Fast Sofa - Hardcover

First novelist Craven's synthesis of On the Road , David Copperfield , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , The Sun Also Rises and TV's Melrose Place quite simply doesn't work. Behind the promotional tie-ins (accompanying soundtrack, parental advisory sticker, hyped image of bad-boy-novelist/administrator-at-Columbia-University) lays a banal interpretation of life on the edge in the contemporary U.S. Rick, the protagonist, is a reckless, car-loving character for whom the '60s, '70s and '80s do not matter. He stumbles upon the porn star of his dreams and cavorts around the country with her and various other cartoonish characters, drinking too much, experimenting with drugs and having casual, unprotected sex. Rick's animal magnetism and visceral sexuality cause his true love, Tamara, to put up with his sexist and racist antics in spite of her better, feminist instincts. Even the character who represents wisdom, an eccentric bird lover named Jules, has scant sagacity to offer as Craven uses him to comment on little more than when television became a truly vapid medium. If the message here is one of nihilism and male anomie, the question arises: Why all the overblown excitement and hype? Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This first novel continues the literary trend toward nihilistic hedonism started with Brett Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero by exploring the heart-pounding, boozing, pill-popping fast lane that the 20-something L.A. crowd is flying on. Rick Jeffers finds his apartment has been robbed and his girlfriend sleeping with his best friend, so he hits the road Kerouac-style. Unfortunately, it takes over 100 pages of hip talk for him to make that move, and, once he does , nothing much happens then either. This novel is heavy on dialog and youthful ambiance, short on plot and reflection. The characters have arguments about which rock band is the most "now," drink, watch TV game shows, and call each other "dude." Despite its seeming authenticity, the novel is almost too cool and becomes tiring after a couple of hundred pages of nothingness. The Wayne's World crowd might enjoy this; older readers might find it tedious in its attempt not to be. For larger collectons or where there is demand.
- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, Cal.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.