Real Life Diary of a Boomtown Girl

Randi Bruce, narrator and heroine of this raw, sometimes raunchy, first novel, works in a coal mine in Gillette, Wyo. She can drive a truck or work a drilling rig as well as any man, and her true grit helps her endure sexual harassment from co-workers, whiplash caused by an on-the-job accident, a jealous husband and her combative parents, who may be breaking up. When the pressures become too great, she goes on a vengeful bulldozer rampage through town, but basically, she's cool, resourceful, plucky and nobody's fool. Written in a highly colloquial, slangy style, this boomtown tale of the recession-hit heartland evokes a world of saloons, cocaine snorting, hot tubs, waterbeds, rock 'n' roll dances and pinball. The early chapters sketch in Randi's girlhood in a trailer camp and as a water-skiing champ. Diary entries from her three work-shifts, intermixed with the narrative, record her bizarre dreams, a barometer of her anxieties and wishes. (Oct.)