Bughouse - Softcover

Like the characters of Art Spiegelman's Maus (1986), Lafler's are humanoid except for their heads, which are those of insects. Whereas Spiegelman's story is his father's life, Lafler's is realistic fiction. In an alternative America in which 1945^-75 is condensed to a decade, young tenor saxman Jimmy Watts wins a scholarship to City Music College in Bugtown. There he meets pianist Slim Watkins, who is as gone on progressive jazz as he is. A midweek duo gig for beer leads to playing in a hot band to forming a quartet to becoming the cutting edge in jazz. The gig also leads Jimmy to curvaceous Julie Blanchette and her turn-on, bug juice, to which Jimmy and Slim become addicted. A teaser reveals that Slim never gets straight, and a flash-forward, that Jimmy does. Having settled those big issues, Lafler concentrates on developing the familiar theme of a jazzman's demimonde life in terms of character. With dialogue and line, he individuates his buggy personae and leaves the reader eager for Bughouse, volume two. Ray Olson
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