Rating: 
Summary: Waste of a tree
Review: If this had been the first Kinky book I had read there never would have been a second. I made it to chapter 24 before I realized that life is too short to waste on characters I despise and a book that had become a punishment to read. I enjoyed every other book by Kinky, so hopefully this was merely a speedbump.
Rating: 
Summary: Kinkster-free Friedman novel!
Review: In Kill Two Birds And Get Stoned author Kinky Friedman has dismissed his private detective alter ego in favor of a new novelist alter ego. Walter Snow is very different from the P.I. Kinky. He makes not one mention of country music (although there are still asides regarding Gandhi and Jesus), he lives in a basement apartment instead of a loft, he is catless, and he chooses cigarettes over cigars. Yet it's hard to forget that the real Friedman is both a country singer and a novelist, someone who has both travelled with Bob Dylan and stayed as a guest at the Bush White House. These are odd times and Kinky's are always odd books.At any rate, Walter Snow leads a monastic, trouble-free life in his New York apartment, making futile attempts at a follow-up to his one successful novel and attending AA meetings. That is until Clyde Potts and Fox Harris, Abbie Hoffman-brand pranksters and troublemakers enter his life. Through a series of events involving a dead fish, a lot of booze and a potent strain of marijuana they become a band of drunken Robin Hoods, taking on the Man and righting all of the wrongs in the world. I wasn't thrilled with Snow as a character. His sad sack presence just can't be compared with Kinky's cynical and street smart wisecracks, although he does manage to use the word "dumper" and several filthy remarks about...well, it doesn't matter. It reads a little like Kinky Lite, some of the life drained away for easier consumption. Lengthy ruminations about writing a novel are all done with a wink (since it's this very book that Snow is supposed to be composing), and there's some terrific swipes at corporate America. But, even Fox seems an awful lot like a retooled Ratso. If you aren't comparing this to the first sixteen Friedman novels, it's a friendly enough book with an average ending. If you are, it's the first Friedman novel in a long time with a plot this engrossing, yet a voice so disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: My First KINKY Read! Not a Disappointment!
Review: Interesting how this celebrated writer mixes the hilarious, bizarre, inane, contemplative, and even the beautiful in one masterly contemporary novel. Two very odd people meet our frustrated 1st person writer- narrator, sending him on three rollicking, anarchic adventures in the Village. The trio battle a mental hospital, a big time real estate developer, and the world's #1 Coffee Chain. Along the way, some terrific dialogue, discussions of the art of the novel, the real vs the fantastic,and a general critique of modern urban society shine through. A fine page turner written by a terrific pen man, with more than enough laughs for all. My only complaint: a bit too harsh on the three corporate adversaries, and our three Robin-Hood style protaganists may be interesting. but they are definitely not all that nice! A very tragic ending, but the last paragraph is a winner. maybe even a beautiful finale.
Rating:
Summary: A waste of time and money.
Review: Kinky Friedman's mysteries are light on plot but their redemption lies in the one line laughs that dot his books.
Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned is also plot light but without any redeeming factors. It tries to be fun, hip and deep but comes off tedious. It is a book full of maudlin ruminations and redundant foreshadowing which are understandably necessary, because without the annoying repetitions the book, short at 221 pages, would be significantly shorter.
A book within a book, Friedman portrays his protagonist (a blocked writer who is seemingly Friedman's dark alter ego) as a tormented, pseudo-intellectual alcoholic who comes alive and unblocked when he meets two free spirits. Unfortunately, Friedman does not give us any reason to care about any of these undeveloped, superficial characters.
The plot is a string of dastardly deeds justified by Friedman's definition of mental hospital logic which he continually drums into the reader's head throughout the book. There are no twists or turns and nothing to keep interest. The author's thinking appears to be that many outlandish criminal incidents make a plot. They don't.
The only laugh in this book is Friedman's calculated attempt to show that he has compassion for the underdog and downtrodden.
