Hap and Leonard: Blood and Lemonade

Fifteen new, nostalgic stories about Hap’s childhood and the main social problems in the USA’s in the 60’s.

The frame of the story is that Hap and Leonard are talking at home, or while they are driving around the city, and Hap tells a story about every place where he has a memory. For example the first is related to a school violence article what Leonard had read in a newspaper, so Hap tells Leonard how he defended himself for the first time in school against bullying.

All the stories are nostalgic: Hap introduces Marvel Creek and the surrounding areas, the forest, the river, the diners, and he tells his opinions about things like friendship, racism, honor, animal hunting… After he introduced the area, the real story begins with an actual social problem. Most of the stories are about racism – one of the greatest is about how Hap met Leonard for the first time. Hap went hunting with one of his black friends, and they saw a fighting on the riverside. There was Leonard, who fought for money, but obviously the whole thing almost went to linching…

The dramas are really exciting in most of the novellas, there’s murder, sex, school bullying and racism as well. The dialogues are in Hap and Leonard’s well-known, great style, and there’s no political correctness around, but racism in almost all of the other characters’ talking. The reader meets with Hap’s family too: his mother takes home a 9 year old black boy, and there are even more stories about Hap’s father, who generally hated the niggers, but liked many black guys, and he was fair and very-very strong…

The best story is the 8th, where Hap and Leonard found a dead family in a boat under the water, and later they became captives of drug-dealers, who have drug in that boat. It’s exciting and it has interesting twists – it was my personal favorite in the book.

The novellas are weaker only when Hap tells things about their personal life, but these nostalgic tales are not part of the actual story. How they moved around the states, how they had chickens, how the local cinema worked, how the trees have been chopped – you have to be a very big fan to be interested in these details of Hap’s childhood.

But the overall quality of the stories are high, almost all of them are very exiting or touching. If somebody doesn’t want to start the Hap and Leonard series with the very first book, this 13th would be a good selection, and it’s obviously recommended for the existing fans too.

This collection of stories and anecdotes, loosely connected by an evening of driving around and reminiscing is a "mosaic" novel--an effective way of filling in fans on Hap's childhood and youth, including his first meeting and experiences with Leonard. Lots of funny pieces, but definitely more enjoyable for existing fans than those who are new to the series. As a long time reader of this series and other works by Lansdale, I enjoyed every word

Hap and Leonard, the early years. This collection of short stories fills in a lot of the missing material concerning the beginning and evolution of Hap and Leonard's friendship. As a long-time fan of the series, I enjoyed reading about the experiences of the young friends and though it differs some from what Sundance has produced with the TV series, according to Lansdale himself, this is the official record of events. Many of the stories in this collection remind me of my dad, who grew up in roughly the same time and only a few hundred miles away from Lansdale's East Texas. He, like Hap was also threatened with homemade haircuts from those who didn't approve of his long hair and decided that a straight razor would work just fine. And, in many of my dad's own stories the Dairy Queen plays a prominent role. I was hoping that Coco Butternut would be included in this collection, but alas, no luck. A big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this title, I will be purchasing a copy for my library.

It's referred to as a Mosaic Novel.


That means it is more a collection of short stories by the same author about the same characters over a period of time.

Hap Collins and Leonard Pine have been friends since high school from a burg so rural that they can't even seen the poor side of the next closest town. Some young toughs were engaging in a frequent ritual, sort of like Fight Club. Hap and Leonard meet while attending with other friends. Not a bad idea to go armed a bit. Leonard has some martial arts chops and decides he can take on that evening's top dog. Leonard hands his rifle to Hap who casually lays it across his arms. Leonard is taunted without mercy in the initial few seconds, but that changes when Leonard lays his dipshit opponent in the dust.

The beginning of a lifelong friendship in East Texas.

On the surface, the book covers a couple slow days many years after that first fight. Hap is now married and has two kids. Leonard, on the other hand, is still single, Republican, black, and gay. No secret. Leonard let Hap know right from the start. And they stayed the closest of friends even as they opened up a quasi-PI business.

We see Hap and Leonard headed across town for some ice cream. The sight of a boarded up store triggers a memory. They cross railroad tracks to 'the other side of town' and another story pops up. They sit on the porch of Hap's home with Hap's family and the wife, son, and daughter each prod one of the two to weave a tale from back in the day. Each chapter is its own story and need not be read in order.

Not all the stories are of Hap and Leonard. Plenty are about one or the other. These guys grew up in the East Texas of the late 50s and 60s. Rough. Racist. Crass. Cruel. Profane. Bigoted. Homophobic. Mysogynist. A place and time filled with assholes and basic jerks. The East Texas presented by Lansdale is not a place most would have wanted to drive through much less live. Trust me, you'll have no sympathy for the cretins who populate the locals towns.

But you most certainly will like Hap and Leonard (and gain some begrudging respect for Hap's dad). The closeness of their friendship leaps across the pages with insights on why these two seeming opposites have come to carve out a friendship for life. Hate the locals, but you'll want to know more about this pair. Some of the best writing is when Hap and Leonard are (figuratively speaking) just lounging on a porch on a hot summer's night sipping some ice tea or a beer and picking at each other.

