Stomp

by Nicholas van Pelt

Book Overview

A high drama of jeopardy, sexual tension, ideas and fate. It is autumn 1957 and change is afoot. Camus wins the Nobel Prize for Literature; and in the half desert of Northeastern Oregon, high school... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312865252
• ISBN13: 9780312865252
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 285 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.7" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An overlooked gem!

I actually came across my copy of this book when I worked for my college newspaper. I read it cover to cover and absolutely loved it! This book is a wonderful flashback of teenage life in the 1950's, and yet so much more. It's a love story. It's a sexy peak at teenage romance. It's funny. It's a thriller. It's worth reading, so just buy it.

this is the best book

i loved this book even though it was the first book that i read with sex and stuff in it it was awesome i was only 15 when i read it and i have read it a couple more times since then. i reccomend this book to anyone who likes scary and suspenfilled stories.

'Stomp' kicks butt

Author Nicholas van Pelt's existentialist romp through Ray "Skeeter" Hawkins' circle of life is a must-read for anyone whose high school memories are cluttered with loneliness and angst. The summer of '57 is giving way to fall in Umatilla, Oregon, when the gorgeous Angie Boudreau and her considerable baggage blow into town, transforming Skeets' life in ways he never could have imagined. Skeets is something of a loner, thanks in no small part to his being a late bloomer. While his sexual encounters are many in number, his only partner to date has been himself -- unless you count the pinups on the pages of his girlie mags. His two greatest attributes as an Umatilla High athlete are that he's small and slow. Despite this less-than-glowing resume, Skeets gets the girl -- and much more than he bargained for when Billy Karady, the conflicted star running back of the undefeated Umatilla Vikings, can't control his jealousy. What ensues is a vicious cycle of events that seems somehow more suited to the hellbent '90s than the idyllic '50s. Van Pelt's novel is one of people haunted by their realities and the choices they've made -- the very same choices that make life worth living. Check it out.

A well written nineties look at the fifties existentialism

In 1957, high school student Ray "Skeeter" Hawkins meets exotic beauty Angie Boudreau. The duo fall in love while worshipping the works of Albert Camus. Meanwhile, the school's football star Billy Karady expects Angie to react to his top jock status by allowing him to come inside her pants as most of the coeds have done. Instead, she rejects Billy, and barely escapes a rape attempt by him. No one but Skeeter believes her accusations, especially since Billy can get any girl he wants. Skeeter is too much of an intellect and too small in size to confront his girl friend's adversary, who seems to be stalking the loving couple. Soon, an apparent serial rapist places the small town under siege. Angie and Skeeter assume Billy is the culprit and try to make sure he is arrested for the crimes. Over the subsequent four decades, Skeeter fears that Billy will catch up to him to avenge his actions when they were teens in Umadilla, Oregon. STOMP is a strange tale that takes a nineties look at the fifties existentialist movement. The story line is often humorous and filled with small town fervor. As with THE MONGOOSE MAN, Nicholas van Pelt shows he can scribe an intriguing book that readers who enjoy something a bit different will devour. Fans of Sartre and Camus will not want to remain strangers to this novel.Harriet Klausner