Rocket City

This book was a hoot. I started it midway on a flight from NYC to Miami.One, It was very embarrassing to be laughing so loud on a crowded plane.Two, I went to the baggage check out and sat there reading this book for an hour and a half before I realised I was supposed to pick up the luggage.Warning, do NOT start this book at night in bed. You may not get any sleep that night. And if you have a partner, your laughter may keep them from sleeping too.

This is a fine story, a road novel that manages not to stall when the skittish main character, Marilee, temporarily stops moving. Should she get married? Go on a diet? Sleep with a dwarf? Her ambivalence and squeamishness speak for a generation, as she barrels around New Mexico in her Dodge Dart. Woven into her story is a deadpan social satire in the figure of Figman, a Californian searching for "the true West." As Marilee wrestles with the personal questions of love, cruelty, and vocation, Figman wrestles with a convenience store clerk and the question of his own artistic importance in a barren town. Figman's escapades are diverting, but the real story is Marilee's. She learns about the capacity for human cruelty and human forgiveness through her association with the mysterious Enoch, who keeps turning up in her life. Enoch is not thrown into this story as some symbol; he is a developed, troubling character, presented in all his twisted beauty. If you want to read this book for fun, I guarantee you'll have it; but if you want to read it for the deeper lesson, the examination of Darwinian theory and what it means in terms of PEOPLE, you can do that too.

Incredible novel about love, prejudice, fate, sex, and secrets. Funny beyond imagining and touching in a way that is never sentimental. Cathryn Alpert manages to be intelligent and appealing at the same time. Never a dull moment. Couldn't put this one down.

From the first sentence, I was hooked. I responded to the charcaters and the story. Who doesn't at one time or another, just want to get into their car and drive away from everything to a place where no one knows you. To start over again. I responed to every character, even the ones who were, in my opinion, real jerks ( I'd use the word that described them in the book, but I don't think you would post it). However, there always has to be a 'counter attack' to other characters. After reading the book, I had nothing but admiration for Marilee and Figman. They learned not to always expect love in the obvious places and in some cases, that love cannot be realized. I don't want to give the plot away, so I don't want to describe too much. I just feel that if you like a good novel about some wacky and surreal characters, this is it. I highly recommend it. I would like to be able to e-mail Cathryn Alpert, the author, and let her know how much I enjoyed it.

You would think this is a tenth novel not a first, so polished and brilliantly constructed is Rocket City. I can't for the life of me figure out why this book didn't zoom to the top of the bestseller charts. Maybe because the NYTBR never mentioned it. More's the pity. I read it, read it again, and read it a third time before I felt I had picked up all the subtle nuance. Absolutely brilliant debut!