Every year, BookSparks has a Fall Reading Challenge, and for the 2018 edition, today's book, Chuckerman Makes A Movie by Francie Arenson Dickman, was among them. As it turns out, even though I wasn't actually a blogger selected to be part of the BookSparks challenge, I was able to secure a digital copy of this book for review through my relationship as a book blogger with NetGalley.
To recap on the story involved in Chuckerman Makes a Movie, we have David Melman, who is a 35 year old pursuing 20-something pop stars and is conflicted about finally settling down. He knows love - the love of his classic 1977 yellow Cadillac Coupe de Ville inherited from his grandfather, Slip Melman. Everyone in David's life -- including his young niece and nephew -- thinks he needs to change his ways.
David's sister, Marcy convinces him to take a film-writing class that's taught by Marcy’s friend Laurel (aka “The Mormon Rodeo"). Laurel urges David to write about his beloved Cadillac, which turns into a project full of David's recollections from a family vacation when he was just ten years old and visiting his grandparents, Slip and Estelle Melman in Miami Beach, Florida, along with dozens of other Jewish snow-birds
Melman's screenplay serves to provide readers with a story within a story. The author has created enthusiastic characters filled with humor with great generational and cultural textures. The writing is very colorful and engaging, and I loved the characters' strong family bonds. I also loved the romantic aspect of the story. This is definitely a great page-turner for a long weekend or a trip to the beach (for us here in sunny Florida)!
I have received an advanced reader digital copy of this book through NetGalley, and I'm posting as part of the BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge 2018 (FRC#2018).