Jack's Boys was my second novel, and the first one that's worth reading. It's about the kids of a man who turns out to be the lost genius Beat poet of the sixties, and what happens when his poems are discovered and published.
It's set in a fictional version of White Bear Lake, Minnesota and Binghamton, New York, where I was living at the time, which was, oh God, twenty years ago. Holy cow that's a long time.
Yes, that is my voice you hear doing the voiceover. Sorry about that. Next book, I'm gonna kickstarter me some voice talent.
If you want a free eBook copy, just send me your email address and what brand reader you have - nook, kindle, or whatever, and I'll drop it in the email for you.
Or, if you have 3 bucks to spare, go buy it on Amazon (click here) and avoid the hassle of all that file copying nonsense.
Cheers!
PS: Also, you can download it in pdf, ePub or mobi format. Enjoy!
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: A Tournament of Books Review
Manhood, Football, the Media, and Cheerleaders
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain
Being one in a probably never-to-be-completed series on the Morning News Tournament of Books, scheduled to start in March
A squad of American soldiers deployed in Iraq find themselves national heroes, circa 2004. They were the victors of a brief, glorious firefight on the streets of Iraq that FoxNewsed them all to superstardom at a time when the national psyche could use a lift. So they return home on a 'victory tour' that includes adoring crowds, an over-promising agent offering a movie deal, and a semi-secret re-deployment to Iraq. Over the course of a single Thanksgiving Day, this novel unfolds in and around the confines of one of America's great secular cathedrals - old Texas stadium, during a football game between the Cowboys and the Bears.
From that brief run-down you can probably figure out that this book is a perfect storm of male jock culture, military life, and a satire of American war-frenzy disguised as patriotism. It's a long, crazy trip with a dozen balls in the air, and Ben Fountain masterfully guides us through the whole thing. I'm kind of speechless at his accomplishment, really.
Last June, when I read this book, it easily held the coveted spot of Grebmar's Book of the Year for about two weeks. At that point I'd read some underwhelming things, and this one came across as heartfelt, richly imagined and executed, and amazing all at the same time. It's still in my top two or three, of course. But:
By the next week, a few flaws began to tarnish the award: 1) The cheerleader, Faison, is a typical male-genre fantasy woman, under-developed in character, existing mainly, to validate Billy's manhood and to offer herself as sexual salvation. 2) the owner of the Cowboys, a strange alternate of the real-life owner, is smarmily one-dimensional, as are, come to think of it, any characters not named Billy Lynn. 3) The end is actually quite good, though a single weird random act of cinematic wtf violence seemed completely unnecessary.
As I said, this was one of my favorite books of the year. Now, in the Tournament of Books, it faces a single elimination against two other Middle-East War on Terror books (neither of which I've read), and just from eyeballing, Billy Lynn faces an uphill battle to move on.
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain
Being one in a probably never-to-be-completed series on the Morning News Tournament of Books, scheduled to start in March
A squad of American soldiers deployed in Iraq find themselves national heroes, circa 2004. They were the victors of a brief, glorious firefight on the streets of Iraq that FoxNewsed them all to superstardom at a time when the national psyche could use a lift. So they return home on a 'victory tour' that includes adoring crowds, an over-promising agent offering a movie deal, and a semi-secret re-deployment to Iraq. Over the course of a single Thanksgiving Day, this novel unfolds in and around the confines of one of America's great secular cathedrals - old Texas stadium, during a football game between the Cowboys and the Bears.
From that brief run-down you can probably figure out that this book is a perfect storm of male jock culture, military life, and a satire of American war-frenzy disguised as patriotism. It's a long, crazy trip with a dozen balls in the air, and Ben Fountain masterfully guides us through the whole thing. I'm kind of speechless at his accomplishment, really.
Last June, when I read this book, it easily held the coveted spot of Grebmar's Book of the Year for about two weeks. At that point I'd read some underwhelming things, and this one came across as heartfelt, richly imagined and executed, and amazing all at the same time. It's still in my top two or three, of course. But:
By the next week, a few flaws began to tarnish the award: 1) The cheerleader, Faison, is a typical male-genre fantasy woman, under-developed in character, existing mainly, to validate Billy's manhood and to offer herself as sexual salvation. 2) the owner of the Cowboys, a strange alternate of the real-life owner, is smarmily one-dimensional, as are, come to think of it, any characters not named Billy Lynn. 3) The end is actually quite good, though a single weird random act of cinematic wtf violence seemed completely unnecessary.
