Money, Love

by Brad Barkley

Book Overview

Ever since sixteen-year-old Gabe Strickland can remember, his father, Roman, has believed in the sale: that magical moment on the customer's porch, the deal about to close. But with each dizzying success comes an equally memorable failure, and Gabe's mother, Gladys, has grown tired of waiting for a life of financial stability. So in the summer of 1975 she leaves Roman and goes to live with his dependable brother Dutch. Confident he can win Gladys...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393322181
• ISBN13: 9780393322187
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 346 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Caliban in the Car

Anybody who's ever been dazzled, angered, mystified, and disaappinted by a parent like Roman will recognize the depths of love and surprise in the young man Gabe. Here are Caliban and Caliban Jr, riding around, shooting for both love and money, the two big American abstractions stuffed -where else - in American cars and in the snake-oil tents of American life. I was reminded of the disturbing novel called "Lizard" by Dennis Covington, story of another young Caliban, another strong American promise. You might not love Barkley's story, but you can't dismiss it.

Money, Love is Wonderful!

I bought this book as a Christmas gift, but after reading the first couple of pages I ended up finishing the book in one night. The characters made me care about what would become of them, at the same time they were making me laugh and think. Who could resist a novel that features Celebrity Death Cars, an ex-beauty queen, and a con man who likes to quote Rod McKuen? Funny, but at the same time heartbreaking. A great book!

One of the Best of 2000

In its review of this book, the Washington Post compared Money, Love to Huck Finn, giving the newer novel points for both its comic strengths and the rich texture of its characters. The Post got this one right. This is simply one of the best novels I have read this year, and the best first novel I've read in a number of years. I am perplexed at the one or two readers who complain of a lack of plot; so much happens over the course of the novel that it would be all but impossible to summarize here. Perhaps one of the other reviewers is right, that some readers look only for "action" and miss the deeper subtleties of a novel like Money, Love. In any case, this is the kind of book you read for the fullness and complexity of the characters, not for the hooks of plot. The characters here--Roman and Gabe, Dutch and Gladys, Sandy Goforth and Vic Comstock--take up residence in your mind and memory and remain there, long after you've finished the last page and closed the cover. And, as other reviewers have pointed out so well, the book manages to be quite funny without straining credibility, and quite moving without mawkishness. A terrific book, one that I will return to soon.

Fabulous book! Hated to see it end.

The seventies were a blurr in my memory until Mr. Barkley's phenomenal debut novel brought them vividly back to me. You'll love these characters and empathize with them as they struggle to discover themselves in the rugged and unpredictable territory that lies between money and love. This novel is a rare combination of pleasure and profundity, and I wanted it to go on forever. Brad Barkley develops characters and scenes with a wise eye, a wicked wit, and a warm understanding. I can't wait for his next novel!

Wonderful, funny, and moving

This was one of those books I read in one night, staying up until 3 a.m. to finish it. Page by page, the book is laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving, insightful, and witty. The reviewer here who complained that "not much happens" must be someone who enjoys a John Grisham-Tom Clancy style of writing, full of "action," but lacking in real characters and human insight. MONEY, LOVE has insight galore, and characters who come fully to life on the page, characters who make you care about what happens to them. This book is a work of art, an utter delight. Not to be missed.