Word on the street ...

"Steven McGowan, Riding High's so-called hero, is working on his Doctorate in chaos. At turns moving and funny, this is a novel to savor for its wise insights about failed connections, ruptured relationships, and eventual redemption."
          --- Mary Bringle, author of Hacks At Lunch

"...character-driven, charming, and cinematic."
          --- highfaluting but anonymous book reviewer

"...poignant, and packed with wit, humor, and wisdom."
          --- Suzanne McConnell, author of Fence of Earth

"Suffused with the rhythms of an original everyday life, and born along on self-mocking humor, Riding High captures the anguish of self-limiting illusions, the unquenchable hope that love will recall us from exile, and the sustaining truth that none of us, so long as we live with courage, lies beyond recovery."
          --- Robert t. Fancher, Ph.D, author of Health and Suffering in America.

"...vaudevillian shenanigans, drug culture politics, and Southern family values crash head-on, melding a shotgun wedding of love, black humor, tears, and forgiveness."
          --- a reformed redneck hippie

“If you want to gain insight into how the Vietnam war, capitalism, racism and sexism affect relationships in America; and have a hell of a good time with new fictional friends, then you'll want to read Riding High as soon as possible.”
          ---Carolyn Steinhoff Smith, poet, and author of Domination, Subordination and the Lacework of Resistance

"...a road from childhood hell paved with hilarious invention."
          --- channeled from someone's inner child

Book reviews ...

"Books for Readers" by Meredith Sue Willis - click for review

"In Riding High, Oglesby juxtaposes whacked-out hilarity with poignancy, and slacker wit with penetrating insight..."    Carl Fisher, Heads magazine, Feb '04

"In Riding High, Oglesby gives us a continuation of the life of a contemporary Holden Caufield, now pushing fifty and still plagued with a tangential life of illusions and disillusions, all in an engrossing literary style for a 21st Century reader. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll have a good time."
--Richmond Shepard, lively-arts.com

Readers reviews ...

Vicki, art teacher, February 10, 2004,
High on 'Riding High'
I loved this book. I was first attracted to the book by its great cover art, but the story line quickly took over and kept me turning pages. Oglesby's characters were quirky yet real. And the writing was so unexpectedly wonderful that I had to stop and read over some of the beautiful passages. It had me laughing and then weeping and then laughing again. This book is a winner.

T Carey, film industry, Los Angeles, February 9, 2004,
Mighty, Mighty!
What a page-turner! A barn-burner of a book! It's 'The Big Lebowski' for recovered redneck urbanites. Oh yeah, there's comedy; then there's the comedic aspect of making peace with an alcoholic parent --- laugh so hard you burst into tears. This Ogelsby is a find, a monster writer who tells it all. I recommend this book to anyone who can read Tennessee Williams beyond page two; to anyone who ever lived in the south and the north; in the country and the big city; who ever used drugs, sold drugs or had a druggy parent, which ought to cover most Americans from 18 to 70. My mom loved it and she's Old! (I test all new material on her.) Hell, buy it for the cover alone. It's so 'Haight meets SoHo'. Helene Dolney, wherever you are, thank you for the package. If this isn't screen play material, nothing is. What time is it in New York???

david sheskin, A reviewer, February 4, 2004,
Great book
This is a terrific book. The author has a terific ear for dialogue and is a master of the art of description. The plot is engaging and full of humor and pathos. Its hard to fathom why this book was not picked up by a major publisher.

bob murphy, A reviewer, January 6, 2004,
A new book for your library
I could not put the book down. I laughed and it made me think about my old wild days. This is a book i will read over and over. Nice work!!