Skipped Parts

GroVont Triology #1

by Tim Sandlin

The lighthearted, amusing, and touching story of preteen wisdom, adult immaturity, and the fine line between them is related by thirteen-year-old Sam Callahan and his misbehaving mother, Lydia.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Humor, Contemporary, Ebooks, Coming Of Age, Romance

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Tim Sandlin has published ten novels and a book of columns. He wrote eleven screenplays for hire; three have been made into movies. He turned forty with no phone, TV, or flush toilet and now he has all that stuff. Tim and his wife adopted a little girl from China. He is now living happily (indoors) with his family in Jackson, Wyoming.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I downloaded this free kindle book without having seen the cover or the YA designation (Young Adult as in teen). So glad I wasn't predjudiced and judge this one by the cover. I'm going to try to figure out the Facebook link with my Kindle, so that I can post a quote from the book. There have been too many to count, and kindle lets you highlight them and share them, supposedly, on Facebook. Hope I can manage it. Story of a teen boy and his weird mom, his pov is great and the writing has brilliant moments. Loving it so far...

Great author, some great moments. I'm keeping this one on my kindle.

[Louise Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

GroVent Series Book 1

In 1963. thirteen year old Sam Callaghan and his tart-tongued, divorced, misbehaving mother, Lydia, must cope as beat they can after they are banished to the hick town of GroVent, Wyoming, by Lydia's Southern gentleman father.

This book is funny, sad and inspiring. The story starts off with a slow pace and nothing was making any sense. This is a story about a dysfunctional family. Lydia and her son are banished to the middle of nowhere by her father. It covers: alcoholism and teenage pregnancy which was frowned upon in the sixties. The book is worth sticking with as it turns into a great read.

#FreeKindleBook

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alcoholism. Dysfunctional family relationships. Mental illness. Teenage pregnancy. Doesn't sound hilarious, does it? Yet somehow Sandlin makes this coming-of-age story set in GroVont, Wyoming in the early 1960s, funny and touching as well as appalling.

13-year-old Sam Callahan and his irresponsible alcoholic single mother Lydia have been sentenced by his wealthy grandfather to live in GroVont in hopes that something there will help Lydia mature. And Sam and Lydia do mature in various way, finding friendship, love--Lydia with a local Blackfoot Indian, and Sam with the intelligent and beautiful classmate he impregnates-- and heartbreak along the way. This was really an incredibly good book--I was alternately laughing and shaking my head all the way through.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very human novel, warts and all. I think most of us would not want to be associated with many of the characters in the book in real life, but within the confines of the printed page Tim Sandlin has created real people that we root for, laugh at, and who make us shake our heads in disgust. In short, the characters are real.
The title "Skipped Parts" can be taken so many ways, but while most readers think the title refers to the teenage sex in the novel, and the way that sex is treated in society, I think it also refers to the skipped parts of society at large. By that I mean the places and people that lots of Americans would rather pretend were not there. I also think it refers to the book's setting; GroVont WY, a place that many coastal Americans just skip over when they take into account American values and mores. If it is not California or New York it does not count, etc.
The realistic portrayal of the characters is jarring especially considering how morally deficient some of them are, and I think that is the point. We are all struggling in this life. Some succeed better than others, and many just get by, in a spiritual and physical sense. I am not especially fond of the protagonist's mom, Lydia, or his best friend/ sex partner (Maurey) but I understand and know them. That is the mark of good writing.
This is the third Sandlin novel I have read, and one of his continuous strengths is the voice of his protagonist, and "Skipped Parts" does not disappoint. The novel's narrator, Sam Callahan, may be only 13, but his voice and humor is one of the text's many high points.
This novel was the first in a trilogy, with a fourth soon to be published, and I will be continuing the journey through GroVont. You should too!

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been sitting on my phone for years. It was a free Kindle book that I'm not even sure how or why I got it, but it was there. I'm only sorry that it took me so long to glance at it. Boredom in a waiting room is what finally had me opening it, for lack of interest in any of the other free novels I have on there (loads of classics that I never had any intention of reading on my phone, hehe). That was enough though. I read the first couple chapters before I was called away with the full intent to read this book as soon as I could.

