The Internet Newspaper

by Adam Gnade

Adam Gnade's pocketsize novel The Internet Newspaper is about working at the online version of a daily newspaper during the weird, clumsy, well-funded early days of the internet. Set in Southern California in the year 2000, Gnade's book shows an America that doesn't exist anymore--an awkward, wild, innocent place that has since given way to fury and regression. Here we bear witness to HTML coding and late-night party crime, hard drugs, and the birth of the "cats on the internet" phenomenon. The Internet Newspaper is lyrical, dark, philosophical, and true like all good fiction is true. Recommended if you Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives , Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz, Bright Eyes, The Cure, Mexican food, committing crime, being a fucking badass, and Patti Smith's Just Kids .

146 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2023

About the author

Adam Gnade’s (guh nah dee) work is released as a series of books and "talking songs" that share characters and themes; the fiction writing continuing plot-lines left open by the self-described “talking songs” in an attempt to compile a vast, detailed, interconnected, personal history of contemporary American life. His books and "talking records" are released by Bread & Roses Press and Three One G.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heavy handed and light as a feather. I hope this world Gnade is building never stops growing.

[Bella Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

the anatomy of a bender… i have never felt more seen by a book

[John Dishwasher John Dishwasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the elements surrounding the protagonist in this novella just reek with falsity. There is no loyalty around him, no fidelity, no authenticity, no truth – except in the characters that might be described as ‘punk,’ and in one straight character who stands in for a kind of ideal. Most of us recognize the nonstop illusions and fakery in our daily lives, and play along because it's just easier to play along. These punks just don't play along. Much to their soul-sucking chagrin, however, not playing along doesn't change anything. The life around you still remains an avalanche of shit. Existential misery and anti-sociality ensue, which we see doctored by friendships, and inebriating substances, and music, and levity, and earnest attempts to stay true to oneself -- plus some defiant fashion. Gnade never says any of this. He just shows it. And rather subtly.

This is like a lost weekend tale, except that it happens in the middle of a work week, which gives the story an extra tension since the protagonist might miss work. I've commented before on Gnade's polished style and I don't want to repeat myself so see the links below for my two other GR reviews of his work. I will only add that his poetic descriptions are as precise and economical as ever in this novella. And in this piece he often lets the dialogue propel the narrative, which keeps the story fast-moving and alive.

Isn’t Internet Newspaper an oxymoron? That would be the first, and maybe the least noxious, of the falsities Gnade presents. Time to pierce my tongue.


—----------------------------------------------------------------------
After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This Is the End of Something But It's Not the End of You
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jessica Wadleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Internet Newspaper by Adam Gnade. A line from a Modest Mouse song kept coming to mind as I read through this book. On Heart Cooks Brain, the second track on the band’s breakthrough album Lonesome Crowded West, Issac Brock laments that “in this life that we call home/the years go fast and the days go slow.” So much happens to the main character, James, over the course of the four days of the narrator’s Southern Californian life we glimpse. Working a temp job at a new-fangled online newspaper at the dawn of the new millennium, James spends his days at odds with bullshit office culture, doing work that doesn’t matter much for people who don’t read it. His nights are spent at house shows, babysitting friends on acid trips, and falling for friends with boyfriends. In the quiet moments, James ruminates on the value of his life, oscillating between appreciating beautiful, slow moments and wondering what in his current environment he could use to kill himself. I’ve loved Gnade’s writing for a long time, but what really struck me with this one was the pacing. This novel maintains a steady, consistent speed throughout, never rushes through any moment, let’s every second have it’s fifteen minutes, whether James is sipping wine in a vineyard in Tijuana or blasting all thought from his head as he copies and pastes content into the website’s backend software with loud, fast punk rock blasting his eardrums. The effect is that I felt like I really was there with James, that I was there with Cass and AJ and Frankie and Emily and Ed and even that slo-mo fuck Donut, and that this small moment of time, this four days, was rich and satiating and fucking LIVED. The Internet Newspaper is a story about how much life happens in just four slow days and it’s a book I’ll hold dear for much longer than that. Highly recommended.

[vinnieisntreal · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite a warm and nice book. I havent read much of anything besides articles and short works in years, this was a good starter, warmup book. I won’t attempt to summarize, but the internet newspaper is a tapestry of moments and characters with little conclusion drawn about what it all means. just people and things and knee jerk internal reactions to both. here’s some thoughts:

• the best aspect is the characters, every character big or small is just so textured, layered and for lack of a better word, real. Cass is a favorite, Rulfo as well.

• our narrator can be a bit insufferable and frustrating at times, but hey me too man.

• it takes a little while to get going and I wasn’t really sold on it until past the halfway point, the introduction is kind of a drag.

• the choice of setting is interesting, but I’m a bit perplexed as to why. the marketing and (albeit minor) visual elements of this book indicate a much different vibe than what it is, as I said in an update, the internet newspaper only really exists as a foil to the narrator, but the ad copy would have you believe it’s the main character! weird!

• I wanted to stay in this book forever and i’m a little sad it’s done.

uh yeah I guess that’s it, sorry i’m still getting acclimated and it’s 2 am. I like this book a lot, i’m gonna read more of adam’s stuff.

