Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the audiobook ARC!

Bell Hammers is certainly an entertaining read. From the author's tone and interpretation of his characters to the madcap hijinks that abound, there's something here for everyone. A little reminiscent of A Confederacy of Dunces, which is high praise!

While the description caught my eye; I was a little disheartened to find that the fully fleshed story wasn't for me. It seemed to drag a little, and the audio narration seemed a little too off kilter at some moments. That said, I can just hear how much the author loves the story he's telling and I have to give kudos for that.

I loved this audiobook. Not at first because I needed to tune my ear into the accents and the stories are a little whacky to say the least.

But anyway, Bell Hammers tells the story of Wilson Remus (Remy) who has led a somewhat unconventional life. Remember is an entrepreneur from an early age but with one goal in mind - to get together his band of Merry Men, build Camelot, live mainly in peace and pull pranks on those who he feels deserve it. Also God keeps him on the right track - or tries to.

As he goes through his life the pranks become wilder but through it all he's still looking to find the perfect home for his family and friends.

It sounds innocuous enough but the storytelling is wonderful and the narration is superb. Remy is a character you won't forget in a hurry and I'd happily read more of Lancelot Schaubert's work on the back of this novel.

A fun but inspirational piece of work.

Salt of the Earth polished up like a diamond, or maybe the other way around.
It's like the show Big City Greens, crossed with a grow-up Tom Sawyer., but uncensored and roughed up a bit, for grown-ups that have lived a little.
Bell Hammers is a wonderfully told story of how a good man lives his life which highlights the extraordinary in the ordinary. The stories of real life can be so crazy, it's not worth making up another one. They can be so unbelievable, but so relatable. This book shows that a tough life can be an easy life, that the that a rich man can have nothing, that a poor man in jail can still have it all. It's about everyone's relatable struggle of just wanting to be seen, and to do the right thing. This story was very enjoyable to get though,

This is a partially fictional biography of Wilson “Remmy” Remus’ eight decades of life. Remmy lived in southern Illinois and is resourceful and a prankster. He views his world similar to that of Camelot. Some of the antics in the book include trying to get a mail order bride from Sears & Roebuck, interaction with a locked outhouse, peeing on a frozen car, a chicken in a bed, and a prank that turns criminal.

Some people may be offended by the mild language sporadically through the book. I would also warn people who are sensitive to attempted rape to know there is one short scene in the book where an attempted rape happens but it has a positive outcome.

While I was listening to the beginning of the book it reminded me a bit of Jean Shepperd’s “Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters.” I enjoyed the book and the narrator played a large part in it.
The narration was engaging with a great storytelling voice. I started listening at normal speed to get a sense of how the narration was. I sped it up to 1.5 with a little distraction from the story.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys life stories with hilarious outcomes.

Hilarious, down-to-earth, and nostalgic. I recommend picking up the audiobook if possible, as Schaubert as narrator is both animated and engaging.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this delightful book. These well-written, charming, and humorous stories recall the well lived, full of all kinds of pranks and shenanigans life of the author’s grandfathers in Southern Illinois. I liked that the author kept the vernacular, it made the story sound more authentic. Definitely recommend this book.

Review forthcoming in the outlet. Absolutely adored the voice, though from examining peer reviews it seems others either misunderstood the voice or spent little enough time immersed within it or even hail from parts unknown far enough beyond "Little Egypt" to... dare I say translate the dialect properly?

In any event, it appears to me that those who both understand and remain faithful to the voice continually extract a level of enjoyment and insight and depth from this novel frequently uncommon among the literary, magical realism, and historical novels of our era.

I implore my colleagues to take a second look at this piece, both from an entertainment perspective and also from an academic perspective. It seems to me exceedingly rare to have a novel like this. Rarer still to come from an independent or small run press. Austin, Cummings, Atwood, William Blake — other infamous self-publishers come to mind.

Take a gander. You may be surprised at what you find hiding in the riverland.

Delightful as an audiobook, this novel on the life of a prankster from "Little Egypt" in Southern Illinois follows him from the depression through to today, as he grows and experiences the world, while raising a family and growing a business in a town divided into "oil people" and "sharecroppers". His goal to have his own band of Merry Men and a Camelot to share with them culminates in the biggest prank of all - targeting his neighbor and rival, and oil company employee he has know since childhood. The narration is spot on and lends a twangy voice to our protagonist which rings so true and makes the jokes even funnier!1111

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced audio book in exchange for my honest review.

In this novel we follow the life of Wilson Remus (Remmy) from 6 to 80 years old. Written as a retelling of mischievous, hilarious, and fantastic stories told to his grandson (the author).

I have always enjoyed hearing stories about the "good ol' days" from the elders in my life and thus thoroughly enjoyed the author sharing his grandfather's gems. It was narrated well and written with a genuine voice that had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions.

This was just . . . trying too hard? Too clever by half? I wasn't able to get into it.

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