Wild at Heart
Here's a book: Wild at Heart.
Yes, it's the book on which David Lynch based his film.
Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern in Wild at Heart, the film, as Sailor and Lula, respectively.
The book is much more than the film; they complement each other. I've read half of the book; it's a very quick read. The language is swift, simple, without darlings. Although, I must confess, there's so much heat from the book in the form of attraction, humour, The Inevitable (à la God)...it's great, so far.
Here are some quotes from the book, and may people buy shitloads of books off Barry Gifford, the wonderful author, because he deserves all the best.
The world is really wild at heart and weird on top, Lula thought. Anyway, Sailor was out now and he was still the best kisser she’d ever known, and what Mrs. Marietta Pace Fortune didn’t find out about wasn’t about to hurt her, was it?
***
“My daddy was livin’ with his mama when he died,” said Sailor.
“Did you know that?” Lula shook her head.
“I surely did not,” she said.
“What were the circumstances?”
“He was broke, as usual,” Sailor said. “My mama was already dead by then from the lung cancer.”
“What brand did she smoke?” asked Lula.
“Camels. Same as me.”
***
“I’d stand by you, Sailor,” Lula said. “If you were an embezzler.”
“Hell, peanut,” Sailor said, “you stuck with me after I’d planted Bob Ray Lemon. A man can’t ask for more than that.”
Lula pulled Sailor over to her and kissed him soft on the mouth.
“You move me, Sailor, you really do,” she said. “You mark me the deepest.”
Sailor pulled down the sheet, exposing Lula’s breasts.
“You’re perfect for me, too,” he said.
***
“Sailor?”
“Honey?”
“Ever imagine what it'd be like to get eaten alive by a wild beast?”
“Mean a tiger?”
“Yeah. Sometimes I think it'd be the biggest thrill?”
Sailor laughed. “It better be, darlin', 'cause it'd be the last.”
“Ripped apart by a gorilla, maybe,” said Lula.
“How about bein' squeezed to death by a python?”
Lula shook her head. “I don't think so. That might be way too slow? And you'd feel your ribs crackin' and insides oozin' out. I'd rather get grabbed sudden and pulled apart quick by a real powerful animal.”
“Lula, sometimes I gotta admit you come up with some weird thoughts.”
“Anythin' interestin' in the world come out of somebody's weird thoughts, Sailor. Couldn't have been no simple soul dreamed up voodoo, for an instance.”
“Voodoo?”
“Sure. How else you explain stickin' pins in dolls to make a person squirm or have a heart attack? Or cookin' someone's fingernail clippin's to make 'em vomit till they ain't got nothin' left inside and drop dead. You tell me, Sailor, who could come up with shit like that ain't super weird?”
“You got me, peanut.”
“You certain?”
“I ain't never met anyone come close to you, sugar.”
Lula rolled over on top of Sailor.
“Take a bite of Lula,” she said.