Eric Berensen (the fly-fishing shop owner) is a lame former lacrosse star at an unnamed college (Colgate) who has married over his head into an old east-coast family. His preppy debutante wife, Corkie (an elementary school teacher and yoga and riding enthusiast), attempts to transform him into her version of a preppy -- something he has no intention of becoming. More conflict arises due to her longing for a child -- much to his dismay. To complicate matters, a lovely divorcee (Brooke Lowell) shows up with the intention of seducing the troubled Eric who also struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
The young couple befriends an aging preppy named Kip Noll III who’s recently arrived in town. He becomes known as “the Preppy” because of his classic New England dress and mannerisms. Despite a fine social pedigree, a charming personality and an Ivy League degree, Kip’s made a total shambles of his life (financial and two divorces) and is now eagerly awaiting a large inheritance from his Aunt Caroline to rescue him. Unfortunately, his unethical sister, Topsy (a Seven Sisters graduate) from Old Lyme, Connecticut, has other plans. Ironically, an outrageous long-distance legal battle ensues.
Kip’s former roommate at prep school, the hapless eccentric Lane Freeway (originally Melvin Golub, and then later David Hudson), abruptly reappears in his life. His arrival in Ketchum underscores Kip’s wasted years and lost potential.
Misadventures abound as the unlucky Kip inadvertently manages to positively influence Eric and Corkie’s relationship by setting a bad example, and later saves their marriage.
Fragments of Chuck Berry’s old tune, “No particular place to go,” serves as the novel’s background theme song, as each of the characters seek out their own “Particular Place” in life after prep school. Similarly, Izaak Walton’s, The Compleat Angler, forms the philosophical backdrop for the fly-fishing aspects of the story.
The narrator’s introduction of himself in the middle of the novel comes as something of a surprise.
THE PREPPY AND THE TROUT
Smashwords eBook Edition by Robert Reichardt
Price: $2.99 USD
www.smashwords.com/
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Published: May 25, 2011
Category: Fiction>>Literature>>Literary
Words: 41118 (approximate)
Language: English
