THE DECADENTS

By all objective measures, Phil Ochs is a successful businessman. Despite descending from a “pedigree of losers,” as he thinks of it, he’s built a fast-food empire in South Carolina, made up of 17 Fry Buddy franchises. Nevertheless, he remains dogged by the feeling that he hasn’t received the respect he deserves, and he remains annoyed by the fact that he shares a name with a famous liberal folksinger—a terrible yoke for a “committed conservative”: “You don’t know the burden it’s been to drag that hippie’s weight up the ladder.” To make matters worse, he longs to win the Outstanding Entrepreneur award from the Chamber of Commerce; this year, he’s losing out to a company that produces fake testicles for neutered pets. Frustrated that his adult son, David Samuel, is, in his view, an “over-sensitive, disgraceful goddamn mooch,” he pays a teenager to beat his offspring up, hoping the experience will usher him into manhood. David Samuel’s fantastical depiction of the assault is among the farce’s comedic highlights, as when he imagines his assailants’ thoughts about him: “His grace intimidates me! Me too! Even a thug like me can feel the elegance of his spirit! The devil has presented us a martyr for our adolescent rage, our wild, brutish passion!” Phil finally decides to run for state senate, and uses that opportunity to reinvent himself, allowing voters to come up with a new middle name for him. The entire book is written with nimble enthusiasm, and some of it is very funny, indeed. However, the author’s comedic stylings can hit lower registers at times, as with some of the middle names that the public suggests, such as “Phil Mummy-Fart Ochs,” “Phil Dinosaur Ochs,” and “Phil R.I.P. Ochs.” Also, the book’s inventiveness unfortunately fizzles out long before its conclusion; one may wish that the author had set about crafting a novel that was half as long.

Source:kirkusreviews