Hick [Paperback]

Andrea Portes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2007

Though its first-person narrating voice is fast-paced, powerful and unquestionably authentic, Hick is a debut novel. Beyond this voice, what makes the book so extraordinary is that, although all of the worst things imaginable do befall this 13-year-old girl, she is never defeated by them. Luli always fights back; she always resurfaces. Set as a coming-of-age novel, Hick tracks the real perils that modern teenagers so often face. And it does so with bright wit, energy, and an indomitable spirit. This is a book that will grab the reader from the first page and not let go. And it is written by a woman who is becoming a cultural force in the hippest parts of Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Portes's chilling debut tracks a 13-year-old Nebraska girl's hard-going life on the road. Young Luli knows losers—her "aging Brigitte Bardot" mother, Tammy, and her father, Nick, go at each other every night at the Alibi, the watering hole in hometown Palmyra, Neb. Tammy runs away one morning, and Nick soon follows, leaving Luli alone at home with the Smith and Wesson .45 her Uncle Nipper gave her. Pistol in tow, she hitches rides heading west to Vegas. A crooked man (literally; he "looks like an italic," says smart-alecky Luli) named Eddie picks her up briefly before throwing her out of the car. Next comes cocaine-snorting grifter Glenda, who enlists Luli as an accessory to a robbery that goes awry. Glenda takes Luli under her wing. The two cross paths again with Eddie, who rapes Luli and ties her up in a secluded motel. Glenda comes to her rescue, but the confrontation with Eddie ends badly. Luli's flippant narration makes for a love-it or hate-it read. (May)
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About the Author

Andrea Portes grew up in rural Nebraska, later shuffling between Illinois, Texas, Brazil, North Dakota and North Carolina before attending Bryn Mawr College. She received her MFA from UC San Diego and became a script reader for Paramount Pictures. She now lives in Los Angeles and is a nightlife columnist for several websites. Hick is her first novel.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Unbridled Books; First Edition edition (April 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932961321
• ISBN-13: 978-1932961324
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #981,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Great Debut, May 8, 2007

By 

K. Landow (Denver) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hick (Paperback)

I loved this book. It's dark and gives you a lot to think about, even months after finishing it. Portes is a gifted writer and I can't wait to read more. Perfect for book groups--that is, book groups who like darker reads. If you like Virgin Suicides (the book, not the movie), read "Hick."

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "I got something that's gonna throw me straight into the sun.", April 17, 2007

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hick (Paperback)

To be the child of two drunks at thirteen is to be an adult, aged by the need to survive the very parents charged with your well-being. Luli McMullen knows this drama inside-out, tired of being caught in the middle as her parents slowly self-destruct. In this paean to lost-between-the-cracks children, Luli tries to make sense of a chaotic life, her circumstances weighing heavily on too-slender shoulders. When both parents descend into the madness of alcoholism in a tortured marriage, the child exists on small fantasies and macaroni and cheese. And those are the good days. Everything is measured by the number of drinks consumed, violence escalating by the hour, until one day, her father driving into the sunset and her mother gone with yet another man, Luli takes their example and heads for the road. What she finds on her journey isn't much better than what she left behind, the world outside her door just as cold and uncaring.

Leaving Nebraska with her thumb in the air, the first ride Luli accepts is a challenge. Acting tough and provocative, the teen is soon booted to the curb, thinking it just as well, the driver, Eddie Kreezer, too close to crazy for comfort. Next Luli hitches a ride with the world-weary Glenda, a coke-sniffing hustler on a mission and a deadline she doesn't care to explain. While Glenda appears trustworthy, at least not as dangerous as other options, Luli becomes more wary with each passing day, unable to trust this woman's motives any more than her own mother's inconsistencies. Holding herself together with street-smart dignity, the child watches and waits, adapting to the needs of the moment; unfortunately, her best interests are never the issue, as Eddie Kreezer comes back into the picture, an associate of the enigmatic and blustery Glenda. Luli finds no purchase in this nether-world either, drawn into a sordid situation that rapidly spirals into violence.

Written from a teen's perspective, the young protagonist is her own best defender, a tough little survivor who sees early on that her life choices are limited by virtue of her birth. The cozy security most people take for granted is never a given in Luli's world. Even after the nightmarish road trip in search of a better life, head held high, the girl realizes the limitations she faces. Like the innocent, damaged girl in Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina, Luli refuses to be cowed by her experiences, at thirteen already measuring an uncertain future: "Maybe something happened somewhere along the way, something mean and unforgiving". Luan Gaines/2007.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fast Track to the Adult World, April 21, 2007

By 

Jeffrey A. Tipton - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hick (Paperback)

There probably was a time in the U.S. when parents read books to their kids at night; a time when people really cared about their neighbors and children said their prayers before bed. Luli is America gone wrong personified; hanging in there, but the thread is getting weaker everyday. Hick is the coming of age novel for our twisted times and is a spirited read.

Jeffrey Tipton