Product Description

In the coastal hills of northern California live three larger-than-life characters: two humans and one duck. There's Grandaddy Jake Santee, 99 years old, an unreformed gambler, cranky reprobate and fierce opponent of the work ethic. And Tiny, adopted at the age of four by Grandaddy Jake, he's a giant young man as gentle as Jake is belligerent. And then there's Fup, an uncompromising twenty-pound hen mallard, whose unique presence imposes a sense of order on the Santee household. Hilarious, heartwarming and magical, Fup is a contemporary fable that inspires an almost evangelical fervour in all who read it. It is a work of enormous originality with a giant heart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29785 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

San Francisco Chronicle
Stupendous … it is a jewel, a gem, a diamond in the cesspool of life.

Elle
Fup shows Jim Dodge to be one of the most original literary voices.

Big Issue
Fup is a pint-sized powerpack of a novel. It’s got everything.

Customer Reviews

Small and perfectly formed
In recent years it’s seemed that in the world of literature big is best, and in order to qualify as a great work an author has to emulate Tolkien or Tolstoy with sprawling locations, character and interweaving plot strands. So, it’s refreshing to find a little novel that (in terms of size) is more Great Gatsby than War and Peace.

Fup is a colossal 89 pages of style, pace, rhythm, wit, comedy, cruel tragedy, and resolution. The embodiment of quality over quantity. The story centres round the life of a ninety-nine year old professional drinker and gambler, his giant of a son, and the title character – their overly aggressive duck. The only other book that comes close to emulating the style of this modern fable is Tom Baker’s wickedly funny The Boy who Kicked Pigs. It’s a life affirming, Americanised Roald Dahl of a fairy-tale.

Fup is a wonderful story full of richly surreal imagery, a poetic – almost ecological – balance to story and character, with wonderfully textured (Quentin Blake-esqe) illustrations by Harry Horse. This is one of these rare little books you’ll want to read again, and again, and again.

How do you describe it? This little pearl is the kind of book you pass round all your friends and family, satisfied in the knowledge that they will forever be in your debt for bringing something so dazzling into their lives. It gives you the feeling you get when you put on an old a comfy old jacket, and find a tenner in the pocket.

Jim Dodge recently said “I only want to be famous for a 100 miles. I had my moment of American fame with Fup…and found it distracting to the point of distortion.” I hope the rest of his writing is as good as Fup, and for his sake it gets less attention than it clearly deserves.

A pocket size guide to life for dreamers.
If you like novels to be very short and beautifully sweet, then this gem is for you. Like sticking in your favourite film to escape life for a few precious hours, you can sink into this beauty and be done in less then a few hours. I couldn't possibly describe the plot of this unusual fairytale, except to say that the main character is a duck. Yes a duck called Fup! Don't worry, all will be revealed to you when you begin this witty journey into American rural nostalgia. This is my favourite of Jim's wonderful work, and is the best book this humble reviewer has ever read.

Utterly Sublime!
All the deft skill and beauty of any classic fairytale you have ever read. Jim dodge has this amazing and enviable ability to use no more and no less than the right number of words to create perfect jewels of literature. This book truly moved me.