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A review by dark_reader
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
5.0
I have been hesitant to write a review of this book because I fear not being able to adequately convey just how good it is. [a:Grady Hendrix|4826394|Grady Hendrix|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1542284521p2/4826394.jpg] is my favorite current author and everything that I love about his writing is present here. Everyone I know should read his books, and I can only attempt to explain why. The best I can do is to emphasize two words: heart and authenticity.
For reference, I virtually never buy new books. This is mostly because I am cheap, but also because most of the books that I am interested in are older, and so I use the library or buy used books for the most part. But for Grady Hendrix, I will happily buy all of his new books in hardcover until the heat death of the universe because I love them so much and want to see him keep writing and publishing forever, and although I can easily be first in line for his books from the library, I want to do my part to support him financially. I have met him and all evidence suggests that he is a bang-up guy, a devoted nerd and genre fanatic and a hard worker. I don't know of any other authors who mount one-man shows for their book tours, like Grady does to share his love of the source material. Sadly, his dance rendition of vampire literary history for this book's tour has been delayed by COVID-19, but hopefully we will get to see it later, because I am sure that it will be comedy gold.
What makes his books stand out for me, including this one, is how emotionally genuine his characters are, how authentic his love of horror is, and how much heart goes into all of his books. In Southern Book Club, we meet Patricia, a South Carolina housewife and mother of two in a suburban development in the 1990's. Although I am none of those things, I am Patricia. Her domestic ennui, her struggle with her identity as wife, mother, daughter-in-law, and just herself, spoke to me across time and space and page margins. Her life experiences are not my own, but her emotional responses are genuine and resonant. This is where the author shines in each of his recent books: despite the horror or fantasy elements, his characters and their stuggles are real.
As further evidence of authenticity, many authors could pepper a book with notes that speak to the time and place, to try and capture the appropriate zeitgeist, but most of them at best evoke a "The Wedding Singer"-type product mish-mash of popular callbacks. Not Grady Hendrix. He summons a spirit of time and place that rings deeply true. He does this with cultural touchpoints, race relations, cheese straws, economic trends, climate and geography, and more to recreate an authentic setting. Then he throws a vampire into it.
Even the supernatural/fantasy/horror elements are authentic. There were moments while reading when I would step back and think about a particular plot point that, in retrospect, was easily predictable if you are well-versed in popular vampire fiction. These moments were never hokey, never out of character, and I realized that they were in truth homage. One way that Grady accomplishes all of this is that he doesn't skimp on the groundwork. For this book, he really read every book that was popular in book clubs in that time and place, and understands why and how they fit into those particular cultural moments. He also read pretty much every vampire book in existence, good and bad (mostly bad), and if you subscribe to his newsletter you are in for some gems of book reviews. But at the same time as he hilariously excoriates those 'Paperbacks from Hell' that he is famous for, his love of the material is obvious, and this shines through in his own books.
Is Southern Book Club absolutely perfect? It is not. I don't think Hendrix writes action scenes terribly well yet and I lost some of my connection to the text at those points. The big horror moments were not as keen as the smaller ones (and OMG when my wife reads this, I have to pre-warn her about a certain scene involving an insect and a bodily orifice, MAJOR SQUIGGIES). I kept expecting the thread of the son's obsession with nazi history to lead somewhere, but it does not. The racial disparities are uncomfortable, but terribly accurate to time and place, and so are clearly intentional. But, these are minor complaints. The characters' reactions to events, the evolution of relationships, and all emotional moments are powerful and, again, authentic.
And his endings... man. I LOVE a Grady Hendrix ending. This one faltered a tiny bit for me as the final events began to unroll, but the denouement aferwards... so good. I was not brought to tears as I was at the very end of [b:My Best Friend's Exorcism|26118005|My Best Friend's Exorcism|Grady Hendrix|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1456208235l/26118005._SX50_.jpg|46065002], but I think many other people will be.
So if you're wondering if you should read this, YES YOU SHOULD. It doesn't matter if you care for vampire stories, because in many ways the vampire is almost an aside. It doesn't matter if you read horror, because the real horrors for most of the characters are not supernatural. In truth, it is a book about families and friends above all else. As in his previous books, Grady Hendrix provides true-to-life characters with genuine challenges and emotional veritas. Even prior to this book, he has made a lifelong fan and new-book buyer out of me and he deserves all of the success that will hopefully come his way.
