It's just ridiculous for a first novel to be this good. Yes, it sometimes wanders off into purple Beatness (which was one of the things I loved when I first read it way back when, and less so now) but it's still so rich and earthy and funny, and even when the humor is mean, there's a compassion to it that Stone didn't always bring to his later books. Rheinhardt is the kind of smart bitter wastrel that Stone has written about a lot and he's very good at writing that kind of dialogue (I still crack up every time I read the "seven years in Fernando Poo" scene), but if the book had all been about him, as it starts out seeming to be, it would've been empty. Geraldine and Rainey, the awkward characters with hearts, are what really ground the book and make Rheinhardt's choices feel so terrible.

Also, as well as being an often bizarre stream-of-consciousness satire and a tragic love story, it manages to be politically acute in a way that feels depressingly up to date. Stone makes it very clear where he stands, his right-wing radicals are definitely villains, but they're real people too (with the possible exception of one guy who may be the devil) and what they're doing makes as much sense as it ever did. ( )

This was an interesting and layered novel, all the way through, by Robert Stone. Overall, I quite liked the set-up and the way that things progressed and the character explorations, which then reflected upon American society and the way that people in those time lived, was quite pleasing. A decent novel.

3.25 stars. ( )

Rather in the style and of the time of William Burroughs, 'best first novel' award and quite remarkable for a first novel. "Intelligent outsiders" drift to New Orleans and get involved in the blacks vs whites society of the place and era. Disturbing, thrilling, should be read by those unfamiliar with the era and the Burroughs phenomenon. ( )