The King Of Good Intentions Part Three

The oft-used adjectives--"rollicking," "uproarious," "zany," etc.--don't half do justice to the world John Andrew Fredrick has created in his The King of Good Intentions trilogy. In this, the final volume of the series, the author's madcap, kaleidoscopic, dazzling take on love (and love triangles) and life and an up-and-coming indie rock band called The Weird Sisters in 90's Los Angeles comes full circle as the story of principal bandmates and paramours John and Jenny (plus the mysterious Katie who comes between them) reaches its thrilling conclusion: an ending that, as you'll find, bears out the T.S. Eliot line "in my end is my beginning." Lyrical, heartbreaking, discursive/digressive, startlingly as poetic as it is laugh aloud funny, part three of The King is sure to draw favorable comparisons to the Russian-American master who loved tennis and chess and to play elaborate games with his readers; as well as to a certain bandanna-sporting/tennis-loving genius-writer we lost so tragically some time ago now. As The Los Angeles Review of Books has observed about Fredrick's work: "Come to him, you omnivorous readers with strong opinions. Follow him from A to B, and you'll laugh, furrow your brow, and maybe raise an objection or two. It's not a dangerous trip, but blink and you'll surely miss something." Here, John Andrew Fredrick's wickedly hysterical and outrageously poetic 90's indie rock trilogy crescendos like The Who, live circa 1969, with Pete Townshend windmilling mad Keith Moon and The Ox to thump one more thundering, conclusive, triumphant note (as Daltrey tilts back his majestic, crazy mane and wails away). As The Weird Sisters return from their first What-Could-Go-Wrong (e.g. everything!) National Tour, bandmates/lovers John and Jenny face (or possibly escape from) their iffy futures together or apart as a gorgeous triple-threat (writer, director, model), the brilliant and mysterious Katie, upends the romantic/artistic balance that's been precarious-at-best throughout parts one and two. Just how "L.A." is part three? (Which, by the by, can be read as a stand-alone novel.) Like, totally. Like, uncannily so; unbelievably so. The unmitigated vanity, the mythopoeic beauty, the megalomania and heartbreak, the exquisite talent and ludicrous hubris--it's all here in Fredrick's wonderful, tart-sweet, final fictional installment--one that's guaranteed to make the reader LOL (horrid phrase, that) at least seven-and-a-half times or more. "There's a manic energy to Fredrick's thought process. It stands out next to the smoothness of his voice, his unruffled vocal delivery. Ask a question and he offers layers of allusions and caveats, jokes and asides. Come to him, you omnivorous readers with strong opinions... and you'll laugh, and furrow your brow, and maybe even raise an objection."--Los Angeles Review of Books "The King of Good Intentions II is a fresh novel about the travails [of a band] on LA's indie rock fringe... in the maximalist style and elevated diction Alexander Theroux's books exemplify. We will welcome the conclusion to The Weird Sisters' spells."--John L. Murphy, Slugger O'Toole "With four novels and an ebullient book on Wes Anderson, he is also an accomplished painter... and has somehow found time to make umpteen albums of indie pop about love and loss--with some of the most beautiful songs of 2023."--popmatters.com