Customer Reviews

Point Dume: A Novel

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I've read all of Arnoldi's books, and this one is by far the most narrative and - while still maintaining all her depth and literary heft - readable. Her first book, "Chemical Pink," might turn off some with its subculture kink and hard-to-like characters, and the second, "The Wentworths," has a bit of the same (I loved them both, and so do many reviewers and fans, but I can see where others might struggle). With "Point Dume," Arnoldi has painted a broader sweep of the landscape, cross-cutting among diverse stories and characters, with what I think are her first truly sympathetic characters. The narrative arcs are less brief and the worlds more varied, yet they all weave together into a vision of Southern California and, larger still, our global village. It's a beautiful, truthful, page-turning book, and captures Malibu and its denizens, past and present, with a deft, sharp pen. I recommend it highly and am delighted to predict from Arnoldi's growth over the course of her first three novels that she will be one of our important American authors.

I am not as enthusiastic about this book as some of the other readers appear to be, judging by their reviews. Though I enjoyed it to some degree and it was a quick read, it just didn't really come together for me. There are certainly some interesting themes, but I felt the characters were rather thinly drawn and a little one-dimensional. The most poignant theme for me was the sad demise of what once was, by all accounts, a nice little coastal community. Having experienced this first-hand in another coastal town a bit north of the one in the book, I could relate to Arnoldi's description of the slow death of any remnant of authenticity that a place undergoes when surfing becomes the new tennis and property values soar beyond the reach of the lower and middle classes. This contrast of lives lived in Point Dume was the thematic juxtaposition that made the book interesting despite the lack of well-developed or sympathetic characters.

Someone once said that there are two kinds of writers. The first kind paints a common picture and puts it in an elaborate frame. The second kind of author paints an uncommon picture and puts it in a simple frame.

If that's true then Katie Arnoldi falls into the second group along with other California writers like John Steinbeck and Raymond Chandler. It's her characters and the ways that their lives become intertwined that makes 'Point Dume' such enjoyable reading. Arnoldi's dry wit adds spice to the novel. It's a suspenseful, funny, and sexy book.

Set in modern day Malibu, 'Point Dume' delivers much more than it promises. It's both entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. It kept me up late at night because once I started reading it I simply didn't want to put the book down.

Arnoldi's latest book, POINT DUME, gloriously and surprisingly combines the page-turning entertainment factor of a summery beach read with the serious topics, deeply-felt characters, and complex themes of the best literary fiction. Her prodigious research (documented in her blog and elsewhere) brings a reality to this novel that becomes deeply shattering as we follow these characters to their surprising, yet somehow inevitable, conclusions. Graceful, thoughtful, and with her trademark lean-and-clean prose, Arnoldi's third novel is hilarious, heartbreaking, tragic, and smart as hell. Transported by this novel, you feel the salt spray of the Pacific, and smell the pungent aroma of Pablo's Blueberry Madness, (or is something else burning?) and you may be unable to decide -- are you really there with Ellis at Point Dume, or are you just reading about it?

Surfers, stoners, yuppies, yoga moms, disgruntle locals, and Mexican drug cartels - Southern California's costal small towns will never be the same. Katie Arnoldi uses them all as characters in her novel, Point Dume, to portray not only the ever changing demographics. But the insidious underbelly of the cross border narcotics trade, and the loss of natural habitat to the nouveau riche. The cartels are growing pot in our foothills. The yuppies are buying up the land and building hideous mansions. And driven by high prices the locals are selling out and leaving. Nothing stays the same and unfortunately it's the land that takes the brunt of the assault and devastation. Arnoldi weaves a beautiful story - her characters take turns telling their tales, each to their own chapters - and their intertwining relationships fuel the fires that lead to an intense finale.

I was completely enthralled by Arnoldi's latest novel. The insider's view of nouveau-riche Malibu, conflicts within Surf Culture, and Mexican Drug cartels was fascinating. The characters are complex and compelling -- and often very funny. Janice had me laughing out loud. The web of storylines is skillfully woven and builds to a suspenseful climax. I can't think of a more perfect summer book to take to the beach!

