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| by William D. Gagliani
Email: tarkusp@execpc.com The Magic Wagon By Joe R. Lansdale Subterranean Press $16.00 Joe Lansdale may or may not have been the first to blend the Western with the strange or horrific, but nowadays it's hard to say the term "weird Western" without thinking of him. Of course, Lansdale is such a terrific storyteller that every genre he's ever touched has come up gold, but there's something special about this 1986 short novel. Subterranean Press thought so, too, reissuing this great tall-tale in a handsome paperback edition. When young Buster Fogg loses his family and home to a tornado and his land to a bank, there's not much left for him to do but hit the road. When The Magic Wagon rolls up, Buster finds himself recruited by Albert, the black driver, and before long he is in the employ of Billy Bob Daniels, purveyor of ersatz "medicine" cure-alls and straight-shooting pistoleer supposedly born illegitimate to legendary gunman Wild Bill Hickock. Though Billy Bob's not a very nice man, the strange bond between him and Albert seems to keep him in line. Together with Rot Toe, the wrestling ape, they travel the changing West. It's 1909 and things like automobiles are beginning to pop up, reminding them that an era is about over. But ever since Billy Bob and Albert stole the mummified body of Wild Bill hisownself from an Indian, a strange storm seems to be following them everywhere they go. And things get difficult, what with Billy Bob slowly turning meaner and living more and more in the fantasy world of the dime novels he wishes were written about him. By the time the wagon reaches Mud Creek, the electricity in the air is so dense that you know something's going to happen. The old gunslinger Texas Jack calls out Billy Bob, and nothing and no one is ever the same. This deceptively brief tale packs a wallop in several important ways. It's a Lansdale novel, first of all, full of the humor and observation present in all his works. It's a coming of age tale, something Lansdale does incredibly well. It's a changing of the guard novel, as the old notions of the West are replaced by the newfangled and much less romantic realities of the Twentieth Century. It's an adventure yarn, surely, for more things happen to Buster than you or I would need five lifetimes to experience. And it's a Bradbury-like tale of the bizarre as well, for Buster notes that Wild Bill's remains seem cursed. There's a lesson about being true to yourself, rather than to the idealized image you want to represent you. There are some words about fame, and loyalty, and obligation. And lastly there's a lot in here about racism, both the subtle kind and that which hits you in the face like a two-by four. That's a packed agenda for such a short novel, but Lansdale's gift is that he tells the story in such an entertaining way that none of all this "meaning" ever gets in the way of the narrative. We should all learn that lesson half as well. If you're already a Lansdale fan, there's a chance you've enjoyed THE MAGIC WAGON before. Read it again because it's so good. If you're not already a fan, shame on you! Read this and all is forgiven. |
