The Truth Hurts
Rating:
5 / 5
These are scary times. "Make love not war" may have been the mantra of the 1960's and 70's, but gone are the days of mild marijuana and Boone's Farm Apple wine, Deadheads and Woodstock. Now teens attend "Raves", and the drugs of choice are ecstasy and meth. Ignorance really is the mother of all prejudice, not bliss. This is what a divorced mother named Dolly discovers in The Redneck Riviera. Not only is her daughter, April, rejecting every value that has been hypocritically proclaimed by her misguided mother, April is also quickly being sucked in by a racist, sexist, meth-cooking group of skinheads that the she has embraced as her new "family". Dolly is forced to put her own life and problems in the back seat and pay close attention to what is going on with April, instead of taking her for granted. The plot rolls right along, and even as the characters make good and bad choices, the believability level is very high, especially due to the details of setting and dialogue. As serious as the subject matter is, though, there are also funny moments in the novel when life's absurdities occur, especially in the scene with the pathetic, lecherous, middle-aged golfers. Do they really believe these young, beautiful girls are attracted to them? As layer after layer of self-deceit is peeled away from each character, exposing their lies to themselves, the truth, in all its ugliness and beauty is revealed. To be contrite, selfish, forgiving, accepting, or angry are the choices that ultimately have to be made when true integrity is tested. And the outcomes are surprising. The research that must have gone into this book is awesome. But then again, this is the same author who wrote "Mary's World: Love, War, and Family Ties in Nineteenth-century Charleston", a non-fiction account of a Civil War plantation owners wife based on her actual diaries and letters. The diversity of Cote's writing ability is amazing and the originality of the setting and subject matter make you wonder what he'll write next.
Couldn't put it down!
Rating:
5 / 5
I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. last night because I couldn't put this book down! I had to know what happened.
The story is very fast-paced, but pay attention because there's a lot going on. I also appreciated that it was a very modern setting about current issues. I didn't know a lot about meth labs and definately never heard of topless caddies, but I think I've heard it all now. None of it is exploitive, though, just part of the character's time and place in their lives. The bottom line is that it's about bad choices and generation gaps and what we will do for love.
I definately recommend this book - but take it to the beach and start reading in the daylight. Don't begin late at night or you'll miss a night's sleep, too.
Review of The Redneck Riviera by Richard N. C�t�
Rating:
5 / 5
We've read the newspapers and watched the news...often the most horrifying scenarios capture our attention like the inability to look away from a car accident. But those things always happen to other people, in other places....Aren't we all guilty of "not in my backyard..."? Well, the author of The Redneck Riviera places a meth lab right on the outskirts of a beautiful beachside community, and then dreams up the nightmare of having your beautiful, intelligent daughter run away from home, go to work at a stripper bar and date a skinhead drug dealer. That's how real this story is. I kept thinking, we all have these traits within us, and these evil people are all around us. There but for the grace of God....goes my kid.The protagonist of the novel is a bleached-blonde, white-trash, divorced mother who revolves her swinging single social life around looking for love in all the wrong places. The reader can't help but like Dolly, though...she may be a na�ve floozy but she's got a good heart and loves her kid. It is hard to like her daughter, initially. What a rude-mouthed, self-centered brat! It's to Dolly's credit that she's resisted the urge to slap the kid's smart mouth. Then again, that's probably why daughter April became such a wild child...because Mom not only had a crummy upbringing herself, but appears to be spineless. What struck me the most about this book, difficult as the characters were to relate to personally, was that they were so REAL. I've known teenagers who were lying, manipulative and self-absorbed, to the point where they become a danger to themselves and others. And the middle-aged mother, while she is careening out of control on her own personal road to hell self-paved with good intentions, is adamant in her faith that her daughter can be loved back to good self-esteem and a positive lifestyle. Richard N. C�t� tackles some very real problems that face society today and tells the absorbing story of The Redneck Riveria so brutally honestly that it could be right next door, right now. So look around your town; these criminals and con artists are all around. And give your kids an extra hug tonight. The love of your life might be in the same danger.
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