William Richert

Jimmy Reardon - Aren't You Even Gonna Kiss Me Goodbye? William Richert

What does a 17 year old teenager do when faced with debts resulting from a close brush with paternity, a father who is notoriously tight with a dollar, and a girl named Lisa who just might warm up if he can raise the plane fare to follow her to Hawaii? The answer to these questions hurl a rather desperate 17 year old Jimmy Reardon, from the wrong side of the tracks in a posh Chicago suburb, on a 24 hour odessy as he tries to borrow from his "Saturday Habit" girl and his true girlfriend Lisa along with attempting a bit of a con on his employer and his employer's mother -- while along the way managing to seduce his father's mistress and get a beating from the school Hero -- a picaresque anti-hero is Jimmy Reardon, who finds himself in his search for escape. The book received rave reviews upon publication, with prose favorably compared to James Joyce and Kingsley Amis among others, and its author William Richert was feted by Enest Hemingway's wife as an heir apparent to the famous author. Mr. Richert never wrote another novel, and became a screenwriter, director and actor. AREN'T YOU EVEN GONNA KISS ME GOODBYE?, a Kirkus Library Review top choice in 1966, was made into a film by William Richert in the 80's starring River Phoenix and a superb cast topped by Ann Magnuson, Meredith Salenger, Louanne, Matthew Perry, Ione Skye and Jason Court. "As sweet as a dry Manhattan with twice the kick," wrote Shiela Benson in the LA Times.