How the Hula Girl Sings is a small story of grand archetypes, written in a pulp-fiction style that recalls Gaddis, Selby, Jim Thompson, Night of the Hunter and, sometimes, Nick Cave. The ornately curlicued themes of Love, Hate, Good, Evil, Sin, and Redemption wend their way through it like Sailor Jerry flash art, and not coincidentally. The title refers to a character's fading portrait on his forearm, and every character and setting wistfully recalls an apocryphal time of diners, pompadours, drive-in theaters, and jailhouse tattoos.

Luce Lemay, the novel's protagonist, has just been released from prison after serving time for a tragic accident in which he killed a baby. Heading back to his hometown and not expecting much of anything, he winds up in a SRO for ex-cons run by an eccentric-in-a-Baby-Jane-sorta-way old lady. His best friend from the inside, Junior, lives next to him. They both get jobs at the local gas station. Junior is terrified by something he can't explain. Luce, on the other hand, is tormented by something far more earthly: Charlene, the diner waitress. Rather than dip farther into the plot, I'll just say that things don't turn out very well for anyone in the end.

True to the oeuvre that Meno admires, the prose is very pulp-y, with short sentences, a metric ton of hardboiled similes, and references to things like "her most soft, most sighing parts." And also there are cars. The style of Hula Girl might not appeal to some, though I enjoyed the simulacra, and I especially liked the Blue Velvet-style timelessness of it all. But the aspect I found most disappointing is Meno's decision to periodically interrupt this timelessness with objects or scenarios that clearly place the novel in contemporary time. How is a world full of girls named Eunice who smoke Viceroy cigarettes supposed to accomodate a 1987 Monte Carlo?

But even though Hula Girl falters at points, Meno's a gifted storyteller, and he has an earnest devotion to his characters. Those who really enjoyed Hairstyles should definitely pick up this one, as it's evidence of the depth he possesses as a writer.

You can read an excerpt of How the Hula Girl Sings here.