Babcock
Joe Cottonwood makes his much-anticipated to the site. Today we’re happy to begin releasing episodes of Babcock:
A fat boy with the blues. A skinny girl who runs marathons. And a con man on the lam. If you liked Clear Heart, or if you liked Boone Barnaby, you’ll like this one, too. The themes are a bit more grown up than Boone Barnaby, but it’s still family-friendly for reading. For any age it’s my brand of writing: humane, down to earth, good-natured, sometimes funny and sometimes sad.
Babcock plays electric guitar. He’s writing songs – and trying to figure out the true meaning of rock and roll – but he keeps coming up with the blues. Babcock is trying to start a friendship with a girl, Kirsten, who is as different as can be: Kirsten is skinny; she hates insects. And she’s white. Babcock is fat; he speaks to dragonflies. And he’s black.
In some ways Kirsten is like a dragonfly: quick and bright. She never walks; she runs everywhere. Her family has money. Her mother thinks Babcock is a little too “rough.” Opposites attract. But can they make music?
Babcock’s family is struggling for money. Then Babcock’s Uncle Earl moves in – and he moves into Babcock’s bedroom with Babcock’s menagerie of animals (including Martin Luther Kingsnake.). Uncle Earl is a con man on the lam. Uncle Earl used to play drums for Chuck Berry. Babcock wants to be Chuck Berry. Uncle Earl wants to coach a Little League baseball team – as a “business venture.” Babcock hates baseball. Babcock wants to learn “charm” from Uncle Earl. Uncle Earl wants to learn how to live a normal life and marry a normal woman – who happens to be Babcock’s schoolteacher. Maybe Babcock and Uncle Earl have something to teach each other.
Babcock’s father runs a car repair shop. At night, in the kitchen, he draws cartoons. Some day he wants to quit repairing cars and sell his cartoons. But nobody’s buying.
Kirsten is hotheaded. Sometimes she needs protection – from herself. Her mother tries to protect her – from Babcock. For help with his problems Babcock goes to an unlikely source: his Uncle Earl, the man with good charm and bad behavior. But the biggest lessons from Uncle Earl – and, perhaps, from rock and roll – are not what anyone expected.
In short, it’s about character. About making music. About family, hard work, about love and loss. Sometimes there’s laughter. Sometimes the lights are off in the kitchen; papa’s got blues. But always life is rich and deeply moving…
I call Babcock a post-Obama novel. It’s about the friendship of a black boy with a white girl, and it isn’t about racial issues – well, not much. Have we really reached that point? Is our cup half full? The odd thing is, I wrote this novel in 1992 when nobody, including me, had heard of Barack Obama and when book critics wanted bloody racial conflict whenever black and white characters mixed in the pages of a novel. Maybe I was 16 years ahead of the times.
Babcock is part of the San Puerco trilogy, which makes it a companion book to Boone Barnaby: same characters (plus a few new ones) and more adventures in the scrappy little town of San Puerco. The book won awards as a novel for children, but it has many adult fans, too. Most of the issues appeal to an adult perspective as well as a child’s, though with different understanding. Other issues, of course, only a young person can understand. That’s life. That’s rock and roll.
We’re starting with the first five episodes in the default feed. Joe has been known to crank out more than one at a time, so unless you feel like tweaking your podcatcher settings, you may be best served by a custom feed that always gives you one episode at a time. You can change how fast that happens.
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September 11th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Charming characters and a very nice narration. Good work! Will you be writing in the ‘Clear Heart’ world again?
September 13th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Thanks, Barry. And I haven’t finished uploading yet! As for the Clear Heart world, I plan to return, but I’ve a few other projects in front of it.
September 24th, 2009 at 3:41 am
Just wanted to let you know that I have enjoyed all your stories. Woul d happily play them for my kids when they are old enough.
September 24th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Thanks, Dmitri. I’ll be uploading the final episode of Babcock today or tomorrow. I had to slow it down while we composed the music for “School of the Orangutan.” We recorded the song last weekend in my attic. Now I’m just completing the final blending of the music, then up to the etherworld it goes!
October 1st, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Great characters, excellent story! I hope there’s more to come. What happened with dad’s comics? Another book perhaps….?
October 4th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Good question, Scott. Here’s my guess: Dad’s comics were, as promised, carried by the local paper, which paid surprisingly little for them. However, the combination of gentle humor and a multiracial cast of characters couldn’t be sold to the national syndicates, so Dad became a much-loved but nearly bankrupt local hero. A status many dads can relate to.
October 12th, 2009 at 8:21 am
I just finished listening.
I really enjoyed the story. Hearing the band’s songs brought to life was really something special. “School of the Orangutan” makes me want to fetch my guitar out of the basement and start playing again.
Thanks for sharing your stories with us. I’m eagerly looking forward to whatever you write next.
October 15th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Oh good! I’m glad you liked the songs. It was so much fun putting them to music.
October 29th, 2009 at 5:44 am
Joe you are an excellent writer and narrator. I love this story and the characters. Love the music and the other narrations as well. Did you have commercial success with this book? As I was listening I thought it would be a great book for middle school age kids. I work for a school district and I would love to recommend your book to our librarian. Is it available for school libraries? Keep up the good work and keep the stories coming.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Isis62, thank you. The book won several awards but was not a commercial success in its day. Many libraries carried, and perhaps still carry, the book. It’s out of print. For a library to buy it today they would have to buy a used copy, which you can find (at very reasonable cost) on the internet at alibris.com and amazon. It’s also available as an ebook at Smashwords.com.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Joe I just checked and indeed we do have it in our Middle School Library catalog. Whoo Hoo. I am glad that kids in our district have access to this sweet and lovely story.
December 12th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Joe, another fun, guaranteed-to-make-you smile story. And wrapping in the music was a great treat! I hope you eventually record the final book in the trilogy, but if not I’ll have to go seek it out. Your characters continue to charm and you’re always at the top of my list of podiobook author recommendations. Thanks for presenting your work in this format.
December 19th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Glad you like it, Jane. Thanks for recommending me. (I always wonder what’s happening when there is a sudden spike in downloads.)
April 12th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
I have just finished enjoying Babcock.
Thank you Joe. What a wonderful story. great narration and wonderful music.
A great experience.
I had also loved Clear Heart and now look forward to Famous Potatoes.
Thank again.
August 26th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
There are no words to describe how much I enjoyed the story and the wonderful narration.
My only regret is that I could only give five stars in each category.
October 13th, 2012 at 8:01 am
Thank you so much for sharing your book with us. I loved it from beginning to end, it was a great pleasure !
Jo