Author: TAYLOR, ERIKA
Title: The Sun Maiden
Description: Atheneum Books. 1991. (ISBN: 9780689121302). Hardcover. Hardback with dustjacket - 1991 - good condition - - used books, secondhand books, out of print books, hard to find books, second-hand books, nonfiction, non-fiction books delivered world wide. This entertaining first novel is the humorous, sensitive story of 20-year-old J.O. Warren's long struggle to confront the father she has never known, a quest that has taken her from New York to L.A. J.O.'s clumsiness as a waitress at the Sun Maiden diner, and the example of her sexy, glamorous roommate, feed her daily insecurities as she tries to "psych myself to call my dad." A turning point comes when Rafi, the Israeli manager of the restaurant, teaches her to shoot a .357 Magnum: J.O. gets "tapped into the heart of something . Power." Her confidence is tested when she helps a co-worker deal with his insane brother; finally she doesn't need a gun or anything else to bolster her inner strength. J.O.'s keen perception of L.A. and its inhabitants the glitz and fakeness that seem to conceal some essential reality she seeks, all deftly interwoven with her memories of growing up in New York. Witty, fast-paced dialogue, surprising plot twists and the likable, even admirable J.O. make for a satisfying, heartwarming read. Novels about the South used to have a monopoly on squirrely characters with quirky names playing out oddball slices of life (e.g. Sarah Gilbert, Sarah Bird, early Rita Mae Brown), but this first novel takes place in Los Angeles and still has a character named Jambalaya Orleans (J.O. for short, and she's not even Southern, just conceived there!) hanging around with weird characters like Mr. Saul, who's building the Car of the Future with Mafia money he can't repay; busboy Andy and his ubiquitous pet rat Fear; and an Israeli obsessed with guns. The Israeli owns the Sun Maiden Cafe, where J.O. works as a novice waitress (picture the old Alice TV show, except in L.A.), and he also runs a marriage-for-green-card service. It's all held loosely together by J.O.'s search for her long-lost father, but nothing much happens, and what does is predictable and derivative. Aren't there enough novels out there like this, peopled with slice-of-lifers with strange names talking cute?. Used: Acceptable.

Keywords: 9780689121302


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