As I said, this was one of my favorite books of the year. Now, in the Tournament of Books, it faces a single elimination against two other Middle-East War on Terror books (neither of which I've read), and just from eyeballing, Billy Lynn faces an uphill battle to move on.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Tournament of Books 2013: The quick and dirty rundown
The Morning News recently announced the final list for their annual Tournament of Books, the only award where the judging is transparent and competition is nearly literal. This year, eighteen books will be entered into a playoff-style bracket, and each matchup will be judged by a celebrity reviewer whose only mission is to determine which book should advance to the next round. In the most general sense, that means which book is better, but in the Tournament of Books, as in most competitions, better does not necessarily mean advancement.
You can check out the entire list with summaries and links on my Goodreads page here. I'll be reposting reviews of books I've read here in the days approaching the tournament, and as soon as the brackets are announced I will make my semi-annual Uninformed Predictions. Although this year I've read a remarkable five books in the field, more than double last year's total.
Okay, let's take a thumbnail look at the shortlist: Books with stars (*) are ones I've read.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn *
A brilliant thriller, well written but a bit shaggy, with an end I found to be a bit tidy and disappointing.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green *
Two precocious cancer teens team up to fight the injustice and horror show that is Cancer.
Arcadia by Lauren Groff *
A minor disappointment. Hippies who grow up and try to stay hippies during the end of the civilized world.
HHhH by Laurent Binet
Something to do with Nazis, World War II, and an assassination attempt.
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
None of my attempts to read Erdrich have ended well.
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
"... is a novel of many identities: an autobiography of the mind, a postmodern self-help book, and a fictionalized portrait of the..." zzzzzzz ... zzzzzz .... zzzz
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
A.M. Homes is creepy and disturbing, but not in a way that makes me want to read her books.
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
This novel is set in Korea, where I've lived for two years, and I've only just now heard of it. My shame can only be excused by my illogical disdain for titles that use the template of "The X's [family member]." I will promptly shortlist this novel.
Ivyland by Miles Klee
Dark satiric sci-fi in a near-future dystopia? Sign me up!
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Part 2 of an epic medieval saga. On my longer list of "Books I should want to read."
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Iliad fan-fic from Patroclus's point of view. He and Achilles were lovers. Tragedy ensues. *Sigh*
Dear Life by Alice Munro
Like seeing your elementary school teacher in the grocery store, it's always a surprise to find out Alice Munro exists outside The New Yorker and Best American Short Stories. Like, for instance, she has her own books! Amazing.
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
The Family Road Trip goes to Antarctica. Why not?
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter *
My pre-tournament favorite. Perhaps the best book I read last year.
Building Stories by Chris Ware
Graphic Novel by a media darling. I'm nodding knowingly.
The sixteenth spot will be filled by the surviovor of a Pre-Tournament Playoff Round. All of these books are about America's citizen soldiers fighting the Afghan/Iraq adventure. A shame they have to come home and face more bloodshed in the Tournament of Books, but as they say, the Rooster demands blood. They are:
Fobbit by David Abrams
War as seen from the command center well behind the fighting.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain *
War as seen from soldiers home on leave, as heroes, at Dallas Cowboy Stadium, Thanksgiving Day. A frickin' riot. I loved this book.
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
War as seen on the ground, by soldiers living and dying in combat.
Well, stay tuned for more! The tournament itself starts in March, but happy reading to those of you who enjoy it as much as I do.
You can check out the entire list with summaries and links on my Goodreads page here. I'll be reposting reviews of books I've read here in the days approaching the tournament, and as soon as the brackets are announced I will make my semi-annual Uninformed Predictions. Although this year I've read a remarkable five books in the field, more than double last year's total.
Okay, let's take a thumbnail look at the shortlist: Books with stars (*) are ones I've read.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn *
A brilliant thriller, well written but a bit shaggy, with an end I found to be a bit tidy and disappointing.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green *
Two precocious cancer teens team up to fight the injustice and horror show that is Cancer.
Arcadia by Lauren Groff *
A minor disappointment. Hippies who grow up and try to stay hippies during the end of the civilized world.
HHhH by Laurent Binet
Something to do with Nazis, World War II, and an assassination attempt.
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
None of my attempts to read Erdrich have ended well.
