Tom Spanbauer's Now Is the Hour

Now Is the Hour unfolds in 1967 as gay 17 year-old Rigby John hitchhikes from his small town in Idaho to San Francisco. 

Starred Booklist: "This sophisticated, funny, poignant, sexy coming-of-age novel is ... [an] absolutely nimble narrative, related by Rigby himself. Rigby is bound and determined to break away from the bonds of his repressive home environment,.. Rigby's storytelling voice is natural, warm, and positively addictive; the many pages of this breathtaking, romantic, and unpredictable novel fly past. Rarely does such a gripping story match with such a lovable character.

David Duncan: "...a liturgical eroticism that alternately mesmerizes, shocks, and nourishes...Now Is the Hour is a literary triumph and a coming of age heartbreak."

Natalie Goldberg: "There is no one like Tom Spanbauer writing in America. I dare you to read this and still hold onto the old way you see the world. He turns things inside out, into a deeper ground of being.  What a terrific novel! What a huge talent!"

Starred PW: "...straightforward but luminous tale of a country boy's self-liberation...From his first school-yard fight to first experiences with sex (of various sorts), cigarettes, alcohol, pot, jealousy and love, Rigby John's first person is at once reliable and highly ironic; we may know better, but he truly doesn't, and the distance is delicious."

A.M. Holmes: "I love this book, and more importantly I love Tom Spanbauer, he is inventive, original and one of the most talented authors I’ve come across... It is a story about reconciliation, about family bonds and the need to break free. It is rich with knowing—the prose is deft, funny, heartbreaking and the story stays with you."