Here we are – 7 days left of our Past Daily Spring Fundraiser and we’re pushing books. Well, we’re pushing my book – yes, the one I wrote in the late 1990s and has been long out of print. There’s not a lot left – that was all the Publisher had when he went bankrupt. But it was a well-received first novel – Publishers Weekly liked it – Amazon gave an average 4.8 stars (out of 5) – reviews were good. But when you go out of business, you go out of business and life goes on.
Here’s a review:
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
From within a life-threatening coma, a middle-aged man delves into the mystery of what he has become, returning mentally to the California of the 1960s and ’70s, in this appealing debut novel. Just after his first big break as a pianist, Nelson Rivers is hit by an L.A. bus and hospitalized. Trapped inside an unresponsive body, he is intermittently aware of loved ones around him and their attempts to get through to him. Even his dead friend Buzz appears, albeit not corporeally. Nelson’s visitors play his favorite music or try to make conversation as Nelson drifts back in time to 1964, to the awkward adolescence in which he first meets Buzz and Burgie in L.A. By 1968, Burgie is driving a Volkswagen van, and the boysAalong with female friends Jeannie, Stoika and Leslie find themselves in psychedelic San Francisco. Nelson’s mind tracks forward through romantic misadventures and other struggles. The group scatters and sporadically reunites over the years, all the while retaining an unspoken bond. Now they are gathered again as Nelson’s wife, Audrey, faces the prospect of turning off her husband’s life support. Skene explores themes of love and friendship, and unravels the tangled thread of personal history as he perceptively captures the innocence of even the wildest of times past. The triumphs and tribulations shared by these affectingly real characters, traced through the decades in an engaging, colorful narrative, provide moments of poignancy and insight in this warm-hearted first novel. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.Review
Skene has woven an engaging narrative that provides moments of poignancy and insight in this appealing debut novel. — Publishers Weekly June 28, 1999
Here’s more reviews:
5.0 out of 5 starsTotally – Totally a page-turner
By A Customer on August 3, 1999
Format: Hardcover
I read this book from cover to cover in a little over two days. I was completely and totally engrossed by it. Skene has captured all the flavor of the period and all the nuances of the people involved. This is a book with real heart and soul in it. I’m looking forward to his next one! I loved it!!5.0 out of 5 starsA beautiful book.
By A Customer on July 15, 1999
Format: Hardcover
Gordon Skene has written a beautiful book, full of fascinating, true-to-life characters, wry humor and evocative descriptions of Los Angeles and San Francisco, especially the sections that take place in the 1960’s. I was enthralled from beginning to end, and was left feeling hungry for more. Overall, it’s a page-turner, a good fun read that I’m passing on to friends.5.0 out of 5 starsThe Best look at life in L.A. in the 60’s!
By A Customer on May 8, 1999
Format: Hardcover
A completely engrossing book that takes place in Los Angeles (and later San Francisco) in the late 1960’s and 1970’s – it’s a completely realistic look at life in L.A. at the time and has the extra added bonus of some three- dimensional characters that reminded me of at least a dozen people I knew. It was a total page-turner. I absolutely recommend it!4.0 out of 5 starsA completely wonderful look at Los Angeles in the ’60’s
By A Customer on June 2, 1999
Format: Hardcover
This was what Los Angeles must’ve been like in the 1960’s. Having grown up on the east coast, I heard about L.A. and all the stories from friends who spent time there – this is as close to those stories as it comes. The book breathes and feels and tastes the period and is wonderfully well written. It’s the best I’ve read this year!
So there you go – Good reviews, an out-of-print book and a great Premium when you chip in $25.00 to help Past Daily during the last 7 days of our Fundraiser – we do this a couple times a year to raise money to keep the website going and keep the archive busy preserving and restoring thousands of hours of historic news, broadcasts, interviews, Music and Pop Culture. A lot of you are big fans of life on the West Coast during the 1960s – this should take you back there for a visit.
So please, click on the link in the Box below and make your Tax Deductible Contribution and get a free copy of my first book as a thank-you for your donation. It’s only $25.00 – so get yours today before they go – ’cause when they’re gone – they’re gone! (unless somebody gets the paperback rights).
