John VorhausCritiques

96000

Charming for the gift of gab/vocab alone. I liked the first two thirds better than the end but ends are hard. I pulled this off the shelf because I saw the next one in the series: The Albuquerque Turkey. Kinda have to get that one.

ridiculous book but oh what fun the author has with language and dialog - and plenty entertaining enough to keep me listening -

almost as if he kept a journal entry for each turn of phrase he ever heard that humored, pleased irritated or charmed him and then invented characters to speak the lines and a plot to hang the script off

- whatever the method this writing gave me more than a smile or two !

This is a sequel to The California Roll, and although I think it's entirely readable on its own, I definitely recommend reading that one first if you're interested at all, because the whole setup for this one is a spoiler for that one in a fairly big way. I'll just say that it focuses on the same character from the first book, a con man with the unlikely name of Radar Hoverlander. In this one, Radar has retired to Santa Fe in an attempt to finally go straight, but that proves increasingly difficult when his long-lost (or, more accurately, long-absconded) father, the man from whom he inherited his criminal ways, shows up on his doorstep supposedly in need of help.

Like the first one, it's a lot of fun. Radar is an entertaining character, and the slightly over-the-top first-person narrative voice he presents us with works better than it almost seems like it ought to. The plot, again like the first one, is convoluted and ridiculous, and sometimes a little hard to keep up with, but never feeling remotely sure of exactly what's going on and who is playing whom is part of the charm.

I did have one small disappointment in it, which is that, since I live in New Mexico, I was looking forward to seeing Radar Radaring it up around my state. But most of the real action in the book takes place in Las Vegas (not the one in New Mexico), and it's fairly clear that, while Vorhaus may have some tourist experience of Santa Fe, he doesn't really know the area well. I mean, it's cute that he thinks we have an Ikea in New Mexico. I know someone here who once drove to the nearest Ikea to buy a bed. It was about a twelve-hour round trip. But, oh well. I enjoyed the story enough that I'm willing to forgive him for that!

This little book is jam-packed with tools that will help any and every writer, regardless of genre. With down-to-earth language, and brief explanations, Vorhaus walks you through a series of processes, tools and rules that simplify rather than complicate writing tasks.

From the rule of nine (out of every ten ideas you write, 9 will be useless, so take risks, keep going and don't judge yourself) to the hill climbing problem (when revising your work, merely good is the enemy of great, so get that editing pen dirty).

As he puts it, "That's the trouble with re-writing. You have to commit to sacrifice with no certain expectation of reward. Yet even absent that guarantee, there's one thing we know for sure: If we don't come down off the hill, we'll never reach the mountain."

His explanation of plot structure is a 9-point list:

* Who is the hero?

* What does the hero want?

* The door opens

* Hero takes control

* A monkey wrench is thrown

* Things fall apart

* Hero hits bottoms

* Hero risks all

* What does the hero get?

If you include all of these points in your story (as he explains one by one), then it will work as any kind of story. This list parallels and expands slightly on the 3-act structure of commercial feature films (inciting incident, Climax 1, 2, 3). The only thing I'd add to his list is that when the door opens, the character walks through it. Because until the character acts in a way that reveals character, the story engine doesn't get in gear.

What's really useful about a tool like this is you can fit the answers to the questions on a single page, so it serves as your pencil sketch, thinking tool, your briefest of outlines, to help you manage the narrative arc of your story. Great stuff.

Since it's a comic toolbox, it covers the comic premise, comic story types, joke types, situation comedy, sketch comedy and more using oodles of easy to understand examples. After introducing each simple tool he encourages you to try them out.

The only thing I don't like about this book is its title and sub-title, The Comic Toolbox: How to be funny even if you're not.

Although the emphasis in this book is comedic, the application of his lessons go so much wider. From his advice on why you need to re-write, how to re-write, how to kill your inner editor and resuscitate them when you need them, this book isn't just about how to be funny, it's about how to write.