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
"... is a novel of many identities: an autobiography of the mind, a postmodern self-help book, and a fictionalized portrait of the..." zzzzzzz ... zzzzzz .... zzzz
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
A.M. Homes is creepy and disturbing, but not in a way that makes me want to read her books.
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
This novel is set in Korea, where I've lived for two years, and I've only just now heard of it. My shame can only be excused by my illogical disdain for titles that use the template of "The X's [family member]." I will promptly shortlist this novel.
Ivyland by Miles Klee
Dark satiric sci-fi in a near-future dystopia? Sign me up!
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Part 2 of an epic medieval saga. On my longer list of "Books I should want to read."
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Iliad fan-fic from Patroclus's point of view. He and Achilles were lovers. Tragedy ensues. *Sigh*
Dear Life by Alice Munro
Like seeing your elementary school teacher in the grocery store, it's always a surprise to find out Alice Munro exists outside The New Yorker and Best American Short Stories. Like, for instance, she has her own books! Amazing.
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
The Family Road Trip goes to Antarctica. Why not?
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter *
My pre-tournament favorite. Perhaps the best book I read last year.
Building Stories by Chris Ware
Graphic Novel by a media darling. I'm nodding knowingly.
The sixteenth spot will be filled by the surviovor of a Pre-Tournament Playoff Round. All of these books are about America's citizen soldiers fighting the Afghan/Iraq adventure. A shame they have to come home and face more bloodshed in the Tournament of Books, but as they say, the Rooster demands blood. They are:
Fobbit by David Abrams
War as seen from the command center well behind the fighting.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain *
War as seen from soldiers home on leave, as heroes, at Dallas Cowboy Stadium, Thanksgiving Day. A frickin' riot. I loved this book.
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
War as seen on the ground, by soldiers living and dying in combat.
Well, stay tuned for more! The tournament itself starts in March, but happy reading to those of you who enjoy it as much as I do.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Book Review: The Fault in our Stars, by John Green
The Fault in our Stars, by John Green:
Moody, precocious Cancer Teens team up to fight hypocrisy, search out the meaning of the universe, converse with an utterly fallible God stand-in, and fall in love. Tragedy inevitably strikes.
Much of this novel's success lies in its adherence to an emerging sub-cliche of cancer struggle, which is that the uber-cliche of cancer victims as stoic hero-fighters is itself an unrealistic bullshit tripe intended to solace those who don't have cancer. The feedback loop of heroic anti-heroes works pretty well, however, mainly due to the earnestness of Green's overall plot and prose, and only if your bullshit meter is properly calibrated for "Teen Fiction."
Sure, The Fault in Our Stars is often overly clever. Sure, it's cloyingly romantic, and it's often manipulative in a way that its own heroes would cynically disdain. But none of that kept a certain middle-aged curmudgeon from tearing up a couple of times. You've been warned.
Moody, precocious Cancer Teens team up to fight hypocrisy, search out the meaning of the universe, converse with an utterly fallible God stand-in, and fall in love. Tragedy inevitably strikes.
Much of this novel's success lies in its adherence to an emerging sub-cliche of cancer struggle, which is that the uber-cliche of cancer victims as stoic hero-fighters is itself an unrealistic bullshit tripe intended to solace those who don't have cancer. The feedback loop of heroic anti-heroes works pretty well, however, mainly due to the earnestness of Green's overall plot and prose, and only if your bullshit meter is properly calibrated for "Teen Fiction."
Sure, The Fault in Our Stars is often overly clever. Sure, it's cloyingly romantic, and it's often manipulative in a way that its own heroes would cynically disdain. But none of that kept a certain middle-aged curmudgeon from tearing up a couple of times. You've been warned.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The new Man of Steel Trailer breakdown
A close reading of the new Man of Steel (Or, as I call it, Superman) Trailer.
Intro: Serious, somber music. Those of you hoping for a fun superhero movie, keep waiting.
:18 seconds
Some guy is floating kind of like Jesus, or Tom Hanks in Castaway.
:22
Whiny kid with agorophobia cries to mom for help. Mom enables his fear.
:25
Pencil bouquet. A blackboard. I'm getting flashbacks to college calculus. Will this movie assign me homework?
:40
Waves on rocks. Nothing says Superman more than waves on rocks.
:45
Guy looks guilty for saving a school bus from a lake. Wait, what?