I'm a nut for physical books though, so I ordered a copy and suffered the week it took to get here, and have been trying my hardest not to just blow through the book. I really wanted to savor it, because it's such a good read. It's the kind of thing that sucks me into it's world, makes me feel welcome and generally just does it's best to make sure that I really struggle to put the book down (I took some slightly extended breaks at work because I wanted to at least get to the next good stopping point or chapter end).

So what captivated me so much about this book? The cast, of course. Sam is basically how I remember myself as a boy of 13. Maurey is more than a few girls I had crushes on at that age. Lydia is the dysfunctional parent that I can't help but love and the rest of the citizens of GroVont fit the small town roles they are meant to represent so well I can think of people I've known growing up that could play these characters in a movie just by being themselves. Everyone just feels so real to me based on experience.

Being set in the early 60's is a nice touch too, giving Sam and Maurey a parallel with the country, all losing their innocence at the same time. It just works so well without feeling forced.

Sandlin has a real knack for writing a story that is so messed up and depressing at times and yet so heartfelt and ultimately enjoyable when you realize that you're pulling for these characters to get what they want when they clearly can't all have that in the end. It also represents growing up really well, making this the coming of age story that I didn't know I needed to read, and that I will forever be suggesting to others.

The only problem now is that I want to read the next 3 books in the series and they haven't arrived yet. Hurry up, USPS. I need my GroVont fix!

[Latte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick summary: teenaged pregnancy in the early 60's told from the boy's perspective.

I can't say I liked this book at all. But much as you can't help slowing down to look at an accident on the highway, I couldn't help but finish reading the book. It started off slowly for me but as I read on, the characters began to grow on me. Disfunctionality thrives within the characters, in a way that makes them very real to the reader. Think reading instead of watching an episode of Teen Mom, set in another era. The characters grew on me. And while I came close to abandoning reading within the first few chapters, I now have a need to find the sequels to this so I can watch the remainder of this slow speed car chase.

[Borbality · Rating 2 out of 5]

SPOILERS if you're really worried about it

Way too long. I was into it when it was mostly just teenage coming of age stuff, but the story got ridiculous (pregnant 13 year olds who didn't know a thing about sex and then his mom taught them how to do it), keeping the baby, the town floozy being interested in 13 year olds, the two smartest kids in school somehow finding themselves in this situation.. just a little too much for me.

And again, it's like 400 pages. the Mom is kind of a neat character and the author successfully makes you sympathetic toward her, but really she's just trailer trash with good taste.

[Eric Mesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supposedly (according to the cover on the version I selected on Goodreads) this was made into a movie. I found this so incredulous that I looked it up on IMDB. Apparently it was made in 2000 and is rated R so MAYBE there's hope it actually comes close to this book. There are parts of this story that hinge on the main characters (especially the kids) saying "fuck you" to someone and there's some very young kids fooling around. But Sandlin also wrote the screenplay so maybe it's as close to the book as he wanted.

The intro to this book mentions comparisons to The Catcher in the Rye, but Sam Callahan makes Holden Caufield look like a whiny little wuss. Maybe it's because this book came out in 1991 while The Catcher in the Rye was crazy for the 60s, but I think if kids are going to read an "American kid effed up novel" they should read this one instead. They'd be a lot less bored and the teachers wouldn't look like such dorks for thinking Caufield was such a bad-ass.

That said, I wonder what age you should be to get the most out of this book. It's told in a Wonder Years-like narration by a man remembering the year his family was "banished" to the middle of nowhere by their grandfather. A lot of the interesting insights come from the main character looking back. I know I can look back and think about childhood, although since this book takes place in the 1960s, there's a bit of separation there. In the end, I think any one older than the protagonists (who are 13-14) would probably get the most out of it. And anyone younger...I'd make sure they're real mature so they don't get the wrong idea.

Our main character, Sam Callahan, has the world's worst mother (with the exception of intentionally abusive mothers) who had him very young (and you find out why in a very harrowing scene) and who is responsible for getting them banned to GroVont. Sam's grandfather is the rich owner of a carbon paper plant (how we made copies before first Xeroxes and then the internet/digital cameras/scanners made all that irrelevant) and Sam's mother always does the opposite of what he wants. With the exception of one scene, I found it pretty impossible to have any sympathy for the mother. The analogy I came up with while stuck swimming the other day is - imagine if the Hiltons and Kadashians of the world, instead of indulging or allowing their daughters to be (by USA standards - immoral and bratty) punished them and threatened to cut off their money flow if they didn't behave. That'd be Lydia (mom) and Caspar's (grandfather) conflict throughout the book.