Given this, I'd re-title the book, The Writer's Toolbox: From a funny perspective.

This was a great little book with lots of unexpected bonus cool things. However, my personal opinion is that if you try too hard to be funny by applying tools, it will most likely come out unfunny. Even still, this book was awesome for helping you understand why funny things are funny, and whenever a hilarious moment came up during my time reading this book, I was able to analyze it and determine what made that so funny. I think in that alone you can study humor and the more you study and practice it in writing or whatever, the better you get. The most important piece of advice: take a risk, don't be afraid. I loved his Rule of Nine, which says "For every ten jokes you tell, nine will be trash. For every ten ideas you have, nine won't work. For every ten times you risk, nine times you fail." If you lower your expectations, you gain confidence.

The Texas Twist takes place in Austin, Texas, and we find Radar, Allie and Vic still together, and Radar is thinking of making a few changes in his life. However he finds himself immersed once again in a caper, all while attempting to extricate himself from the grifter life.

I love Radar. He's what I referred to in my review of The California Roll as an "honorable con artist". Born into the grifter life, he knows nothing else, but you get the feeling that he's uncomfortable with his life and his actions. Now, in the third book surrounding his life, he is beginning to truly question who he is and what he's doing, and seeking a way out. He seems to want to become a a truly honest man.

His girlfriend Allie is saucy and smart as ever, and partner Vic is outrageous as ever. You're never quite sure what to make of Vic. One second he appears to be a bumbling idiot, and the next he's a freakin' genius. You get the feeling that it is all a farce, and you don't actually know the real Vic.

Author Vorhaus can be deceiving. Sometimes with the silly, light-heartedness and relaxed manner with which he writes, you forget what a talented storyteller lies behind it all. You're just enjoying the ride. Then you’ll read a passage that will remind you once again that the author really knows his way around the English language!

My final word: Crafty, verbose and essentially honest and good-hearted underneath it all, Radar is a character for whom you can cheer. He's sort of the Dexter of con artists. He may be doing bad things, but as long as he does them to the bad guys, you love every minute of it! And author John Vorhaus makes it all just plain fun to read!

Radar Hoverlander -- he repeatedly insists it's his real name -- is an expert con artist. When he's approached by a woman who asks him to teach her grandfather the tricks of his trade, he immediately knows something's up; the woman in question is clearly just as well- versed in those tricks as he is. But he's intrigued enough to stick around and see where things are going, even as he grows increasingly unsure whether he's playing along or just being played. But the more he peels back the layers, the more difficult it becomes to know exactly what the game is, or whose side anybody is on.

It's a fun romp of a book. The plot is over-complicated, and arguably it cheats a bit towards the end, but it's entertaining. As are the characters (who are also complicated and prone to cheating). Plus, there's something about cons and con artists that's just inherently fascinating.

In other contexts, I think I might find the writing style a little annoying. It's full of show off-y vocabulary and highbrow wordplay and semi-obscure references in a way that that kind of screams, "Ooh, look how clever I am!" But as first-person narration, coming from a guy whose self-identity and livelihood both depend on his conviction that he's smarter than you, it works. It's amusing, rather than annoying. In fact, it's surprisingly hard not to like Radar. I'm left with the slightly uncomfortable feeling that he could scam me out of a couple hundred bucks, and I might not actually mind all that much.

This was a quick read with only 104 pages, but this book does leave a lasting impression. A quote that I particularly liked was this one;

“These days I can’t wait to write"

The book, perhaps aimed as being inspirational was just that for me. The book steers the reader on dealing with writers block, being focused and having a plan of action.

The author uses the word whimsy, which to me means free of restraints and without fear of reprisals or alike.

Writers should write everyday, but is this the case? Isn't that bringing rules into writing? Writers should feel inspired enough to write and if they do not feel inspired today then don't write, the risk is, that perhaps tomorrow you won't feel inspired either and after a week of not writing....So is writing something that is not brilliant, in your opinion, better than not writing at all?

Having read this book I made some notes on thoughts that occurred to me.

