Ishmael Reed's electrifying first novel zooms readers off to a land they have never heard of, a crazy, ominous kingdom called HARRY SAM--a never-never land so weirdly out-of-whack that only reality itself could be stranger. Venturing into this risky realm of a thousand contradictions is the quixotic Bukka Doopeyduk, a crusading, liberal fellow who is eager--if not always ready--to face the dangers of life. And dangers abound. Jousting and colliding with a macabre carousel of cops and beatniks, Elks and Black Muslims, he suffers a series of cockeyed misfortunes--maddening, saddening, and wildly uproarious. The Free-Lance Pallbearers fires a volley of savage torpedoes at the world's absurdities. Its rollicking language and blasphemous humor hide a merciless message.