This Is the Place (Paperback)

by Peter Rock (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
"This is the Place" reads the sign under Wendover Will, the 64-foot metal statue that welcomes tourists, losers, and drifters to the Stateline casino in Nevada. The statue of Brigham Young, over 100 miles across the border in Utah, boasts the same message. Between these two extremes, the disparate characters in this accomplished first novel search for meaning in their lives. A blackjack dealer, nicknamed "Pyro" by the town's children, becomes obsessed with Charlotte, a Mormon from Bountiful, Utah. He is not deterred in his quest for Charlotte despite the fact that, at 19, she's young enough to be his granddaughter. The novel we read is the story he tells to justify the terrible crime he commits in the name of love. From the desolate salt flats and dreary trailer parks to the gaudy, wicked beauty of Las Vegas, Rock draws his readers in with vivid descriptions, an intriguing plot, and fully nuanced characters. For literary fiction collections.?Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
A lonely old man with plenty of answers fixates on a lively young woman filled with questions, with the usual tragic results, in this forced debut from Utah-born Rock. Situated smack on the border between holier-than-thou Mormon country and anything-goes Nevada, the drama begins when an elderly ace blackjack dealer in Wendover meets Charlotte, the niece of a former lover, who's seeking information and experience that will take her well beyond her narrow Mormon upbringing. What starts as a cribbage game ends as full-blown obsession, since the dealer is vain enough to believe that what Charlotte must desire is a man who's seen it all: himself. Unfortunately for him, her search has both spiritual and physical dimensions, and involves the decipherment of mysterious signs she discovers in the nearby desert; she ultimately decides that a young would-be race-car driver, Keith, has more to offer than a cribbage board and takes said Keith along to Vegas. There, Charlotte gets a taste of the wide world when she's seduced by a voracious chorus girl, then goes off with Keith and a wild drug-runner, who enlists their help in his addled plan to scare his hometown into thinking aliens are landing in their alfalfa fields. After that debacle, she and Keith hit the road again. The odd pair alight in Salt Lake City, where Charlotte awaits her epiphany. When it comes, unexpectedly, in the form of the blackjack dealer, who has kept track of her wherever she's gone, it proves to be a trial by fire from which only the old man walks away unscathed. The vivid vignettes of life in Nevada and Utah notwithstanding, this is a saga with an uncertain focus, some unlikely connections, and a lot, at the end, left unexplained. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; 1st Anchor Books Ed edition (March 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385485980
• ISBN-13: 978-0385485982
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,971,530 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars loved the book. boldy imagined and written. breaks the rules, February 3, 1998

By A Customer

I couldn't disagree more with the Kirkus review. This book breaks many conventions of fiction writing and sparkles because of it. From the moment those snakes are shocked out of their holes, this novel barrels forward with the breathless passion of its narrator, the old blackjack dealer. Anyone who knows writing knows from the richness and power in his voice that his love for Charlotte, though unexpected and selfish--as love often is--is real. I read the book in two rapt sittings. When the old man's mind's eye follows Charlotte and Keith through Las Vegas and the Nevada desert, I AM there with them, happily, sometimes eerily and in luscious discomfort. The novel's ending was entirly unsuspected and at once inevitable, which is perhaps a novel's highest praise; it takes an artist. But it's the passion and complexity of the old man's consciousness that makes this book the work of art it is, a book I would love to say that I had written. Rock is the man.

1.0 out of 5 stars Not bad but not good either., June 30, 1999

By	Christian Anderson (University Park, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The only persons I would recommend this book to are those who may be moving to Utah from out of state and want to better understand the unique (bizarre?) Utah culture. This is what the book is good at: describing the differences between Utah and Nevada cultures. The fact that I had to fight to finish it should be telling enough. The writing is alright but the characters are not compelling. It's not a great book but may be of use to some people.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great novel - I can't wait to read Carnival Wolves, August 22, 1998

By A Customer

The language is fast but takes on an emptiness that reflects the Nevada desert. The story is an interesting one with sudden twists (making crop circles, drag racing on the salt flats)and takes on a slightly religious tone towards the end, but not overly so that the author becomes self-indulgent. Funny, interesting, great characters, vivid descriptions. I highly recommend it.