IN BOOK 2 OF THINGS WE LOST IN THE NIGHT:
IT’S SPRING IN HONOLULU as the band opens at an off-the-beaten-path, beach-front nightclub, playing to packed audiences of locals and American warriors during the most violent months of the Vietnam War. Larry meets someone here who changes his life forever. Back on the Mainland, Larry tries to leave his romantic island fantasy behind and searches for redemption as the band returns to its Indiana roots. Though the record everyone had expected to become a national hit fails in the wake of a national tragedy, the band’s popularity and success continue to grow on the West Coast.
“… [Larry J.] Dunlap is such a beautiful writer. I found myself lost in the book, as if I was watching a really good movie. Bravo!”
— J.L. Clayton, SegnaLibro.co.uk
THE FLAMINGO HOTEL OFFERS a long-term engagement in Las Vegas in the Sky Room, a dance/showroom designed for them. Larry, now happily married with a new child on the way, and with more follow-up recording sessions ahead, can hardly believe his good fortunes. But when their next records fail and the band grows restless playing in one place, Larry attempts to spark the band’s creativity to write their own songs. A sudden crisis in his personal life arises when his wife and son are missing. His life and sanity are at risk as he tries to save his band and young family.
“And this why we read, to connect with someone who manages to find words for our crazy wordless lonely journey. Enchanted goes there...and I believe you’ll find yourself along the way.”
—Reader Review
READ THIS UNFORGETTABLE BOOK about the adventures of Larry and his bandmates in Stark Naked and the Car Thieves during the tectonic cultural, political, musical and sexual upheavals of the chaotic 1960s. Experience with them the tumultuous nights they inhabit where too many people and things are too easily found and lost.
“You want to know if I’m okay?” I asked in the voice of a condemned criminal. “Why don’t I just tell you! Every time I think about you, which mostly all of the time, my heart wants to stop. Sometimes, I can’t catch a full breath, I feel like I’m smothering. My brain thinks it's on fire, screaming at me to get up and run—somewhere, anywhere. My body doesn’t work right. My muscles don’t work together moving my bones around, I walk in fits and starts like a puppet with cut strings”
Industry Reviews
"Enchanted: Things We Lost in the Night is the second book in Larry J. Dunlap's romantic memoir series continues the story begun in Night People, following a band's climb toward national success on the West Coast in the 1960s. To get a sense of the flavor of the story, think Kerouac's On the Road, then add the best elements of rock star memoirs to the mix. The final three years of Dunlap's band's excursions and their rise to success are charted with an attention to detail and a "you are there" feel ..." - D. Donovan, Sr. Editor, Midwest Book Review
"This book and this series are for anyone who’s made a terrible mistake regarding people they love. It’s also a book for someone who’s been crushed beyond endurance by one they trusted, and how they go on. Larry Dunlap takes us on many journeys and does so with an intent to do justice to the trust we’ve put in him for the ride. The jockeying and insecurities and squabbles of the band, the vast distance from performing to recording and the players and influences in the process, Las Vegas during Elvis and Streisand’s time, native Hawaiian home life, love-making that makes you feel a nun by comparison—read Enchanted for all of this.
But the raw humanity of Larry knocked flat by loss and regret, and the f*ed-up place life becomes when he can’t even recognize himself—THIS is the beauty and the backbone of this book. And this why we read, to connect with someone who manages to find words for our crazy wordless lonely journey. Enchanted goes there...and I believe you’ll find yourself along the way." -Kindle Customer
"I think with this book I have put my finger on part of Dunlap's appeal as a writer to me. He is totally un-self-conscious in his transparency. Most writers, in depicting their inner world and outward adventures somehow convey an "I'm being so real with the reader" tone as if they expect a pat on the back for their vulnerability. Dunlap seems as surprised as the reader as he discovers contradictions, consequences of his ill-placed bravado, and other human foibles about himself on his journey through life and love. At times he offers the reader the chance to have the attitude of "I could have told you that, Larry", enabling us to feel superior, even reassured that we are better off with our safe and predictable lives even while we are envying his risk-taking and the living life large that he has embraced." -Kindle customer
