Heaping Stones

by Rob Woodard

Wandering half drunk through his shattered life in his native Long Beach, California, an all-but-failed writer searches for no less than redemption through his relationships with three women and ultimately his on-going battle with himself. Pushed to the edge of his sanity by both the sorrow and beauty of his life, he finally rips his world up by the roots and examines the truth behind his pain. Alternately tender and angry, this book takes off where John Fante and Charles Bukowski left off and set the new standard for the L.A. Novel.

Paperback

First published December 7, 2005

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in present-day Long Beach, CA, this is the story of Rob, in his late thirties, and still an unpublished writer. He is having a hard time dealing with the abrupt walking-out of Maggie, his wife, several months previously. Rob seems locked into a cycle of self-hatred and drunken rages.

Veronica has a free and open sexual nature which seems to make up for a self-esteem level of zero. It is as if Veronica feels that her only worth as a human being is based on what is between her legs. After a three-day binge of sex, sleeping together and more self-loathing on Rob’s part, he finally lets it all out, and physically throws Veronica out of his apartment.

Rob busses tables at a local restaurant to pay the bills. A fellow employee is Rachael, a vivacious recent high school graduate with a sweet and innocent nature. They engage in some playful flirting during work hours, which gets their fellow employees to gossiping. Even better, from Rob’s point of view, is that Rachael enjoys reading Literature (she is actually familiar with Scandinavian writer Knut Hamsun), something about which Veronica is basically clueless. Rachael inspires Rob to take another look at some of his past writing attempts, stashed in a drawer. Her sweet nature begins to show Rob that there really is a light at the end of his emotional tunnel.

This is a short novel, but an uncomprising one, moving from bitter to almost optimistic. It shows the big difference between "sexual" love and "real" love. There may have been a little too much emphasis on the sex scenes, but this is still a good piece of writing that is worth reading.

[Helicopterske2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a friend of mine but I'm trying to be objective. It's a grinding but ultimately cathartic novel/character study about a young writer and his relationships. Not for the timid, but once you start you won't be able to put it down.
Look for the sequel "What Love Is" soon...