Social Blunders [Hardcover]

Tim Sandlin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1995

Struggling with his wife's desertion and questions about who his father really is, Sam Callahan finds support from his practical daughter Shannon, who researches Sam's paternity and sets off the adventure of Sam's life. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Some consider it a social blunder to use the wrong fork, but Sam Callahan, the narrator of this ribald and tangled yarn, would never make such a mundane faux pas. For Sam, every goof is a doozy?and his missteps are at least as comic and bawdy as they are tragic. Sandlin provides his bumbling hero with an appropriately quirky past: it's 1984, Sam is 33 and his second wife has just left him. He lives in North Carolina with his 19-year-old daughter, born to him and an eighth-grade classmate. (The earlier parts of Sam's life were chronicled in Skipped Parts and Sorrow Floats.) Sam never knew his birth father's identity: his mother claims to have been gang-raped by five high-school football players, which has left Sam with an abhorrence of men and of conventional sex as well. The impending divorce puts Sam in a mind to get his life together, so he spontaneously introduces himself to four out of five of his possible dads (and?big oops?to the unsuspecting widow of the fifth). He fails to consider the repercussions this will have in the men's families; he's attacked by two of his possible half-brothers, seduced by his could-be stepmother and charmed by his potential half-sister. To say that Sam brings on his own calamities would be an understatement, yet his absurd logic in matters of romance, lust and paternity is oddly endearing. The characters in this third installment of Sandlin's GroVont Trilogy don't spend much time in GroVont, Wyo.?in fact, Sam doesn't escape west until after the climax of his tawdry tale. Still, Sam would be a literal riot in any state, and, as rendered by Sandlin, his voice is an effective blend of flippancy and compassion. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Sam Callahan's mother told him she was raped by four football players when she was 14. One of them is his father, but which? She lied; actually, she paid them for sex. Anyway, Sam contacts each of the men and causes endless trouble. Soon, an affair with the wife of one man, an attraction to the daughter of another, and an attempted suicide have Sam running for his life. Wonderful characters spout outrageous dialog and perform even more outrageous acts. Sandlin's wild, wonderful, and wickedly funny romps conclude the trilogy that began with Skipped Parts (Ivy Bks., 1989) and continued in Sorrow Floats (LJ 8/92). Social Blunders can be read independently of the previous volumes. The tale is a little naughty, a little sentimental, and completely entertaining. Highly recommended.?Robert H. Donahugh, formerly with Youngstown & Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 281 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co; 1st edition (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805016287
• ISBN-13: 978-0805016284
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,361,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best voice, July 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Social Blunders (Mass Market Paperback)

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I am a huge fan of Nick Hornby and Richard Russo, and Tim Sandlin belongs in their club. The characters are deftly drawn and speak with such unique voices. I'm now on a quest to read everything this man's ever written.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing ending to the trilogy, November 2, 2001

By 

"m0untaingirl" (Detroit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social Blunders (Mass Market Paperback)

Huh? I can't believe that mostly everyone gave this book at least four stars. To be blunt, I thought it sucked.

Whereas I tore through the Sorrow Floats and Skipped Parts and loved them, I couldn't even finish Social Blunders. It doesn't embody the originality or freshness of the other books at all. The characters aren't even close to believable--they're completely one-dimensional. They don't at all resemble their former selves from the previous two books. They react to their given situations according to a predictable formula, which makes for some really boring reading.

As for the plot, I found it overly contrived to make up for the lack of character development. Of course, I don't really know much about the plot since I couldn't even get through the entire book.

Conclusion: read Sorrow Floats and Skipped Parts, and forget about this one. Don't spoil a good thing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect Ending, May 1, 2006

By 

Charles Sikkenga "ceguru" (Grand Haven, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Social Blunders (Mass Market Paperback)

Tim Sandlin wraps up the GroVont trilogy in style with Social Blunders.

In some ways, this is the weakest book of the trilogy--picking up the story 10 more years into the future and returning to Sam Callahan as the narrator, book three is not as believable as the others. The characters all find themselves in rather unlikely places in life and some of the episodes border on slapstick. Beyond that, the secondary characters are not a well drawn in the earlier books.

Yet, Social Blunders overcomes these flaws for two main reasons. First, its king-hell hilarious--probably the funniest book of the series. Sam's voice has lost none of its distinct charm as he's moved into his thirties (although he simultaneously acts older and younger). Second, like the best parts of the first two books, its got a heart of gold. As the story moves into its final act, its nearly as touching as the first two books.

In the end, although fans could probably spend time with Sam, Maurey, Lydia and the gang as often as Sandlin might care to write about them, things end on a perfect note, leaving little hope or need for another chapter in a truly wonderful series.