Book Review: A Feral Chorus

Reviewed by Toni Woodruff

 Road trips, wacky characters, and (maybe) enlightenment

A Feral Chorus is a humorous tale of one man who has never been wrong in his life.

Well, that’s what he thinks.

Guy Hastings is a law-school dropout and a mediocre car salesman, but soon he’ll go back to school. Soon he’ll fulfill all that grand potential he proves every time he opens his mouth.

But his wife Whitney doesn’t want to wait any longer, and she doesn’t think law school is the answer. For her, the answer is a trial separation. 

Guy can’t believe it. He doesn’t even think such a thing exists. But nonetheless, she’s gone.

And what falls in his lap? A chance to make big money. He must drive down to Florida and settle with a guy named Willis who owed his now-dead uncle money. If he returns the settled money to his aunt, he might just have a chance at winning Whitney back and having a few extra bucks to boot. He would show her that he had it covered all along.

But in a humor and hijinx-filled world, these trips never go quite as planned.

A Feral Chorus has enough funny images and memorable characters than you’ll be able to count. But the real star of the show here has got to be Percy Templeton, the eccentric Englishman who’s trying to make consignment deals with country stores to stock his poorly selling wine. This guy adds a flavor to the novel that you’ve likely never had before but will be damn sure glad you had it. He accompanies Guy on a re-envisioned quest after the whole money thing doesn’t go to plan, and the two make for a topsy-turvy pairing that’s bound to get some laughs. 

Amidst the chaos, we get to drive through the American South, encounter the underwater rainforests and meet the unforgettable locals. The atmosphere adds a great deal of intrigue to the spontaneous plot.

The primary issues I ran into relate to Guy Hastings, someone who is unafraid to go off on full-page asides just to prove how smart he is. Luckily, he is smart, and White never claims that he’s a good, misunderstood guy in all of this, but we do still have to read those asides and decide for ourself that, man, I think Whitney was right. After failing in Florida, he even uses some social media sleuthing skills to plan something creepy that might further distance your interest in him.

A Feral Chorus is a wild ride with exciting characters and plenty of laughs. While Guy Hastings might have you wanting to jump out of the car, Percy Templeton will pull you right back in.

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