Amazon Shades of Luz Category:  Literary Fiction Publisher: All Things That Matter Press ISBN-10:  098409847X Type: Fiction Pages: 184 Copyright: 2009 ISBN-13: 9780984098477 Shades of Luz is a modern day Don Quixote, a picaresque rich in characters searching for love and meaning in an otherwsie manic-paced world. Grad school dropout Benny Fluke is a philosopher, monkey-trainer, wine snob, and a strip club connoisseur. Above and beyond all that he is a romantic at heart and is desperate to win the love of Luz, the hot-blooded, ambitious beauty who keeps boomeranging into his life. Something from Luz's past inextricably bonds them together, and Benny will not stop until she is his. Their delightful repartee is crisp, witty, and sumptuously engaging. Never before in the history of literature has a stuffed animal vendor risen the ranks to become thumb-wrestling champ. But, will he get the girl?

Shades of Luz
"A coming of age story, Shades of Luz is refreshing to read because it is empty of dysfunctional types of characters. The novel is about a decent man who has realistic fears, desires, family and friends. Gorman is able to keep one's interest without having to incorporate the typical, often pointless, themes of violence and sex that many authors resort to in order to secure readership."

Weam Namou,author of "The Feminine Art" and "The Mismatched Braid"

Brilliant Debut
"With a happy facility for words--and interesting, fresh choices of words at that--John Gorman shapes Shades of Luz into an antic, frantic, cockeyed search for love and meaning. Like every human being in his or our world, Benny has managed to get into jobs that baffle him, control him, evade him--and fallen in love with the marvelous Luz, who baffles
him, controls him and evades him too. This wonderfully odd story
introduces us to a marvelously inventive universe with tough guys, loony broads, jazz-playing monkeys and surprises that can change lives."

Karen Heuler, author of "The Soft Room"