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Title: Cheerfully Vulgar Berger Is LOL Funny
Review: Like his masterful "The Feud," this novel drops us into small-town America in the 30s and surrounds us with dolts. In "The Feud," the Bullards and the Beelers took umbrage over every perceived slight in a twisted version of "Romeo and Juliet" peopled by morons. Here Berger narrows his focus on the Sandifers: Buddy, who owns a used car lot, his wife Naomi, and his son Ralph. Oh, and Buddy's floozy Laverne. They're a step up from the Bullards and the Beelers on the mental food chain, but still not finalists for the MacArthur Prize. Berger's gift for lowbrow period dialogue and characterization make this a comic gem with a dollop of surprising pathos. Think Gene Sheperd with a foul mouth and you've got Berger's measure-- or Peter de Vries with a foot in the gutter.
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