5 Short Stories featuring Hap and Leonard in their earlier years. Like everything Lansdale writes, I highly recommend. Last part of book contains recipes of food that appeared during the stories, these recipes collected by Kasey Lansdale also feature short humorous remarks by Joe R. Lansdale. ( )

Hap and Leonard lite...

A quick read and an interesting looking into the teen and early twenties years of (mostly) Hap and (somewhat less) Leonard. Don't come in looking for all of the crazy shenanigans these two normally get up to. This is more a look at some of the moral codes Hap was developing at the time, and it was a good excuse to name-check some of the characters referenced in earlier H&L adventures (such as, for example, Leonard's uncle).

While there's a few men (and one woman) that takes a beating in these stories—and Hap and Leonard get their fair share—some of the stories, such as the opener and the closer, are downright philosophical.

A different aspect and a rare insight into two of my favourite characters. ( )

“...a large pot of minestrone soup, and at the bottom of the pot two rats, dead of poison it was surmised.” Well, that explains the cover!

First 62 pages - no Leonard?!?!? Last 32 pages, recipes not written by the author!?!? So, 93 pages of Hap and Leonard, with 13 of those having been previously published. SO, 80 pages of H&L for $15.95...

Ok, now that I've gotten that out of my way... I still really liked those 80 pages of new Hap and Leonard, and I did enjoy re-reading the 13! Joe R. is a favorite of mine, I love these characters, and I really love their wise-cracking dialogue! I'd probably give those 93 pages 5 stars, but the book, the way that it is packaged and sold, is not getting that. Even $10 would seem high for 80 new pages. And those recipes are just filler, that add nothing to round out the characters or add to their stories. All-in-all, this book feels like a cash grab and/or a commericial way to tie in to the t.v. show. For someone like me, a pretty big H&L fan, this purchase was a bummer.

“What’s that them frogs in France say. Bone up a tit.”

“Blood sheds easier than it cleans,...” ( )

Lansdale does. He manages to make the grim, crude, and violent into off-kilter heart-warming tales populated by, in Hap & Leonard’s case, heroes you cant help but root for. If you’ve read the numerous Hap & Leonard novels this collection of five short stories from their teenage years plus Hap’s favorite recipes (yep recipes) is a perfect addition. If you only know them through the excellent TV show, or have never tried their adventures before, this collection is a great point at which to discover who they are. ( )

Hap and Leonard are among my favorite fictional characters and I'm always excited to be reunited with them. Of Mice and Minestrone is fun and enlightening, especially if you're like me and wanted to know a bit more of Hap and Leonard's history.

The first few stories are from Hap's point of view and they added to my perspective of him. It seems that he was born with his sense of right and wrong. His parents are barely mentioned but they must have had a big impact on his life, because by his teen years he had a clear sense of what was justice and what wasn't. I enjoyed watching him put his beliefs into action, even when the end result wasn't what he expected.

The high points for me in this collection were two-fold-the first being THE SABINE WAS HIGH. We join with Hap as he picks up Leonard, fresh back from combat in Vietnam. I loved this story so much, because at its heart is a friendship between two people that shouldn't even be speaking to each other at that time in history, never mind being best friends. With Hap being a Vietnam War protester, and having gone to prison for his beliefs, everything we've ever been told about Texas, the South in general, about war protesters and war veterans, between straights and gays, all of it goes out the window. There is a true love there, transcending all the labels and ugly things, and that love is beautiful.

SPARRING PARTNER was the other standout tale for me. Both Hap and Leonard had experience boxing early on-just working out, and with Hap learning some martial arts moves. Here, though, the outside world learns a lot about the skills both of them possess. Filled with the humor and dialog that I have grown to love over the years, this story once again brought home Hap and Leonard's unique sense of justice.

There are 6 stories here, but the last one features Kasey Lansdale and some recipes for the foods eaten during the various tales, so it's not a narrative, exactly. But even the recipes are funny, "beat it like you're running from the police", (not an exact quote as I'm not allowed to quote directly from the book with an ARC), but you get the idea. It's not everyone that can make recipes funny.

I originally rated this 4 stars, but thinking about it overnight-I decided to change it to 5. I didn't think about the corona virus at all when reading this, and I read it over two days, but could easily have done it in one. I wanted to savor the experience. I think you should too! The only caveat to that would be that I recommend you reading the Hap and Leonard series in order. If you do, these tales will be that much more meaningful-providing insights into the lifelong friendship of Hap and Leonard.

My highest recommendation!

Available May 28th, 2020, but you can pre-order here: https://amzn.to/2LpfITj

*Thank you to Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it! ( )