Pelikan

By David Lozell Martin

Charlie Curtis is sent by his dying father to New Orleans to see his father's half-brother, James Joseph Pelikan. He wants Charlie to bring Pelikan to see him before he dies. Charlie doesn't want to go because he has a grudge against his uncle who stole the affections of a woman Charlie was interested in. But he goes anyway.
Pelikan grew up in distressed and deprived circumstances that have colored and affected his whole life. Living a marginal existence, involved with hookers and street people and addicted to drugs, cruel and manipulative, Pelikan is not your average guy. He has gotten involved with a group of nuns who are chasing down a lost relic, a gold crown of thorns, that was stolen from their convent by the Nazis and ended up in a private collection in New Orleans. And Pelikan has a plan to get the relic back and he wants Charlie's help.
Charlie, holding on to his grudge, is not inclined to forgive or forget and certainly doesn't want to help. But he soon finds himself accused of murder, under very strange circumstances that involve a nude woman with a fish hook adorning her mouth, and needing his uncle's contacts and influence to get out of jail. Charlie falls in with his uncle and spends a lot of time getting drunk and sleeping it off. He agrees to help Pelikan out after running afoul of the weirdo that used to have the relic but who is also trying to get his hands on it again as it's ownership is under dispute and it is locked up by the courts. The nuns, instead of waiting for the courts to settle the case, are determined to snatch the thing as they know that the weirdo is planning to steal it and they need to beat him to it. And it turns out the best time to do so is during a raging hurricane and so that's what they do.

The novel is populated with strange and repulsive New Orleans characters, including Pelikan and his cronies. New Orleans comes off as a very nasty place full of very nasty people, including the tourists who get drunk and vomit in the streets. Supposedly the novel is meant to be humorous -- I didn't find it so. Still, it is full of odd characters and has an interesting plot, so even though it has a high "yuck" quotient, it made for pretty good reading. But not a funny as it was touted to be, mainly just gross. Is gross considered funny nowadays? I don't know. If you can swallow the grossness, the worst part of which to me was a hooker describing giving blow jobs which made me want to vomit like the drunks in the streets of New Orleans, it's a pretty good story.

For another review see The New York Times.