The Last Taxi Driver
by Lee Durkee
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Pub Date 22 Sep 2020 | Archive Date 22 Sep 2020
Oldcastle Books | No Exit Press
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Description
The Last Taxi Driver is a darkly comic novel about a day in the life of an exhausted, middle-aged hackie about to lose his job to Uber, his girlfriend to lethargy, and his ability to stand upright to chronic back spasms. Lou — a lapsed novelist and UFO enthusiast who has returned to his home state of Mississippi after decades away — drives for a ramshackle taxi company that operates on the outskirts of a college town among the trailer parks and housing projects. With Lou’s way of life fast vanishing, an ex-dispatcher resurfaces in town on the lam, triggering a bedlam shift which will test Lou’s sanity and perhaps cost him his life.
Against this backdrop, Lou has to keep driving, and driving — even if that means aiding and abetting the host of criminal misfits haunting the back seat of his Town Car.
Written by a former cabbie, The Last Taxi Driver careens through the highways and backroads of North Mississippi as Lou becomes increasingly somnambulant and his fares increasingly eccentric. Equal parts Bukowski and Portis, Durkee’s novel is an homage to a dying American industry.
Advance Praise
'Much of what makes Lee Durkee’s novel so delightful and surprising is his ability to dig beneath the surface of this funny, well-told odyssey, which channels a Shakespearean tragedy. This twenty-year follow up to his debut novel, Rides of the Midway, was worth the wait' - Sara Webster, Chicago Review of Books
'Raunchy and sweet and, at times, psychedelic' - John T Edge, Garden & Gun
'A gonzo ride full of dark humour, philosophical insights and shrewd observations about the plight of luckless people in the United States' - Shelf Awareness
'By turns hilarious, angry and sweet, once again Durkee perfectly captures the mood of our time' - Washington Post Bookclub Newsletter
'It may be the worst day of Lou Bishoff’s life, but The Last Taxi Driver is a frenetic, voyeuristic delight. A Mississippi Buddhist doing his best to be kind, Lou ferries around meth heads and rehab escapees, drives overgrown frat boys to and from drug dens, and wonders at what point he stops being a cab driver and starts being an accomplice. Timely and compulsively readable, Durkee’s long-awaited second novel makes me regret how much I’ve missed by being a (reasonably) sober and compliant passenger' - Mary Miller, author of Biloxi
'The Last Taxi Driver is unpredictable, emotionally moving, and laugh-out-loud funny. Lee Durkee writes with honesty and deep insight. This book is filled with compassion. I loved it. The best book I’ve read in years' - Chris Offutt, author of Country Dark
'This book’s a blast! A super-long shift in the life of a north Mississippi taxi driver makes for hilarious moments as well as lyrical ones. Durkee’s Mississippi is entirely his own as he parades a line of passengers that are as colorful, sad, and strange as any in literature. A terrific novel by a terrific writer!' - Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter
'A wild, funny, poetic fever-dream that will change the way you think about America' - George Saundors, author of Lincoln in the Bardo
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9780857304582 |
| PRICE | £2.99 (GBP) |
