Pop Salvation: A Novel [Paperback]

Lance Reynald (Author)

Book Description

Series: P.S. | Publication Date: June 23, 2009

Caleb Watson is not like the other children at his Washington, D.C., private school. Having skipped a grade—and being younger and smaller than the rest of the boys—he finds that his Southern accent and sensitive, reserved nature set him even further apart. Caleb simply does not belong.

But on a field trip to the art museum, Caleb discovers his hero—his icon—when he is exposed to the art of Andy Warhol. In the beauty of the things that don't fit, in the art and philosophy of Pop plus the glorious camp of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its creatures of the night, Caleb will find sanctuary, transforming himself and the eccentric friends he meets along the way into his own little version of Warhol's Factory.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this idiosyncratic bildungsroman set to a Britpop beat, an effeminate teenage boy coming of age in the '80s finds salvation in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and, especially, Andy Warhol. Born in Texas but raised in Washington, D.C., where he attends a series of exclusive private schools, Caleb Watson grows up feeling different until a seventh-grade field trip to the Hirshhorn Museum proves a life-altering experience when he is mesmerized by Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe's Lips. He quickly changes his appearance to resemble his new idol and begins to make Warhol-style movies with a crew of his own, including the beautiful Aaron, who is Caleb's partner in gay exploration; Sonia, his own personal Edie Sedgwick; and Brit, a young Marilyn look-alike and Rocky Horror aficionado who is really a runaway boy. Unfortunately, Caleb's story—his experiments with acid, suicide and sexual fetish—lacks cumulative dramatic power. Instead, the novel works best as a series of snapshots of the glammy 1980s and a depiction of the teenage outcasts who made Georgetown their hangout. (July)
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From Booklist

For Caleb Watson, Andy Warhol is the end-all of icons: intelligent, perceptive, and, most importantly, in possession of an enactable philosophy. So it’s nearly inevitable when Caleb begins recruiting his friends to participate in his own high-school version of Warhol’s Factory, taking artistic nude photos of one another and making long, observational documentary films with descriptive titles like Blow Job and Drugs. Foremost among Caleb’s “superstars” is Aaron, a beautiful and sensitive boy whose attraction to Caleb, though mutual, is kept at a clinical arm’s length. The fellow experimenters soon become runaways and vagabonds and find a new community of like-minded cross-dressers at a weekly interactive screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Reynald’s debut novel has the confessional feel of a memoir, and that rescues the proceedings from bogging down in the drug addiction, sexual suffering, and suicide attempts that would otherwise feel all too predictable. In the end, Caleb’s journey is one of forging his own identity apart from Warhol and Rocky, but it’s his obsession with these characters that readers will find most fascinating. --Daniel Kraus

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Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Original edition (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061672971
• ISBN-13: 978-0061672972
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,043,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

thus far...

Born in Texas, He is the only son of his parents brief marriage. Raised by his father and stepmother in Washington,DC he spent his childhood years shuffled through several private schools in the DC area, always finding himself on the outside of the grammar school social scene. Briefly attended workshops at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop and the Corcoran School of Art. Attended liberal arts classes at Georgetown University, taking particular interest in theology and literature. Impatient with the structure of academia he supported himself with a series of odd jobs over the years. He has sold chocolates, fetish apparel, worked as a photostylist, makeup artist, barista, stockboy, art framer, telemarketer, hair designer, product consultant for cosmetics, freelance interviewer and contributing writer for online zines and may even rank as the worst waiter you've ever had (that gig only lasted two weeks, it was a pathetic attempt at hospitality services).

He has traveled extensively and is most comfortable with one carryon bag and a valid passport; stylishly vagabonding. Over the years he has briefly set the bag down in NYC, Paris, Madrid, Montreal, Santa Fe, Boulder, Toronto and for the moment Portland, Oregon.

Mr. Reynald has an affinity for vanilla lattes, dirty martinis, the works of Faulkner, Kerouac and Burroughs, the smell of imported cigarettes in fine woolens, the photography of Doisneau and Brassai and what some regard as the worst taste in early 80s Brit Pop.

He also likes Krylon black spraypaint in an assortment of finishes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars unique spin on the coming of age story, June 27, 2009

By 

CL "hendecam" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pop Salvation: A Novel (Paperback)

In this unique coming of age tale set in the 1980s, young Caleb Watson finds himself a social outcast at his school in Washington, D.C. He knows he's different from the other boys in school but not exactly sure how or why. Bullied to no end, he finally finds the escape he needs through the world of Pop Art, specifically with Andy Warhol. Soon, he emulates his idol and drastically changes his appearance, giving the kids at school a more tangible reason to make fun of him.

When a new kid, Aaron, arrives at school, the two, both outcasts in their own way, slowly become best friends. Before long, Aaron becomes Caleb's muse, but their developing relationship raises questions neither boy seems ready to answer. As Caleb dives more into his world of art, he meets a cast of characters along the way, creating his own little Warhol scene.

As Caleb and his friends experiment sexually and with drugs, they sometimes confront grave consequences. They find solace in their art and through the institute that is the legendary midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but the freedom they discover leads each of them down a different path.

At times heartbreaking, I couldn't put this novel down. While it's a tragic tale in many ways, the end is more hopeful for Caleb. By the close of the story, we're left awestruck by how much he's grown from a confused boy emulating Andy Warhol to a grown man ready to be himself for a change.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Can Make You A Man, January 9, 2010

By 

Simon N. Smithson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pop Salvation: A Novel (Paperback)

Growing up off the beaten path, a young man finds his guiding lights in Andy Warhol, pop art, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. This is a window into a world of people trying to find what they carry inside of them by comparing the edges of it with what they find outside of them, and not always getting it right.

Pop Salvation contains elements of queer theory, gender construction, pop art, 80s nostalgia, and, of course, the rise and rise of Andy Warhol. Reynald touches on his subjects with a deceptively deft touch, making it easy to forget just how easy it is to get caught up in the lives of his characters. Until, of course, the inevitable crunches come.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars rich kid's basketball diaries, July 25, 2009

By 

Matthew Arnold "author of The Shattered Silen... (Pacific Northwest USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pop Salvation: A Novel (Paperback)

This novel was too seeped in rich kid angst and the associated privileged indulgences for my liking. Admittedly, the themes in the novel do not resonate with me; specifically gender identity struggles, gay exploration and prostitution of youth and the angst of growing up rich and privileged. For those who this has appeal, this will be an enjoyable read for sure. It is written utilizing a very simple style that does give it strong voice.

I felt that it lacked the grittiness and depth that would have strengthened the novel. At times the story propels so abruptly as though the writer was in a great hurry to get from one part to the other without navigating through the transition. At one point a very important side character is a naive shy kid, then in the space of a few days he drops acid, smokes pot, snorts cocaine, mainlines heroin, and becomes a junkie. Elsewhere in the story, the main character is asked "I can't believe you don't want to go to college" on the top of one page, and by the bottom of the next page he's enrolled in Georgetown under scholarship and four pages later is transferring to a university in Paris.

But I do have to give the author high praise for writing a difficult to tell story with perhaps a narrow appeal, but for an audience that does not have many similar novels to choose from.