So Sam, a too smart kid that I probably would have identified with as a kid - not in the way I was treated by my parents, but feeling that all the kids around me were not up to par, is left to fend for himself in a small town where he is, if not the smartest, at least the kid with the most worldly experience. This leads him to eventually team up with Maurey, the only other kid in class who enjoys reading for fun. This leads to the title drop for the book - because these kids are very smart, they're reading way above their level - adult books. But, back then, most (many? all?) books didn't have sex scenes like they did today. The characters would get lovey-dovey and the book would "fade to black" so Sam and Maurey start wondering what happens during the "skipped parts".

What follows is a series of events that reminds me of a cross between South Park and a John Waters flick in which the adults are all either idiots or wildly irresponsible around the kids and yet, given how much more untethered kids were back then (compared to everyone saying that our generation of parents hovers too much and doesn't let kids have time off on their own) maybe this actually happened in various places?

I don't want to give away the plot and I'd recommend you don't check the IMDB page which gives away WAY too much (although you can probably see the twist coming a mile away - although there's another twist that was so great and, again, out of a John Waters film) and if you're into coming of age books (this time from a boy's perspective), I'd recommend it. Also, if you're into history as there are a few 1960s milestones that play a part in the book.

Trigger/etc Warnings:
-Rape
-underage sexual stuff
-slut-shaming
-some pretty graphic depictions of the above - so read first or be aware before handing it to that advanced kid reader in your life.

[Alexander Scruggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot of this book looked intriguing when I picked it up, but it was the writing style that ended up holding my attention. I've read one other Sandlin novel, years ago, and didn't remember how casually dry he can be. His style is extremely similar to Joseph Heller; Sandlin is clearly aware of this, having made several Catch 22 references in the book. It made for a dark, funny, satirical look at loss of innocence, people's colored perception of children, the subjugation of women, old-time values, and more. Comedic and deep.

What will stick with me about this book is how many times I exclaimed aloud while reading. The story is told from the perspective of a 13-year-old boy who is mildly curious about sex, his 13-year-old friend with whom he begins to sexually experiment, and what ensues... Seemed like a creepy plot going into it, but I was also curious about how effectively it would unfold. Certainly held my attention, but I found the two main characters to be written too mature for their actual age. Stephen King is the only author of adult books I've read so far who really captures what it's like to be a kid. But Sandlin did well enough, three stars.

Read this if you're interested in dry, witty intrigue about a wild situation unfolding in small-town 1960s.

[Christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew going in that, based on the reviews, this was a "love it or hate it" novel. Fortunately, I came in firmly on the side of love.

And that's kind of what this book is about - love. At least, love from the point of view of a 13-year old boy being raised by a woman who can't take care of herself. First, though, the title: Skipped Parts refers to... well, it's best explained by this quote:

"In books people often kissed before things were either skipped or talked about so metaphorically no one knew what was going on. It seemed to be a one, two, three ritual—kiss, skip the weird stuff, fall in love."

And the education of Sam's life happens while seeking out the answer to what happens in the parts they skipped over.

Sam's mother is Lydia, and while she'll never be Mother of the Year, she does love him, and he accepts her as she is. Lydia and Sam get sent to GroVont because of another of Lydia's misadventures, of which we never quite find out the details. Lydia's father, Casper Callahan, holds the purse strings and so they do as he says.

It's rough for them there at first, but then life happens, in more way than one. The story is told from Sam's POV, and the reader quickly discovers that Sam is cynical (and frighteningly astute) about the things he's had experience with, and extremely innocent and naive about the things no one has yet told him about. It makes for a charming and slightly scary combination.

The story is sometimes heartwarming, often heartbreaking. I like Sam, and Lydia, and Maurey, Dot, Hank and all the other characters in this book, and I plan to seek out the second book in the series ASAP.

