When he mother abandons Gabe's door-to-door salesman father, Roman, for his uncle Dutch, a wealthy and reliable car dealer, Roman enlists the aid of sixteen-year-old Gabe to win Gladys back, embarking on an outlandish odyssey of country carnivals and state fairs, selling tickets to the gullible to see the Death Cars of Celebrities. Gabe Strickland is the 16-year-old narrator of this wacky, offbeat first novel about a dysfunctional family. He is determined to get his salesman father, Roman, back together with his long-suffering mother, Gladys. Gabe's father is a very likable characterDhe is passionate about his profession and loves both his wife and son deeply. Unfortunately, he also has a fondness for get-rich-quick schemes and stubbornly refuses to take a job that would provide the family with a steady income. The novel centers on Roman's comic and wildly improbable schemes to win Gladys back. This is a novel rich in detail and character (Seventies music, vintage cars, Miss North Carolina 1970), but it is not without its weaknesses. The plotting, even for a comic novel, occasionally strains credulity, and Gabe's dawning appreciation for the complexities of adulthood might be more fully realized. Overall, however, this is an enjoyable read. Recommended for libraries with large fiction collections.DPatrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. A strong, impressive debut...truly hilarious. -- The Raleigh News and Observer Brad Barkley's Money, Love sets us down amid a crew of characters so colorful they make the rainbow look pale. Energy, high spirits, wistful romance, deviltry, and beach music abound, and all couched in a style as snazzy as the paint job on a 1956 Buick convertible. What rueful fun this novel is, what tender and valiant spirit it celebrates! What a triumph for its author! What delight for you and me! -- Fred Chappell, author of Look Back All the Green Valley Death cars, Crown Royal, Rod McKuen and door-to-door sales. Money, Love is a gentle and funny coming of age that frames loss and innocence in completely American terms. -- Stewart O'Nan, author of A Prayer for the Dying Fans of Michael Malone's Handling Sin will love Brad Barkley's Money, Love . It's a hilarious first novel by a very talented young writer. -- Richard Russo, author of Nobody's Fool Readers who value insight and meaning will be interrupting one another to announce this new author's arrival. -- The Baltimore Sun Sweetly comic.... Barkley's entertaining story provides humor and poignancy in equal measure. -- Publishers Weekly That uniquely American dream, the dream of 'making it,' still energizes our best fiction. Gabe Strickland, hero and wise innocent of Brad Barkley's fine debut novel, mediates between dreams of love and dreams of money like a heartsick referee who's laid bets on the game. Money, Love will make you laugh, make you fret, and then make you cheer. What more can a novel do? -- Rick DeMarinis, author of Borrowed Hearts This is "slice of life" at its diciest, each chapter conveying incident, anecdote and pop-cultural observation but lacking any serious dramatic tension. -- The New York Times Book Review , Ken Foster You're about to meet some folks you won't soon forget. Money, Love is a breathtaking comic romp and a bittersweet tale of a family in collapse. I loved these people and admired this swift, wise and luminous book. I started reading slowly, hoping the novel would never end, hoping I wouldn't have to say goodbye to Gabe and Roman, to Miss North Carolina. -- John Dufresne, author of Louisiana Power and Light and Love Warps the Mind a Little Brad Barkley is the author of Circle View , a collection of stories. A native of North Carolina, he lives in Maryland. [A] novel filled to the brim with fall-down funny scenes an vividly etched, unforgettable characters.