South of the Pumphouse Book Review

South of the Pumphouse was written by Primus front man, Les Claypool. It tells the tale of fishing, drugs, and murder all in El Sobrante, which is a town south of San Francisco that is home to , as the book describes, red necks, racists and tweekers alike. The main character Ed, however, despite growing up in El Sobrante has since childhood moved away to a far more socially progressive town; Burkley CA. When Ed’s brother, Earl, contacts him about going on a fishing trip, he is happy to oblige as he hasn’t seen his brother in years.

The book provides a lot of insight into effects of being someone who has to grow up around undesirable people , like racists and drug addicts, and how it is difficult to either get away from it all or not become one. People end up however they act because of their environment growing up and the people who are around them and influence them, so to somehow end up taking the good route after growing up around horrible people is rare but definitely happens. This raises the psychological question of nature and nurture as an influence on human character and behavior. 

I was pleasantly surprised with how good this book was and its worth a read. 

10 Years with Les Claypool: On Sailing the Seas of Cheese and Avoiding Dead Sharks