Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 6/13/2009 + 1223 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This book reminded me of a Coen Brothers movie. Very bizarre and perverse as the title implies. The story is about two couples and three brothers. One couple has a very perverse sex life - participating in sadomasochistic fantasies because genital warts have prevented them from a once normal sex life. The other couple has a healthy relationship and in their apartment (which is downstairs from the first couple) is the titular Willard, a papier mache bird, and his bowling trophies. These trophies were found by the couple in an abandoned car. The three brothers were once the owners of the bowling trophies and have spent the last 3 years looking for them and the culprits who stole them. Bowling was their way of life. In search of the trophies, they have gone from upstanding citizens to small-time thieves and eventually to murderers. They are out to recover their trophies, no matter what the cost.

This was a very quick read (167 pages) basically about how fate can arbitrarily devastate the lives of people. I thought it was a simple, sometimes humorous, story as Brautigan's short precise language draws you along to the climax of the story. Overall, I would recommend this one.

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