{"product_id":"whirlaway-isbn-9780997068399","title":"Whirlaway","description":"\u003cb\u003eEddie Plum, who insists he’s been unjustifiably committed to a California psychiatric hospital, manages to finally escape after fourteen years of incarceration to start his life anew\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the run, he holes up in a sheltered barrio on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean owned by his wealthy but unsympathetic father. Here he meets Sweets, the telepathic dog, laments the loss of Sofia, his madhouse lover, and plays the horses at the Del Mar Racetrack. Eventually he meets up with an old friend, Shelly Hubbard, a fellow horseplayer, record collector\/dealer, and hardcore loner, who tells him about his brother, Donny, dead at the age of eighteen from a tragic dive off a thirty-foot La Jolla sea cliff known as the Clam.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEddie discovers a family secret and wants to help, but by then he’s already embroiled in the psychotic incident with the Tijuana prostitutes, the madhouse lover, and the police, who are hot on his tail. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride has nothing on \u003ci\u003eWhirlaway\u003c\/i\u003e, a hilarious novel of escaped mental patients, horseplayers, and record collectors.\"Hoping that the secret of Poe Ballantine stays secret no longer.\" —Scott F. Parker, \u003ci\u003eThe Minnesota Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If you see [Poe Ballantine’s] name in a byline, read it.\" —Jack Waters, \u003ci\u003eUVU Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ballantine walks a wry tightrope here, imbuing his debauched characters with the drunken nobility of Steinbeck's 'boys,' not to mention a healthy dose of gonzo angst. What results is a wanton misadventure that often flips from laughter to tears on a dime. Bukowski and his ilk might appreciate this oddball version of the hero's journey, soaked in beer and melancholia.\" ―\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"For readers who prefer madcap to claptrap, quixotic pranks to neurotic angst, Poe Ballantine is a literary tonic: Bittersweet, potent, and peculiarly entertaining. Poe Ballantine is the most soulful, insightful, funny, and altogether luminous 'under-known' writer in America. He knocks my socks off, even when I’m barefoot.\" —Tom Robbins, author of \u003ci\u003eTibetan Peach Pie\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eWhirlaway\u003c\/i\u003e is a fever dream of my favorite things: horse racing, records, booze, insanity, and women. What a strange and crazed comedic ride. Ballantine’s writing is like no other.\" —Willy Vlautin, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Free\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Like David Sedaris, he is an American outsider with insane comedic and storytelling gifts.\" —Marion Wink, author of \u003ci\u003eAbove Us Only Sky\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ballantine’s writing is secure insecurity at its best, muscular and minimal, self-deprecating on the one hand, full of the self’s soul on the other.\" —Lauren Slater, author of \u003ci\u003eLying\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003ePOE BALLANTINE\u003c\/b\u003e currently lives in Chadron, Nebraska. His work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Sun\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKenyon Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Coal City Review\u003c\/i\u003e. In addition to garnering numerous Pushcart and O. Henry nominations, Mr. Ballantine's work has been included in the anthologies \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Short Stories 1998\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Essays 2006\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Hawthorne Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48532226605285,"sku":"NP9780997068399","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780997068399.jpg?v=1773183122","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/whirlaway-isbn-9780997068399","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}