For reference, I virtually never buy new books. This is mostly because I am cheap, but also because most of the books that I am interested in are older, and so I use the library or buy used books for the most part. But for Grady Hendrix, I will happily buy all of his new books in hardcover until the heat death of the universe because I love them so much and want to see him keep writing and publishing forever, and although I can easily be first in line for his books from the library, I want to do my part to support him financially. I have met him and all evidence suggests that he is a bang-up guy, a devoted nerd and genre fanatic and a hard worker. I don't know of any other authors who mount one-man shows for their book tours, like Grady does to share his love of the source material. Sadly, his dance rendition of vampire literary history for this book's tour has been delayed by COVID-19, but hopefully we will get to see it later, because I am sure that it will be comedy gold.
What makes his books stand out for me, including this one, is how emotionally genuine his characters are, how authentic his love of horror is, and how much heart goes into all of his books. In Southern Book Club, we meet Patricia, a South Carolina housewife and mother of two in a suburban development in the 1990's. Although I am none of those things, I am Patricia. Her domestic ennui, her struggle with her identity as wife, mother, daughter-in-law, and just herself, spoke to me across time and space and page margins. Her life experiences are not my own, but her emotional responses are genuine and resonant. This is where the author shines in each of his recent books: despite the horror or fantasy elements, his characters and their stuggles are real.
As further evidence of authenticity, many authors could pepper a book with notes that speak to the time and place, to try and capture the appropriate zeitgeist, but most of them at best evoke a "The Wedding Singer"-type product mish-mash of popular callbacks. Not Grady Hendrix. He summons a spirit of time and place that rings deeply true. He does this with cultural touchpoints, race relations, cheese straws, economic trends, climate and geography, and more to recreate an authentic setting. Then he throws a vampire into it.
Even the supernatural/fantasy/horror elements are authentic. There were moments while reading when I would step back and think about a particular plot point that, in retrospect, was easily predictable if you are well-versed in popular vampire fiction. These moments were never hokey, never out of character, and I realized that they were in truth homage. One way that Grady accomplishes all of this is that he doesn't skimp on the groundwork. For this book, he really read every book that was popular in book clubs in that time and place, and understands why and how they fit into those particular cultural moments. He also read pretty much every vampire book in existence, good and bad (mostly bad), and if you subscribe to his newsletter you are in for some gems of book reviews. But at the same time as he hilariously excoriates those 'Paperbacks from Hell' that he is famous for, his love of the material is obvious, and this shines through in his own books.
Is Southern Book Club absolutely perfect? It is not. I don't think Hendrix writes action scenes terribly well yet and I lost some of my connection to the text at those points. The big horror moments were not as keen as the smaller ones (and OMG when my wife reads this, I have to pre-warn her about a certain scene involving an insect and a bodily orifice, MAJOR SQUIGGIES). I kept expecting the thread of the son's obsession with nazi history to lead somewhere, but it does not. The racial disparities are uncomfortable, but terribly accurate to time and place, and so are clearly intentional. But, these are minor complaints. The characters' reactions to events, the evolution of relationships, and all emotional moments are powerful and, again, authentic.
And his endings... man. I LOVE a Grady Hendrix ending. This one faltered a tiny bit for me as the final events began to unroll, but the denouement aferwards... so good. I was not brought to tears as I was at the very end of [b:My Best Friend's Exorcism|26118005|My Best Friend's Exorcism|Grady Hendrix|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1456208235l/26118005._SX50_.jpg|46065002], but I think many other people will be.
So if you're wondering if you should read this, YES YOU SHOULD. It doesn't matter if you care for vampire stories, because in many ways the vampire is almost an aside. It doesn't matter if you read horror, because the real horrors for most of the characters are not supernatural. In truth, it is a book about families and friends above all else. As in his previous books, Grady Hendrix provides true-to-life characters with genuine challenges and emotional veritas. Even prior to this book, he has made a lifelong fan and new-book buyer out of me and he deserves all of the success that will hopefully come his way.