The Politics of Barbecue

This satirical, energetic debut novel of political corruption by former Memphis journalist Fontenay finds Memphis-based PR wonk Joe Miller assigned to a new client, Pete Pigg, the diminutive city mayor and owner of the Pigg Pen barbecue joint. The money-grubbing, ambitious, and often comical mayor wants Joe to help him establish the Barbecue Hall of Fame in Memphis, also recruiting Dawn Funderburke, a local actress who may be the next Bond girl, to help with the effort. As Dawn and Joe strike up a romance, the “Ghetto Blazer” is torching the town’s slums. Other colorful locals include Augustine Eldridge, an adult-film maker, and Backwater Barry, a homeless man armed with a crossbow who gives Joe some intriguing news. The corrupt mayor tangles with Eldridge who, as owner of the property intended for the Hall of Fame, demands an obscene amount of money for the site. As if this isn’t enough conflict, the cattle baron and restaurateur “Billy Boy” Bradwell co-opts the Memphis idea and decides to erect his own Hall of Fame in Kansas City. By turns gritty and funny, the plot also employs enough unexpected twists to engross the reader in Fontenay’s sendup of contemporary Southern politics and culture. (Sept.)