Children of the Neon Bamboo

by B. Glynn Kimmey

Wryly surreal— Funny and serious at the same time, a Gen-Xer stumbles through his retelling of the wild, summer adventure of 1990 when in the pursuit of the new Sega Genesis he and a friend entangle themselves in a cross-country fight over a long-lost ancient samurai sword, connecting memorable characters from across history with the aesthetics of the era. Refugees, ninjas, nerds, musicians, soldiers, Dungeon Masters, karate instructors, and beauticians come together for a curious blend of 80s Japanese influenced pop culture and Mid-American grunge. Mountain Dew Moby Dick, literary vaporwave, high-topped Hunter S. Thompson, Taco Bell Tom Sawyer. Driven by history, nostalgia, atmosphere, interesting characters, eccentricity, sentimentality, and a love for the enduring human spirit, Children of the Neon Bamboo is a wild, meandering, chill, and exhilarating story that bobs and weaves across the human experience, always with a sense of humor, never taking itself or the world too seriously.

294 pages

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Donald Paulsrud · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quirky book about growing up in the 90's. A 12 year old bu from LA is sent to live with his Grandma in Arkansas for the summer but Granny has a new boyfriend so she peddles him off to his aunt. His aunt is a chain smoking alcoholic who owns a beauty parlor specializing in perms and lives in a trailer park. The young man makes friends with another young man and they play Nintendo all day. They want a new Sega Genisis game system and they come up with a plan to get one by going to visit Uncle Kenny in Florida for a few weeks. They end up having all kinds of adventures and e eventually the Yokuzuna (Japanese Mafia) show up looking for an ancient Japanese sword and all hell breaks loose! If you grew up in the 70's, 80's or 90's this book has numerous things that will rekindle some memories! A quick read (less than 300 pages) with some humor in it.

[Madison D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up in Van Buren when I was home for the holidays. They had a section for local authors and I thought, double whammy, support a small town shop and an author from where I grew up too. I went in with low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised in how the book held my interest. Once things started connecting, I couldn’t put it down. Would definitely read something by this author again.