I once read a textbook that said to be alive is to be addicted. People are always drawn to things which will fill in the gaps of their lives. Felicia Wood, the protagonist of Evelyn Cole’s latest masterpiece, Gambling For Good Mail, is certainly illustrative of that point. She waltzes through page after compelling page, helplessly addicted to mail-order shopping and men (although in a very benign and mellow way).

Gambling For Good Mail is a juggernaut look at Southern California life. From relationships to romance novels, religion to self-help groups and New Age treatment centers, this book traipses through life with a smile. How often do we think about life? What do we hide from? What do we run to in order to protect ourselves? Those are questions which Evelyn Cole inquires after through this novel.

I’m going to go ahead and do it. In my mind, I compare Evelyn Cole with another famous novelist who often concerned himself with California and its people: John Steinbeck. Steinbeck’s California was gritty and raw, the crack in the world where the scum fell and was oppressed. Cole’s California is a much lighter place, but affected with the malaise of uncaring. Steinbeck had cracks in his stucco, but Cole has smooth glass windows with empty people behind it. They both weave tales of a land less than it should be, although each in a powerful and unique way. Now, Gambling is no Grapes Of Wrath or East Of Eden. It’s not even a Winter Of Our Discontent or Tortilla Flat or Cannery Row or The Red Pony. But with Evelyn Cole, I don’t find it hard to believe that such a masterpiece should be long in coming.

Gambling For Good Mail is not a literary risk, it’s a roaring triumph.

August 23rd, 2007 by Nathaniel Jonet

Reader Comments

Roy K. Johnston, a poet in San Luis Obispo, Calif. writes, “Evelyn Cole’s novel, Gambling for Good Mail, sets fiction on its head once more. Her imagination tickles the world of objective reality inviting a re-read and careful study; a refreshing dig for all of us.”

Kay Van Horn of Dover, Del. writes, "I roared laughing. What humor! It was by far the best thing I've read this year." And Nixson Borah of Atascadero, Calif. writes, "Wow! You really captured Orange County!"

Dear Evy-just finished reading Good Mail, I felt like I was heading for the finish line as I was reading it outside Starbucks.The weather seemed to mirror my state of mind the book put me in, the wind died down for the first time in a month and the sun was balmy.

Anyway this was so much more than Good Mail, more like a statement of the human condition, the bittersweetness. We (readers) learn we will never be at peace with ourselves until we confront the demons that haunt us--our mean Aunt Renees-that we stay out of alignment and that friends, lovers and relatives can help, but ultimately no one can give us the peace of mind we seek, and that we are responsible for our own happiness. Without finding our "core," our relationships, jobs, living conditions are doomed to failure and we will repeat our past. Salvation lies in self awareness and sometimes sacrifice to doing what needs to be done even if it's not the easy thing. With self awareness we can protect ourselves from fraud. Once we find ourselves we can bear to be responsible to those that need us.

But aside from the wisdom you impart, it was fun.

I dont know if you remember the beginning of Sideways but that overbearing Armenian that's going to be Jack's father-in-law dismisses Miles novel because its not real. Why read something made up? I've heard this echoed by other people who think they need to read something practical or technical to have merit. But they're mistaken, as a good novel like yours addresses matters of the heart and soul something that a text book or a political non-fiction book can not.

David Ochs

Gambling for Good Mail is a compelling story of one woman’s search for her true identity and the strength needed to live an authentic life. You could call it a coming-of-age story, but the heroine, Felicia Wood, has long passed the age of reason: she’s a ripe 43.

Felicia has had a sad and difficult childhood, to the point where she’ll do anything to avoid the possibility of pain. She seems stuck in her self-image as a cheerleader and remains marooned emotionally in her high-school persona when she was cute and loved. She’s just a “girl who wants to have fun” and be rewarded with pleasant surprises. A naïve, sexually uninhibited bubble-head, she trusts that something will turn up to rescue her from her difficulties. She’ll do anything to avoid introspection, to feel sorrow, to discover why it is that her fourth husband just left her, as did the three before him.

We follow Felicia as she tries to justify her addiction to “good mail”: cheap junk from catalogs which have taken over her house and cleaned out her bank account. Faced with the necessity of making it financially on her own, Felicia refuses to return to nursing because it is too depressing when your patients die. She enjoys a stint selling time-shares because it’s so jolly when she makes a sale, but she cannot make a living doing it.

Her luck and her life change with the arrival of her niece, Caitland, who pays rent so Felicia, in turn, can pay her mortgage. Caitland has her own deep emotional problems and struggles to hold on to a fragile equilibrium. Felicia admires her maturity. The two women are good for each other, but then everything falls apart after an unjustified, impulsive outburst from Felicia sends Caitland back into therapy.

At that point, Felicia begins to learn that living on the surface and in denial brings only more pain. Her struggle toward self-knowledge and self-acceptance is anything but smooth, tribulations abound, but in the end, she finds happiness.

You would think that such a serious theme would be written in a serious tone. Such is not the case: the book is a comic, hearty, joyful romp through the New-Age culture of Southern California, serving up a mix of religion, self-help groups, artsy snobs, an Italian Count gigolo and, incredibly, soft-sculpture dolls which lead to Felicia’s redemption.

Evelyn Cole is a master of dialog. She sprinkles her book with comparisons that take your breath away, such as this description of a screechy woman: “her voice was worse than the sound of two Styrofoam cups doing it”. Gambling for Good Mail is a pleasure to read. The serious lessons it teaches go down easy sprinkled with the sugar of rollicking good humor.

Author Biography

Evelyn Cole

Evelyn Cole, poet and novelist in San Luis Obispo County (Arroyo Grande), is a successful cook, failed entrepreneur, successful teacher, failed HTML master, successful ping pong champ, failed golfer, a successful traveler, failed sea-kayaker, and a successful lover, mother, wife, and occupant of this planet. Two more of her novels are available at Amazon.com: For the Sake of All Others and A Tough Journey.

To find out more about Evelyn Cole and her fine works please visit her website; www.coles-poetic-license.com.