A Gypsy Good Time
 Paperback Fourth Printing | |
| Author | Gustav Hasford |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Detective fiction |
| Publisher | Washington Square Press (PB) |
Publication date | 1992 |
| Media type | Print Paperback |
| Pages | 177 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-671-72917-9 (paperback edition) |
A Gypsy Good Time is a 1992 noir detective novel by Vietnam veteran Gustav Hasford and the last novel he completed before his death in 1993, at age 45. It is written in the style of classic hardboiled detective fiction and was poorly received by book critics at the time for making too much use of the cliches of the genre. A Gypsy Good Time never received the same critical recognition as Hasford's novels on Vietnam, The Short-Timers (1979) and The Phantom Blooper (1990), and is relatively unknown even among the author's followers. The book is reportedly based on Hasford's disillusionment with Hollywood during the production of Full Metal Jacket (1987).
Plot
Vietnam veteran and Private Investigator Dowdy Lewis, Jr. struggles with alcoholism, his time in the Vietnam War, and his own rapid aging. He meets Yvonna Lablaine, an attractive, red-headed outcast from a prominent Hollywood family, and falls in love. One day, however, after a brief but passionate romance, Lewis finds Lablaine dying at his door, murdered. He then embarks on a quest involving drug dealers, mobsters, and Hollywood moguls in order to find the truth about what happened and to take revenge on the culprits.
Reception
This book received many negative reviews; however, there were some positive ones from other prominent authors and filmmakers who deemed the book a sleeper hit that created a surprisingly accurate and bleak portrait of the modern American movie business.
"This may be the best stuff I've ever read about Hollywood and the movies, a world as savage and erotic as any jungle war...Gustav Hasford's voice is unmistakable in American writing." -Kent Anderson
"Hallelujah! At last a new dimension to the crime novel. As if it wasn't enough to deliver a nifty plot with unique characters, Hasford's A Gypsy Good Time has something to say--and nobody says it better." -James B. Harris
Out of print
According to the Official Gustav Hasford Website maintained by Hasford's cousin, The Short-Timers,[1] The Phantom Blooper,[2] and Hasford's third and last completed book, a noir detective novel titled A Gypsy Good Time (1992),[3][4] are currently out of print. The texts of the two war novels and an excerpt of A Gypsy Good Time were publicly available at the website for at least a decade,[5] but the site has since been redesigned, and Hasford's cousin, who manages the site, has stated he "likely won't be reposting the novel" there.[6]
References
- ↑ Hasford, Gustav (1979). The Short-Timers (1st (hard cover) ed.). Harper & Rowe. ISBN 978-0060117825.
- ↑ Hasford, Gustav (January 1, 1990). The Phantom Blooper (1st (hard cover) ed.). Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0553057188.
- ↑ Hasford, Gustav (March 1992). A Gypsy Good Time (First (paperback) ed.). Washington Square Press. ISBN 978-0671729172.
- ↑ "Web page dedicated to A Gypsy Good Time". Gustav Hasford's official website.
- ↑ "Original version". Gustav Hasford home page, with the full text of The Short-Timers and The Phantom Blooper novels included.
- ↑ Jason Aaron (January 2013). "About This Site". GustavHasford.com. Retrieved September 7, 2014.