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View all copies of this ISBN edition:. Buy New Learn more about this copy. The dust was smoke. I shut off the engine and emptied my water jug on the fire. Nothing serious was damaged. That night, I told my mom about my condition. Then she whispered in my ear. But you always suspect that something stinks, because people are always reminding you.
I just leave the room. It was me. Shit might as well be chocolate. I just sat there. The windows were up, the air conditioner was broke. Let it bake. I was an Indian in a sweat lodge. A cop knocked on the window. I cranked it down. Emmett Williams. Maybe you know him. He walked and sat on the hood of his cop car, smoking a cigarette. I watched him in the rearview. He sat there and smoked a cigarette. He came back and handed me my license.
In a land where things refuse to grow, he treated that juniper right. It was taller than he was. He stopped poking the bush. Dad opened the gate. The barbed wire was stapled to cedar posts that had been hauled on the back of a wagon years ago by our homesteading patriarch Helfrich Williams. They were either escaping an oppressive regime or taking advantage of some sort of Russian government goodwill offering.
Whatever it was, they settled on something called the Volga River plain. I would really recommend it to anyone who can appreciate darker humour and character driven stories. I really loved this book! Also, super random, but can I just say how much I love the cover of this book!? There's just something about it I love love LOVE the cover! View all 11 comments. Jul 13, Chris rated it really liked it Shelves: fiction.
Hard to describe this book. It's like Christopher Moore meet Quentin Tarantino. It should be a movie and has indie film written all over it. Scott Glenn would play the father.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt would play the son. This story has an air of tragedy that is totally usurped by dark humor. The return of the prodigal son or should I say the only son from the big city back to his rural roots-all to bury a cat, sets off an improbable chain of events that has you in awe of the author's gift for captur Hard to describe this book. The return of the prodigal son or should I say the only son from the big city back to his rural roots-all to bury a cat, sets off an improbable chain of events that has you in awe of the author's gift for capturing tender moments and then leaving you laughing at an "unfortunate turn of events.
They are about to lose the farmstead that has been in the family for over years. Shakes, the son, starts planning a bank robbery.
It's comical and sad and a plan destined for failure. Finally he comes to his senses and it appears that the ending will be less than you expected. Circumstances intervene and the ending is truly unexpected and bizarre but entertaining. Sep 10, Chrisman rated it liked it Shelves: audio-book. This book left me feeling conflicted. I picked it up because it's a book about Denver kind of by a local author, and it won an Amazon award.
I kept reading it because the first half was beautiful, and then the later plot elements were too fantastical and weird to ignore. I chuckled and smirked at parts, and became morose and sullen after reading other parts.
The reader of the audio book sounded physically taxed by the act of reading the book; chapters began in a clear voice and ended in a grav This book left me feeling conflicted. The reader of the audio book sounded physically taxed by the act of reading the book; chapters began in a clear voice and ended in a gravelly croak. Oct 22, Bennett Gavrish rated it it was amazing.
It's a simple story with a small cast that hits alternating notes of hilarity and heartbreak. First-person novels are heavily reliant on the narrator to dictate the tone of the entire text, and that's where East of Denver excels.
Hill's protagonist has a fun nickname Shakespeare , plenty of quirky traits he has no sense of smell , and a killer sense of humor especially when it involves his senile father. The plot of East of Denver is semi-repetitive and only ramps up during the final pages, but the book as a whole does not suffer. Seeing the world through the eyes of Shakespeare is plenty entertaining, and Hill's wry and sparse style makes for an easy read.
Noteworthy Quote: I pulled out the old photo album. All photo albums are the same. Just like all dreams are the same. Dec 09, Nathan Strickland rated it it was ok. It's easy to see in the first 3, words or so why this novel won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in The opening line about the dead cat is a fine hook that eventually goes nowhere, unless I missed some unusually deep symbolism and the revelations of the father's impoverished state both literally and figuratively are genuinely moving.
Then the wheels start to come off. Characters visit each other in scenes that seem to serve no purpose. Instead of making secondary characters more It's easy to see in the first 3, words or so why this novel won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in Instead of making secondary characters more nuanced and interesting, they seem to become more loathsome and repulsive. It feels like the author was aiming for something dark and gritty but accidentally recreated Cormac McCarthy's "parade of horribles".
The prose has strong moments but stumbles with some of the more clipped and terse segments. Hemingway-esque minimalism is a fine style in the American literary tradition, but when Hill lapses into telling versus showing it seems more like he is grasping for bridging scenes and expanded wordcount. While the book probably could have been an excellent novella, like its protagonist it is too meandering and unfocused to serve as a satisfying novel.
Oct 23, Bea Elwood rated it liked it. You had me at Denver Funny and it really captured the spirit of living on the plains however I admit I was let down by the ending if you don't want any spoiler than stop reading now. Like I said you had me at Denver you lost me with the plan to rob the bank, through charm and a magical relationship between father and son you got me back and I was gripped with the snake bite.
