Critical Praise

"[Baker's] own sense of theatre is so grand that only after three hundred pages does everything come joltingly into focus....Larry Baker is writing for grownups but he remembers how it felt not to be one, and renders the experiences in unforced, unshowy prose, neither folksy nor formal. The result is a novel that's both modest and surprisingly seductive. "

———The New Yorker

"The coming of age story is done to a fine turn in Baker's absolutely delightful first novel, which is also a clever spin on the Romeo and Juliet theme. "

———Booklist

"A truly affecting work, and an inventive one. "

———Kirkus Reviews

"This is much more than a sum of memorable parts; it is a literary tour de force, a study of barriers built and torn down. "

———New Orleans Times—Picayune

"This pitch-perfect first novel is reminiscent of the best of John Irving....Like the giant July 4th fireworks display toward which the story builds, this engaging, moving novel sends up one sparkler after another on its way to a crash-bang, heart-stopping ending. "

———Publishers Weekly

"[The Flamingo Rising] is an American original, as big and as full of promise as a drive-in movie screen, formed out of the grist and gristle of late 20th century fiction. "

———Atlanta Constitution

"A first novel that dares mix the Icarus, Oedipus and Earhart myths, risks a Romeo and Juliet update, plunders Dante, references the Bible, rewrites movie history and inside-outs the American past. Yet Baker's book is far from pretentious. It's one of the more endearingly adept debuts to come along in a while....A novel that is as fully realized as it is inventive, humorous and heartaching. "

———Los Angeles Times

"Like his flamingo, Baker never loses his footing. "

———The Star Ledger