[Jessietatts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of Gnade's I've read, I picked it up in a stationary store in Kansas and I wasn't completely sure what to expect. As the amount of pages I had left became significantly small I realized I had no idea where the book was headed, how was it possibly going to end? Even in the end I was somewhat confused and retraced my steps a bit by going back a few pages and rereading and thinking about all the characters, quiet emotions, and mundane moments to finally understand, and wow, what a great book. I feel so many people can relate to this. It's incredibly subtle. Sometimes he's suicidal and casually throws it in, sometimes even a bit aggressive with his thoughts towards people who irritate him, drags you through these interesting 'friends' he has and the experiences they share (or the experiences they drag him along to share). I think he may even irritate himself. It's an easy read, easy as in hard to put down because it's simply so good and Gnade's a great writer. Hopefully I can find some more of his books and read them all!

[Benjamin Bond West · Rating 5 out of 5]

A romantic book that doesn't feel romantic because that's never how it feels in the moment but also sometimes it does just for a little bit when everything is briefly beautiful and you're living in the moment before it passes forever, and that's what this book feels like which I think makes it successful and true.

I wish I had this book a few years ago when I was working at my city's local daily. This book has so much spot on, even 20-odd years removed. The internet is sleeker and more monochromatic now, but it doesn't seem like much has changed. Not that this book has anything to do with the internet. It doesn't.

This book is good! Read it! Seriously! I didnt even know it was a sequel. I finished it and then opened my phone and, boom, turns out it's a sequel. I haven't read the other one and now I have to, want to. Thanks, Adam Gnade.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am sad that I finished this book because this book was my friend all week while I was sad and on a break from my job teaching kids. I have to go back to work in a few days and this book will sit on my table with my other Adam Gnade books. Except for the two that I misplaced. I guess I’ll be buying those again because it seems like I didn’t read one of them. Oh well.

This book makes you want to write books and try to remember what it was like when you were young. I don’t remember what it was like when I was young. I do like how Cattle Decapitation and Bright Eyes keep coming up in the same sentences in Adam Gnade’s books. I wish they would do a split 7” together in honor of Adam Gnade.

You should read Adam Gnade books. You should just read books. They’re just as consistent as real friends. Here for awhile, say nice things, but suddenly you turned the page and it’s all over.

[Lin Henna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Gnade’s Novel, The Internet Newspaper, the way that he writes his characters feels very intimate and realistic. His imagery and descriptions are thoughtful and insightful.

The protagonist James, is period appropriate for 2000, but could easily find common ground with the average melancholic youth today. The conversations end up feeling timeless while also referring to past musicians and technologies (AIM introspections and contemplations on how unimportant the internet will be).

The book is a relatively quick read and Gnade breaks down dialogue in digestible passages. Recommend to any suicidal intellectual who is longing to remember that life keeps moving forward, and that there can be comfort in that truth.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly encapsulates the soul crushing depression of feeling stuck that overcomes you in your early twenties and too much has happened too fast. Dead end jobs and all the inertia that comes with it, drinking too much, sleeping too little, trying to have a life and yet bound by responsibility. All that is in here carved out of colorful prose clay and formed into something approaching grace. This is a magical book about those innocent Twilight years of the internet before information overload robbed us of our humanity.

[L · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gnade’s characters have potential, but I feel that he isn’t able to execute that potential. Instead, the protagonist (the same one across several novels, which can be fun) is tediously depressed. And his friends are either unlikeable and on screen too much, or likeable and not on screen at all. I would rather hear about AJ’s escapades than hear “Lil’ Cass” say “beeyotch” with fervor.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gnade’s ability to make you feel is profound.
And now, I shall go find what is set out for us.

[Scott Waterhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent!

[Coop · Rating 4 out of 5]

we've all worked for a Brandon

[atlantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read in the We Live Nowhere and Know No One series, and this was a much better book than After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different. This book does a much better job of exploring James, his world, and his depression where you only got bits and pieces of it in After Tonight. Where that book takes a broad look at James's life over the course of 20-something years, this book only goes through 4 days, and because this book is smaller in scope, there's more time to analyze James and everyone around him more closely. It was cool to see how close James and Cass were and how their friendship manifested in different ways. His dynamics with Frankie and with his coworkers were nice to see too, and I was pleased to see how this novel let everything just exist. It made the world feel more real to me. Looking back, my main "problem" with After Tonight is that you can't really grab ahold on anything since it's all over the place, but that doesn't happen here.

I loved the smaller moments in After Tonight, and The Internet Newspaper excels at those by 1000%. I enjoy the realistic dialogue that Gnade uses, and I loved the scenes where two characters were just talking to one another and living in the moment. James's conversations with Cass were real fun to read, and I just wanted to get lost in whatever they were doing. Gnade's writing can be real comforting sometimes. A lot of this book is just people existing, and it's good. There were a few moments where the writing was either too corny or went too deep in describing unimportant things in extreme detail and that's where it lost me a bit, but there's way less of that in this novel than the other.

I had a great time reading this last year, and I will read more of Gnade's work in the future.

[Bart Schaneman · Rating 5 out of 5]

In all of his work Gnade achieves a wide range of effects - lyricism, poignant description, philosophical depth, humor, characterization - in a singular style that's born from many years of focused, intense dedication to his craft.