Delano

By John Orozco

Book Overview

Eddie Delano is an underachieving, recalcitrant young man desperate to avoid life's absurdities and cursed to experience them in total. His sidesplitting quest begins in war-torn Vietnam but moves... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0966481615
• ISBN13: 9780966481617
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Parnassus
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A First Rate Satire

I found this book recommended on several sites I visited and couldn't help but wonder what it was about. I perused through the reader reviews and most of them raved about the book. I had never heard of the author or the publisher and wondered if it lived up to the readers' claims. It did, and I was not disappointed. Delano's tone is down to earth. Fast and easy to read, the story is told from a familiar first person point of view. There is something funny on almost every page. Eddie Delano begins his escapade admitting that he is dishonest and cowardly. But the story does not end there. His quest, whether he is aware of it or not, is universal. He seeks self-discovery. His encounter with Winston, a graduate student of questionable moral standing, and Sam, a loveable, hippie, creates the moral tension that sustains the plot. Will Eddie understand the differences between right and wrong, and which will he chose? Every chapter kept me wondering how Delano was going to get out of the mess in which he had put himself. And every solution surprised me. I highly recommend this book. I'm giving this book a 5 star review. It's a terrific first novel, and I hope there are more to come.

Laugh Out Loud Funny

Eddie Delano's askew point of view of the world, combined with an ever present use of ironic dialogue are hysterical. Orozco has captured the malady of college life and by doing so has subtly lampooned the icons and mores of modern society.As Delano discovers himself, his understanding of lovers and friends matures--but not before we witness his descent into hell. He begins the story as a manipulative and self-absorbed college student, looking for short cuts. Every quick and simple solution creates a more complicated problem that only painful honesty can resolve. The characters in this story are memorable, especailly Sam. I almost broke a rib laughing at his worm farming scheme. Winston Ashford Gonzales is a comical Iago. I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor.

An Undiscovered Treasure

"Delano" by John Orozco is an intricately woven satire, highlighting the double standards and absurdities of our culture. A university setting in rural California sets the stage for hilarious Candid like escapades. Attempting to avoid work at all costs, our hero creates one complicated web of deceit after another until he is almost caught in his own trap. Published in 1999, this book is an undiscovered treasure.

A Complete Scream!

The misadventures of Eddie Delano at college are still true today decades later. As a recent college graduate, I can attest to this. I had the pleasure to hear the author read his book at The Reader's Edge Bookstore in Montrose, CA and it's even better with his deadpan delivery. After hearing him read the first chapter, I knew I had to have this book.

Delano is a stitch!

Eddie Delano and his world are a stitch! And like surgical stitches, Orozco's satirical needlings of domestic and college life sting as well as correct social and psychological deformities that characterized the surreal sixties. No target, large or small, eludes the author's jaundiced eye (check out the back cover art) or his sharp-honed pen--you'll feel its prick on every page. One asks no more of good satire. Combining the complete arsenal of satirical, humorous, comedic, slapstick, and burlesque techniques, this novel starts you laughing and wincing on page one, with Eddie's admission that he shot off his big toe to avoid Viet Nam, and sustains it through the hilariously implausible and implosive self-destruction of the whole sick crew. And they are legion: hustlers, cheaters, political poseurs, worm farmers, gender freaks, and doobie brothers (all of whom inhale). If you participated, especially as a student, in those hallucinogenic days, had children who did, taught that generation, or just nostalgically miss those sweet, sweaty summers of love, this is the book for you. Almost forgot. There's some interesting sex, too.