The Handyman; Everything's Bigger in Texas

I'm not sure what's going on with this cover photo. Is it a demon rising out of the house or something? It's a terrible image that doesn't really capture the book, which is unfortunate, it was pretty good. Daniel is a real estate agent, showing a young couple a fixer upper in Big Bear, and they mention that it looks like a "Frank house". Daniel asks them to elaborate, and it turns out the husband's mom lives in a "Frank house": it was "fixed up" by a handyman named Frank who had no idea what he was doing and made a botch of the thing. Daniel knows only too well: as a kid, his family bought a piece of land in Arizona, along with a prefab house, and hired a local man named Frank to build it. The house was a disaster, and Daniel's brother Billy ended up dying because of Frank's incompetence, and Daniel's parents never recovered from the loss. Daniel had no idea there were other "Frank houses" out there, and he starts investigating and discovers the malignant forces surrounding each of the structures. It was an interesting take on the traditional haunted house story.

I love Kinky Friedman. Not quite sure why. I've read some of his fiction and it's all right, but not brilliant. I've read some of his nonfiction, and it's been hit or miss as well. I've heard some of his music, and it's not really my style. I guess what I like about him is his general life philosophy. Kinky's had an interesting life: he was a chess prodigy as a child, spent a few years in Borneo with the Peace Corps, and founded a band called Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. They toured and cut records and actually did fairly well, but never got their big break. The band broke up and Kinky drifted around, mostly doing coke, until he decided to become a writer and started cranking out mystery novels. Again, he had mild success but never got that big break. He quit writing mysteries when he decided to run for governor of Texas back in 2006. He lost, but he put on an interesting campaign that showed that people really are tired of the same politicians who promise a lot but get nothing done. I think what I admire most about him is his love of animals. He founded the Utopia Animal Ranch, where animals who would otherwise be killed are rescued and loved until they find their forever homes. I always said if I ever got rich enough I'd love to do something like that too. It was a well written book, very funny and poignant at the same time.