A collection of sketches of a more innocent time complete with a heretical prayer book, teenage angst and broken hearts, the boundless exuberance of rock & roll, endless cruising beneath the pure Midwestern sky and True Love at Last, Gold Coast shuns the usual "coming of age" story lines, focusing instead on singular moments and the individuals living within them. Whether it's a junior space cadet at the dawn of the Cold War, a World War I veteran with a penchant for tall tales, or the wide-eyed passenger of a pair of all-night cruisers, Parker's characters and their tales - told in a rolling, conversational style - will not remind anyone of Happy Days or That 70's Show. They may, however, remind the reader of how things really were.