, and all manner of colorful folks. (One area of potential discomfort to modern readers are the African-American characters, whose speech is sometimes rendered in dialect, and who are referred to by the "n-word" throughout. Which is not to say they aren't fully fledged characters with their own backstories, goals, and personalities.)
Everything starts to go well -- until Smut's flirtation with the town vamp, who's married to a town bigwig, starts to heat up just as he struggles to pay back the loans he took to start the roadhouse. And when Jack and he learn of a regular patron who is said to have $20,000 buried on his property, things take a dark and extremely violent turn. Indeed, the violence is so stark and graphic that it comes as a real shock. From then on out, the tension ratchets up as the murder is covered up and the killers begin to argue about the money they find. The ending may not be satisfying to a modern audience expecting a clear payoff, but it's perfectly in keeping with the noir literature and films of the time.
The mastery of character, tone, and language make it clear why this book has been championed variously by writers as disparate as Raymond Chandler, Flannery O'Connor, and George V. Higgins. It's got a classic noir loser trapped by life with no options, a more active, but greedy collaborator, a femme fatale, and of course, the establishment (banks, the law, the sheriff) are all corrupt and in league with each other. If you like writers like Horace McCoy, Jim Thompson, or David Goodis, definitely check this out.
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