“This is a jewel of a book, its polished facets of memory and history, of love and regret, shifting with the light. Deans evokes a time and place — Richmond, Virginia, in the late 1960s — dangling between past and present, seen through the eyes of a teenaged boy living passionately in the here and now. The story is powerful and touching, showing humility and affection for people caught in time, as we all are.”
— Edward Ayers, President Emeritus of the University of Richmond and finalist for the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize
“Deans’ prose elegantly portrays the natural world that serves as a backdrop for Sandy’s nuanced interactions—“Dawn wandered in as though it might not stay”—and marks each of Sandy’s daily journeys as he awakens to the concepts of love, loss, and forgiveness. A memorable coming-of-age story that vividly evokes the tumultuous late ’60s.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Bob Deans’s meticulous detail and lyrical writing make the adventures of a paperboy learning about life, love and social order in the South in 1968 come alive. Anyone who loves the sound of the morning paper slapping the sidewalk will revel in the descriptions of newspaper work. At times funny, sad, suspenseful and always thoughtful, The Bicycle Man is an American classic.”
— Marsha Mercer, columnist, the Richmond Times Dispatch
“Behind each door on Sandy Rivers’s paper route lie facets of the massive change underway in the life of a nation caught between triumph and catastrophe. Those who lived through the late ’60’s will recognize that era; those who did not will receive a gentle but thorough introduction to the trauma and hope of an America that found itself at the abrupt and painful end of a decade that had promised renewal and transformation.”
— Garrett Epps, Professor of Law, University of Baltimore, and author of The Shad Treatment
“Lyrical, lustrous and tender. Deans is a craftsman, and the words here flow with certainty, truth and ache, taking us into the promise, discovery and heart of a boy as the world outside both marches forward and encroaches on his own. A beautiful and captivating story.”
— Major Garrett, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News