Russ Lippitt

Ssh, I don't tell many people this, but I really enjoyed reading Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman when I read it in my 20s. Well, one of the things I liked most about it was the literary quotes that formed the headings of each chapter. Well, here is a tougher, grittier novel that uses the same heading feature and can actually add to my street cred for having read. In the spirit of “The Outsiders” and Jack Kerouac's “On the Road”, this book focuses on a tight bunch ne'er-do-wells show more and their travails and triumphs. This male fantasy writ large has an interesting angle to me in that along with a surprise deux ex machina that is a Patty Hearst relic, this book anachronistically mixes to my eye today's suburban punks and 50s JD elements. Maybe this is because of the author's affinity for the neo-rockabilly scene. In my best Rod Serling voice, let me say “submitted for your approval” “greasers” with “pompadours” and “skinheads” with swichblades that “rumble” while “Sick Boy” crosses the Wal-Mart lot wishing he had a “gin and tonic”. My guess is the author is taking cues from the Social Distortion song, but I hear GBH in my head. Leather jackets blur the distinctions between the eras. I'll have a gin and tonic myself and raise it high in author Russ Lippitt's honor. show less