Last Bongo Sunset: A Novel

by Les Plesko

A young man falls into the dark, mindless routine of a drug addict, but painful memories and a young runaway force him to face his fears and try to save them both

Genres: Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

Published January 24, 1995

About the author

My new book, Who I Was, is now available through Small World Books in Venice, CA, on amazon (type my name) or by visiting blog.whoiwasthebook.com.

Reviews

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, since I wrote it, I have a sort of nostalgic fondness for it.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

. Some of the most gorgeous language you're going to find anywhere, like Miles Davis for the sheer sound and rhythm and drive of it. Like a good horn player, man, this is jazz. Les Plesko died this week, and I'm going back and rereading all his work. The Last Bongo Sunset is the Seventies at its most brutal, most romantic, sharp and despairing, hopeful and tender. it's Panic in Needle Park in Venice Beach, but that sound, that sound. Les, what are we going to do without you. We thought we had more time.

[Kerry]

beautiful, jazz-like prose

[Ann Klefstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrowing and lovely book from a young L.A. writer with the strangest life . . . let's hope there'll be another.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5stars for what I feel is a Picasso novel. It's not something you can easily define or put into a box. It's not an easy read and does not tick the usual boxes. However, it's one that stays with you and infects you like a slow release whisky, warming you from within.

[in8 · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://www.5cense.com/17/550.htm

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those novels about those who are down and out in Southern California. It's set in the early 1970's and it's about four junkies. In the end, it didn't work for me. For one, thing Plesko aspires to an elevated, literary prose, but this is a novel about junkies, four rough-edged people leading bleak lives. The prose doesn't fit the subject matter. Secondly, Plesko has obviously labored over each sentence until it's just what he wanted. Unfortunately many of these sentences seem to stand alone, rather fitting into a narrative flow. As a result, in places the prose reads like a list of separate sentences.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quest for the heart's desire through lonely brilliant landscapes of the language.