Rating: 
Summary: Duncan Delaney motors along
Review: "Duncan Delaney" is a great read. It reminds me of early Tom McGuane or Tom Robbins. The story moves right along, from Wyoming to Hollywood, and it kept me laughing all the way. The characters are always entertaining, if sometimes a bit surreal or cartoonish (but in a good way) and I always cared about what happened to them, sometimes more than the charcters seemed to care about themselves. It's both funny (laugh out loud funny) and touching, but I felt a little let down at the ending. I look forward to more from Haskett, and will definately buy his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Quirky Novel Not "for" Lesbians
Review: A friend of mine sent this book to me for Christmas a year or so ago and it took me awhile to get around to reading it...which I deeply regret now. It is a wonderful read, lightning-quick, filled with joy and laughter as well as angst and heartbreak.The protagonist, Duncan Delaney, is a young artist who would rather sell Old West scenes painted on black velvet featuring his best friend (and certified hell-raiser) Benjamin Lonetree on the side of the Interstate than run his family's ranch. A meeting with an agent on the way home to LA (Los Angeles, not Louisiana) gives Benjamin a new love interest and Duncan his ticket to both personal salvation and ruin; the art world is ready for a "rustic revolution" and Duncan has the eye to lead it. But is a 21-year old artist who has yet to come to terms with the circumstances under which his father died years ago ready for the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles? And is living across the street from a strip club with access to strippers-with-secrets, bouncers, and lesbian bikers REALLY the best way to acclimatize himself to his new surroundings with his mother and ex-girlfriend hot on his heels attempting his reclaimation? Absolutely. And it makes for some great reading, too. It won't take more than a weekend to complete; definitely pick this one up.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific debut by a promising writer runs emotional gambit.
Review: A friend of mine sent this book to me for Christmas a year or so ago and it took me awhile to get around to reading it...which I deeply regret now. It is a wonderful read, lightning-quick, filled with joy and laughter as well as angst and heartbreak. The protagonist, Duncan Delaney, is a young artist who would rather sell Old West scenes painted on black velvet featuring his best friend (and certified hell-raiser) Benjamin Lonetree on the side of the Interstate than run his family's ranch. A meeting with an agent on the way home to LA (Los Angeles, not Louisiana) gives Benjamin a new love interest and Duncan his ticket to both personal salvation and ruin; the art world is ready for a "rustic revolution" and Duncan has the eye to lead it. But is a 21-year old artist who has yet to come to terms with the circumstances under which his father died years ago ready for the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles? And is living across the street from a strip club with access to strippers-with-secrets, bouncers, and lesbian bikers REALLY the best way to acclimatize himself to his new surroundings with his mother and ex-girlfriend hot on his heels attempting his reclaimation? Absolutely. And it makes for some great reading, too. It won't take more than a weekend to complete; definitely pick this one up.
Rating:
Summary: Great Title
Review: A young painter, Duncan Delaney, does not want to run the family ranch. A chance meeting with an agent changes his direction. He moves to LA where the promise of success changes everything. His new life begins when he ends up living across the street from a strip club. What man in LA hasn't had to compete with a lesbian for the stripper of his dreams? This book is a lot of fun. I recommend it to anyone who loves quirky characters.
Rating:
Summary: Apples & Oranges, Robbins & Haskett.
Review: After reading Duncan Delaney I see why some reviews compare the writing to Tom Robbins. There's the same quirky characters and off the wall plot. The writing is more carefully crafted than Robbins, and not as exuberantly indulgent. Take your pick. I'm always aware that Robbins is grinning there behind the typewriter, and I'm there grinning with him. With Haskett, I was less aware of the writer and more aware of the writing. Take your pick. Anyway. I completely enjoyed this book and was sad and disappointed, not by the ending, but because it ended so too quickly. As a big Robbins fan, it's good to see someone new come along that can help bridge the gap between Tom's books.
