A Trout in the Sea of Cortez [Hardcover]

John Salter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2006

In the tradition of Carl Hiaasen, this mirthful debut tracks the mid-life chaos of one man's world as he travels from the winter of North Dakota to the beaches of Mexico. Dennis Pratt doesn't want to go to Mexico. He's a guy knocking on forty, with a dead-end job, a luke-warm marriage, a distant daughter and an incredible lack of enthusiasm for anything in life. So little wonder that he's not very enthusiastic about the trip south of the border his wife's got planned. And as he becomes increasingly convinced that his wife is having an affair with a local alpha-male, Pratt finds himself putting his job and his marriage at risk. He befriends a shifty father and daughter who live in a camper near the country club where Pratt is trying to learn how to play golf. He meets a mysterious artist and may or may not be falling in love with her. And his imagination runs wild about his wife and daughter. Only when en route to Mexico, and at their villa on the Sea of Cortez, do the pieces start to fall into place, with disastrous results. A quirky cocktail of obsession, adultery, revenge, hazardous waste, golf, murder, fatherhood and love, "A Trout in the Sea of Cortez" is a smart, sarcastic and riveting mid-life crisis murder mystery.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dennis Pratt works part-time at a North Dakota toxic waste recycling plant; approaching 40, he has no friends and no career plan, but is a devoted father to daughter Whitney. His wife, Patricia, a successful real estate title closer, gets into shape, gets a tan and plans an anniversary trip for them to Mexico, where she expects her indolent and apathetic husband to play golf, swim and fish for marlin. Dennis complies by taking up golf, learning to swim and reading up on deep-sea fishing. But he suspects suddenly sexy Patricia is having an affair with Bruce Carver, the family dentist. As evidence compounds, Dennis falls into a depression. Encounters with a gypsylike father-and-daughter team who live in a camper near the local country club and with a beautiful widowed former therapist (with whom he begins to fall in love) complicate matters, but also spur Dennis to action. For the most part, Salter's debut breezes along with its likable but not entirely sympathetic hero bumbling through an ordinary life, but the book feels more like a set of short story–like set pieces rather than a whole work. A series of contrived revelations at the end spill out all at once, with head-shaking results for readers. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

North Dakotan Dennis Pratt has a thick case of the dreads. He is rapidly approaching 40, with a bleak job processing hazardous waste for the city of Fargo and a growing suspicion that Patricia, his wife of 20 years, is having an affair. (She is newly slim, tanned, and spends countless hours bicycling with a rebellious, unmarried dentist.) Pratt couldn't be less enthused about the couple's upcoming trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. After all, there's plenty to fret about on the domestic front, like daughter Whitney, a college freshman, who may or may not be a lesbian. In the weeks preceding the trip, Pratt passes time playing golf at the local country club, where he becomes friendly with a flaky father and daughter living in a nearby camper. He is also drawn to a quirky artist, who may be the first person in a long time to truly understand what makes him tick. Salter (Alberta Clipper, 2002) livens up the overworked theme of the male midlife crisis with memorable characters and mordant commentary on midwestern caprice. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint; First Edition edition (August 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582433429
• ISBN-13: 978-1582433424
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,394,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars critics are wrong, October 10, 2006

By 

frank c. "Frank in beantown" (boston, ma.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Trout in the Sea of Cortez (Hardcover)

I just want to alert readers out there that do not always listen to the
critics when choosing a book. I bought this book because I liked the opening few pages before checking it out on Amazon, which I always do.
When I read the reviews I thought I made a mistake but quickly learned that I did not. This is a great book if you want to learn about what
middle aged men go through when they wake up to find themselves shy of
forty and their life is a bit off track. The main character offers a lot
of insights about life in general and his in particular. I found him to
be real and empathized with him quite a lot. He makes a lot of cogent points about life in America today. This is a book to savor, and I read it slowly because I enjoyed it immensely. Give it a try.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it, February 3, 2007

By 

C. Winter (Lincoln, NE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Trout in the Sea of Cortez (Hardcover)

Just buy the book. It will make your weekend. Salter doesn't waste words and doesn't waste a reader's time. He looks into the sun and finds absolute truths about relationships and honesty and self-doubt. Then he turns the plot and pacing and setting to keep readers guessing, without ever turning gimmicky. Buy it and support cool writers we should have heard of by now.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice narrative but ending lacks credulity, November 13, 2006

By 

John H. Mccollough "Vegas" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Trout in the Sea of Cortez (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, "A Trout in the Sea of Cortez". The first 250 pages of the 286 are very nice and move along keeping you going at a nice pace wondering how it's going to end. I would have rather seen a different ending though and I think the ending strains credulity on several levels and is not very believable. The first 80 percent of the novel is basically believable and refreshing.

I do like the topic of mid life crisis for males being a 38 year old male myself and can relate to certain aspects of Dennis Pratt's situation. The author has excellent prose and makes several deft references to other works of fiction, which might be interesting future reading ideas. The location of Eastern North Dakota and Western Minnesota is refreshing as it is a locale that is not covered too frequently in books extent today. I also like the limited use of modern technology, the book isn't constantly involving emails and cellphones and dot com, ipod, etc. which is more refreshing given that we deal with this stuff enough in everyday life.

I would highly recommend reading this book as it is very enjoyable and easy to read, make your own conclusion on the ending.