The Pursuit of Cool is a humorous and heartbreaking story of a music and movie obsessed, ragingly ambitious, tragically romantic young man, sure to appeal to fans of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, John Hughes movies, and the 1980s…

Praise for The Pursuit of Cool:

“A skilled writer… A smart account of ’80s college kids… the novel believably summons the ’80s, complete with floppy disks, 9 1/2 Weeks on VHS and R.E.M. cassettes.”–Kirkus Indie Review

“Skidmore has skillfully crafted a sympathetic protagonist whom readers root for… and the narration has an understated lyrical quality.”–Watch Me Bounce

“An excellent job of taking a character and creating his time and place perfectly. A totally enjoyable flashback ride…”–Dew on the Kudzu

“It centers the reader in that hopeful era of high expectations and jaded reality. A great debut, and I can’t wait to read more from Robb Skidmore.”–The Book Fetish

Here’s The Set-Up:

A novel that uniquely captures the 1980s, The Pursuit of Cool tells the story of Lance Rally and his turbulent college years. He faces pressure to live up to his super-achieving family and is fueled by a grandiose ambition. He wants to become a success but is prone to distraction and obsessed with pop culture. He also has a deeply romantic nature but is inept and inhibited, and his interactions with women are disastrous. Friendships with a punk rock actor and a subversive scholar challenge his world view. He discovers emotional complexities as relationships with a beautiful psych major and a feisty goth girl shape and change him.

He questions his beliefs as the clock of academia ticks on and his opened heart gets crushed. The story comes alive with album covers, dance techniques, all-nighter revelations, and corporate internships gone bad. On his road to personal truth, Lance finds solace and direction from music and movies he loves. He tries to capture that magic of youth, the essence that is “cool.”

About the Author:

Robb Skidmore writes stories that entertain and inspire. His short stories have appeared  in many places, including New Orleans Review, New Millennium Writings, South Carolina Review, Oasis, and Twelve Stories. His nonfiction has appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Surfer, his ebook novella, can be found on Amazon. His debut novel is The Pursuit of Cool, a Quarter Finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest.  (link to my website: robbskidmore.com)