Pomona Queen by Kem Nunn
After a few weeks on the job, 40 something Earl Dean has become one of the best salesmen in Pomona. The 'ageing hipster' is putting together the money to claim his inheritance and oust his stepfather from the land first settled by his great-grandfather, an orange grower. But bad luck brings Dean to the house of Dan Brown, 'full-blown white trash', who once killed a cop and is now getting seriously drunk guarding the corpse of his brother Buddy until he learns who killed him. Word arrives that Buddy was stabbed by a wild woman with blond dreadlocks, leader of a band called Pomona Queen, and Dean, a great believer in secret signs, has a flash: the same name was used for the artwork on his great-grandfather's packing crates. The novel alternates between the buildup to a climactic confrontation with the alleged killer at a mall concert, and Dean's thoughts as he rides around town, the prisoner of Dan and his henchmen - for Dean, high as a kite but also badly shaken after various escape attempts, keeps seeing 'the pale grid of the dead': especially his great-grandfather, shot mysteriously as Pomona's Chinatown was torched, and his one true love, Rayann, dying insane after too many bad trips.
Large chunks of nostalgic California history, a bizarre cast of low-life characters. . and a knockout prose style . . . Pomona Queen is a wild and funny ride into the night * Playboy *
Nunn is a swift, economical stylist with a gift for the absurd . . . a sure-handed storyteller possessing genuine compassion-as well as a wicked sense of humor... Pomona Queen is a fine, fast read * San Francisco Chronicle *
he has a real feel for the kind of dementia that depends on getting the balance of drugs and alcohol just right -- Chris Petit * The Guardian *
kinda Kinky Friedman meets 'Reservoir Dogs' -- Colin Ahern * Time Out *
Hammett, Chandler, James Cain and Ross MacDonald, Kem Nunn has surpassed them all * L.A.Times *
Nunn is a swift, economical stylist with a gift for the absurd . . . a sure-handed storyteller possessing genuine compassion-as well as a wicked sense of humor... Pomona Queen is a fine, fast read * San Francisco Chronicle *
he has a real feel for the kind of dementia that depends on getting the balance of drugs and alcohol just right -- Chris Petit * The Guardian *
kinda Kinky Friedman meets 'Reservoir Dogs' -- Colin Ahern * Time Out *
Hammett, Chandler, James Cain and Ross MacDonald, Kem Nunn has surpassed them all * L.A.Times *
Kem Nunn is a third-generation Californian whose previous novels include The Dogs of Winter, Pomona Queen, Unassigned Territory, and Tapping the Source, which was the basis of the film Point Break. Tijuana Straits won the Los Angeles Times Book Award. His latest novel, Chance, was recently made into a major TV series starring Hugh Laurie and Gretchen Mol. He lives in Southern California, where he also writes screenplays for television and film including John from Cincinnati, Deadwood and Sons of Anarchy.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781901982824 |
| ISBN 10 | 1901982823 |
| Title | Pomona Queen |
| Author | Kem Nunn |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bedford Square Publishers |
| Year published | 2000-08-25 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |