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Three Dashes Bitters Paperback – July 13, 2018

by Jack Simmons (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 7 ratings
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When Tim Schmidt returns to New Orleans to attend his sister’s debutante ball, he finds that nothing has changed during his three-year hiatus in the orderly sanctuary of Boston.

He is still in love with Jane, a hard-drinking iconoclast, too well bred to join the ranks of the Generation X slackers, yet unable to accept the standards of her high society upbringing. Happily, it seems Jane might still harbor feelings for him.

But over drinks at The Columns Hotel, things get messy, and Tim’s grand return to the city of his birth soon unravels—the very sort of thing that inspired Tim to leave NOLA in the first place.

With only twenty-four hours to figure out what to do (which has never been Tim’s forte), this former philosophy student finds unsolicited advice from members of a new leisure class. There is Milton, Tim’s college roommate turned Marxist revolutionary, a Falstaffian gent bent on overthrowing the government. Two young Arizona “brothers from another mother.” A disillusioned German exchange student who has abandoned the study of physics for the French Quarter social scene. And an Italian fellow who is a self-proclaimed master in the art of amore.

Picking up where Walker Percy (The Moviegoer) and John Kennedy Toole (A Confederacy of Dunces) left off, this wild romp presents New Orleans as an eternal city, whose characters exceed the vicissitudes of fortune, functioning instead as a universal canvas upon which individuals must struggle to carve out their existence. This is not the NOLA of Hurricane Katrina, political corruption, crime, tourism, or the home of jazz. Rather, Simmons adds to the literary œuvre of this Southern city, and Three Dashes Bitters captures a New Orleans defined only in the individuals we encounter—not the easy stereotypes that make individuality impossible.

“Jack Simmons’ wild romantic comedy, Three Dashes Bitters, showcases a cast of colorful characters spouting cheeky dialogue amid the alcohol-numbed drift and sustained adolescence of graduate students headed nowhere near a degree. Set against the backdrop of affluent uptowners who belong to the New Orleans Country Club and are forever off to another debutante ball, this kinetic story recalls the bacchanal of On the Road, if staged as a twisting Grand Prix over the Big Easy’s potholed streets. Simmons’ novel features hard drinking and fuzzy thinking and a destination as dizzy as it is pleasing.”

—Fredrick Barton, author of In the Wake of the Flagship and The El Cholo Feeling Passes

Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    July 13, 2018
  4. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.76 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1949512002
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1949512007
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ SwanHorse Press (July 13, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949512002
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949512007
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.76 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
7 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Michael McMurray
5.0 out of 5 stars ” A bold statement to be sure but the author successfully captures the mood and dynamics of the Big Easy from debutante balls to French Quarter bars and parties
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
Accurately captures the feel of Uptown New Orleans pre Katrina. “3 Dashes Bitter” is a New Orleans romantic comedy in the same vein as “A Confederacy of Dunces.” A bold statement to be sure but the author successfully captures the mood and dynamics of the Big Easy from debutante balls to French Quarter bars and parties. The main character Tim returns to New Orleans (after moving up North) and is instantly entangled in a major dilemma involving his ex-girlfriend Jane who he still has feelings for. Tim is more than a bit passive and is easily overshadowed by his fast talking and fast thinking friend Milton, a larger than life character cut from the same cloth as Ignatius J. Reilly. There are several LOL moments as Tim haplessly falls under the spell of Milton’s grandiose schemes all under the pretense of solving Tim’s problems. If there’s any complaint it’s that the many escapades and misadventures are squeezed into too short a time span even though time itself seems to move at its own pace in New Orleans. If you like witty dialogue with a philosophical bent and quirky New Orleans characters you’ll definitely enjoy this book.
One person found this helpful
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Sophia Alexander
4.0 out of 5 stars unexpected story line reminded me of Catcher in the Rye
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2020
This book kept me reading all night. I enjoyed the author's wry humor, and the situations keep you wanting to see what happens as the likeable protagonist keeps screwing up. His best friend is worse even than him, but they both have admirable qualities--even inspirational ones, and you're charmed and shaking your head and hooked through to the end. Between the ridiculous situations are sprinkled little truths and some philosophical food for thought. A fun read.
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georgia
1.0 out of 5 stars The protagonist was drinking throughout the whole book, I ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2017
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The protagonist was drinking throughout the whole book, I do not think the writer was keeping track of how much he was making him drink!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2018
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book.

The main character, Tim, is easy to identify with and his conversations with Milton are, often, hilarious. As funny as the conversations are, the doom with which Tim follows one of Milton’s convoluted plans is just as funny.

You could see yourself going along with the crazy plan, just to see how it turned out.

Sometimes a book, which has quite a bit of philosophical dialogue, can be a slow read for me, but this was such an easy read, the book was at an end.

I look forward to more from this author.
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Amazin Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book club pick!
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2017
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A quick read. Witty and fun!
One person found this helpful
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Heidi Oliveira
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2017
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EXCELLENT BOOK
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved Three Dashes Bitters. Very funny.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2024
Verified Purchase
I loved this book. I read it while on holiday. Interestingly the book takes places over a few days, so it felt like I was reading it in real time. It is very laugh-out-loud funny at times, and it was interesting to be in Tim Schmidt's head for those few days and also to discover New Orleans, with which I was not familiar. I also love the little recipes included, so you could think of it as a cocktail book as well. I highly recommend Three Dashes Bitters.
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