Money, Love: A Novel [Hardcover]

Brad Barkley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2000

An irresistible comic novel about a quixotic door-to-door salesman and his teenage son--with cameo appearances by Mr. Clean, James Dean, and Miss North Carolina 1970. Ever since Gabe Strickland can remember, his father, Roman, has believed in the sale: in that magical moment on the customer's porch, the deal about to close. Everything, claims Roman, has its price--be it Bible, lawn chair, or household cleaner. And the next opportunity to get rich lies just around the corner. But with every success comes an equally memorable failure, and Gabe's mother, Gladys, is tired of waiting for a life where the bills get paid on time. Thus in the summer of 1975 she leaves Roman for his brother Dutch, a wealthy car dealer as steady as Roman is unpredictable. Confident he can find a way to win Gladys back, Roman recruits sixteen-year-old Gabe into one outlandish scheme after another, culminating in a barnstorming tour of carnivals and state fairs in which Roman, Gabe, financier Vic Comstock, and Dutch's beauty-queen ex-wife, Sandy Goforth, sell tickets to see the Death Cars of Celebrities up close. In this funny, poignant novel, full of richly drawn characters and everyday insanity, Gabe finds his own truth somewhere between Roman's dreaming and Gladys's stability; and he realizes that love is, ultimately, the one thing that can't be bought or sold.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Barkley's sweetly comic debut novel (following a collection of short stories, Circle View) is a coming-of-age story tied to the motif of American ambition and failure. Set in North Carolina in 1975 (in the aftermath of Nixon resignation), the theme is personified in the character of traveling salesman Roman Strickland, a kind of happy-go-lucky Willlie Loman. Narrator Gabe Strickland, Roman's 16-year-old son, has watched his family muddle through so many financial crises he no longer worries when his father blows a big assignment. Gabe knows that, somehow, his parents' love and Roman's tenacity will see them through. But when Roman lands in jail for refusing to take no for an answer, wife Gladys has finally had enough. Tired of the uncertainty of a salesman's paycheck, she bails Roman out, then simply bails, moving in with his brother (and arch rival) Dutch, a dependable, successful car dealer. The tale centers on Roman's extravagant, misguided attempts to win Gladys back, from a poetry contest rigged to ensure that Gladys will place first, to a successful traveling roadshow of Celebrity Death Cars, intended to impress Gladys, featuring Gabe dressed as James Dean and Dutch's beauty-queen ex-wife dressed as Jayne Mansfield. Roman believes that money equals love (the book's title comes from a Howlin' Wolf lyric that concludes ,"No money, no love"), and he's convinced Gladys will return once he's as rich as Dutch. Despite the eccentric cast of characters, it is Roman himself who emerges as the book's most iconic figure, always optimistic and always tragically behind the times. Gabe struggles to find his own equilibrium, somewhere between Roman's colorfully romantic philosophy and Dutch's sturdy pragmatism. Despite a tendency to draw his characters with broad strokes, predicting Gabe's choice to seek some middle ground between Roman and Dutch, Barkley's entertaining story provides humor and poignancy in equal measure. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Gabe Strickland is the 16-year-old narrator of this wacky, offbeat first novel about a dysfunctional family. He is determined to get his salesman father, Roman, back together with his long-suffering mother, Gladys. Gabe's father is a very likable characterDhe is passionate about his profession and loves both his wife and son deeply. Unfortunately, he also has a fondness for get-rich-quick schemes and stubbornly refuses to take a job that would provide the family with a steady income. The novel centers on Roman's comic and wildly improbable schemes to win Gladys back. This is a novel rich in detail and character (Seventies music, vintage cars, Miss North Carolina 1970), but it is not without its weaknesses. The plotting, even for a comic novel, occasionally strains credulity, and Gabe's dawning appreciation for the complexities of adulthood might be more fully realized. Overall, however, this is an enjoyable read. Recommended for libraries with large fiction collections.DPatrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1ST edition (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393049299
• ISBN-13: 978-0393049299
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,006,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I grew up in North Carolina where I still visit a few times a year. After that, I have lived on the coast of Maryland, the mountains of Arkansas, the coast of North Carolina (again), and the mountains of Maryland (again). A pattern emerges. Besides Scrambled Eggs At Midnight, I am the author of two novels and two story collections for adults. I have also co-authored (with Heather Hepler) Dream Factory and Jars of Glass. To learn more about my work, please visit www.bradbarkley.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous book! Hated to see it end., October 31, 2000

By 

"kcack3" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Money, Love: A Novel (Hardcover)

The seventies were a blurr in my memory until Mr. Barkley's phenomenal debut novel brought them vividly back to me. You'll love these characters and empathize with them as they struggle to discover themselves in the rugged and unpredictable territory that lies between money and love. This novel is a rare combination of pleasure and profundity, and I wanted it to go on forever. Brad Barkley develops characters and scenes with a wise eye, a wicked wit, and a warm understanding. I can't wait for his next novel!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lively, flat-out funny first novel, July 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Money, Love: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is quick paced, funny and full of characters that leap off the page. The narrator, an acerbic sixteen year old facing his parents' separation, gives the story its focus, but the real charm is in Roman, the boy's father, a traveling salesman who is dynamic and flawed but never dull. A great first novel, not to be missed. Barkley makes a strong debut. Highly recommended!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best of 2000, December 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Money, Love: A Novel (Hardcover)

In its review of this book, the Washington Post compared Money, Love to Huck Finn, giving the newer novel points for both its comic strengths and the rich texture of its characters. The Post got this one right. This is simply one of the best novels I have read this year, and the best first novel I've read in a number of years. I am perplexed at the one or two readers who complain of a lack of plot; so much happens over the course of the novel that it would be all but impossible to summarize here. Perhaps one of the other reviewers is right, that some readers look only for "action" and miss the deeper subtleties of a novel like Money, Love. In any case, this is the kind of book you read for the fullness and complexity of the characters, not for the hooks of plot. The characters here--Roman and Gabe, Dutch and Gladys, Sandy Goforth and Vic Comstock--take up residence in your mind and memory and remain there, long after you've finished the last page and closed the cover. And, as other reviewers have pointed out so well, the book manages to be quite funny without straining credibility, and quite moving without mawkishness. A terrific book, one that I will return to soon.