Smonk

Set in 1911 Alabama, Smonk follows E.O. Smonk, a violent dwarf who terrorizes the town of Old Texas while evading murder charges. The townspeople form a posse to track him down as he leaves destruction in his wake. A parallel narrative tracks fifteen-year-old Evavangeline, who travels across the countryside with deadly intentions of her own. The two storylines converge in Old Texas amid escalating chaos and bloodshed. Franklin's novel operates in a warped version of the American South, where disease, violence, and moral decay reign supreme. The raw prose and unflinching depiction of brutality place this work in conversation with both Southern Gothic tradition and classic Western revenge tales.

Readers describe Smonk as an ultra-violent, darkly comic Western that pushes boundaries of taste and convention. The book maintains a 3.8/5 rating on Goodreads from 2,300+ ratings. Readers praised: - The unique, grotesque characters and memorable dialogue - Franklin's imaginative world-building and vivid prose - The blend of horror and dark humor - The fast pace and unpredictable plot turns Common criticisms: - Gratuitous violence and sexual content that many found excessive - Difficulty following multiple plotlines - Characters lacking depth beyond their grotesque qualities - The ending felt rushed to some readers One reader called it "like McCarthy's Blood Meridian on acid," while another said it was "too focused on shock value." Several noted it's "not for the squeamish." Amazon: 4.1/5 from 180+ reviews LibraryThing: 3.7/5 from 90+ reviews BookBrowse: 3.5/5 from 40+ reviews The book appears to resonate most with readers who enjoy experimental fiction and extreme content.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy A band of scalp hunters cuts through the Mexican-American borderlands in 1850, leaving destruction and death in a story that matches Smonk's raw brutality and baroque violence.

The North Water by Ian McGuire A murderer signs on as ship's surgeon for an Arctic whaling expedition in 1859, creating a tale of survival and depravity that echoes Smonk's dark humor and gothic atmosphere.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt Two assassin brothers travel through Gold Rush-era Oregon and California on a mission that combines western violence with strange characters and black comedy.

The Hawkline Monster by Richard Brautigan Two gunslingers take a job at an isolated mansion in 1902 Oregon to kill a monster living in the ice caves below, leading to supernatural events and grotesque encounters.

True Grit by Charles Portis A fourteen-year-old girl hires a hard-drinking U.S. Marshal to track her father's killer through Indian Territory, presenting a violent western journey with eccentric characters and dark undertones.

🔹 Tom Franklin wrote Smonk while teaching at Sewanee, drawing inspiration from his childhood in rural Alabama and the violent tales his grandfather used to tell him. 🔹 The novel's peculiar title character, E.O. Smonk, was partially inspired by legendary Wild West figures and local Southern folklore about violent men who terrorized small towns. 🔹 The book's setting of Old Texas, Alabama is a fictional town, but Franklin based it on real Alabama settlements that disappeared in the early 20th century. 🔹 The author spent six years writing and revising Smonk, significantly longer than his other novels, due to the complexity of interweaving multiple narrative threads and historical details. 🔹 While the novel is set in 1911, Franklin incorporated elements of both Western and Southern Gothic genres, creating what critics called a "Southern Western" - a unique hybrid that defied traditional categorization.