This is our first book by Lansdale (at least according to the blog's archive) who has quite a collection of titles and a ton of awards and honors to his credit. He has written over 40 books and this is the 12th in the Hap and Leonard series. Even learned that the characters have their own series on the Sundance Channel that has just started its 2nd season - I've already set my DVR and am hounding the library for earlier titles. If I were a betting man, I think it's possible that, if I can get my hands on them, I could be setting up for a reader's version of 'binge watching' of a new (to me) story series.

Last time I did that was Craig Johnson's Longmire. And that's saying something.

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Hap and Leonard have come to grow on me. They've burrowed into that soft spot of nostalgia that makes me think of being a kid and listening to my dad tell stories. When I "listen" to Hap tell his stories in Blood and Lemonade, it reminds me of sitting around the kitchen table listening to my dad tell stories about his childhood. Granted there are about a 1000 miles between where Lansdale's tales are taking place in East Texas and where I grew up in southern Michigan, but the settings have some amazing similarities and the era Hap grew up in coincides perfectly with my dad's storytelling of his childhood. So, yes, I have a soft spot for Lansdale's yarns about Hap and Leonard. But outside of that, these are great little snippets in Blood and Lemonade. Lansdale calls it mosaic storytelling and it's not told in any order. You could read any of these short stories randomly and the impact would be the same. They are the filling in the cracks that binds Hap and Leonard to our psyche. It brings them more to life and makes them seem like real people. If you've never read any of the Hap and Leonard tales, you could get away with making Blood and Lemonade your first one, but I would recommend going back to the beginning. If you've already discovered the magic of Hap and Leonard, then Blood and Lemonade will be like sitting around with 'ol Hap by the campfire and letting him tell you tales of his childhood. And he'll have your attention the whole night.

5 Co'Colas out of 5


This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


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WE WANT MORE!

I didn’t come across the characters of Hap and Leonard until a year or so ago. Since that time I’ve devoured all of the books and sat waiting for more. When I heard this one was coming out I dove in immediately. I wasn’t disappointed.

If unfamiliar the characters are Hap Collins, a white working class man who tends to lean left who served time in prison for refusing to serve in Vietnam. Raised in Texas he made friends with Leonard Collins, a black gay conservative who did fight in Vietnam. What some would think of as too different to be friends they are instead the best you will find. They joke with one another about their various attitudes and accept everyone for who they are. Both have a strong sense of what is wrong and right and that often leads to predicaments that result in a new novel.

In BLOOD AND LEMONADE we are presented with a collection of short stories involving the two. Most of them take place in the past and that’s a good thing. It tells us stories of the two of them growing up, together and apart. We get to learn more about what developed who they were and who they’ve become. It fills in the missing parts we may have found in the books putting more meat on the bones of both.

Select stories are referenced in previous books but here reflect the whole tale. All are told in the smoth writing style that author Joe Lansdale displays. I’ve read that he ruminates over every word he chooses to put down to page but while reading it they all flow so smoothly you feel like you just sitting on the porch listening to the words just escape his mouth as he delivers the next story he’s kept in his mind for years. The words read like songs that capture a mood, a feeling, a location and carry you off to those places with ease. I for one find it rare that an author can do so. Why there isn’t more praise for Lansdale is beyond me.

Many are now acquainted with these characters because of the Sundance Channel series that began in 2104. It was a delight to see them come to life on screen and I’ve enjoyed those as well, always looking forward and hoping for another season to come. But the books give as much life to the characters as the actors on screen, even more so. This books is a great starting point for some, a way to learn about who each one is. It’s also a great book for those who are fans to learn more. In the end it just makes you long for the next books. Until then we can always re-read the rest.

This book is a must for Hap and Leonard fans!

It contains a number stories from Hap and Leonard's youth and childhood including a story about the night they met. We also get to learn about Hap's childhood and growing up in 1960's America.

In these stories we get to see poverty, racism, stunted lives and survival. We also get to see community, friendship and family all from the perspective of the duo as they recount these stories for Chance and Brett.

I really enjoyed the way that Hap tells these stories to Chance and by doing so shows us his life before Leonard and also some of the gut churning adventures he has had with Leonard. Their's is a friendship that goes way, way back.

Hap has always been a bit of a maverick but he has had a childhood of love and family and a safe place to observe the racism and brutality of rural life in 1960's America. We also get to see Leonard and his back stories show us that Leonard has always been bold, courageous, mouthy and a fighter and never one to be in the closet. Black, gay, proud and a first class maverick and not afraid to take someone down.

The stories add to the richness of these characters and leave the reader wanting more. It is great that this series is still developing and even better to know that the duo have made it to tv. Having said that tv is great but the stories coming alive in the imagination just cannot be beaten.

Joe R. Lansdale's Hap and Leonard stories are American classics. These tales cover the duo's origins (*contents may have been retconned, but who cares?), from two unlikely East Texan strangers to the most bizarre of brothers. Hap's a redneck with a heart of gold, and Leonard's a gay black Republican. Although it sounds like the setup for a bad joke, the bond between these two is unbreakable, and their company is always enjoyable. Give to anyone looking for shenanigans with a moral compass and some witty repartee.