I won this book and reviewed it for a small press magazine. A good, solid tale. ( )

Published in 1997, this book was given to me by a friend. Reminiscent in more than location, of the more recent book by Laura Lee Smith, Heart of Palm, The Flamingo Rising is set on the Atlantic Coast near St. Augustine . The action in this book centers on the story of a family that owns and runs a drive in movie theater located on the beach. Eccentric parents, two adopted children and an extended family of usual workers and helpers live in and manage the theater. Across the road and in the shadow of the big screen is another man's dream, his funeral home that he runs with his six sons and a daughter. Not a good combination for congenial neighbor relations. Many love stories play out in this book that is told in reflection by the adopted son of the theater owner; first love, lost love, love spawned by loneliness. Very good read. More a 3.75 than a 3. ( )

I was recommended this book by a good friend.

I will say this first. I have never read a book like The Flaming Rising by Larry Baker and I've read a lot. This book is hard to describe. The best I can do is that the protagonist and narrator is Abraham, the adopted Korean son, of a drive-in theater Florida native. We find that later in life, Abraham is a lover a photography. To me, the book is written in a series of photographs-- snap shots in time that are focused around his early teen years, his relationship with his family (mostly focusing on his crazy father). We are introduced also to Turner West, who owns the funeral home down the road and the feud between Abraham's father and Turner. Of course to make things more difficult, Abraham falls in love with West's daughter, Grace.

This book is well written. Some of the decisions as to how it was written are not as clear until the end. I will be upfront about how this is not my type of book. The characters are both fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Alice and Polly are two additions halfway in the book. Baker takes a great risk in writing this book the way he has. In many ways, it pays off. His descriptions are lush and many times poignant. Writers are often taught, write what you know. Many times, I would think that this was a true autobiography because that is the way it felt to me and usually can be quite difficult for writers to accomplish.

That said, I wonder why it wasn't an autobiography. I believe that Baker's own life experiences as a drive-in owner, would have fascinated me. I kept wanting the story to be real, because that's what it felt like. Personally, I felt that it lost something when I realized it was fiction. I know that's a personal opinion, rather than a fault of the writing. I also had a hard time staying interested in the novel because at the end of each chapter, we get a secret revealed but then the actual story of that secret is not told until several chapters later. For me, this didn't work.

That said, this is a tremendously creative and many times beautifully written novel, and the praise it has gotten is well deserved. I think in the end, this just was not my kind of novel, but that's okay. It was worth reading. ( )

Started out gangbusters, lots of interesting characters & a unique setting (world's largest drive in movie screen), but got bogged down after first 100 pages or so. Too much forshadowing of final cataclysmic event - just get on with it!
Read 3/2000 ( )

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading Flamingo Rising by Larry Baker. I finished it within two days & felt peaceful about the ending. Every once in awhile I like reading a book that helps me leave the real world behind. ( )