[C.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Sam Callahan, Sandlin creates one of the great characters of recent American literature. Equal parts Walter Mitty and Holden Caulfield, Sam is a hilarious narrator with a truly unique voice. If the book were nothing more than a series of comic misadventures of Sam and his irreverent Southern Belle mother, Lydia as they are transplanted from the good ol' south to rural Wyoming, it would be a great read.

However, Skipped Parts is far more than that. Beyond Sam and Lydia, Sandlin populates GroVont with no end of fascinating characters--almost all multidimensional and colorful--the kind of folks you only find in quirky places like Sicily, Alaska. In this book, its easy to imagine that folks like Dot,Hank Elkrunner and the old guys who populate the local diner have interesting lives and stories outside of the light they shed on the main characters and that they didn't just show up in the scenes to move the plot along. This gives the story an incredible richness.

Beyond that, the book has a heart as big as the Tetons and frequently wears it on its sleeve. Rarely is a book so laugh out loud funny also so poignant and touching. There are moments that are truly noble, truly sad and truly beautiful and its a credit to Sandlin that none of them seem contrived. If you can get past the stuff about precocious 13 teen year olds experimenting with sex, you find a great novel about growing up, dealing with family, redemption and the endless disappointments and possibilities of life. A wonderful, wonderful book.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1963, Sam is a 13-year-old boy who lives with his mother, Lydia. The two are under the thumb of Lydia’s father, who provides for them financially and has sent them to Nowhere, Wyoming as a form of punishment. The only other intelligent person in Sam’s grade is a girl named Maury, and the two of them set off to academically discover what happens in the “skipped parts” of novels—after the kissing and before the morning after. What is already a complicated situation becomes further complicated as Sam falls in love, Maury gets pregnant, and the whole town tries to hang on to its own secrets.

While I accept that this is real--13-year-olds having sex--I found myself wanting to yell at the adults in this book. What a bunch of winners--a mother teaching her preteen son how to pleasure his prepubescent girlfriend? Expecting him to be responsible enough to just stop experimenting once Maury gets her period? I guess it did get a more emotional reaction from me than most books, so kudos for that. But something about this book just felt so...wrong. Like reading it suggests I'm a pedophile or something.
• Extreme language, frequent
• Highly sexual, not recommended for readers under 17
• Explores some serious issues in a lighthearted way

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

ON THE BANAL SIDE OF RAUNCHY.

“Children laugh at pain. It’s what makes them children.”—page 13

There were many parts of Tim Sandlin’s novel, ‘Skipped Parts,’ that I wish I had skipped. This novel came to me as a ‘free’ eBook from Barnes & Noble as part of their ‘Free Fridays’ promo (the hook) and when I read: “Skipped Parts is somewhere between The Catcher in the Rye and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues."
-Los Angeles Times Book Review” (the line and sinker) I couldn’t wait to read it.

There were times, during the reading, I thought that even at ‘free’ this book was overpriced; and that the L.A. Times book reviewer who compared it to two of my favorite classics must surely have be vastly impaired at the time. This novel has very few, if any, redeeming values—social or otherwise—and even two-stars seems a bit generous.

Recommendation: ‘Skipped Parts’ is no ‘Catcher in the Rye’. ‘Skipped Parts’ is nowhere near an ‘Even Cowgirls Get the Blues’. If you skip reading it, you will have skipped very little of reading value.

“I want a Fudgsicle first.”—page 105

A Barnes & Noble NOOKbook, 308 pages

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The start to this book seemed very slow and laboured, and nothing appeared to make much sense. There is the annoying habit from Sam, one of the main characters, to insert small stories which tended to upset the flow of the book. It is basically the story of a dysfunctional family, set during the early 60s. Lydia and her son Sam are banished to the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, by Lydia's father. Although we are not made privvy to the reason behind this banishment, you are left to guess by the ensuing behaviour. There is plenty of humour, and it deals with various matters, coming of age, dysfunctionality, alcoholism, and a teenage pregnancy. Maybe not so rare in present day life, but put into the existing timeline of 1960s America it makes for an engaging read, and is worth persevering with.

[Autum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have got to admit there were a few parts of this book that had me cringing, had me wondering if I wanted to go any further. I kept going, and I am so glad I did. Sandlin is a genious. An unexpected genious. He is supposedly known for his humor but I know him now for his heart! He allows you to believe in humanity in this read. The road is long and tragic but once you arrive at the destination Sandlin has delivered you to you fully understand that all the tragedy was necessity. Beautiful.

[Mich · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow.. free on kindle... loved it! sandlin writing reminds me of joe landsdale and carl hiaassen,both of whom i love! th't at first it was a bit weird and when i think of the subject content it is but i really liked it! infact started the next one(this is the first of three)as soon as i finshed this one! tho't sams' daydreams where a total kick.
give it a whirl but expect some 'out there' ideas... i'd like to meet Lydia!

[Neil Higginbotham · Rating 4 out of 5]

recommended by christopher moore, not as funny as CM, but a good writer

[Jennifer K. Swinburne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow...I am so disturbed that this got any good reviews and that even the negative reviews barely call attention to the pedophilic voyeurism this book is. This old man author details, at great length and detail, prepubescent & barely pubescent sexual encounters explicitly...YET in this day & age we put "trigger warnings" on mentions of self harm or the word "rape". This is unbelievable. An adult woman says to a 13 year old boy that she would love to feel his young tongue on her and NO ONE IS COMPLAINING?@!!! What if that were a male character to a female. This world & this book are disgusting.

[Ronn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read a book about an immigrant Jewish boy growing up, coming of age, sexually awakening on the lower east side of New York at the turn of the last century. I didnt like it very much.
This book is about a boy transplanted from the east coast to the mountain west, growing up, coming of age, sexually awakening in the 60s.
This book has the advantage of being laugh-out-loud funny, even through some relatively tragic events. Even though there are no characters with whom I truly identify, I knew all of them.
So I am eagerly looking forward to Hope Floats, and more of Tim Sandlin's efforts.

[Marnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

People call this book funny, but I found it disturbing. Family relationships where the child parents the parent are unfortunate, not really a thing of humor. And casual discussion of middle school kids having sex is not comedic. And the happily ever after ending was ridiculous. I've also never heard the expression "king-hell" before and found it's constant use annoying. I kept reading bc I wanted to see where this story went to and if ir somehow redeemed itself. For me, it didn't.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this coming of age story when the two coming of age are 13 years old. A kid and his mom are moved to this little town by grandpa who hopes they will stop messing up their lives. They mess it up even more but find "family" in the town. The story has it's moments but also some moments that are a bit uncomfortable given their ages.

[Max de Freitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is refreshing to find a book that does not ignore unintended consequences or uncomfortable subjects. Even so, the author makes it most amusing at times. But the self-destructive and cruel behavior portrayed does occur in real life. It shows up regularly in the news. Some parts have still been skipped. Insane presidents with a penchant for mass destruction are absent along with mass murderers armed with perfectly legal machine guns. For such entertainment, one must still rely on the news. I see this is a series. None of the characters are particularly endearing. They are all quite stupid. I wonder if I should read the subsequent books.

[Ayny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laugh out loud funny and spot on descriptions and dialogue. But, the two main characters would have been more believable if they were 15 and 16. It is difficult to imagine a 13 yr olds with such insight.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Sandlin is becoming one of my favorite authors. This is the 2nd book I've read of his. Characters are great! Interesting reads, humorous, poignant, just great all around. I loved the characters of Lydia, Dot, Sam etc.

[Gladz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious. Tragic. Sad. Inspiring. I could not even imagine that one could use 4 conflicting words to describe a book. Do yourself a favor, don't die without reading this book.

[Paul Cech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ultimate disfunctional family material. A laugh a minute.

[Darla]

Why did I wait so long to re-read this? As amusing now as it was when first published although from a more mature viewpoint it's also more sad as a story of prolonged family trauma.

[Carrie Billig]

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[word girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but WEIRD & UNCOMFY

[Oscar Turtle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another novel that has been made into a movie. I saw the movie first and, as normal, the book was superior. A delightful little yarn of growing up and maturing, which don’t always coincide. Maurey and Sam are too young to really know what sex is, but determined to learn. Soon Maurey is pregnant, yet she still declares Sam is just a friend and continues to date another. Sam and Maurey grow up and mature at different rates, but it’s all hilarious .

A Great read