Driving Sideways: A Novel (Paperback)

by Jess Riley (Author)
Key Phrases: driving sideways, Fuzzy Navels, Frontier Days, Las Vegas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This seemingly endless road trip novel has the potential to become a thrill ride, but it makes too many wrong turns and never gets above low gear. After receiving a kidney transplant, 28-year-old Leigh Fielding notices some strange developments: sudden interests in, for instance, graphic novels, kayaking and ethnic food. Convinced she's channeling the spirit of her donor, Larry Resnick, Leigh decides to go on an Unfinished Business Tour, visiting her best friend, an ex-boyfriend and her mother, and tracking down Larry's family. The notion of Leigh inheriting Larry's traits and tastes is explored amusingly and a few surprises pop up (a supposedly stranded teenage girl among them), but Riley puts too much stock in Leigh's voice, which, while sometimes funny, is too self-involved to leave much room for the reader. This particular trip is too long and exhausting for its own good. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Leigh Fielding was diagnosed with kidney disease and recently received a transplant. Since then, she’s been trying all kinds of new things and comes to believe that she’s channeling the donor, Larry. She decides to leave her central Wisconsin home for a road trip to meet Larry’s family and see if he’s anything like the new personality she has acquired. Things go awry at the Minnesota border when a teenage girl named Denise steals Leigh’s purse and uses it to blackmail Leigh into giving her a ride to L.A. On the way they visit classic tourist traps and try to stay out of trouble, especially since Denise claims that it’s her crazy ex in the black sedan that seems to be following them. Leigh’s road trip continues, embracing both highs and lows, alternately hilarious, humiliating, and heartbreaking, often within the same sentence. Smart and funny without being forced, sentimental without being maudlin, Riley’s funny, picaresque vision of America will make readers wish they could go along with Leigh on her next trip. --Hilary Hatton

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345501101
• ISBN-13: 978-0345501103
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #249,192 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drive Yourself to the Bookstore To Buy This Book!, August 11, 2008

By	Neil and Tracy "www.bookroomreviews.com & www... (IA) - See all my reviews

I flat out loved this book! First, Jess Riley's writing is so witty and clever I was chuckling to myself throughout Driving Sideways. Second, I fell in love with the character of Leigh and her friends, especially Denise. I think I loved Leigh because she is like me in a lot of ways. She is full of useless pop culture information. She is also scared of branching out on her own and this trip she goes on is a big step for her and in turn becomes a life changing experience. The ending is like life in that it is not wrapped up in a perfect bow but is truly fitting. Driving Sideways is full of adventure, humor, hope and most of all love. It will make you want to grab your best friend and go for an adventure and experience this wonderful life that we have.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From S. Krishna's Books, September 5, 2008

By	skrishna (http://www.skrishnasbooks.com) - See all my reviews

Twenty-eight-year-old Leigh Fielding has a new chance at life thanks to Larry Resnick, a man she's never met - or more precisely, thanks to Larry's kidney. After five years on dialysis, Leigh is given the gift of a new kidney and a renewed sense of optimism; after all, for a long time she thought she wouldn't see her thirtieth birthday. Inspired by Larry and his gift, Leigh does what anyone who has been hooked up to a machine three days a week would want to do - she gets out of her hometown of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

A road trip seems like the perfect way to start her new life. Planning out stops along the way (visiting friends Meg and Jillian, dropping in unannounced on Larry's grandmother to thank her for his gift and find out more about him), her ultimate destination is California. There her mother disappeared to when she left Leigh, her brother, James, and their father, who killed himself about a year later. However, along the way, something unexpected happens - Leigh picks up a hitchhiker. Seventeen-year-old Denise is a runaway from her foster home, hiding from a bad boyfriend. She asks Leigh to take her along to California and Leigh, feeling daring with her new lease on life, agrees to the companionship, though she doesn't entirely trust Denise. Together they embark on a hilarious and unforgettable journey across the country and find parts of themselves scattered along the way.

Driving Sideways is charming, insightful, and wonderfully funny. It is a story of self-discovery and loss, of hope and despair. The characters are incredibly well-written, and it is easy to sympathize with their stories. Though Leigh has had renal failure, she doesn't dwell in this place of darkness. Instead, she is irreverent and whimsical, only wanting the chance to live. After all, the doctors told her that the new kidney isn't a cure - it is simply a treatment that may fail in time. Leigh is careful with her new kidney, not taking any chances that might put Larry in harm's way. Sometimes that is the hardest part of reading a novel like this, watching the protagonist head down a spiral that is certain to lead to their own destruction (I can have just one drink, I'll be okay). The reader sees it, the other characters in the book see it, yet it happens anyways - frustrating and unpleasant to read. The fact that Leigh actually takes her sickness seriously and, while tempted, does not stray from her strict diet and healthy lifestyle is refreshing and a welcome change in novels in general.

The most appealing aspect of Driving Sideways would have to be Jess Riley's sense of humor. The novel is witty and fun with more than a few laugh-out-loud parts. Though it is about a very long roadtrip, the narrative itself doesn't drag butt goes quickly; Riley keeps readers interested (and amused) through the twists and turns of the roads that Leigh finds herself upon. The novel has a lot of heart and emotion, but it is never cheesy or sappy, demonstrative of Riley's talent as a writer. She manages to touch her readers and evoke the emotions she wants them to feel without telling them to do so. It is a mark of her ability to write sympathetic and believable characters that the reader really does care about.

Driving Sideways is a winning debut novel and is a wonderful showcase of Jess Riley's talent as an author. Whether her next book is a sequel to her first or an entirely new story, I will be first in line to see what else she can do with her impressive capacity as a writer.

Originally published at Curled Up With a Good Book

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put it down!, August 13, 2008

By	Patricia Gamble "Tricia G." (Anchorage, AK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book because I also I have PKD and wanted to know more about the disease from someone experiencing it in a sence. I could not put it down it was funny in all the right spots and sooo spot on. I picked this book up to read a couple chapters before bed, It's 6:41am I just finished it, guess I can head to bed now!