Slam - Hardcover

Shiner, Lewis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385266839 ISBN 13: 9780385266833

Publisher: Doubleday, 1990

Synopsis

Released from prison after serving a sentence for tax evasion, Dave finds a job as a caretaker for a luxurious beach house only to have his life transformed by his discovery of the joys of skateboarding and by the arrival of Terell, an old friend and prison escapee

About this title

Reviews

A bisexual, escaped convict who's a Phil Donahue fan, 23 cats and a heavy-metal groupie who almost strangled on her umbilical cord at birth are just a fraction of the vivid, extremely oddball characters populating Shiner's ( Deserted Cities of the Heart ) third madcap novel. The hero, however, is Dave, a 39-year-old ex-hippie just released from prison, where he'd been sent for not satisfying his IRS obligations. To satisfy the terms of his parole, Dave, now working as caretaker of a large beachhouse near Galveston, Tex., must follow to the letter the late owner's eccentric will. This means keeping her home exactly the same as it was when she died (not a picture frame can be moved) and making sure none of her felines escapes the premises. This difficult task takes on Sisyphean proportions when Dave is assailed by a leader of a UFO movement and an aging Mamie Van Doren look-alike, both trying to break the will. The only ways Dave can achieve peace of mind are by having sex with the aforementioned groupie, by visiting Fonthill, an estate where everything including the chairs and tables are made from concrete, and by delving into the Zen of skateboarding. No other writer, with the exception of Jerome Charyn, could have made a cogent world out of these disparate entities and a wild group of supporting players which includes cocaine dealers, a teenage runaway, a Christ-mongering probation officer and a lawyer who hates lawyers. An unqualified delight.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Realism, idealism, and fantasy are skillfully interwoven into a novel of personal adjustment and rebellion. Dave Stokes is a product of the 1960s who is trapped in a personal time warp. While his friends have compromised ideals for professions and families, Dave at 39 is newly released from prison after serving time for income tax evasion. Living on the fringes of society, associating with runaway teens, a down-and-out evangelist, a prison escapee, and other social discards, he finally makes peace with himself and his world, but not without straining credulity. Still, there is good to say about Slam. As an anti-hero, Dave is ethical and likable; the secondary theme of skateboarding is unique; and the tension derived from peripheral drug deals, arson, and other illicit acts is riveting. Slam will have strong appeal for a limited audience. --Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. at Carbondale Lib.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385266839
• ISBN 13: 9780385266833
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 233