By John Gorman
Published by All Things That Matter Press
Genre: Fiction: Literary
ISBN 098409847X
Reviewed by Jen Ochs Originally for NY Book Cafe
Shades of Luz is a whimsical love story with a touch of comedy. Gorman’s quirky little novel is certainly entertaining for those with a sense a humor. Packed with suprises, Gorman displays his skill as a writer with this refreshing, yet somewhat unusual coming of age story. I would say Gorman’s writing is compatible with Ben Winters and his quirky novels, Pride, Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.
This story centers around Benny, a graduate school dropout. Without his graduate degree, times are tough. While he is selling stuffed animals on the street, he comes to meet Luz. Benny falls for Luz and falls hard. Luz, although periodically in and out of Benny’s life, attempts to persuade him to go back to school and finish his thesis. Then there is Mungo.
Through a strange series of circumstances, these two become a big part of each other’s life, as Benny is forced to work for Mungo, who is an underworld bookie. We are then thrown into the bizarre world of thumb-wrestling, however, with Gorman’s descriptiveness, one would think it was an MMA competition. Nevertheless, through it all, Benny’s heart is set on Luz. Benny and Luz are subsequently reunited at his family’s house, as the two of them share a memorable holiday dinner that neither of them will soon forget.
Gorman manages to keep this story going. Although many of the themes in this novel are a bit peculiar, and at times, a little eccentric, he does a fine job in keeping the interest of the reader. The characters are certainly rich while Benny is on his quest to get his girl. For a quick humorous fiction fix, Shades of Luz delivers!
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post: