What do you think?
Rate this book
Tilt!
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 14, 2013
This novel was published in 1967 and is a time capsule look at the Hollywood / Sunset Strip scene of the mid-sixties, with liberal doses of sex thrown in. The main plot follows former New York ad-man hustler, Deke Dixon, right after he hits California after being exiled from the Big Apple for sleeping with the wrong wife. Figuring to try his hand as press agent for a wannabe starlet named Bunny...yes, Bunny...Deke soon finds himself among the hipsters and hucksters in Hollywood.
It's not long before Deke discovers a vagabond preacher named J.C. Pope preaching the gospel of LOVE to kids on the beach. Pope is one of those charismatic Manson types who can hold an audience rapt with his sidewalk sermons, preaching Jesus and Love, all the while he's sizing up the nubile young girls in the crowd who hang on his every word. Deke sees a sure thing in Pope, and takes him from the pot parties to the stripclubs to talkshows. Deke's master plan for Pope is politics. Right wing, anti-hippie, anti-pinko, anti-commie, anti-liberal, virulent politics to exploit the simmering fear, resentment and anger of a country at war with itself. The speeches Pope recite are no different than the words coming out of the mouths of Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, or Ted Cruz.
It's a cynical book, and a fascinating ride with two extremely unlikable characters...and yes, lots and lots of sex. I would give it 3 and a half stars or even 4 stars, but for its length. At 270 pages of small print, Deke and Pope wear out their welcome before we get to the end of the novel. But for a tawdry novel of hype and celebrity, 60's style, it's pretty groovy.
It's not long before Deke discovers a vagabond preacher named J.C. Pope preaching the gospel of LOVE to kids on the beach. Pope is one of those charismatic Manson types who can hold an audience rapt with his sidewalk sermons, preaching Jesus and Love, all the while he's sizing up the nubile young girls in the crowd who hang on his every word. Deke sees a sure thing in Pope, and takes him from the pot parties to the stripclubs to talkshows. Deke's master plan for Pope is politics. Right wing, anti-hippie, anti-pinko, anti-commie, anti-liberal, virulent politics to exploit the simmering fear, resentment and anger of a country at war with itself. The speeches Pope recite are no different than the words coming out of the mouths of Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, or Ted Cruz.
It's a cynical book, and a fascinating ride with two extremely unlikable characters...and yes, lots and lots of sex. I would give it 3 and a half stars or even 4 stars, but for its length. At 270 pages of small print, Deke and Pope wear out their welcome before we get to the end of the novel. But for a tawdry novel of hype and celebrity, 60's style, it's pretty groovy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review