Skipped Parts: A Novel [Paperback]

Tim Sandlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2000

Newly arrived in the backwater town of GroVont, Wyoming, teenager Sam Callahan is initiated into adulthood when he embarks on a period of intense sexual experimentation with sassy, smart Maurey Pierce. Reprint. NYT.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Confirming the promise of Sex and Sunsets and Western Swing , Sandlin has created a lighthearted, amusing and tender story of preteen wisdom, adult immaturity and the fine line between. It's 1963 when 13-year-old Sam Callahan and his tart-tongued, divorced, misbehaving mother, Lydia, are banished to the hick town of GroVont, Wyo., by Lydia's Southern-gentleman father, Casper. The only other intelligent sixth-grader in GroVont is spirited, pretty Maurey Pierce. Sharing their books, Sam and Maurey set out to discover what happens in the lost paragraphs between the first kiss and the happily ever after. With some coaching from liberated Lydia, the kids begin practicing for their first real sexual experience. Complications arise when Sam--envisioning romantic futures in the humorous, perceptive short stories he writes--finds himself in love with Maurey. Strong-willed Maurey, however, insists that they pair off with others for "normal" dating, even after she discovers she's pregnant. Hilarious teenage dating scenes are neatly contrasted with Lydia's unwise romantic entanglements and the pathetic snobbery of small-town social cliques. Narrated in Sam's adolescent voice--authentic in its tone and use of the vernacular--this offbeat, engaging novel elicits nonstop chuckles and, sometimes, a tear or two.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Sandlin ( Western Swing, LJ 4/1/88) continues his quirky brand of humor in a Western setting, but unfortunately with less originality and freshness. Thirteen- year-old Sam Callahan's wild mother Lydia has displeased her father (who controls the purse strings) and so is banished from South Carolina to the quiet town of GroVont, Wyoming. She spends most of her time sitting around being disdainfully witty and drinking gin while son Sam writes short stories. Along comes precocious adolescent Maurey Pierce, who decides it's time she lost her virginity. Sam and Maurey experiment under liberal Lydia's roof; then Maurey gets pregnant. When she goes for an abortion and finds her mother there, all hell breaks loose. Though wittily told (sometimes to the point of being too cutesy), this is reminiscent of Larry McMurtry's The Last Pic ture Show , but kinkier, in its depiction of the decay and hypocrisy behind the seemingly benign facade of small-town life. Basically, it's been done before. A marginal purchase.
- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Seaside, Cal.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade (July 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573228397
• ISBN-13: 978-1573228398
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Could not bring myself to finish, April 15, 2011

By 

bandwidow - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Skipped Parts: A Novel (GroVont Trilogy) (Kindle Edition)

I very rarely do not finish a book I start. After reading about one-third of Skipped Parts, I realized that I was avoiding my Kindle because I knew what was waiting for me; so I quit reading the book. I found all of the characters unlikable, except for the poor main character - for whom I just felt extremely sorry and sad. Stereotypes abound as a means of characterization. (Is everyone in Wyoming really a stupid hick??) I enjoy a good sex scene in a book as much as the next person, but between two twelve/thirteen year olds as the boys mother waits for them to finish. No thanks. The review for Skipped Parts said, "Sandlin has created a lighthearted, amusing and tender story of preteen wisdom." I must have gotten the wrong book.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT (If you're not offened by graphic teen sex), June 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Skipped Parts (Paperback)

The worst thing about this book was that I didn't own its sequel, so I could start reading it immediately after finishing SKIPPED PARTS. This book's main character, Sam Callahan, is a sexually active Holden Caufield. It satirizes hick life, but no more than it mocks the people who deem them hicks. Tim Sandlin captures the curious voice of a thirteen-year-old, frightfully perfectly. I would recommend this book in a heartbeat. But don't buy only one of the trilogy's books, buy all three of you'll be aching for more without any thing to appease your craving

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Picture Perfect Read, January 19, 2000

By 

JT (Pittburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skipped Parts (Paperback)

Wow! That's the best way to describe Tim Sandlin's SKIPPED PARTS. I had heard nothing of the book or its author When i grabbed it off the shelf in a flurry of book buying a couple months ago. Boy, what a treat it turned out to be! I quickly went out and bought the remaining 2 books in the GroVont trilogy and they were ALL outstanding. I've read a good share of books, and i haven't seen characters with this much depth and who were so likealbe (even when they do stupid things)in any other novel in recent memory. Cheers to Sandlin and his great work!