It begins like this: "Three melons and a dwarf sat in the front seat of Marilee's '72 Dodge, but the cop was not amused." With a starter sentence like that, I instantly new I was in for something different! "Rocket City" does deliver.

This book is a fantastic weekend or vacation read if you're into entertaining fiction. It will never be required reading in an English Classics class but, it is one of the most enjoyable first books I've read in quite a while! This road novel literally traces the path of two independent main characters and the people they encounter along the way in contemporary south New Mexico. They are (mostly) regular folks with their own dippy problems and ways of dealing with them that provide most of the material for their amusing and poignant adventures. Alpert writes with witty attention to detail and a style that endears each of the characters to you. I often found myself reaching for a map of New Mexico to trace their road trips!

Give this one a try especially now that it is out in paperback. You may find yourself soon looking for a hardback to put on your bookshelf for keeps.

When a friend recommended Rocket City to me, I let it sit on my shelf for six months before picking it up to read. Big mistake. This is one of the wittiest, most charming, most intelligent novels I've ever read. And fun to boot. I couldn't put it down, and now have recommended it to my book club. I hope Cathryn Alpert comes out with a new book soon! I want more.

Catherine Alpert's Rocket City of one of the most comical and endearing novels I have read. I'm always searching for the next Tom Robbins, and Alpert has filled his shoes. The story brings us quirky yet familiar characters that find themselves in unprecedented situations. Where else can you find a woman, a dwarf and two melons in the front seat of a Dart! I couldn't wait to see how the book ended, yet I didn't want to get there because I knew it would then be over.