Building on his experience working at a feedstore as
a teen, Texas author Terry Ervin fictionalized those years and all involved to
come up with this often funny coming of age tale. Except for references to the
author and two former pro wrestlers, The Feedstore Chronicles is fiction.
Despite the fact it is fiction, the book on occasion will strike a strong resonance with
you if you are of a certain age and grew up in Texas.
It is the spring of 1989 and the young narrator, Travis,
is all of sixteen. Travis has a crush on the nubile Samantha Black who is a
certain cheerleader at Caprock High School. Doyle Suggs, thirty, twice divorced, runs
Pearl’s Feed and Seed in Amarillo, Texas. Travis believes that if he had some
cash from working he might have a chance with her. So, he gets a minimum wage job
at the feedstore and soon learns there are very nasty jobs at the store. Not
all of the nasty ones involve Doyle’s dog “Snuggles.”
While working after school making money did not do
anything to get him any closer to Samantha it did let him see the world through
the eyes of his boss Doyle Suggs. Doyle believes that every woman on the planet
is his to bed. He is active and makes every effort to get laid on a daily basis
with as many women as possible. When necessary, he is more than willing to work
out a trade of some of the store product on credit for some intimate time with
the ladies. Doyle also likes practical jokes, to harass his small stuff of
Travis and Jerry, and to be the boss and play favorites. As the months turn
into years and Travis works closer and closer to High School graduation he
learns the good, the bad, and the downright ugly and smelly from Doyle.
There is no great summing up of this book that is
possible. No great mysteries are solved, no meaning of life is pronounced, and
no great revelations are explained. Something that was made clear from word one
of the introduction. The Feedstore Chronicles is a fun
read and an ode to a time when, as pimply faced Texas teens, we knew it all. For
Travis it also meant he met and married the woman of his dreams. For me it
means I still can’t walk into Burger King without shuddering just a little.
Occasionally graphic in terms of language and physical
descriptions, this is a book of interconnected stories. Stories that have been
fictionalized massively to protect those involved. Stories much like what you
would tell while sitting around with your buddies and drinking beer. A fun read
that does not take itself seriously nor has any deep meaning or symbolism.
Read it for fun and enjoy.
The
Feedstore Chronicles
Travis
Erwin
TAG
Publishing, LLC
2011
ISBN
978-1-934606-31-5
Paperback
(also available on Kindle)
206
Pages
$14.95
Material in the form of a PDF supplied by the author
in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2012
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