Who Will Speak For Hoke Mosley?

The American Enterprise Online asks a bunch of jokers to list their summer reading. Only Reason's Jesse Walker comes through with a plug for the late, great Charles Willeford, whose books "read like Dostoyevsky crossed with the Coen brothers. Start with *The Woman Chaser*, *The Burnt Orange Heresy*, or *Cockfighter*."

If you only know Willeford's stuff via the movies, be advised that he's been indifferently served by Hollywood. Puddy fans may enjoy the adaptation of The Woman Chaser, but it took me years to learn to appreciate the genius of Alec Baldwin after his disappointing turn as Junior in Miami Blues. (Fred Ward, on the other hand, is the platonic ideal of Hoke Mosley.) Caveat: I've never seen Monte Hellman's version of Cockfighter, but it's got an awesome cast and looks fantastic.