So I promised you a review of Nic Pizzolatto’s Galveston, but I’m afraid there’s not a whole lot to say. It’s good, if you’re game for some southern ne0-noir action. It’s a whiskey soaked ~250 page romp through the deep south; the protagonist, a drunk New Orleans helical named Roy Cady, gets diagnosed with lung cancer the same day his boss puts a hit out on him for past involvement with his present girlfriend. After the hit goes awry — Roy manages to off his hitmen — Roy escapes with a young, moxy-laden prostitute named Rocky, and a young girl she claims is her sister but is actually her daughter (!).

Guess where they go to escape their would-be assassins? Galveston, Texas. Pizzolatto employs the same time-jumping narrative strategy as he does in True Detective, to similar effect. Roy Cady of the future is worn and hobbled, impossibly ravaged by his past and yet still alive — much like Rust Cole. It’s a quick read, and one I recommend, though I think Pizzolatto’s creative vision is more fully realized in his TV series than in his first novel. All the internet writing about True Detective did turn me on to this book, however:

It’s a short story collection by Robert W. Chambers, (an early influence of HP Lovecraft) published in 1895, set in a dystopia version of New York City, with many familiar landmarks. The common thread in all of the stories is a fictional play called “The King in Yellow”, which causes anyone who reads it to go insane from its “undeniable truths.” I’m only a couple stories in, but I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going.

After this though, I’m going to need something new to read, and I’m at a loss. I want to tackle something big – I’m thinking of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, or maybe Infinite Jest (again). Thoughts? Suggestions? Leave them in the comments section.