Rex Pickett, Sideways

Substituting Pinot Noir for the New York Giants (without jettisoning the alcoholism), and an unsold novel manuscript for a love-hate obsession with Frank Gifford (without skimping on the existential despair), the opening of Sideways has all the woolly charm and seductive pessimism of Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes. Before long, however, the novel veers on to a somewhat more predictable path: two buddies taking a road trip into California wine country as a last hurrah before one of them gets married.

The aspiring novelist is Miles, a screenwriter barely hanging on at the fringes of Hollywood, and the soon-to-be-groom is Jack, a TV character actor and sometime film director. Each has a self-imposed burden of custodianship over the other: Miles to prevent Jack from cheating on his fiancee, Jack to keep Miles from despondency over his ex-wife's new marriage and his fast-crumbling dream of becoming a published author. Both men fail miserably, but Pickett, although never taking us deeply into either character, displays a smart ear for dialogue, a gift for gallows humor, and a subtle poignancy that enables him to make a touching story out of their friendship and fears.

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