Tishomingo Blues

by Elmore Leonard. (2002) Published by William Morrow. 308 pages.

Compared to Out of Sight, this book is a little bit lackluster and even phony. The whole idea of mixing up a southern mob thriller with a civil war reenactment seems too pat, a way to fill up a few paragraphs and chapters with trivia about archaic weaponry and bivouac sleeping arrangements. Nowhere is this more true than in the interminable passages where policeman John Rau drones on interminably about how best to prepare salt pork.
Still, in the last few chapters, when the inevitable stand off finally comes to pass, it becomes apparent that Elmore Leonard really is making some points here, especially about the way men compare themselves to one another. As is often the case, he creates a hierarchy based on the concept of “cool,” and the consequence of being uncool is typically death. Coolness is more than simply an ability to be unfazed by violence. The gangster Robert Taylor is able to outcool his boss Caesar Germano simply because Taylor forms a rapport with Germano’s henchmen, jokes with them, treats them with respect, and uses imagination in finding them new assignments and missions. That’s another aspect of “cool” that’s at play here, the concept of something being “cool” in the sense of fascinating. Robert is a dangerous character, but he also understands that behind all the darkness and danger of the world he’s chosen, there’s still the cops-and-robber appeal to the boyish mind. Interestingly, Robert develops a man-crush on the high-diver Dennis Lenahan, who doesn’t have any sort of criminal past but has chosen in his own way to structure his life around facing death.
Tishomingo Blues was an interesting diversion, but I came away feeling my time would have been better spent elsewhere.