What a find! Levandoski is a saucy yet substantial treasure. Although the novel is reflective of the Reagan-era mindset when greed was good, accepted and even expected this brilliant little story perfectly illustrates how the important lessons of the past are quickly forgotten as we chase the false glitter of one get-rich-quick scheme to the next. And always forgetting the cost of the ones who will truly suffer and pay - all of us.

Yes it is a cautionary fable, but much fun is also to be found. Forget Keating and Reagan. Read Levandoski - and remember Calvin and his feathered daughter Reah.

Time for SERENDIPITY GREEN!

Rob Levandoski has done it again! His piquant wit hits all the marks again in his unwavering scrutiny of popular culture. He lays bare all the hypocrites and hypocrisy that cross his radar screen and carries it off in a breezy manner without meanness of spirit. His sharply defined characters evolve, his plotting is smooth yet unpredictable and his dialogue is true to life without being pedestrian. I found "Fresh Eggs" entertaining and edifying, and I look forward to reading Levandoski's next novel. He is going to be famous.

"Going to Chicago" tells an unusual story set in a time and place when even the bad guys were pretty innocent. It's a "coming of age" tale about how two friends in a rural Ohio town, saddled with one bothersome little brother, set off to see the wonders of the age at the Chicago World's Fair. Through the adventures of these boys-becoming-men, the author shows the power and importance of pursuing dreams, and the meaning of friendship. Beyond that, it's a good yarn, full of unique characters--you'll love the Bonnie and Clyde wannabes who take the boys on the ride of their young lives. The book is a quick read and well worth the time and monetary investment.

Rob Levandoski's "Going to Chicago" is a must read for every avid reader of period novels and coming-of-age tales. Levandoski's prose is breezy and metaphoric, his story takes more twists and turns than US Route 20 and his research would delight a university tenure review committee!

A pinch of Sinclair Lewis, a dash of Garrison Keillor, garnishes of Thurber and Twain and Dave Barry, with just a hint of Swift and Waugh: that is the recipe that Rob Levandoski concocts in Serendipity Green, and it is as darkly delicious as devil's food. Levandoski is shrewdly observant as to how tempests brew quickly in small-town teapots; he also is in touch with the need of Americans to follow the latest trend, even if it's a particularly ugly, bilious shade of green, and to believe in their own myths, even if they are patently untrue tales of an Indian maiden whose name is Polish for "nonsense." There are characters here as rich as any in recent fiction, including D. William Aitchbone, a consummate schemer on a par with Anthony Trollope's Mr. Slope, and the odd couple of Howie Dornick and Katherine Hardihood, two painfully plain middle-aged wallflowers who find each other through their mutual loathing of D. William Aitchbone. Levandoski's invention is prodigious, indeed to his detriment: he introduces so many characters and subplots that he has to scramble madly to resolve them all. The end, as a result, seems rushed and not quite all it could be. Up to that point, however, the book is a delight, and Serendipity Green is still must reading for anyone who likes a good, funny book that is ever so lightly tinged with arsenic.

I wasn't enamoured with "Going to Chicago", but thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Having grown up in a town like Tuttwyler, I feel as though I knew each of these characters, and they all rang true. In addition, the author's style (always using full name each time a character is referred to) makes the story even more authentic. You will never look at anything green again without thinking of Serendipity Green. I may use the recipe and see if I can come up with the color!

Everyday I wake up and think that there are books like this that I don't know about. This is a great book. It rings true on small-town life, politics, and "civil engagement" with a blend of humor both subtle and broad. While insightful, the examination of life in the small town is not mean or benevolent.