“Misery Loves Maggody,” by Joan Hess

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 7
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 8
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

I have been an admirer of Joan Hess and this Maggody series for many years. The last one or two that I read didn't quite live up to the first several [I haven't read them in anything like their chronological order] but this one has renewed my enthusiasm. The humor has a decidedly "Beverly Hillbillies-meets-Rhoda" flair to it often with a wicked sardonicism thrown in for spice - right on target as far as my own sensibilities are concerned. Arly Hanks, our protagonist and reluctant but effective sheriff of the podunk town of Maggody, Arkansas, serves as a type of "straight man" to a plethora of buffoons and/or stereotypes. These novels very deftly employ the technique of alternating first-person segments as experienced by Arly with third-person narratives describing the hilarious backwardness of Maggody's populace. Religious hypocrisy is mercilessly lampooned in passages involving the local religious leaders and their followers. (Again, right on target for me.) And the depictions of the thought processes of the simple folk seem to be spot on as well. Imagine a female, jaded Andy Griffith recovering ungracefully from a bad marriage surrounded by Barney Fifes and Gomer Pyles, and you have another apt comparison. This series isn't for everyone - my wife can't stomach it at all! - but the almost sit-com nature of the narrative should certainly have broad appeal.