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Vertical (Deluxe Edition): The Sequel To Sideways (2011)

by Rex Pickett(Favorite Author)

3.41 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0983143447 (ISBN13: 9780983143444)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Loose Gravel Press

review 1: My problem with this book probably had more to do with not reading Sideways-the novel but with only seeing the film adaptation. It's hard for me to picture Miles as anything by Paul Giamatti. So when Miles becomes hugely successful as a result of the movie made out of his book, it's hard to buy his leap into sex magnet. Jack really takes a back seat to him here and is really not given much further development as a character. Miles's mom gets the bigger treatment but she's fairly one-dimensional for most the novel. Worse is Joy, her caretaker, who is completely flat. There were plenty of opportunities to find out more about her, but Pickett doesn't let this happen. The tone of the book also moves from over the top hijinks to melancholy. Much of the journey taken by ... morethe four characters centers on San Diego to Portland. Very little time is spent on the potentially much longer journey from Portland to Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It's a big novel with a lot of excess plot packaging - some of which is quite hard to stomach (I'll leave out those details!)
review 2: First, if you're looking for a Sideways clone, this isn't it, though it IS a logical sequel. While it is a book about wine-tasting and craziness that accompanies it (this is a thing, I guess), it's a different kind of buddy movie -- in some ways, much more complex and even dark.The premise is straightforward: Miles, the down-and-out author narrating Sideways, has become quite financially solvent from the success of the movie that Sideways (referenced frequently in Vertical, though by an alias). On the other hand, Jack, his buddy from Sideways, has had a downturn in his luck. With the tables turned, Miles hires Jack to assist him in transporting his stroke-addled mother to Wisconsin to live with her sister.Naturally, their road trip takes them through wine country again and Pinot Noir is the star of the show throughout. Along the way, they get into a few scrapes and emergency rooms, but then it takes a twist or three. No spoilers here!The book really does explore several key themes here: sudden success and excess that follows; the frailty of health and wealth; how relationships change due to circumstances over one's life. Rex does take the film industry to task just a little, but he does it in good humor.The most most revealing thing about this book, and it's perhaps an analog of Rex's life itself, is how Miles slowly, painfully matures throughout all the craziness. I think we're all lucky if we end up in the same place as Miles (or Rex, for that matter) does. less

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