This Is the Place

by Peter Rock

Overview

For the readers of Jim Harrison and Ron Hansen, an entrancing first novel of doomed love in the badlands of Nevada and Utah by a Stegner Award-winning writer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385485982
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/17/1997
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	356,108
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)

Editorial Reviews

"This is the Place" reads the sign under Wendover Will, the 64-foot metal statue that welcomes tourists, losers, and drifters to the Stateline casino in Nevada. The statue of Brigham Young, over 100 miles across the border in Utah, boasts the same message. Between these two extremes, the disparate characters in this accomplished first novel search for meaning in their lives. A blackjack dealer, nicknamed "Pyro" by the town's children, becomes obsessed with Charlotte, a Mormon from Bountiful, Utah. He is not deterred in his quest for Charlotte despite the fact that, at 19, she's young enough to be his granddaughter. The novel we read is the story he tells to justify the terrible crime he commits in the name of love. From the desolate salt flats and dreary trailer parks to the gaudy, wicked beauty of Las Vegas, Rock draws his readers in with vivid descriptions, an intriguing plot, and fully nuanced characters. For literary fiction collections.-Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle

Library Journal