Nothing to Declare

by Richard Ravin

Overview

Sex. Drugs. Revolution. Grilled tuna.

"Nothing To Declare is truly wonderful. The searing romantic/political/artistic triangle at its center movingly evokes the strange and wonderful Santa Cruz garden of my youth. I loved it."

—David Talbot, author of The New York Times' bestsellers, Brothers and The Devil's Chessboard, and national bestseller Season of the Witch

Jesse Kerf's a good guy restaurant owner who's got his life just so. Flash L.A. bistro, spiffy BMW, all-white condo with an ocean view. Then comes a bombshell. He's been named sole heir to Marty Balakian, the wild man and con artist who used to be his best friend. Never mind they haven't had a single word in twenty years.

In the 1970s, Marty was everything Jesse wanted to be—a brilliant and fearless dreamer who let no one stand in his way. Not Jesse, and not Isabel, the dark-souled woman they both loved. Laws were there to be broken, and hearts, too. Jesse couldn't be that hard. Until he had to.

Marty's death forces Jesse to reckon with the past he's been running from for two decades. Between that long-ago love triangle, a trip that leads from Boston to Bali, and the burden of secrets held too long, Jesse's got a lot to handle. Before he can get his life on track, he must figure out not just who he was, but who he wants to be from now on.

Driven by a fast-moving plot, rich characters and a canny portrait of a culture in revolt, Richard M. Ravin's Nothing to Declare is a lively and engaging novel packed with romance, humor, betrayal, and discovery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780578819273
Publisher:	16 doors press
Publication date:	02/03/2021
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

My life as a novelist began under the kind and watchful eye of Andre Dubus II, whose writing workshop I attended in the final years of his life. Nothing to Declare’s view of the world is colored by what I observed while living in communes in the 1970s -- and making my parents miserable, and in more current times, working as a Hollywood TV executive -- and making myself miserable. During my time in Hollywood, I was involved with the creation, sales, and production of more than 40 movies for television and miniseries.

My journalism has been published in The San Francisco Examiner, Salon.com and anthologized in Andre Dubus: Tributes, published in 2001 by the Xavier Review Press. My web work has received a WEBBY nomination in Education. Right now, I'm at work on a detective novel set in the world of the L.A. music scene.

Editorial Reviews

"Ravin's novel dives into the heart of the complicated relationships that formed in West Coast counterculture communities in the '70s and excels at showing both the wonders and the impermanence of them. The intriguing characters, who dance the fado or tag along with the Who, are anxious to make their mark on the world, but are wary of how one person can ruin another. The prose can be evocative as the action travels from Santa Cruz to New Orleans to Bali..."

Kirkus Reviews