Pop Salvation: A Novel

by Lance Reynald

Overview

Caleb Watson is not like the other children at his Washington, D.C., private school. Having skipped a grade—and being younger and smaller than the rest of the boys—he finds that his Southern accent and sensitive, reserved nature set him even further apart. Caleb simply does not belong.

But on a field trip to the art museum, Caleb discovers his hero—his icon—when he is exposed to the art of Andy Warhol. In the beauty of the things that don't fit, in the art and philosophy of Pop plus the glorious camp of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its creatures of the night, Caleb will find sanctuary, transforming himself and the eccentric friends he meets along the way into his own little version of Warhol's Factory.

Customer Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061894534
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/23/2009
Series:	P.S. Series
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Born in Texas, raised in Washington, D.C., and self-exiled to Colorado, Lance Reynald currently lives in Portland, Oregon, but keeps a bag packed near the door for the moment when wanderlust calls.

What People are Saying About This

Heather McElhatton

“Pop Salvation is full of mirrors that reflect the struggle between personality and persona, between the peepers and those being peeped, with a fresh breeze of dark humor rushing through. Remarkable.”

Josh Kilmer-Purcell

“Pop Salvation is a genius take on discovering who you are by becoming what you most admire. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Lance Reynald watched me grow up. Marvelously endearing and insightful.”

Steve Kluger

“Lance Reynald’s seductively nuanced portrait of a pop-infatuated Holden Caulfield is as vivid and inspired as a Warhol painting—and every bit as compelling.”

Editorial Reviews

In this idiosyncratic bildungsroman set to a Britpop beat, an effeminate teenage boy coming of age in the '80s finds salvation in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and, especially, Andy Warhol. Born in Texas but raised in Washington, D.C., where he attends a series of exclusive private schools, Caleb Watson grows up feeling different until a seventh-grade field trip to the Hirshhorn Museum proves a life-altering experience when he is mesmerized by Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe's Lips. He quickly changes his appearance to resemble his new idol and begins to make Warhol-style movies with a crew of his own, including the beautiful Aaron, who is Caleb's partner in gay exploration; Sonia, his own personal Edie Sedgwick; and Brit, a young Marilyn look-alike and Rocky Horror aficionado who is really a runaway boy. Unfortunately, Caleb's story-his experiments with acid, suicide and sexual fetish-lacks cumulative dramatic power. Instead, the novel works best as a series of snapshots of the glammy 1980s and a depiction of the teenage outcasts who made Georgetown their hangout. (July)

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Publishers Weekly

In the end, Caleb’s journey is one of forging his own identity apart from Warhol and Rocky [Horror Picture Show], but it’s his obsession with these characters that readers will find most fascinating.

Booklist

Pop is an explosive summer read....A must buy for summer reading for anyone who remembers the ‘80s, or wishes they did. Reynald trips through the twilight years of Andy Warhol and wraps readers in the world of art, sexuality and pop culture.

Examiner.com

Touching and darkly humorous

Modern Tonic

Lance Reynald’s seductively nuanced portrait of a pop-infatuated Holden Caulfield is as vivid and inspired as a Warhol painting—and every bit as compelling.

Steve Kluger

Pop Salvation is a genius take on discovering who you are by becoming what you most admire. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Lance Reynald watched me grow up. Marvelously endearing and insightful.

Josh Kilmer-Purcell

Pop Salvation is full of mirrors that reflect the struggle between personality and persona, between the peepers and those being peeped, with a fresh breeze of dark humor rushing through. Remarkable.

Heather McElhatton