Synopses & Reviews
Tim Sandlin is:
Tom Robbins if he had a heart
Pam Houston if she were a man
J. D. Salinger if he were from Wyoming
An amusing new novel by the author of Social Blunders. It's 1963 and 13-year-old Sam Callahan and his tart-tongued, divorced, misbehaving mother, Lydia, must cope as best they can, after they are banished to the hick town of GroVont, Wyoming, by Lydia's Southern gentleman father.
Review
"Sandlin has created a lighthearted, amusing and tender story....Hilarious teenage dating scenes are neatly contrasted with Lydia's unwise romantic entanglements....Narrated in Sam's adolescent voice authentic in its tone and use of the vernacular this offbeat, engaging novel elicits nonstop chuckles and, sometimes, a tear or two." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Sandlin continues his quirky brand of humor in a Western setting, but unfortunately with less originality and freshness....Though wittily told (sometimes to the point of being too cutesy), this is reminiscent of Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show, but kinkier....Basically, it's been done before." Library Journal
Review
"Funny, shocking, downright revolting, and occasionally sad. Sandlin is a compelling storyteller....Skipped Parts is somewhere between The Catcher in the Rye and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues." Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review
"Sam's carapace is humor....He thinks like Holden Caulfield, and has Joseph Heller's take on despair. His Walter Mitty-like fantasies are tiny comic gems....In the end you'll find yourself rooting for Sam." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"A story that combines oddball plotting and hilarious dialogue with an eye for detail and Saroyanesque love for the human comedy." The Kansas City Star
Review
"There has never been a coming-of-age novel quite like Skipped Parts, a book that will shock and outrage some readers...a black comedy...a bittersweet love story." W. P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe
Review
"I always savour the Tim Sandlin read...even though the temptation is to devour his stories quickly, I like to stretch it out as long as possible....Angst has never been so charming." Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth