Ovenman

December 31, 2007
Parker's hilarious debut introduces to the world pizza-slinging, skateboarding, tattooed antihero When Thinfinger. Drinking and stealing his way through a series of dead-end restaurant jobs, When lands a gig at Piecemeal Pizza by the Slice, the best pizza joint in his Florida town. As Ovenman—a much-coveted position, compared to Dish Dog or Front Girl—When spends his days and nights perfecting the art of slicing pies and belting out nonsense lyrics as a singer in the band Wormdevil. His girlfriend, Marigold, sleeps on his couch, convinced that her dreams of When murdering her will come true. After Piecemeal is robbed and When wakes up from a drinking binge in possession of a pizza box full of cash, he must figure out what happened, and more importantly, who else knows the truth. Though When's ne'er-do-well brooding can slow the pace, the narrative is full of surprises, dark humor and a cast of nutty eccentrics vast enough to staff a vulgar circus.

October 15, 2007
Parker's hilarious debut introduces to the world pizza-slinging, skateboarding, tattooed anti-hero When Thinfinger. Drinking and stealing his way through a series of dead-end restaurant jobs, When lands a gig at Piecemeal Pizza by the Slice, the best pizza joint in his Florida town. As Ovenman-a much-coveted position compared to Dish Dog or Front Girl-When spends his days and nights perfecting the art of slicing pies and belting out nonsense lyrics as a singer in the band Wormdevil. His girlfriend, Marigold, sleeps on his couch, convinced that her dreams of When murdering her will come true. After Piecemeal is robbed and When wakes up from a drinking binge in possession of a pizza box full of cash, he must figure out what happened, and more importantly, who else knows the truth. Though When's ne'er-do-well brooding can slow the pace, the narrative is full of surprises, dark humor and a cast of nutty eccentrics vast enough to staff a vulgar circus.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2007
When it comes to running the Bakers Pride Y-602 double-deck pizza oven at Piecemeal Pizza by the Slice, When Thinfinger is peerless. Dudes, this skateboarding wannabe rockeris Ovenman! But success is a slippery slope, and when When is promoted to night manager, things begin to go downhill. The scary co-owners of PiecemealSkordilli and his brother, Dr. Bobrefuse to let When operate the oven any longer or even mop the floor (managers dont do that sort of stuff);then theres that robbery thing . . . To his credit, When generally tries to do whats right but is usually so wasted that he seldom gets beyond sticking Post-It note reminders to his body (he wakes up every morning covered with them). Parkers look at the skateboarding slacker life of the early nineties is episodically amusing; his central Florida setting is vividly realized, and Whens first-person voice has a certain stoned charm. But not every reader will want to spend more than 250 pages in its meandering, inconclusive company.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)