California Dreaming (Electronic book text)

The acclaimed author of No News at Throat Lake now trains his venerable dry wit and satiric eye on the pursuit of the American Dream, recounting his humbling California escapades as a salesman on the world's biggest car lot. Drawn by the lure of a six-figure salary in Silicon Valley and fond memories of a low-rent tour from his rock'n'roll days, Scotland-born Lawrence Donegan landed in sunny California with high hopes of realizing his own skewed vision of the American Dream. Instead, he takes a wrong turn and ends up employed on Steven's Creek Boulevard in San Jose, home of America's biggest car lot. Seven thousand cars on sale every day, 45,000 satisfied customers every year -- all on one street! Donegan quickly picks up a nickname, "Hey Scotty, " and a reputation -- "You're the worst salesman I've seen in twenty years." But with mentors like Mickey "The Legend" McDonald, Tony "The Tank" Tognazzini, and Frankie "The Rock" Reames, it isn't long before Donegan musters the brass balls and cunning needed to sell his first used car. California Dreaming is part personal journey, part American adventure. It charts Donegan's career as an "asphalt warrior, " from his rejections ("Get away from me, sleazeball!") to his pursuit of the Oscar "RM" of the used-car business, the Salesman of the Month Award. The book equivalent of NPR's "Car Talk" or the movie Tin Men, Donegan's chronicle achieves the not unimpressive trick of getting us not only to empathize with his auto-hawking endeavors, but also to flat-out root for him every step of the way.