We just received another wonderful review of Sun City on the Midwest Review and Donovan's Recommended Reading.
Sun City: A Hilariously Addictive Story of Rebellion is a humorous coming-of-age novel that incorporates many elements in its romp through Irving Mills' life, from a mother who likes to set his alarm clock for an ungodly hour to clog-dancer Wiccans, genetically engineered government pot seeds, and genius baker Betty Crocker.
Matthew Minson whips up a formula for disaster, irony, and fun as teen involvements segue into various disparate elements both nefarious and innocent.
As the lives of sixty-year-old farmer Cal (whose beloved farm has been sold out from under him by well-meaning adult children intent on seeing him safe in a Sun City enclave for the elderly), Irving, and Betty (a "genius with a spice rack") coalesce, readers receive a hilarious story that charts the process of rebellion in disparate lives.
Minson's ability to create not just one or two, but a cast of characters who each harbor a zany sense of rebellion contributes to a multifaceted story that attracts on many different levels.
At the same time, it's a tale that lives up to its subtitle and defies pat categorization. Coming-of-age readers will find far more involved than a boy and a girl's shenanigans. Readers of stories about elderly rebellion will find much to appreciate in Cal Yarbough's madcap encounters with Betty Crocker, Wild Bill, and other unexpectedly lively characters in his new home.
Looking for intrigue? It's here, in the form of a mob boss in the witness protection program and a former CIA operative who sports a new passion for counterculture ideals.
Any semblance of familiar traits, routines, and progression are turned on end because the lively tale excels in unexpected routes. Its characters could, under another hand, have represented staid stereotypes, but here they assume whimsical and engaging countenances that defy the norm.
The result is a novel that is compellingly, unexpectedly vivid in its contrasts between youth, old age, and disparate choices that have unexpected results.
Libraries looking for novels that successfully work outside the formulas of suspense, humor, coming-of-age, or end-of-life scenarios will relish the fresh, original countenance of Sun City's special, creatively powerful form of rebellion against convention.
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