Puff: A Novel - Softcover

Flaherty, Bob

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060751525 ISBN 13: 9780060751524

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2005

Synopsis

Meet John Gullivan, age thirteen, obsessed with the moles that dot most of his body. Meet his brother Gully, who can't stop laughing at them. Now meet the brothers ten years later, in the middle of the most ferocious blizzard anyone can remember. Set in an Irish working-class suburb of Boston in the 1960s and 1970s, Puff centers on a quest as the soon-to-be-orphaned brothers, posing as rescue personnel, attempt to steer their dilapidated van through insurmountable snow, all to score a bag of pot.

Trapped in their own ruse and forced to act the part of the saviors they are pretending to be, the brothers run into an endless stream of foes and obstacles: the cops, their childhood priest, a knife-wielding maniac, and the ill all stand in the way of their elusive high. A raucous caper, Puff is as hilarious as it is heartfelt and will resonate with old and young alike.

About this title

About the Author

Bob Flaherty was born and raised in Boston and its surrounding towns and now lives in Western Massacusetts with his wife Annemarie, with whom he operates a birthday party business. They have 3 sons. Bob has, at various times, been an actor, a director, a cartoonist, a sportscaster, a talk show host, a tour guide, a storyteller, a disabled bus driver, a master of ceremonies, a hanger of gutters, a singer of national anthems and a baseball coach.

From the Back Cover

Meet John Gullivan, age thirteen, obsessed with the moles that dot most of his body. Meet his brother Gully, who can't stop laughing at them. Now meet the brothers ten years later, in the middle of the most ferocious blizzard anyone can remember. Set in an Irish working-class suburb of Boston in the 1960s and 1970s, Puff centers on a quest as the soon-to-be-orphaned brothers, posing as rescue personnel, attempt to steer their dilapidated van through insurmountable snow, all to score a bag of pot.

Trapped in their own ruse and forced to act the part of the saviors they are pretending to be, the brothers run into an endless stream of foes and obstacles: the cops, their childhood priest, a knife-wielding maniac, and the ill all stand in the way of their elusive high. A raucous caper, Puff is as hilarious as it is heartfelt and will resonate with old and young alike.

Reviews

In this shaggy-dog '70s coming-of-age tale, two 20-something brothers set out across suburban Boston after a massive snow storm in a valiant attempt to score an "exceedingly fine ounce of Dominican Sin." Despite city orders to stay off the roads, John and Gully Gullivan suit up in fake Red Cross outfits, slap a Red Cross sign on their van and head off. But the hapless duo are soon railroaded into playing Good Samaritan, helping old ladies, delivering insulin and shepherding their fearsome childhood priest on his rounds. Their madcap adventures have a somber edge because their mother is in the hospital in the last stages of cancer; their father died in a freak accident years ago. A series of flashbacks chronicle the soon-to-be-orphans' Irish Catholic childhood, including their taunting of mustached Dally next door, who reappears as a sexy, self-assured college girl and joins them on their snow-day jaunt. The jittery, episodic narrative may throw some readers, and the humor can be haphazard and hyperbolic, but Flaherty's loving rendition of Boston suburbia in the '60s and '70s, complete with homages to comic books, gas-station pastries, Cream and old elementary schools, will charm the Slackers set.
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The Gullivan brothers, John and Gully, are not really bad guys, but they aren't the type you can rely on in an emergency. As kids growing up in a working-class suburb of Boston, they demonstrated a remarkable immaturity (even for their age), an absence of any work ethic, and a knack for getting into trouble. Now as young men in their twenties, they haven't changed. It is the 1970s, and a massive blizzard has disabled Boston, leaving the Gullivans the only ones brave (dumb?) enough to ride around in a dilapidated van. Their quest? To score a bag of pot from a buddy. To do this, they disguise themselves as Red Cross volunteers, placing a big, red X on the side of their van. Problem is, their neighbors believe them, and repeatedly call on the Gullivans for help. Recognizing responsibility, the brothers instinctively run the other way. Only when faced with the death of their long-suffering mother to cancer does maturing become an issue for them. So will they rise to the occasion? Or will they carry on the Gullivan way? Jerry Eberle
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060751525
• ISBN 13: 9780060751524
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288