About the Author:
Matt Weber is a husband and father who resides just north of Birmingham, Alabama. He is editor-in-chief of Extreme How-To, a home-improvement magazine for handymen and DIY'ers, which he has managed since 2003 (www.extremehowto.com). He is vice-president of the National Association of Home & Workshop Writers (NAHWW), and plays bass guitar in the punk-rock band SKEPTIC? The Bull is his first novel.
Review:
Nowadays politicians seem to work more for their own interests than those of the voters. Taxes climb, special interests bribe, small businesses die and the American dream that once glittered has gone dim. Government is now threatening our rights to smoke, eat certain foods and drink sugary sodas.
Well, maybe not everyone wants to live to see 100, especially if it means giving up the very foods, luxuries and liberties that make life worth living. That's the thesis of Matthew Weber's new novel, "The Bull," the story of a small Alabama city held hostage by a mayor and his system of "Good Old Boy" politics. That man's name is [Davenport] Cornelius, a former minister on a power trip who sells out his trusting citizens to rake in money for himself and his comrades. Frank Standish, owner of the town's favorite barbecue joint, "The Bull," has had enough. With the help of his family, patrons and the local radio DJ, he launches a grassroots campaign to end Cornelius's reign and shatter the learned helplessness paralyzing the town.
The tension between the proud, independent citizens and the dominating fat cats is established from the first sentence of the novel: "One thing about people from the South ... they do not like being told what to do." Fast-moving and provocative, "The Bull" also stands as a relevant critique of the times, an era when nanny-state politics are chipping away at the individual's pursuit of happiness. A living monument to modern political contamination, Cornelius is an infuriating villain. As the protagonist, Standish is also well developed as a local racing legend dedicated to humbly serving the very people who used to idolize him.
At its heart, however, Weber's book is about bullying. "The Bull" illustrates the empowerment of standing up for oneself and one's people against whatever or whomever is pushing them around. Sooner or later the bully has to face the music. (-W. Buchheit, "Boiling Springs Sentry" South Carolina)
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