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Summary: An author to watch
Review: Being a big fan of Christopher Moore's, his endorsement swayed me, so I bought this book. People have compared him to Tom Robbins, and it's an accurate comparison. This book has a solid and yet dreamlike feeling to it that suspends reality. The book is also hilarious, from the love-struck Benjamin who still manages to throw out cringe-worthy one-liners to the art world that Duncan finds himself immersed in. A. L. Haskett is definitely an author to watch. There are certain moments and phrases that are a bit heavy-handed and break the spell, but it will be interesting to watch him as he works out the last few kinks in his writing style. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Fun in the West
Review: Delightful, picaresque characters, snappy dialog, some truly funny moments, and a pace that never leaves you flat-footed: Duncan Delaney and the Cadillac of Doom is comic circus of strippers and bikers, cowboys and Indians, and fine art. How could you go wrong? I hope Haskette writes another soon, it's always good to know you can go to the shelf and find a funny book. Warning, this book contains bikers and strippers, lots of them, so there is violence and women who derive much of their identity from their physical appearance. Have fun, but don't whine. You have been warned.
Rating:
Summary: A wild, poignant, dark & vastly entertaining debut novel!
Review: Duncan Delaney and the Cadillac of Doom by A. L. Haskett is a wild, dark, poignant and vastly entertaining "black" comedy set largely in modern day Los Angeles. As the novel opens Duncan is living on his mom's ranch outside Cheyenne, Wyoming. He does a bit of field and maintenance work around the ranch, but his key interest is painting-he does hackneyed cowboy and Indian scenes on black velvet to sell by the roadside to tourists. On one fateful day he sends his buddy Ben Lonetree out to peddle a real painting of Ben's family. In Ben's absence, Duncan's domineering mother (his dad died years ago in a freak accident) gives him an ultimatum Duncan is loath to acquiesce to. When ben returns with $600 for the family painting and the address of the buyer in LA who wants to see more of his work, Duncan is off to the left coast. There he gets involved with a zany and colorful bunch of characters-an artsy crowd, a couple of motorcycle gangs, the denizens of a strip club by his apartment, and so on. He falls for one of the strippers, whose affections he must compete for with a "butch" lesbian motorcycle mama. When both Ben and Duncan's mom arrive on the scene to weigh in on Duncan's departure from Wyoming and his current situation, the sparks really begin to fly. The action is fast, furious-and funny as all get out. The characters are lively and engaging. Duncan himself is portrayed perfectly, though the angst and anomie of his beloved-Pris-is a bit overdone. Duncan's confusion and angst is occasionally relieved by dream visits from his dad. These visits act as precursors to action ahead as well as act as a device to illuminate Duncan's character and worldview. The book as a whole is very reminiscent of Christopher Moore's writing style-bright, vivid characters, wacky action, a bit of the phenomenological-and funny and entertaining as all get out. My only real criticism is the editing-there are more typos and misspellings and grammar lapses in this text than in 100 other books you could choose at random. Doesn't anyone associated with this effort own some sort of spell-check? That nit-pick aside, this is a wonderfully engaging story that would make perfect plane and/or beach reading. I loved every minute of it!
Rating:
Summary: I Didn't Even Know Tom McGuane and John Irving Were Dating!
Review: Duncan Delaney and the Cadillac of Doom. Hmmm . . . Should I pick it up? Well, I'll just look at the first page. Pretty good. Maybe another page. Hmmm . . . next thing I know the bookstore was closing and I had to buy the damn thing to finish reading it (sorry Amazon). The writing is fresh and original, a cross between McGuane and Irving (two of my favorites) but without McGuane's excesses and Irving's pretentions. Ok, maybe a little of each, but all good things in moderation. Wonderfully sketched out characters and descriptions. Darn near elegant writing. The subplots were more interesting to me than the main plot, but so what? There was plenty here to hold my interest. If Amazon's rating system allowed four and a half stars I'd probably have given it that. But they don't, so I'll give this wonderful debut novel the benefit of the doubt along with the full five stars.
Rating:
Summary: a wild read..funny and poignant
Review: Duncan Delaney is a young cowboy/ artist from a ranch in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Through a roadside sale of one of his paintings he is catapulted along a journey that leads him to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles the story takes a dark comedy twist involving strippers, lesbian bikers, art shows, a trust fund, girl next door gone wild, and a startlingly beautiful woman in a white Cadillac. Along with this wild assortment, is Duncan's dead father who attempts to help guide his son through this challenging scenario by coming to him in his dreams and giving him advice This is a story of innocence and trust being challenged by betrayal, lies and selfishness. It is a tale of universal hopes and dreams of love and committment and the result is a fast paced wild ride that is both funny and poignant.
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