Full Rising Mooner
The Most Inappropriate Man in the World
My name is Mooner Johnson, and I’m a crazy man. I’m not lock-away-to-the-loony-bin-and-throw-away-the-keys crazy—not the dangerous to society sort of crazy. I’m the variety of crazy that makes for ten ex-wives and great campfire stories.
In Full Rising Mooner, one of the incidents Butcher Einstein Johnson relates is how he got the nickname “Mooner” by his first-grade classmates on the first day of school, and how he’s held onto this identity well into adulthood. Thoroughly open about his attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Mooner writes and rants in first person about his life as a compost entrepreneur from Austin, Texas. Using strong language, he constantly lambastes the two things he dislikes most: Republicans and Baptists.
But Mooner’s ADHD is not his only problem. The plot of Don Legacy’s Full Rising Mooner unfolds as the severed arm of one of Mooner’s foes is found at his place of business, and he becomes the main suspect in the man’s murder. Because he keeps a journal for his therapist, who happens to be ex-wife number one, Mooner jots down entries on “Postie Notes” throughout the book, even when he’s tossed into the local mental hospital.
With the assistance of his mysterious and mystic lifelong friend Streaker Jones, his potion-plying Gram (grandmother), and his current girlfriend, a news reporter named Sunny, Mooner tries to determine whether he really did commit the crime.
Legacy has created a likable if unusually quirky main character whose memorable antics will remain with readers long after they’ve finished the book. The deftly woven in backstories are especially enjoyable to read and ruminate on; a good example is the enduring friendship between Mooner and Streaker. Also intriguing is the way the author nonchalantly adds nuggets of information incrementally throughout the story; the result is a continual fleshing out of previously presented information.
The character, manner, and thoughts of Mooner Johnson are an acquired taste, however, and some readers may fail to see the humor in the book’s very adult language, situations, and potentially offensive subject matter. For example, Mooner drops his trousers to emphasize political statements and uses the f-word as easily as he breathes. That said, the situations he finds himself in are oftentimes hilarious and absurd to the extreme. Readers will especially enjoy the supporting cast of characters. Full Rising Mooner is for readers who have a high threshold for ribald humor and raw language.
Don Legacy is the retired president of a compost manufacturing and erosion control business in Austin, Texas. He has characterized Mooner as “my ego altered.”
Reviewed by
Robin Edmunds
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