Which is why the ending was such a let down - although You had me at Denver Which is why the ending was such a let down - although I am glad they took the plane, the last 30 pages were disappointing. Jun 07, Paul rated it it was amazing. Great sense of place and excellent characters. Should be a film in the near future. Aug 06, Randy Briggs rated it it was amazing. A lovely little book about a group of small-town misfits who hatch a half-assed plan to rob a bank.
Smart, quirky and heartbreaking. I read it in one sitting. Dec 31, Anne rated it really liked it. Love this guy's sense of humor May 08, Bec rated it liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book was kind of like that for me, but Im not sure what the message is.
Perhaps I'm indulging in a form of magical thinking I haven't done for a while as I remember this often used to happen. Shakes life sucks, like mine. His dads health has deteriorated badly since the last time Shakes saw him, as has the woman who was looking out for Shakes dad. Shakes suffers anosmia, which means he can't smell. A plan is hatched to rob the bank. It's not the what that matters, but the how. It's a sad, funny book with a stupid ending.
I read in a review of where'd you go Bernadette? Kind of like Liane Moriarty. The ending is like that. That's kind of where I'm at now, that's why the book chucked itself at me, life will keep going no matter what you do. Shelves: own , series , realistic-fiction , sickness-of-mind-or-body , unexpected-twists , written-by-man , small-town-vibes-or-isolation , place-usa.
I thought this would be a simple story about a man and his father, we'd get a simple, maybe bleak story of their time together on their farm. Instead we get plans of a bank robbery, a suicide, and a crew of druggies. It's not surprising, necessarily. Small towns can be nonchalantly chaotic. They just seem simple and accepting of the ways that their community works, outsiders w 3. They just seem simple and accepting of the ways that their community works, outsiders wouldn't understand.
I did like this book. What missed the mark for me was the disconnect between the dialogue and the realistic portrayal of characters and the setting. Even though they have conversations they all kind of deliver half-hearted responses.
It's all surface level and emotionless. I think the disconnect was done on purpose, but I don't completely understand why. If you like dialogue driven books, this probably isn't for you. There's no real growth with the characters either, but that's not really the point of the novel. There are definitely surprising moments that will make you question if you've missed a page though.
I just saw that this is book one in a series. I wouldn't mind reading the others. I wonder if we get a new character in each book or maybe a new time frame? I was reading the reviews on the back of the book and one of the reviewers said this writing style can be compared to "black-comic novelists" and that's exactly what the dialogue feels like.
It's simple, it could go in a speech bubble above the character's head. Aug 04, Court Merrigan rated it really liked it Shelves: country-noir-thesis-reading. Oh, man, did I want to love this book. It has all the hallmarks of a good country noir - the disaffected and alienated loner, the crazy, the seemingly empty countryside, the irony and the lack of moral compass. So I'll start by saying that this book is certainly country noir it even manages to cram in some violence in, towards the end.
AND it has the added benefit of being funny. Hill knows how turn his MC's first-person POV into some seriously funny lines: "Teh mentality in Strattford County is that you can't leave more than your share of water in the aquifer and expect it to be there for your grandchildren. Next thing you know, the damned government would start regulating the water. Probably give it to all those pricks in Kansas.
Use it or lose it. But don't overwater the garden. Purposely - and skillfully - undercutting the tension of a scene as when Shakespeare Williams nearly makes it with Clarissa in the trailer, but then says the wrong thing, and it all falls apart makes for a great sort of character exposition, at first.
But then it's just underscoring the point, and didn't feel all that necessary. Hill certainly follows Chekov's dictum about the gun on the mantelpiece to the T - nothing happens here that isn't relevant. It felt a little too well-sewn up in places, but that's alright; we're clearly dealing with a set piece here, and I don't mind it.
One doesn't fall very long or hard into the fictive dream in such a case, though; one is constantly conscious of being manipulated. But that was a stylistic choice on Hill's part, and one carried off to good effect most of the time. The ending felt a touch tacked-on, and just set up a touch too perfectly; still, it was hard to fault that, either. The Dad character is wonderfully rendered as a prematurely senile old rancher.
The highlight of the book, to be sure. Although, again, Hill is a touch too fond of his usual effects; towards the end of the book, Dad's non sequiters are starting to sound expected, and thus lose a lot of their punch, so skillfully employed in the early going.
On the whole, though, this books fits the country noir template wonderfully, though the antihero can't hardly use a gun, doesn't drink enough, and doesn't like drugs not even marijuana. He messes with noir convention in lots of delightful ways. The other thing to note about this book is its curiously empty tableau; there are no cousins, exgirlfriends, siblings, uncles, brothers, sisters-in-law, or other extended type relations that characterize most folks lives; everyone is practically a free agent, and no one up to and including the paralyzed character seems to have anything else to do at times when the MC has need of them, for plot points or entertainment.
And evidently Shakespeare had nothing of value, in terms of relationships or material possessions, back in Denver. I guess this isn't a criticism so much as an observation - in order for Mr. Hill to tell his story, he really had to clear the table. I suppose that makes it a more enjoyable read, really. One strange thing about this book: the first part is written in deliberate, short, choppy sentences.
But after that, it is more flowing, with no more careful attention on the sentence level to minimalism.
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