The Flamingo Rising

by Larry Baker

In this touching, hilarious novel of the heart and mind, of dreams and memory, of desire and first love, Abe Lee comes of age in the 1960s, living with his unforgettable family at the Flamingo Drive-In Theatre on a scrubby patch of coast between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida. There, some of America's last sweet moments of innocence are unfolding.

For Abe's father, Hubert, there's nothing better than presenting larger-than-life Hollywood fantasies on his vast silver screen. Nothing, that is, except gleefully sparring with Turner West--a funeral home operator who doesn't much appreciate the noise and merriment from the drive-in next door. Within the lively orbit of this ongoing feud is Abe's mother, Edna Marie, whose calm radiance conceals deep secrets; his sister, Louise, who blossoms almost too quickly into a stunning, willful young woman; and Judge Lester, a clumsy man on the ground who turns graceful when he takes to the sky, towing the Flamingo banner behind his small plane. Then Abe falls for Turner's beautiful daughter Grace. That's when, long before the Fourth of July festivities, the fireworks really begin. . . .

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Family, Adult, Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature

309 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

A rapidly becoming obscure mid-list writer, whose first novel, FLAMINGO RISING, was a Hallmark movie and whose second, ATHENS/AMERICA, is now invisible and unattainable.
My new book, A GOOD MAN, is about drunk radio talk show hosts, food, politics, and the possible Second Coming. It also involves a threesome with Nancy Grace, Ann Coulter, and a fictional right-wing talk show host.
Book is dedicated to Harry Chapin and Flannery O'Connor, but you gotta read it to appreciate why."

Reviews

[Ron Adkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this book on my shelf for years. I started reading when I first bought it, got about 30 pages in, then put it down. I should have kept reading. This book was one of the most delightful surprises of my reading experience. It was nostalgic and humanistic. It was, in turn, tender, gut-wrenchingly sad, and wonderfully funny. The characters were well-balanced and three dimensional.

I loved the world Baker created. I don't normally re-read books, but this one may get pulled from the shelf sometime in the future.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A potentially involving story undone by unfortunate authorial choices, this is the story of two mortal enemies in 1960s Florida. The narrator, Abraham Isaac Lee (it would have helped the story if the other characters could have all called him either Abe, Isaac or Iz - he goes by all three names here), has a father, Hubert, who hates his neighbor, Turner West. The two men's professions add some color to the feud: Hubert runs a large drive-in theater next door to West's mortuary. Despite this (and a Romeo & Juliet-style romance), the story lacks drama. Much of this is in the narration: Abraham (or Isaac) keeps telling us about events to come; their use cuts down on their dramatic impact. A character is often presented as beloved who seems anything but. Finally, this is the only novel set in the 1960s I've read that has nothing to do with that turbulent decade. While I did not dislike the story I never found much reason to care about it either.

[Good Book Fairy · Rating 4 out of 5]

my book club decided to read this book after it was on a list of books that was required reading at our kid's high school and a group of extremists wanted to have it banned from the selection choices.

as we are all consummate readers, we were totally against the crazy folk who want ANY books banned but we decided to pick one of them and read it to see why.

well, we're still trying to figure that one out. yes, there is a virginity lost. is it consensual, yes. was it told graphically, no!

i found this book to be a great coming of age story from a young boy in Fl who lives in the drive-in movie theater. there is a host of interesting characters that make this story a great read!

highly recommend.

[Cathy Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book about 15 years ago and remember loving the story and the characters. It's one of those few books that can genuinely make me feel emotional, both happy & sad. Abraham's story about his father's legacy in the Flamingo Drive-in and his own coming of age is just enough "crazy" & touching. There's so much to think about between the relationship of Abraham & Grace and Abraham & Alice that I don't have the exact words to describe them, but I love them both.

[Charity Holstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD!

[Shawn Keenan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really pulled me in and kept me engaged until the end. The two things that stood out to me in this book were the characters and timeline and its use as a heavy-handed foreshadowing device. Having gotten to the end of the book and the pivotal scene that most of the foreshadowing was leading up to, I felt the unusual device was warranted and lent to the emotional impact of the scene in a needful way. All of the characters were fleshed out with deep backgrounds and personal motivations that were mostly hinted at but few were completely revealed. As this was written from a first person perspective, it makes sense that the reader could only really know the narrator's mind, but the author set the conditions that you really wanted to know everyone's motivations. By the end, you were left with only a hint of the source of most of the character's defining personality traits and flaws, but much of what you understand about them comes only from your own intuition about small hints and seemingly unimportant moments glimpsed throughout the book. The book left me wondering about many of these characters' continuing lives but also satisfied with what I knew.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1997, this book was given to me by a friend. Reminiscent in more than location, of the more recent book by Laura Lee Smith, Heart of Palm, The Flamingo Rising is set on the Atlantic Coast near St. Augustine . The action in this book centers on the story of a family that owns and runs a drive in movie theater located on the beach. Eccentric parents, two adopted children and an extended family of usual workers and helpers live in and manage the theater. Across the road and in the shadow of the big screen is another man's dream, his funeral home that he runs with his six sons and a daughter. Not a good combination for congenial neighbor relations. Many love stories play out in this book that is told in reflection by the adopted son of the theater owner; first love, lost love, love spawned by loneliness. Very good read. More a 3.75 than a 3.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very fortunate to grow up in the 1960s and live close to a drive in theater. We always went as a family to see two movies and play in the playground and stay up late. As a teen we would get a group of friends to see a scary movie and sit on top of our cars or on lawn chairs eating drive in food. This book was bittersweet for me with all the memories of Abe and Louise. It had a "Wonder Years" feeling to this book as told by Abe about his life in the 1960s and the present. I found myself very teary at the end and not wanting this book to end.

