Argyle Gargoyles

Ever meet someone you knew long ago, when you realized you didn't really like them, only to find now they're not so bad? Ever wonder how they got that way in the first place? Nobody has, that's why we have fiction. Argyle Gargoyles is a quirky story of male unbonding in the 1980's. Cliff is a bitter, reclusive young man with a self imposed life sentence as a college student. Sid is his unbalanced, less than responsible friend, at least for now. It starts with a comic book excerpt and ends with a straight blade razor lying on a bed. An American Revolutionary war indiscretion, some John Prine lyrics, a cockroach remedy, smoking pipes, a wedding, cow tipping, back to back house fires, an underground skin magazine, a fish worshipping religious sect, a snowbecue, a new sidewalk and a soon to be all black sixty eight Mustang are squeezed in the middle. In contrast to Cliff, Sid is likeable and happy to be friends with almost anybody. He and Cliff become temporary housemates when Sid burns down half of his house. He smokes in a dark closet believing blind people don't smoke because they can't see the smoke. Cliff starts out angry and insecure. He's both obsessed and afraid of making eye contact with strangers as they walk by. Reluctant to change, he nonetheless makes enormous strides towards near-normalcy thanks to his friendship with Sid. By the end, Sid makes enormous strides towards something completely different.