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“They didn’t like it, and they still didn’t like me.” (3.5 stars)I was very pleasantly surprised by A MAN NAMED DOLL. The first paragraph sets the quasi noir tone of the book. What follows is a tight, well-constructed story. I was never bored while reading it, and I found this quick novel enjoyable. It has some of the quirkiness that those who have read Mr. Ames before have encountered, but not nearly as much as is usually present. And that as good thing. Mr. Ames is an odd dude, and sometime he...
2.5 STARSHis parents really had a sense of humor. With the last name of Doll, they could have chosen so many first names. The one they decided on was .. Happy. Happy Doll, he is .. although he usually goes by Hank or Hap.Doll is an ex-detective, now working at being a private investigator. An old friend looks him up and wants Doll to donate one of his kidneys to him. Doll doesn't make a decision .. mainly because his old friend shows up at his house, with a bullet in his stomach.The old man was
The notes referred to Jonathan Ames’ detective novel, A Man Named Doll, as quirky and “deliciously noir”. Quirky, maybe. It seemed a little too dependent on old tropes. Stolen kidneys? Really? Ames is the creator of two television shows, Bored to Death and Blunt Talk. I would have expected better.Happy Doll is a PI and former LAPD cop. With that first name, he goes by Hank. He already considers himself nuts, but it gets worse when a friend who once saved his life, Lou Shelton, asks him for a kid...
I picked up Jonathan Ames's new novel - A Man Named Doll - on a rainy Saturday morning and finished it before dinner. It's just over 200 pages - but those pages make for addictive reading.Meet Happy Doll - yes, that's his real name, but he does answer to Hank. Former Navy, LAPD and currently a struggling Private Investigator. He also works security for a massage parlor to make ends meet. And for the reader - a unique lead character.An old colleague stops by the office to see if Hank would be wil...
Relentless, funny, sharp, and unexpectedly dark. An absolutely thrilling read.
A treat for readers with a dark sense of humor. Oddly named Los Angeles private investigator Happy Doll (who'd prefer to go by "Hank" and who winces when he has to pull out his driver's license for identification) loves his dog, has been in Freudian therapy for years, and generally drifts by in a marijuana-induced haze, but has a really exciting week in this slim volume. There are multiple deaths, some truly horrific injuries to his body and a close call with "organ harvesters" before his world
Loved this book! Brutal, fun, weird, lovely... Such a great read.
First mistake - the author read his own book, and he's not a good narrator. There had to have been actors who could have read it much more convincingly, and with more variation in intonation. Every other sentence sounded like a question when it wasn't because of the author's inflection.Second mistake - early on in the book, there was an overabundance of strained metaphors and descriptors. It sounded more like a satire of a Raymond Chandler novel than an actual novel.Third mistake - the story, at...
Happy ‘Hank’ Doll is an ex L.A. cop who now plies his trade as a P. I. by day and works as security at a massage parlour in the evening. His partner in crime is his Chihuahua named George, who he also sleeps with. When one of his ex-cop friends turns up shot and dying at his front door, after having asked Doll to donate one of his kidneys to him, it sets Doll off on a twisted dark investigation down a road no one would want to travel. This starts off like a homage to all the great P.I. novels of...
Pretty much a by-the-numbers remix of You Were Never Really Here, which I don't mind. Organ harvesting replacing sex trafficking, a steel baton replacing a hammer, a heart-of-gold barmaid replacing a young girl. Still, the violent showdown in the big scary mansion. LA noir is just comfort reading for the terminally uncomfortable. Ames probably realized he hit on a winning formula (because the movie of YWNRH was so good) but needed to make it, ah, more commercial, uplifting. Hopefully in the sequ...
Oh, this one had so much potential for me, I loved the character, the story, especially the way it unfolded. But I have said many times the Fictive Dream is everything to this reader and I kept getting tossed out of the story with writing ticks (evil little blood sucking beasts). The over use of the conjunction and the passive voice ruined it for me. Without these issues this story might have gone the distance, been Raymond Chandleresk. This could be just on me, my writers eye not allowing me to...
The first two-thirds of this read like a classy homage to the great LA noir of the past. It screams at various times of Cain, Chandler and Hammett - some elements feels literally torn from their playbooks. It's funny, full of wisecracks and set in the pantheon of grotesque wealth, the Hollywood Hills. And then everything goes.. DARK AS FUCK.Great, disturbing fun with a brilliant and comic narrative voice. The start of what could be a very entertaining series.
A quick quirky read. I enjoyed it.
Jonathan Ames has done the world a real solid with the introduction of Happy Doll into our lives. With the promise of future novels involving the protagonist, I'm filled with an anticipatory thrill typically reserved for the Top Gun sequel.Having just come off of 2 demanding and disappointing books this fall, my energy for reading had been depleted. You know the feeling when the thought of choosing a book and committing some bit of your time, life, attention leaves you despondent? This is not a
(3). This is a fun little book. It feels like a strange TV show at times, but that makes perfect sense, as the author has lots of screen writing experience. Happy Doll is a solid protagonist, and his dog George is a great sidekick. The story moves right along, with some truly unusual diversions and a totally unexplained major twist at the very end. Short and sweet this is the perfect read for a brainless, rainy afternoon. Decent stuff.
I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book from Pushkin Press.This is a clever piece of literature.Crime mixed with dark, sarcastic humour.It was a combination that really worked. Happy is a private detective, nearing the end of his career, this is a man who really just wants a quiet life. But things don't go quite as Hap planned. When he kills a man (not that he wanted to), Hap finds himself caught up in drama that is way above his pay grade.I really liked Happy as a character....
Fast paced noir which could've used a bit of editorial help, but I liked Happy Doll, his canine partner George, the atmospheric portrayal of the Los Angeles setting, and the setup for any further installments.
Loved this modern noir. Razor sharp wit, goons on both sides of the law and a loveable dog made this a very enjoyable story for me. Just disappointed it wasn't longer. Can't wait for the sequel.
3/5. One guy's concept of reality boiled to the bone, losing all the usual social niceties in a noir tale that is at times humorous, at other times downright disgusting. It seems everyone is out to get our erstwhile hero who bears the unfortunate moniker Happy Doll. A private detective who often fumbles, Mr. Doll slides from one perilous encounter to the next, dodging the police, the bad guys and who knows who else as he tries to stay ahead and stay alive. If you like noir, you'll get a kick out...
A Man Named DollJonathan AmesPushkin Press VertigoA Man Named Doll is the first in a new crime series written by Jonathan Ames. He is an author of 9 books, comic memoirs and the creator of the Bored To Death (HBO) and Blunt Talk (STARZ) TV series, yet even creating the former show, Ames stated that it was his “Holy Grail was to be writing crime novels”. With this first slice of Los Angeles Noir he has certainly cultured a memorable beginning. It is quite evident that Ames is tipping his hat to t...