Onyx reviews: Of Mice and Minestrone by Joe R. Lansdale

Reviewed by Bev Vincent, 01/05/2020

Hap and Leonard have been featured in numerous novels, story collections, graphic novels and a TV series that ran for three seasons. Lansdale appears to know these characters inside and out, backwards and forwards. In recent years, he has been regaling readers with stories from their youth, including the tale of how they first met. While he admits, in this book's introduction, that there are still stories he'd like to explore, this brief collection will give fans of these mismatched friends a taste of their formative years.

The opening story, "The Kitchen," features Hap Collins by himself as a young boy, traveling to his grandmother's place for a family gathering that is focused around food. There is no crisis or conflict—it's just a nice, nostalgic memory. The title story comes in two parts. It takes place when Hap is older. He has a part-time job at the police station while he's in high school, earning enough money to buy gas for the car his parents bought for him. The job brings him into close contact with some of the grimmer aspects of a small town.

"The Watering Shed" takes Hap and Leonard on an ill-advised trip to a seedy watering hole on the outskirts of town where the owner doesn't care if someone is underaged so long as he's able to pay for his drinks. In "Sparring Partner," Leonard convinces Hap to join him at an illegal boxing ring, where they are supposed to make good money to get in the ring with up-and-coming boxers. In the closing story, "The Sabine Was High," Leonard and Hap are reunited after Leonard returns from Vietnam and Hap is released from prison where he served time as a conscientious objector.

The final section of the book contains recipes for the various foods and drinks featured in the preceding stories, illustrated by colorful comments from Hap (and occasionally Leonard) about what to do and what not to do (no running in the kitchen!) for the best results. These recipes contain enough lard and bacon fat to lead to early death, but the witty commentaries make this section fun reading.

Even as young men—still teenagers, in fact—trouble has a way of finding Hap and Leonard. Sometimes it's their own fault. Leonard, in particular, as a black gay man in East Texas with a chip on his shoulder, has a way of stirring folks up. He rightly resents the way black people are treated and he's on a one-man mission to show them the error of their ways. All it takes to rile people up is to try to buy a drink in a bar or sit at a booth in a restaurant and then refuse to be cajoled or threatened into leaving. For his part, Hap has a smart mouth that gets him into trouble, but he has a moral compass that drives him to support his friend and also to see to it that other people aren't hurt by bullies. Sometimes, as in the title story, his efforts don't pay off, but you can't fault him for trying.

The stories featuring both characters illustrate the essential strong bond between the two men. They are—as Lansdale might say—brothers from another mother. They come from very different backgrounds, but they understand each other completely and each would die for the other. It's the kind of male friendship rarely seen in fiction. Even when nothing of consequence happens, as in "The Sabine Was High," which takes place during a reunion fishing expedition, Lansdale is able to plumb the depths of their relationship and reveal interesting things about these familiar characters.