I grew up in the area that Ms. Arnoldi used as the staging for her novel. I was quite impressed by the accuracy that she conveyed in this piece. Ms. Arnoldi's insight, although fiction, has an uncanny truth. I thought the work was thoroughly enjoyable and have recommended it to all of my friends that read. Eagerly waiting for her next novel. I believe we have another Kem Nunn in our midst.

The rest of the world has discovered Point Dume, and that doesn't make 35-year-old Ellis Gardner happy. Not at all. For as long as anyone can remember, Ellis has been the queen of the local surfing scene, the rare female who can keep up with her male counterparts in every way. She still has her private oceanside cottage and her inherited fortune, which means that she'll never have to let work get in the way of her surfing time. But she has lost her view, tarnished now with yuppie mansions and hobby vineyards, "back to the land" projects of disenchanted businessmen like Frank Bane.

Ellis is sleeping with Frank but despises herself for it, even as part of her enjoys the hold she has over him. Meanwhile, Frank's wife Janice, along with a dozen or more women like her, is sleeping with Ellis's friend-with-benefits Pablo, the pot supplier of choice to the area's bored but doped-up housewives. Sound like a dysfunctional community? A recipe for disaster? You'd be right.

Behind all this "Desperate Housewives" meets Blue Crush drama is the drug-growing economy that supplies pot poacher Pablo with his best bud. The Mexican drug cartels, daunted by post-9/11 improvements to border security, have solved that problem by secretly planting acres of marijuana fields in public and private lands throughout the American West, including Frank's own backyard vineyard. The growers pack military-grade weaponry and use industrial-strength pesticides on their crops --- and, by extension, in the nearby ocean. Personal tragedies constantly lurk around the edges of POINT DUME, but none so poignant as that of Felix Duarte, an idealistic young Mexican man drawn to the States by the promise of a better life for his family back home, inspired by the amorous response of his girlfriend to earn money so he can marry her. But heat, stress and isolation soon take their toll, and Felix's dreams of a better world are swallowed by troubling hallucinations.

The chapters of POINT DUME focus on the various players in this tragicomic story: Ellis, Pablo, Frank, Janice and Felix. The chronology moves from spring to summer to fall, when, as Ellis reminds us, "Santa Anas signaled the end of summer." The Santa Ana winds, and the wildfires they often fuel, portend the characters' crises flaring up, but they also, perhaps, foretell a chance at a return to Ellis's ideals, another chance at a simpler beginning.

In her acknowledgments at the end of the novel, Katie Arnoldi makes it clear that part of the purpose of POINT DUME is to shed light on the problems of environmental degradation resulting from the U.S. government's drug policies and the Mexican drug cartels' tactics. Certainly anyone who has read a newspaper carefully over the past several years is aware of these concerns on at least some level. Where POINT DUME shines is in its ability to put a human face on these ripped-from-the-headlines circumstances. Arnoldi's characters are broadly drawn, to be sure, but she gives each of them a certain humanity, their stories a poignant urgency, that will draw readers in to this interdependent community and not let them go.

As a reader of Point Dume, I found this story of the surf culture and drug cartels situated in the idyllic setting of Point Dume in Malibu to be a captivating page-turner, impossible to put down. The several plot lines represented by five main characters were expertly woven into intricate twists and turns, in which lives overlapped with surprising consequences. Each of Katie Arnoldi's characters was significantly developed, so you felt yourself fully drawn into experiencing an emotional reaction to each - the signs of a truly great author!
What intrigued me most was the in-depth development and analysis that permeated this excellent work. It was profoundly apparent that Katie Arnoldi had thoroughly researched the various aspects of the surf culture, the drug cartels, and Point Dume. As a reader, I found the authenticity of Katie Arnoldi's book heightened the reading experience - she built into a fascinating read, enough information to provoke thoughtful contemplation of the issues prevalent in current day society.
What an enjoyable book, what provocative subjects! A must read!

A timely consideration of colliding cultures and economies, this is a fascinating read, with numerous unlikely intersections of narratives. As a So-Cal native, I was particularly moved by the character of Point Dume itself, who's growth and development are mirrored here by the invasive species of plants being harvested just a few miles away. This is in many ways Arnoldi's most complex and satisfying book.