Charles Smith has created an incredibly memorable character: a 19-year-old half-Hispanic Californian named Daz, who sets out with his brooding half-Hawaiian buddy on a long, meandering, road-trip from California to New York. It’s filled with humor, thoughtfulness, restlessness, and surprises as the two friends meet an array of Americans with unusual stories to tell, while Daz explores the boundaries of his own unconventionality.
(Martin Shepard)
The story works on so many levels, it’s hard to summarize. Summer vacationers looking for a “Road Trip” story won’t be disappointed. High School and College juniors and seniors pondering their next steps will be inspired. Vietnam-era vets and those who love them will appreciate the myriad faces of the veterans we meet through Alex and Daz. People with painful family memories or relationships will identify with the Chings, and appreciate the gift Daz gives them when he takes their Lancer on his cross-county journey. My contractor buddies will love the Sacramento chapter, my farmer friends the Iowa connections, and my opera singing / actor friend in New York will identify with Daz’s opening night jitters.
Perhaps the customers who buy this book because of my personal recommendation will see hope for our future in the Scandinavian-Hispanic-Germanic-Af-Am faces of our next generation: the blondes named Hernandez , the dark-eyed Johannsens, and the mixed race child who is now a part of my own family tree.
(Keri Holmes, bookseller)
Author: Charles Hugh Smith
Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9781579621278
Condition: New
Manufacturer: Permanent Press (NY)
Number of items: 1
Number of pages: 263
Product group: Book
Studio: Permanent Press (NY)
Publication Date: 2006-04
Publisher: Permanent Press (NY)
Pages: 263
ISBN: 1579621279
