What is John Vorhaus reading?

Today's featured contributor at Writers Read: John Vorhaus, author of The Albuquerque Turkey.

His entry begins:

Since my next novel is set in 1969, I was excited to see how a master like Thomas Pynchon handled the task, and so picked up his noirish new novel, Inherent Vice, which follows the stoned adventures of detective Larry “Doc” Sportello through the drugs-and-corruption underworld of a semi-fictitious, late ‘60s Los Angeles. Having grown up in LA in the late ‘60s, I was interested to see where Pynchon’s research had yielded verisimilitude, and where he cut a corner or two in the name of good storytelling.

This is a challenge I’m facing every day in my current work, a coming-of-age tale set in Milwaukee in 1969. Of course I wasn’t there then, and Internet resources on the subject are scarcer than you might expect. Nor is it entirely necessary that I adhere strictly to ‘60s reality, since my protagonist is only fifteen years old, and his first-person narrative yields only the evidence available to a fifteen-year-old’s eyes. In this sense, I made a conscious decision to “cheat the research.” Had I selected a third person narrator, I would have been much more responsible for a full and accurate portrayal of the era – and the fact is, I hate research like a cat hates baths, for the simple reason that when I’m researching I’m not writing, and I’d rather be writing, full stop.

Interestingly, I detect a similar cheat in Inherent Vice. By...[read on]

Among the early praise for The Albuquerque Turkey:

"Pleasantly preposterous...What Radar (and Vorhaus) understand is that every emotional attachment can be exploited for the sake of a scam... A lighthearted caper with...psychological insight."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Clever and glib and fine entertainment."
--Booklist

"Entertaining...Vorhaus keeps things moving briskly, and Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen fans should be pleased."
--Publishers Weekly

"An intriguing and utterly enjoyable novel... the story is inherently cinematic and one can almost see the film version unspool."
--Denver Post

Learn more about the book and author at John Vorhaus's website and blog.

Vorhaus is also the author of The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even if You’re Not. An avid poker player, he has written several books on that subject, including the bestselling Killer Poker series and the poker-world novel Under the Gun. A veteran creative consultant, he has taught writing in twenty-four countries on four continents, most recently running the writing staff of the Russian version of Married ... with Children.

The Page 69 Test: The Albuquerque Turkey.

Writers Read: John Vorhaus.

--Marshal Zeringue