| Author: | Jeremy Hawkins | ISBN: | 9781619025189 |
| Publisher: | Counterpoint Press | Publication: | January 1, 2015 |
| Imprint: | Soft Skull Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | Jeremy Hawkins |
| ISBN: | 9781619025189 |
| Publisher: | Counterpoint Press |
| Publication: | January 1, 2015 |
| Imprint: | Soft Skull Press |
| Language: | English |
“An elegy for an era . . . Funny, raucous, and deliciously irreverent . . . This generous, big-hearted novel is a joy to read.” —Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
It’s 2007, and the independent video stores are dying. But Waring Wax, the grumpy guy behind the counter at Star Video, is usually too drunk to worry about his declining business, let alone his quickly evolving extinction in popular culture. But everything changes in his small college town when a bright and shiny Blockbuster Video opens nearby. Clearly, this means war.
So Waring enlists the help of his two reluctant employees, wildly sexy Alaura and desperate virgin Jeff—who are almost as nuts as he is—to hatch a series of wild schemes to fight against the corporate invaders. Together, these three misfits try to save their little store while confronting, among other things, Waring’s self-destructive tendencies, a life-training cult, corporate bicycle gangs, and a Hollywood director who constantly sees the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock while in town shooting his latest film.
This “funny, surprisingly tender debut novel” is filled with characters who “have enough heart and vivid imperfections to make their story irresistibly engaging . . . They careen from one encounter to another, propelled by a generous dose of nostalgia, loud humor and narrative energy” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
“An elegy for an era . . . Funny, raucous, and deliciously irreverent . . . This generous, big-hearted novel is a joy to read.” —Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
It’s 2007, and the independent video stores are dying. But Waring Wax, the grumpy guy behind the counter at Star Video, is usually too drunk to worry about his declining business, let alone his quickly evolving extinction in popular culture. But everything changes in his small college town when a bright and shiny Blockbuster Video opens nearby. Clearly, this means war.
So Waring enlists the help of his two reluctant employees, wildly sexy Alaura and desperate virgin Jeff—who are almost as nuts as he is—to hatch a series of wild schemes to fight against the corporate invaders. Together, these three misfits try to save their little store while confronting, among other things, Waring’s self-destructive tendencies, a life-training cult, corporate bicycle gangs, and a Hollywood director who constantly sees the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock while in town shooting his latest film.
This “funny, surprisingly tender debut novel” is filled with characters who “have enough heart and vivid imperfections to make their story irresistibly engaging . . . They careen from one encounter to another, propelled by a generous dose of nostalgia, loud humor and narrative energy” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
