Slicky Boys

Rating:
Summary: Dialogue and atmosphere are truly authentic.
Review: This story truly took me by surprise. Most novels on Korea by Americans portray Koreans as cardboard characters with little insight into their lives. Slicky Boys breaks new ground on novels set in Korea. Limon obviously was a keen observer of the language, culture, and the tensions between the US Military and the host nation, cira 1974-1979, during his tours as a CID agent. He particularly excels at poking good natured fun at the Eighth Army's 40 year obsession with catching petty blackmarketers, which continues to this day. Slicky Boys is not only a joy to read, it also serves as a social history of a byegone era in Korean-American relations.

Rating:
Summary: Captures a world long gone
Review: While a mediocre mystery, Slicky Boys is first-rate sociology. No other author, journalist or academic has captured with such authenticity and even-handedness the world of a US Army base town in South Korea in the 1970s, when 19 year-old GIs were the biggest spenders in the country. Limon catalogs the prejudices, virtues and vices of both Americans and Koreans. More importantly, he carefully observes how their mutually-exploitative alliance plays itself out on a personal level.