Valley Boy (California Quartet)
"Valley Boyis the story of every kid who wandered out of the Valley into Baghdad by the Bay with dreams, imagination, curiosity and a mind that admitted stuff besides cars and girls. I m tempted to say this is Remick's best work. While more accessible thanBlood, less focused on art thanThe Deification, the writing never lets up from the first line to the last. Ricky is the prototype Okie kid who haunted the Wasteland we know as the San Joaquin. The story is witty, tense and true. The protagonist is Ricky, but this is Linard's story too--which makes this novel a more fulfilling coming of age journey than that of the self-absorbed, self-righteous icon of the Eastern Experience--Holden Caulfield .... Remick might be accused of writing a happy ending but I, for one, am happy to see an ol' Okie boy find his place in the shade and out of those god damned vineyards and peach orchards. Good for Ricky. Good for Remick. It takes guts to write a novel such as this." --Frank Araujo, Author ofThe Q Quest,A Perfect Orange, andNekane