FRIDAY'S FORGOTTEN BOOK (A DAY LATE) - HONKY IN THE WOODPILE

 Honky in the Woodpile by John Brunner (1971)

John Brunner was best-known for his science fiction, although he was also adept at mystery, fantasy, horror, thriller, poetry, and mainstream genres.  In the late Sixties/early Seventies, he seemed to have a good thing going with his Max Curfew series of spy-guy thrillers, but, as often happened during his career, the oppotunity fizzled.  Brunner could be notoriously difficult to work with, but much of the blame could be set squarely on his publishers.  A topical book that was ensured to be a best-seller was delayed and delayed until its time had past.  A major science fiction novel was butchered (and basically rewritten without permission) by an editor, to the point that it was unreadable.  His mainstream historical novel, The Great Steamboat Race, lost the support of its publisher and flopped.  And Max Curfew?  After three successful outings, Brunner's editor insisted on a certain plot for the fourth book -- a plot that happened to be basically that of the second book in the series,  Brunner refused to write the fourth book and the series was dropped.

So who was Max Curfew?  He was a Black man born in Jamaica who was bitterly affected by racial inequalities.  Full of rage and anger, he found himself in Russia, employed by the Soviets to do undercover work in African and other countries of "color" -- work that often involved fomenting rebellion.  But Curfew soon found that the Russians were just as prejudiced against his kind as others were.  Her then went to work for British intelligence, where he found many of the same attitudes in an England where being a Black, Paki, or Westie was a detriment.  Now older, wiser, and just as bitter and filled with rage, Max is keeping a low profile.  Until...

"It started with stopping a small gang of skinheads from beating a black man, who happened to be the head of a West Indies country in exile.  This leads to Max Curfew beings asked to go there in pursuit to a traitor to their liberation movement."

It's a dangerous assignment, made more dangerous a deadly government force and by an undercover CIA agent who knows Max's identity and will do anything to stop him.  But Max is tough and capable.  He knows how to survive, how to fight, and how to kill.   And Max's rage at the inequlities and the oppression he sees on the small island fuels his determination.  Max Curfew is a character of his time, but unlike the rage-filled characters of the American Black exploitation and street novels of, say, Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines. 

International politics mixes with Banana Republic politics and native superstitions and religion to make an interesting book, although some readers have been put off by the intensity of Max Curfew's rage.  But this is a book -- like its character -- of its time, and it's a good one.

Brunner was a pssionate author and many of his works are moored in his liberal beliefs.  He started with typical space opera, publishing his first novel at 17.  A prolific author, much of his early work disguises deeper themes.  He experimented frequently -- one novel  follows a move-by-move recreation of a famous chess game; his most famous novel, The Sheep Look Up, channels John Dos Passos; in another, an advanced society meets its final doom because of bad economic choices.  Brunner had a tricky relationship with proponents of Britain's "New Age" science fiction, but I would argue that he was much closer to their ideals than he was given credit for.

John Brunner was a sometimes great, and often very, very good author who has unfairly sunk from the public recognition he deserves.