What the heck is up in Fup, the weird tale of a mallard hen?

Most of Fup feels like a comedic short story. Like more profane Charles Portis or less absurd George Saunders. Maybe the sort of thing John Kennedy O’Toole might have written if he’d been alive to keep writing. But Fup stands apart for where Jim Dodge goes with his humor. He’s writing to amuse, to be sure. But he’s also writing to bring you someplace philosophical, perhaps even spiritual, but without any of the weight of philosophy or spirituality. It’s ultimately a tangle of homespun wisdom that lapses into folklore. The punchline isn’t really a punchline. It just might be a parable.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2018/02/02/heck-fup-weird-tale-mallard-hen/

Fup duck. I think I get it.

I had assumed this book review was a Patreon request, but I didn’t see Patreon mentioned at the bottom. What got you to read this, Tom?

Also, I think there might be a period missing:
“Tiny enjoyed the open, linear purity of checkers[.] Grandaddy favored games with hole cards”

It didn’t actually win a drawing, but it was something that was picked by one of my supporters. I’d never heard of it or the author before then. I suppose it should count as a Patreon review, since it came from a Patreon supporter? I went ahead and gave it a Patreon tag.

-Tom