2008 Woodie Awards
Jersey based novel is leg slappin' funny
Lisa Panzerilla
Issue date: 3/25/04 Section: Arts and Entertainment
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Imagine losing your leg and going about life like a joke? Well, in Dave Hanson's knee slapping hysterical book, Last Leg, Hanson captures the feeling but not in a way one would think.
The book opens up with "My leg was gone." Hanson doesn't bore the reader with some cheesy line just to fill up space, like many contemporary writers do. He gets right to the point and continues to throughout the entire 156 pages.
Marl Trevicker is the main character that loses the bottom 21 inches of his right leg that is "made of aluminum and plastic, the color of a scuffed, dirty Barbie doll."
Trevicker, however, doesn't freak out and call the cops looking for his missing leg. He's obviously in distress, but goes about life in a normal fashion.
Normal fashion, however, doesn't seem to be in his vocabulary since Trevicker speaks about his wife, Evelyn in California who is getting breast implants the humping, handicapped cat, Vinnie, and his job at an air freshener company in Northern New Jersey.
One thing that's so great about this book is that although everyone can enjoy the well written aspects and the comedic vibes, only North Jerseyans can get a real laugh at it, since every town he mentions is either called, "Field Ridge," or "Edge Plain."
Obviously, he is poking fun at the similar names towns have for each other, that only a handful of people read over and laugh to themselves, but even the writer understands Jersey humor which is exceptionally uncanny.
Another character that bleeds humor from start to finish is Marl's brother Cliff who sleeps on the couch and thinks life is one big party.
He's not even sympathetic when his brother informs him about his missing leg. "Hey numb nuts," he greeted me. "Why's the cat making all that noise?"
Readers learn later that Cliff had a bit of a sketchy past when he was younger.
He served 22 months in jail for grand theft auto to "impress a girl," but one of the funniest things mentioned was how the lawyer serving him was disbarred for Tourette's syndrome, which apparently was disrupting.
The book opens up with "My leg was gone." Hanson doesn't bore the reader with some cheesy line just to fill up space, like many contemporary writers do. He gets right to the point and continues to throughout the entire 156 pages.
Marl Trevicker is the main character that loses the bottom 21 inches of his right leg that is "made of aluminum and plastic, the color of a scuffed, dirty Barbie doll."
Trevicker, however, doesn't freak out and call the cops looking for his missing leg. He's obviously in distress, but goes about life in a normal fashion.
Normal fashion, however, doesn't seem to be in his vocabulary since Trevicker speaks about his wife, Evelyn in California who is getting breast implants the humping, handicapped cat, Vinnie, and his job at an air freshener company in Northern New Jersey.
One thing that's so great about this book is that although everyone can enjoy the well written aspects and the comedic vibes, only North Jerseyans can get a real laugh at it, since every town he mentions is either called, "Field Ridge," or "Edge Plain."
Obviously, he is poking fun at the similar names towns have for each other, that only a handful of people read over and laugh to themselves, but even the writer understands Jersey humor which is exceptionally uncanny.
Another character that bleeds humor from start to finish is Marl's brother Cliff who sleeps on the couch and thinks life is one big party.
He's not even sympathetic when his brother informs him about his missing leg. "Hey numb nuts," he greeted me. "Why's the cat making all that noise?"
Readers learn later that Cliff had a bit of a sketchy past when he was younger.
He served 22 months in jail for grand theft auto to "impress a girl," but one of the funniest things mentioned was how the lawyer serving him was disbarred for Tourette's syndrome, which apparently was disrupting.