Point Dume
A Novel
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Malibu surf and cannabis cultures collide in a novel that’s “part comedy of manners, part cautionary tale” from the bestselling author of Chemical Pink” (Los Angeles Times).
Katie Arnoldi’s critically acclaimed debut novel Chemical Pink launched her onto the bestseller lists and so established itself into the public’s consciousness that its title was the answer to a Double Jeopardy question. Her sophomore effort, The Wentworths, was searing portrait of a wealthy Westside, Los Angeles, family. This too was a fixture on bestseller lists and earned her a wider audience.
With Point Dume, Arnoldi has produced her most remarkable novel to date. Behind the idyllic façade of Malibu, tensions simmer between the old-school residents and surfers, Mexican drug cartels, and the nouveau riche who live in blissful ignorance of the consequences of their actions. In the span of one year, their lives will intertwine with devastating consequences. A fast-moving page-turner, with insights that Arnoldi has gleaned from years of on-the-ground research, this is a timely novel that seems timeless.
“The novel is fast paced with excellent characters and intersecting plots. It’s also a must read if you’re interested in surfing culture and would like another reason on why pot should be legalized in the USA.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“[A] ripped-from-the-headlines drama . . . The prose style is spare and powerful and the pages turn effortlessly.” —Publishers Weekly
“The summer is fully and officially upon us and that means summer reading is here! In fiction, our local Point Dume still tops the list—a great read for beach or travel.” —The Malibu Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Arnoldi (The Wentworths) relies on one red-blooded character to conceal that the rest are archetypes in this ripped-from-the-headlines drama. Ellis Gardner is the surfing queen of Point Dume, Calif., feared, lusted after, and envied by the yuppie moms who filter down from the mansions overlooking the ocean to take surfing lessons. Ellis's childhood friend Pablo is the hunky surfing instructor, but he's also been amassing a small fortune finding and robbing small marijuana crops planted by Mexican cartels on the slopes of unsuspecting property owners, then selling his harvest. His current rival for Ellis's affections is one of those absentee owners, Frank, a rich midlife surfing convert who's unaware that his wife is one of Pablo's best customers. Meanwhile, Felix Duarte crosses the Mexican border for the dangerous but lucrative job of guarding one of the secret patches from which Pablo steals. Arnoldi hothouses the concerns of all equally, so Frank's existential crisis ranks as highly as Felix's hunger- and isolation-induced hallucinations up on the ridge and Ellis's unexpected pregnancy. The prose style is spare and powerful and the pages turn effortlessly.
