Louisiana Power & Light

Rating:
Summary: Moon Pies and Venusians
Review: ...Billy Wayne Fontana is obsessed with escaping the fate of his ancestors-a quirky, unlucky life, with a rather brutal and bizarre death. Upon giving up the priesthood for marriage, he believes that he can avoid his fate. Its a southern gothic romp with a humorous edge to it. You don't have to read through many pages before you can see the wit that Dufresne is capable of.
I hate to say that a book is an excellent first novel. It should be based on its own merits, but this is a certainly an excellent first novel. I look forward to reading more of his writing.

Rating:
Summary: Moon Pies and Venusians
Review: ...Billy Wayne Fontana is obsessed with escaping the fate of his ancestors-a quirky, unlucky life, with a rather brutal and bizarre death. Upon giving up the priesthood for marriage, he believes that he can avoid his fate. Its a southern gothic romp with a humorous edge to it. You don't have to read through many pages before you can see the wit that Dufresne is capable of.
I hate to say that a book is an excellent first novel. It should be based on its own merits, but this is a certainly an excellent first novel. I look forward to reading more of his writing.

Rating:
Summary: Right state, wrong region
Review: First of all, let me say that I liked the book and highly recommend it. That said, the problem I had with it is that I'm from Louisiana, Shreveport, to be exact, which is due west of Monroe, where Dufresne's novel is set. I've been to and through Monroe several times, and, to my knowledge, it is nothing like what Dufresne has described. Dufresne should have set his story in Gonzales or Napoleonville or some other small town in southwest Louisiana, where the bayous are and Cajuns live. People who are not from Louisiana tend to think of the state in terms of either New Orleans (a country all its own) or Cajun (coonass) country, which is really in the southwest part of the state. Monroe is in the northeast corner.

The book is funny, and having read almost everything John Irving has written, I can see some parallels there. I would just hope Dufresne, an excellent writer, would do his homework a little better--go visit the locale, John! Of course, if Monroe has bayous and Cajuns that I haven't seen in my admittedly brief visits, then I apologize for this review.

Rating:
Summary: Found this book at the dollar store
Review: Great book! I'm from Monroe, LA, which incidentally does indeed have a bayou which runs right through the university there. I appreciated the Fontana tribe, having been told by some Yankee friends that certain ones of my family members act somewhat Fontanaesque. The characters don't descend into such stereotypical behavior that you'd cease to care about them. Realistic writing, bayous and all.

Rating:
Summary: I thought that the book was horrible.
Review: I found this to be the masculine version of the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Dufresne has written gorgeously flawed characters who sparkle and tarnish themselves on every page. These are the people small towns are made of--or at least, the people we imagine exist through wonderful southern novelists. It's a slow and luxurious read, like a humid summer day, but worth the patience. The ending, despite my predictions, was a surprising and poignant finale.

Rating:
Summary: Something's Missing
Review: I just finished reading LP&L today. It was a very entertaining book and I can understand the comparison to John Irving, but the book seemed to be missing something. When I finish an Irving novel I really feel like I know the characters and miss being caught up in their stories. I don't feel that any of the characters in LP&L will stick around in my memory. Part of the problem was too many characters popping in and out of the story. The other part of the problem is the inability of any of the characters gain any wisdom through their travails, especially Billy Wayne. It's still an enjoyable book and worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Really Great Read
Review: I think John Dufresne's first work -Louisiana Power and Light- was a fabulous read. I think anyone who doesn't like the book is from the North and doesn't understand it. This book is about people we KNOW down here in the South. It touches on our own family members and that is why it is so poignant. Truly a good book... I found myself laughing out loud several times. Looking forward to reading all Dufresne's works.

Rating:
Summary: If you like the originality of this book...
Review: Most writers today have difficulty finding a totally original voice. Many that do merely have several pieces of other writers in them. When looking back over the history of American Literature we see where new movements came from.

Dufresne's writing is new altogether. Not that there aren't others out there with similar styles, but nothing quite like this. Funny (in a disturbing way that I am almost afraid to admit I can relate to), grotesque, depressing, and at the same time enlightening.

If you like Dufresne, I suggest you also read Ed McClanahan (especially Congress of Wonders, My Vita if You Will), another southern writer. Upon first reading Dufresne I wondered if these two may have met in some backwoods revival meeting or moonshine festival.

Rating:
Summary: Totally Worthless
Review: The paper used to print this worthless screed was wasted. This is a typical geographical put down based on regional stereotyping. Drufresne assumes everyone in a given location is totally ignorant and comical. What an insult! How did this manuscript ever get accepted for publication?

Rating:
Summary: Gumbo of the delicious humor of ill fate in a southern town
Review: The story of the folks of the fictional town of Limoges, Louisiana, a place where one family's pre-destined ill fate stirs up drama after drama. The characters DuFresne creates are so true to life in their matter-of-fact emotional extremes and absurdities that we are pulled into each and every one of their lives. With unforgettable characters like Moonpie and the tragic family lineage he has shouldered, the book is the quickest most well-written prose I have read in a long time. Laughing and crying through countless dramatic encounters the story's charactersgo through, I found myself a resident of Limoges for three months after I finished reading the book. One of the best qualities of DuFresne's writing lies in his ability to display humor, being one of the most important and warm human characteristics, as an instinctive defense mechanisms in playful and wonderfully surprising ways. I read this book close to seven months ago but can not get the charcters out of my mind. I would like not to divulge much of the story line since that would detract from your reading experience. Read it and you will remind yourself why you love literature be proud that we have such imaginative literary writers living in America during such turbulent times. Isn't it time all of us picked up a book that was NOT a national bestseller and read it for the sheer enjoyment of the playful words and literary merit? Reminiscent of Nabokov with a dash of John Irving and Tennesse Williams with the surreal literary quality of Paul Auster, "Louisiana Power & Light" should be a most enjoyable read for all of you that still believe in literature and its inherent love of life.