* Always get dressed. As someone who in a previous working life did work from home it is a slippery slope writing in your PJs. I always got dressed into something comfy, but by getting dressed you are sending yourself (and others) a message that you are working.
* Forcing writing means that something you enjoyed doing becomes something that you do not enjoy.
* On days when the writing does not flow are days when you can seek inspiration and explore. Often revisiting previous work or notes provides the inspiration for something else.
* Perfect never happens first time and I personally never get rid of a piece of work. I edit a copy, so I always have the original.
* Always carry a notebook & pen. Inspiration can happen at anytime and should be recorded, even if it is a series of bullet points.

So do I write everyday? Yes I do. I keep a daily journal filled with all sorts. I also try and blog everyday and I often take part in memes, these are mainly genealogical and helps me get some focus. By reading other blogs I am occasionally inspired.

For me this book is added to my writers toolbox because I liked the writing style and more importantly it made me think and reflect.

Full review - http://anglersrest.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/how-to-write-good-by-john-vorhaus_15.h...

I liked what I heard of this but there were too many technical issues to finish.

It took me a little while to get used to the rhythm of the author's voice, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I spent most of my time trying to figure out the con, and will probably go back and read The California Roll when I get a chance. The characters weren't perfect, but they were fun. I could totally picture this book as a Tarantino movie.

Radar Hoverlander is a grifter- a con artist -and like every grifter, he's seeking his California Roll. Which means to say that he is seeking his one big take that will set him up with sushi for life, and allow him to ride off into the sunset to live a charmed life of hot sands and cold beers. Then he meets up with fellow grifter Allie, and he has to begin to wonder whether he just bit off more than he can chew.

This was a fun and “smart” story. Full of clever dialogue, a twisting plotline, and more new-to-me vocabulary words than I can even mention in this review, I found it to be fresh and engaging.

There’s something likable about Radar Hoverlander. You almost get the feeling that he’s “honorable”, despite him being a con artist. Is there such a thing as an honorable con artist?

Radar finds himself surrounded by his ragtag team of fellow grifters. And grifters always seem to be trying to wind up as the man on top, always trying to outdo one another. And, really, how does a player trust a player not to play them?

Allie had me as stumped as she did Radar, wondering what her game was. You want to believe that she is real, but can you really trust her to be on the up and up?

There are some mild sex scenes, crudity and occasional vulgarity, but all of it is appropriate to the story and the characters involved. There was no real gratuity (other than gratuitous usage of pedantic vocabulary- which I loved!)

There are interesting footnotes in the book, but they are used more parenthetically than in the traditional sense that footnotes are used.

This book had so many twist and turns, I thought I may have to file a lawsuit against the author for whiplash! A fun read that I would definitely recommend!

The California Roll was a romping good read! Hang out with Radar the super witty con artist & the other cast of characters that will be sure to keep you entertained! But wait, there's more! There's so much conning going on, this book is like a roller coaster ride! A twist here, a turn there, another twist here! You won't want to put it down! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this & would definitely love read more from Vorhaus! This is a read that will keep you entertained & laughing til the end!

Loved this book. I could not put it down, so I didn't! I story is interesting and keeps you on the ride.

This book was a fast moving, slick romp though the mysterious underworld of grifters and con men. The prose was colorful and convoluted, much like the patter of a street hustler running a game of three card monte- give the subject matter, completely appropriate! I found the book a little hard to get into at first, but gradually got the hang of Radar's speech and thoughts, and found myself just letting go to enjoy the ride. As the novel built to a complicated climax involving double cross on top of double cross, I found myself unable to put the book down. Well written and engaging, this book was a fast and enjoyable read.

Season 1: Episode 5

A really cool, different way to view poker. Probably a few life lessons in there too. Don't read this first, it's really for advanced, tight players. If taken too literally it can really hurt your game. Remember, advice like that contained in this book should really "fine tune" your play. Small movements and adjustments, not large swings in strategy.