Ballantine Books, 1987
Kelly Palamino is not crazy. Yes, water does talk to him: his toilet tells him to eat fish; his Water Pik quotes Ezra Pound. His ex-wife denies they were ever married and is actively seeking to have him committed. But Kelly Palamino is not crazy. Lost? Yes; but not crazy.
Palamino is a modern-day cowboy, living out the sunny days of his late 20s alone in a ramshackle apartment in downtown Jackson, Wyoming. On just such a day, reclining on his front porch with his cat, Alice, and sipping a Mello-Yello, he spies the love of his life. Unfortunately, it's her wedding day.
Sex and Sunsets is Tim Sandlin's page-turner of a first novel about the madness that ensues when individuals fall in or out of love with other individuals. Told in Kelly's singularly offbeat voice, Sandlin's novel showcases a deftness of characterization and narrative. Despite his seeming inability to behave in a reasonable manner, Kelly Palamino wins the reader over with unflinching integrity and amiability. Even at the very depths of her egregious betrayal, Kelly still greets his ex-wife as he always has: "I'm glad to see you, Julie."
Kelly Palamino is not crazy. Yes, water does talk to him: his toilet tells him to eat fish; his Water Pik quotes Ezra Pound. His ex-wife denies they were ever married and is actively seeking to have him committed. But Kelly Palamino is not crazy. Lost? Yes; but not crazy.
Palamino is a modern-day cowboy, living out the sunny days of his late 20s alone in a ramshackle apartment in downtown Jackson, Wyoming. On just such a day, reclining on his front porch with his cat, Alice, and sipping a Mello-Yello, he spies the love of his life. Unfortunately, it's her wedding day.
Sex and Sunsets is Tim Sandlin's page-turner of a first novel about the madness that ensues when individuals fall in or out of love with other individuals. Told in Kelly's singularly offbeat voice, Sandlin's novel showcases a deftness of characterization and narrative. Despite his seeming inability to behave in a reasonable manner, Kelly Palamino wins the reader over with unflinching integrity and amiability. Even at the very depths of her egregious betrayal, Kelly still greets his ex-wife as he always has: "I'm glad to see you, Julie."
Sex and Sunsets garnered Sandlin comparisons to Jack Kerouac and Tom Robbins at its publication in 1987. Since then, he's produced several more novels, including Skipped Parts which was made into a movie starring Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Satirical, irreverent, and often laugh out loud funny, Sandlin, like Kelly Palamino, is easy to get to know and love.
