{"product_id":"petroleum-transfer-engineer-9780998892337","title":"Petroleum Transfer Engineer","description":"South Jersey, circa 1983: A distinctive sub-region, as if a section of the south or midwest was grafted onto the east coast. Francis, a defrocked college student who has made a mess of both his scholastic career and his life, finds himself back home at the Jersey shore and gainfully employed at a sprawling, subterranean gas station.PETROLEUM TRANSFER ENGINEER is not just Francis's story, but is also the chronicle of a time and place that is slowly disappearing: The farmland, little eateries, and raucous bars giving way to development; the louche resort of Atlantic City morphing into its soulless casino incarnation. Via the pages of PETROLEUM TRANSFER ENGINEER, Francis must navigate a terrain that is simultaneously familiar and off-kilter. And--somehow--he must struggle to piece his life back together. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Richard Klin masterfully details... the ramshackle world of a young, part-time New Jersey turnpike gas station attendant--an attendant who sees his place as temporary, a purgatory of sorts, courtesy of his breakdown and and premature departure from the hallowed halls of academe. The pace of the novel flows to a brisk and whimsical beat....the beautiful rhythm of Klin's quick traveling prose and wit....Klin's \u003ci\u003ePetroleum Transfer Engineer\u003c\/i\u003e balances itself on a satirical seesaw, displaying adept craftwork to maintain the razor's edge. Within the bindings, the reader will find just enough realism to relate to and just enough oddity to entertain.\" --\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmerican Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eABOUT RICHARD KLIN\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRichard Klin lives in New York's Hudson Valley. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eSomething to Say: Thoughts on Art and Politics in America\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAbstract Expressionism For Beginners.\u003c\/i\u003e His work has been featured on NPR's \u003ci\u003eAll Things Considered\u003c\/i\u003e and has appeared in the \u003ci\u003eAtlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eBrooklyn Rail\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eForward\u003c\/i\u003e, Akashic Books' \"Thursdaze\" series, and others.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Underground Voices","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50492325200146,"sku":"9780998892337","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_60ec068e-c895-485b-8237-aa07900828b4.jpg?v=1730584110","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/petroleum-transfer-engineer-9780998892337","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}