[Msellen88 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. No violence, no vampires, no gratuitous romance. I found Baker's Flamingo Rising on the bookshelf of a cruise ship and it looked like a quirky story. Set in Florida, it is the story of a family who owns one of the biggest drive-in theaters in the country. The characters are all interesting and there is both humor and human drama. This is a very quick read, never slow and I enjoyed the character development that the author takes the time to do. If you are looking for a bright and breezy good read, pick up this book.

[Stacy Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an English teacher, I have read many "good" books, but this is my favorite book of all time. I read it each and every summer. It is like an old friend.

This book is unlike any coming of age novel I have ever read. Living in the world's largest drive-in movie theatre, the Lee family teaches the reader what it means to love and lose. The narrator is one of the most genuine voices I have read. I love it...totally love it.

[Joe Bolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ultimate compliment: I'm going to miss my friends at "The Flamingo." This novel was a thoroughly engrossing read, full of quirky, sympathetic characters. The ending left me with questions, but satisfied.

[Elisabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pointless and disturbing. This was my summer reading book for school? seriously who picked this?

[Clancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never before (and in all likelihood never again) have I wished, powerfully wished, to be an adopted Korean boy in Florida in the '60s.

I'm being facetious. This is an incredible book. A fucking incredible book. There are not enough stars in this website's rating system, nor expletives in this language I possess, to adequately represent the quality of an outlier like this.

This is the only book I've ever read that comes close to inducing that feeling of true human contentment and happiness. That feeling that you don't get all the time, or even very often, where you're content in your situation as a human being: every misery, every small happiness, every soaring love, every disappointing drunken fuck, smiles shared with strangers, one of the times you got your nose broken for being a smart-arse, the only-sort-of-serious thought in the back of your mind that maybe the multiverse is real and this is the reality where you get to live forever, the smell of your feet after a day's work, the overdue phone bill; all of it. Everything small, everything enormous, every experience, feeling, an thought that culminates in you being the you that you are in the particular moment that this feeling comes over you; the feeling of weird-serene contentment in just having been granted the obscenely small chance to be alive as the particular human being you are.

This is the happiest book I've ever read. It made me cry on a crowded train on my way to work this morning too, when I'm the sort of person that loses relationships for being completely emotionally unavailable.

The three weeks I spent in Jacksonville, Florida, were three of the worst weeks of what has often been a pretty terrible life. I bought this book as part of my attempt to read a novel set in every place I've ever been* (*according to a weird non-specific criteria-feeling I have about what qualifies and what doesn't), and this was the only one that set in the area that didn't sound terrifyingly shit-house. And I'm sincerely glad that I went through those terrible three weeks, because in the end they led me to this book.

I'm not going to talk about a thing to do with the plot, or anything about it at all. Flamingo Rising is a feeling. It's a feeling you get to have for 320 pages. You will know a group of people and a place and a time, and you'll wish you were there, like I wish I was there.

This is not a novel, this is a home.

[Sharon Falduto · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the mid 1960s, and our protagonist is growing up in an apartment behind the 2nd largest drive in movie theater in the U.S., located in South Florida, the Flamingo. His father has an ongoing feud with the funeral home owner down the street, whose job requires dignity and respect, at odds with the flashing enormous neon flamingo and giant screen. This is a coming of age story told from the point of view of the protagonist in middle age, careening toward a somewhat foreshadowed and somewhat unexpected end.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Themes: 4/5
Content: 3/5
Writing: 4/5

Overall, I enjoyed this humanist and reflective coming-of-age story about a boy in Florida in the 1960s. I loved the dynamic between all the characters as they were all very well-written, complicated and layered. I did think it dragged on a bit in the last third, but definitely redeemed itself at the end. I am confused as to why Dexter is the only son who is identified by name.

