Philo Fortune's Awesome Journey to His Comfort Zone - Hardcover

Thompson, Julian F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786800674 ISBN 13: 9780786800674

Publisher: Hyperion, 1995

Synopsis

Philo Fortune sets off, in his old red Squareback, on a cross-country survey of financial success stories, meets up with Thea and her dog, Diogenes, and drives headlong into an unexpected incident. By the author of A Band of Angels.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 8-10?Grow Christmas trees, write poetry, get a job with the post office. These are bits of advice Philo gets when, the summer before his senior year, he travels to middle America to find the secrets to personal success. He doesn't want to waste precious time in college learning something useless; instead, he wants to strike it rich, which to him means earning about half a million bucks a year. Along the way he meets up with Thea, a crunchy granola hitchhiker who despises anything capitalistic, and the Yawkeys, a family of redneck drug dealers living in their own backwoods comfort zone. When Big Ed Yawkey, the kingpin of the outfit, overhears Philo asking questions about the best way to make big money, he mistakes him for a federal drug enforcement agent and kidnaps him until the family can figure out how to dispose of him. Thompson's writing has a light, irreverent tone, but there is a serious side to the story that's trying hard to be heard, such as a romantic encounter between Philo and Thea that turns into a painful exchange of true confessions. In the end, though, the breezy tone and quick quips win out, and that dilutes the final standoff between Philo and the Yawkeys. Even when he is stripped naked and held hostage in an underground cell, readers will never quite believe that charming Philo is in much danger.?Randy Meyer, School Library Journal
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Gr. 8^-12. Although he's still a virgin at 17, Phi is definitely not a wuss. He has plans, beginning with a parent-approved drive across the country. With food packed by Mom and condoms stashed in his duffel, Phi hits the road. Conveniently, he encounters young, sexy Thea, an experienced traveler willing to share expenses. Anything seems possible--and eventually happens in a motel room (including an unanswered proclamation of love and ejaculation). When Phi realizes that Thea is a sexually abused runaway, he panics and abandons her, only to be rescued by her later, after he has been kidnapped by some dim-witted druggies. Fast paced and peppered with teenage slang and testosterone, this is an honest, humorous story about a young man, caught with his pants down, who discovers the possibilities of the man he might become. Classic laugh bait for teens. Karen Simonetti

About this edition

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0786800674
• ISBN 13: 9780786800674
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200