South of the Pumphouse
It is proposed that this article be deleted because of the following concern:
If you can address this concern by improving, copyediting, sourcing, renaming, or merging the page, please edit this page and do so. You may remove this message if you improve the article or otherwise object to deletion for any reason. Although not required, you are encouraged to explain why you object to the deletion, either in your edit summary or on the talk page. If this template is removed, do not replace it. The article may be deleted if this message remains in place for seven days, i.e., after 14:45, 29 April 2024 (UTC). Find sources: "South of the Pumphouse" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR |
South of the Pumphouse is a 2006 novella by rock musician Les Claypool. The book can be described as a tragic tale containing themes of family, racism, drugs, and misconceptions. The book describes the San Francisco and San Pablo Bays, and the fishing areas they have to offer. The novella was published by Akashic Books and is also available on the Amazon Kindle store.
Plot summary[edit]
Two brothers get together for a fishing trip in memory of their recently deceased father. But while one, Ed, has left the small town of El Sobrante (the actual town where Claypool grew up) to go live in the town of Berkeley, California, the other, Earl, has stayed in the town and has become a methamphetamine addict. When Earl invites his best friend, Donny, along on a fishing trip things get heated between the left wing Ed and right wing racist Donny. When Earl mistakenly concludes that Donny has slept with his wife, he beats him to death with a boat pole. The rest of the novel is concerned with the brothers' efforts to dispose of Donny's body, a twist in the tale which explains Earl's mistake and a brief epilogue concerning the sturgeon which the three men were trying to catch during their day's fishing.
Claypool fleetingly addresses the themes of racism and urban decay in his novel.
External links[edit]