Not Fade Away

Not Fade Away, Jim Dodge, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987

This is the flashback story of George, a man who grew up as the son of a long-haul trucker and became one himself. After several years, he became convinced to look for another line of work after he lost his driver's license in several states.

George became a tow-truck driver in Beat Generation San Francisco. On the side, he worked for a local criminal named Scumball in an insurance fraud scheme. One day, his assignment is to steal and total a mint condition, white, '59 Cadillac Eldorado. The original owner had died, and her son had lots of gambling debts. In the glove compartment, George finds a letter in which the woman was planning to ship the car to Texas as a gift to J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper).

George sets off on a cross-country quest to deliver the car to Richardson's grave, and there set it on fire as an offering to the spirits of love and music. Scumball is not happy.

He meets many interesting people along the way, including an ex-con street preacher planning to start his own church, and a traveling salesman who buys and sells souls.

When he almost reaches Richardson's grave in Texas, George gets a sudden inspiration. Instead of delivering the car to Texas, he takes a sharp left turn and heads for Clear Lake, Iowa, where Richardson, Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens were killed in a 1959 plane crash.

This is a Great Novel. It is an excellent tale of cars, rock and roll, and life. Dodge has a real way with language and people. Here is one of those rare books that starts off excellent, and goes up from there. I really loved it.