Signal Hill

by Alan Rifkin

Book Overview

Five stories track boys and men as they navigate among the ghosts and mirages of greater Los Angeles. Rifkin's male protagonists are part fuck-up, part primal force, and full of longing--for fathers,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0872864243
• ISBN13: 9780872864245
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: City Lights Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

An absorbing window into dispirited lives

Signal Hill Stories is an outstanding anthology showcasing of five original short stories revolving around the boys and men of Los Angeles by Alan Rifkin. Each deftly written tale is filled with longing for something seemingly unreachable, whether for a parental figure, the drive for sex, or the desire to simply get life right. Signal Hill Stories is an absorbing window into dispirited lives and the quest for meaning amidst the ghosts of a multifaceted and often deceptive urban sprawl. The stories comprising this outstanding compendium include: "The Honor System"; "The Idols of Sickness"; "Sonority"; "After the Divorce"; and the title story, "Signal Hill".

The Inner Landscape of LA

Rifkin can write a sentence like no one since Henry James. The movement and rhythm of his prose suggests the style of a craftsman mixed with the touch of one inspired. The book is not just great technically, though. It's also funny (witness the scene where Richard Leviton gives himself a haircut), moving, and poignant, sometimes all in the same scene.The thing that stands out above all else is the sense that even though all the people Rifkin portrays are firmly grounded--in the Valley, in the desert, in Signal Hill--they're all completely lost in the mindscape that is the real geography of LA. This is the book's great revelation and what will keep readers intrigued as the make their way through the pages as well as interested in coming back to the book again and again.

Very moving

I was deeply struck as I read the four stories and novella that comprise Alan Rifkin's Signal Hill at how in touch with the human experience the author is. His stories are filled with gentle touches of characters' self deprecating humor, as they realize, through loss, regret, and occasional momentary triumphs, how precious, while maddening, everyday life can be. He gave me a whole new appreciation for Long Beach and its hilltop neighbor, Signal Hill, these good-hearted provincial outposts of the big city that looms just up the Harbor Freeway. His stories remind me of some of the best of Philip Roth's early works. I look forward to reading more revelation from Mr. Rifkin.