A novel by Gary Eberle
September 1, 1995 5.5 x 8.5 300 pages 978-1-56689-034-2
A road-trip book for the 90s, a westward journey through the surreal landscape of the postmodern world.
Small-time musician Joe Findlay, the hero of Eberles first novel, is a caricature cynic. Son of a professional magician, he knows everything is a act: When youve been inside the trick since birth and youve seen the cheap wires and gears, and youve manipulated the silk threads and black velvet bags and mirrors, and youve learned how they all work, then it spoils you for later. Following his fathers career of low-rent illusion, he plays backup for Elvis impersonators in a Las Vegas casino. Yet he is driven to leave by a vague yearning for the meaning somewhere out there. On the road he meets Violet Tansy, who carries a baby in a box, needs to get to San Diego and matches his cynicism with credulous innocence. Their adventure resembles a madcap buddy movie, but the territory they explore is a dead-on satirical rendering of the American spiritual landscape: Bible believers, neo-Pagans and New Agers pick and choose among the remains of religions in search of something to believe, without any means to discern the true from the false. Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Gary Eberle is the author of Angel Strings and one book of nonfiction, The Geography of Nowhere: Finding Ones Self in the Postmodern World. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.