Wrack and Ruin by Don Lee (2008)

I got an advanced copy of Don Lee's upcoming novel Wrack and Ruin (April 2008) through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program (which I will once again mention is super awesome). This is Lee's third novel, and has been compared by the publishers and other reviewers to Michael Chabon and the movie Sideways. I can see the basis for these comparisons, and I'd also add in a dash of Tom Robbins. Is that good? College-aged-Spacebeer would certainly think so, but thirty-something-Spacebeer is not so sure.

Wrack and Ruin, centers around Lyndon Song, a former golden-boy of the art world who gave it all up with no explanation to live an isolated life as a Brussels sprout farmer in a small, coastal, Central-California town. He is in the middle of an extended fight with a large corporation that is building a luxury resort and golf course in the area and needs his land to complete the 18th hole. Lyndon, of course, refuses to sell. To further complicate things, Lyndon's estranged, huckster, film-producing brother Woody has come for a barely-announced visit with the drunken, violent and aging Hong Kong film star Ling Ling in tow. Woody and Lyndon haven't been on speaking terms since Lyndon lost all their parent's money in some kind of financial shenanigans. To the core story of the mismatched brothers we add several lovers, a bunch of pot, philosophical discussions of Buddhism, a take-down of the pressures of the art world, and a wry look at both environmentalists and yuppie corporate types.

So: there is a lot going on here. Lee does a nice job of keeping all the parts of the story up in the air, and the book reads quickly and is very entertaining. However, the dialogue and characters are, sometimes, a little too quirky and glib and the philosophical moments don't always fit tightly with the rest of the book. The ending isn't entirely satisfying, but overall the book is a fun read and worth checking out. Especially if someone sends it to you for free...