[Margaret Dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very original setting for this story--the world's largest (and most garish) drive in movie theater--is the stage on which this story unfolds, a story of a boy coming of age amid a varied cast of characters including feuding fathers, young women generous with their sexual gifts, and a predator pet dog named Frank.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and tragic story. A cast of characters from a family that runs (and lives in) a gigantic drive-in theater, the father’s mortal enemy who owns the neighboring mortuary, and the various people who play a part in the show of their lives. Told from Abraham’s point-of-view, the story goes from past to future and back again.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An average coming-of-age story is set in the captivating location of a huge North Florida drive-in movie theatre in the '60's. Without the unique setting, this was a 3 star story at best, but the strong setting adds a star.

[jessica fiew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given as a gift, and I really enjoyed the storyline, and the coming of age of Isaac and his family in late 60s movie theater. Wasn’t a book I would typically pick, but was a good quick read.

[Nick Stika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the best books I've read this year. Wonderfully written, great story and great characters. If you haven't read Larry Baker, you should!

[Patbinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing was good. The story was interesting. And it made me cry. I will look for others by this author and see how they are.

[Chrissi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written - enjoyed the narration from the son’s perspective.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters, quirky coming of age story

[Rachel Tai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky to have found this in a $1 bookstore....one of my favorites! I highly recommend .

[Bry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Quirky

[Belinda Fry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, and will always be able to remember the story because it was just so unusual.

[Lish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a beautiful read. It is one of those books that filled me with a soft sadness. It was subtle and lovely.

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not finish this book. I was bored and the characters were weird. Got too many other books to slough through this one.

[Christina (Ensconced in Lit) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was recommended this book by a good friend.

I will say this first. I have never read a book like The Flamingo Rising by Larry Baker and I've read a lot. This book is hard to describe. The best I can do is that the protagonist and narrator is Abraham, the adopted Korean son, to a drive-in theater Florida native. We find that later in life, Abraham is a lover a photography. To me, the book is written in a series of photographs-- snap shots in time that are focused around his early teen years, his relationship with his family (mostly focusing on his crazy father). We are introduced also to Turner West, who owns the funeral home down the road and the feud between Abraham's father and Turner. Of course to make things more difficult, Abraham falls in love with West's daughter, Grace.

This book is well written. Some of the decisions as to how it was written are not as clear until the end. I will be upfront about how this is not my type of book. The characters are both fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Alice and Polly are two additions halfway in the book. Baker takes a great risk in writing this book the way he has. In many ways, it pays off. His descriptions are lush and many times poignant. Writers are often taught, write what you know. Many times, I would think that this was a true autobiography because that is the way it felt to me and usually can be quite difficult for writers to accomplish.

That said, I wonder why it wasn't an autobiography. I believe that Baker's own life experiences as a drive-in owner would have fascinated me. I kept wanting the story to be real, because that's what it felt like. Personally, I felt that it lost something when I realized it was fiction. I know that's a personal opinion, rather than a fault of the writing. I also had a hard time staying interested in the novel because at the end of each chapter, we get a secret revealed but then the actual story of that secret is not told until several chapters later. For me, this didn't work.

That said, this is a tremendously creative and many times beautifully written novel, and the praise it has gotten is well deserved. I think in the end, this just was not my kind of novel, but that's okay. It was worth reading.

[Jim Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting novel about family rivalries in Florida. The narrator, Abraham Issac Lee, tells the story of his father, Hubert Thomas Lee, who had an intense personal rivalry with Turner West. The latter built a funeral home on the west side of highway A1A between Jacksonville and St. Augustine in 1951. Hubert Lee, on the other hand, built a drive-in theatre, named the Flamingo, on land just opposite on the east side of the highway. As the novel proceeds, we learn that Abraham was an orphan of Korean descent; his sister, Louise, also an orphan, was of mixed descent and very beautiful. Their mother was a tall Southern Belle named Edna Marie Scott.

The Flamingo was the largest drive-in theatre every built and boasted a giant neon pink flamingo on the highway side of the theatre; the tower of the theatre was 150 ft. high, 200 ft. across and 50 ft, wide at its base. Hubert Lee also oversaw the construction of half-mile-long seawall that went along the beach to provide protection against high waves. As time goes on, the family business accepts and hires as a worker a small black man named Pete Maws, who had arrived with a train caboose on a flatbed trailer. During his stay at the theatre, Pete makes the caboose his home.

Over time, Abraham comes to develop a close friendship with Grace West, the daughter of Turner West. As he attends the Catholic Church with his mother, Abraham also befriends Gary Green, a boy of similar age. A new wrinkle in the novel develops with the arrival of Judge Harry Lester, a skywriter and air advertiser, whom Hubert Lee accepts with open arms. The friends and family take turns riding with Harry on his airplane. This is the setting of this masterful novel. The plot develops in a way that always maintains the reader’s interest. The ending is both tragic and “happy.” On a personal note, I will say that this novel reminds me of my youth growing up in Texas during the heyday of drive-in movies, many of I attended, although I far prefer indoor movies. Read and enjoy.