Chez Chance

by Jay Gummerman

Book Overview

A freak accident has left young Frank Eastman a paraplegic-a "wild card" who needs to "pair up with someone or something or he won't pass back into existence." Los Angeles, the scene of his accident, is where he imagines this existence to be. He settles into a rundown motel near Disneyland, his neighbors a wild assortment of eccentrics who, though more able-bodied than Frank, have learned the effectiveness of willful inability. What Frank learns from...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520210808
• ISBN13: 9780520210806
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 211 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Don't Judge a Book by Its Title

Jay Gummerman's Chez Chance is a bizarre, sardonic tour through Disneyland's suburb of Anaheim. (Or, more appropriately, the city in which Disneyland consumed.) Readers follow Frank Eastman, a 34 year-old paraplegic, on a re-visitation of the scene where he became permanently immobilized. What makes Frank such a fascinating character to observe is that he doesn't quite know why he's made his journey. In between bouts of depression and rage--clearly the simmering emotions from his recent accident--Frank is befriended by Violet, a dopey country singer suffering from some kind of mania.Frank and Violet's relationship is intertwined with the depravity of other characters who inhabit the same rundown hotel as Frank. The dialog and interactions between Frank and the appropriately named Earthling and Egg Woman make for some darkly hilarious social commentary.At times, Chez Chance seemed reminiscent of Nathanael West's Day of the Locust since the narrative addresses the heady themes of authenticity and failure as it pertains to Southern California. But because the characters are so morbidly funny, the story also seemed reminiscent of a Quentin Tarantino screenplay.Chez Chance is wonderfully imaginative, thought provoking, and powerfully atmospheric. I look forward to reading Jay Gummerman's second novel.

Chez Chance is a very wise and funny novel

Jay Gummerman proved himself as a short story writer with his soulful first book, WE FIND OURSELVES IN MOONTOWN. His first novel, CHEZ CHANCE, shows that Gummerman's wit and vision carry over nicely in longer narratives. Themes of physical and emotional disability wrap around each other to great effect, as the wheelchair-bound hero of the novel approaches a new understanding of himself and his place in a world dominated by "enabled" Americans and their hunger for material distractions such as Mercedes Benzes and Disneyland. This book will make you think and make you laugh, no matter where you're from; if you have an interest in the culture of Southern California, it's a must-read.