More ominous black-screen transitions.
:50
Dad gives Clark a hard time for saving a school bus full of kids. Dad is not an enabler.
:59
Bearded guy with a faraway look in his eyes. Sort of a macho Bon Iver.
1:12
S stamp available at fine stamp stores everywhere.
1:19
A cape sighting on an ice flow. Music continues to be somber and joyless. I remember when superhero movies used to be fun. Like last summer.
Superman punches a mountain, flies really fast.
Dad is still preachy. Mom's advice to "Make things small" apparently meant nothing, as Superman is now in space.
1:50
Montage! Generic flames, a villain-like person. Maybe it's dad, come to teach Clark a lesson for saving that school bus full of kids. People running from explosions like every movie ever made.
Superman in handcuffs. Stop me before I save more lives!
Macho Bon Iver lifts something heavy.
2:00
Christopher Nolan's name solemnly invoked. So that's where the fun went...
2:30
Overstylized S, as if it were simple people would wonder where all the money went.
Fade to black.
No, seriously, this could be a good movie. Really, it could. It just looks a little serious. If I want serious, I'll go see Lincoln. So, I'm waiting with fingers crossed.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Notes on A Farewell to Arms
Ah, Hemingway. Papa. Big Ernie. The great patron saint of tough-guy sentimentality, godfather to every bitter drunk who put pen to paper. Used to be Hemingway was the great spine holding up all the ribs and meat of 20th century literature. That was when I was a kid, anyway. Today maybe not so much.
But he wrote novels. There's this novel here, with a real story and everything. It's set during World War I, a conflict fading now into distant memory. A Farewell to Arms finds Lt. Henry, a young and adventurous American, working as an ambulance driver on the entrenched fronts of Italy. Despite the shelling he's bored, spending his time in whorehouses or drinking with the Italian officers, mocking the local priests. Then he falls in love with nurse Barkley, the Austrians make a brutal push, and his life goes to heck.
Mind you, this was 1929, about a war that took place in 1918. Back before America became a world power, when Americans had to sneak into foreign armies to find war, back before the great Cold War and our lives of constant conflict. A Farewell to Arms introduced America to what America at war was like. And A Farewell to Arms was about stupid kids trying to become men, and the surprise and heartbreak they felt when the men they turned into was nothing like what they imagined they'd be.
But, yeah, I get it. Tough guys writing about war. Not very PC. Plus, the patriarchy, and dead babies. And the later Hemingway, the drunk bitter asshole. And now here he is on Goodreads, getting his chops busted by every kid forced to read him in junior high. Not that great, they say. Catherine is boring, a shallow bitch who just wants to please Lt. Henry, then dies. Why is this a classic? How has it endured, they wonder?
Well, Hemingway tried to tell you himself, in the most famous passage from this, one of his greatest novels: "The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills." I think that's it, man, that heartbreak right there, how this is the story of one woman who was killed, and one man who was broken and forced to live.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Book Trailer for The MZD
So, I was playing with iMovie the other day. iMovie is Apple's simple movie editor, designed for making souvenir reels of your vacation to wherever. But I was just messing around, stringing together a bunch of clips of things I've filmed in and around Mokpo, South Korea. (You should visit my other site, here, for more information on all that.)
Soon I saw that iMovie has a bunch of other cool features, like sound effects and suspenseful background sounds and such, so I put that on there, too, and then, holy cow, I had a spooky little book trailer. What to do with it?
Lucky for me, I also wrote a spooky book, just in time for Halloween.You may remember The MZD, a shortish novel about a zombie outbreak with supernatural origins. If not, well, here's a trailer that works as an introduction. Those of you who've read it, go take a look anyway. Here it is:
And now that I've got iMovie mastered, I think there are a few more book trailers coming, like for my book Jack's Boys. But that needs a post on its own.
Soon I saw that iMovie has a bunch of other cool features, like sound effects and suspenseful background sounds and such, so I put that on there, too, and then, holy cow, I had a spooky little book trailer. What to do with it?
Lucky for me, I also wrote a spooky book, just in time for Halloween.You may remember The MZD, a shortish novel about a zombie outbreak with supernatural origins. If not, well, here's a trailer that works as an introduction. Those of you who've read it, go take a look anyway. Here it is:
And now that I've got iMovie mastered, I think there are a few more book trailers coming, like for my book Jack's Boys. But that needs a post on its own.
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