Reading Kinky Friedman mysteries is like eating air. There's nothing substantial but you do get some laughs. This book just gave me a headache. It was so boring that I put it down several times, and then had to struggle to force myself again and again to pick it up to finish it. When I finally did I was sorry I wasted my time and money.
A well-established hack mystery writer, Friedman deserves kudos for trying something new, but he's better off sticking to the trite but entertaining formula he's perfected in his mystery books.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Bag of Wacky & Weird
Review: Kinky is entertaining, but this book was turgid, and turned sort of dark and dismal. I guess I'm used to Kinky being irreverent and irrelavant; not trying to send us messages. I found it depressing in spite of Kinky's one-liners and goofy plot.
Rating: 
Summary: "Of all the novels in the world, she walked into mine..."
Review: Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a Kinky Friedman fan. Or maybe I just haven't found the right novel of his to introduce me to his work at its best. This farrago of composition shoptalk, writers block blues, by the numbers poo-pooing of the corporate world, reality inversions, and way, way too few good one-liners is little more than "Harold and Maude" set in the big city. A couple of flim-flam artists resuscitate an author's dessicated humanity by the sheer force of their vitality. We know because he keeps telling us so every third paragraph. He tags along on several adventures, fretting over when it will all end, and then it does. Did I mention the dearth of good zingers? Friedman even reproduces a somewhat obscure Raymond Chandler line, unattributed. What would have been inspired is if Kinky Friedman the private detective had made a cameo appearance somewhere in this book. _That_ would have been a reality loop! ...
Rating:
Summary: Advice to Kinky
Review: My advice to Kinky Friedman about trying to write a semi-serious novel...FORGET ABOUT IT!!
Fans of Kinky or readers wanting to get acquainted would be better advised to try "Spanking Watson" if they haven't already read it. It may have little redeeming social value but tons of laughs.
Rating:
Summary: I put the book down at page 84
Review: Note to Kinky: 1) Whether I love them or hate them, make me care about your characters. 2) Some writers have found that a compelling plot is helpful. 3) You have some great lines. Unfortunately, some great lines do not add up to a complete book. 4) Try to engage your reader from the first page. I stuck with you for 84 before giving up.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful and insightful
Review: Novelist Walter Snow hasn't been able to write a word in seven years when he meets a beautiful woman with a strange request. Will he put a package for her into his safety deposit box. Walter isn't sure what he is getting into and doesn't particularly care. The woman, Clyde, is beautiful, Walter is bored, and when he sees Clyde, he begins to feel faint hints of his old urge to write. The arrival of the police two weeks later doesn't especially surprise Walter. What does please him, however, is that Clyde zooms back into his life, along with her larger than life friend Fox. The two sweep Walter into their world of scams, Quixotic gestures, and ultimately a battle for the soul of New York (against the souless Starbucks and Donald Trump). Author Kinky Friedman uses the narative device of a story within a story--Walter tells his story, occasionally slipping in the (rather bad) text of the semi-autobiographical and semi-wish-fulfilment novel that Walter is presumably writing. Friedman's thoughts on writing are occasionally brutal, frequently true, and sometimes hysterical to the point where I considered listing this review in my writing reviews rather than in the mystery section. But it is the characters and the quest that drive this book and that ultimately make it worth reading. Unlike Walter, Clyde and Fox are a little too good for this world and Friedman lets us know that their endings will not be happy. Yet their goals are partly noble. The way that the quest ultimately backfires hits with an emotional impact, yet could have been predicted from the start. After all, Fox and Clyde only take on lost causes. If you're looking for knee-slapping humor, this may not be the right Friedman story for you. But if you're looking for Friedman's attempt to really say something about our world, then KILL TWO BIRDS & GET STONED is a great place to start.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: Once again the Kinkster successfuly ventures into another world. A place far removed from the bizarre detective and his insane group to an intense writer searching for inspiration not found in a bottle. The outrageous adventures are "out there" but if one pays attention you get the sense that Mr. Snow is not as superficial as he seems at first glance. I couldn't put the book down, I was keenly interested in finding out if his relationship with Clyde ever went beyond the pleasures of a solo act!
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