Gone for Good (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Mark Childress

by Mark Childress

Seventies folk-rock icon Ben "Superman" Willis may be at the height of his fame, but he's not having very much fun. The touring lifestyle has lost its luster, his marriage to a former Miss Southwest Louisiana is on the rocks, and his only real pleasure comes from flying his Beechcraft Baron twin-engine plane 9,000 feet above all his earthly obligations. One day, Superman's plane goes missing, thanks to a storm, a faulty compass, and some very strong dope. To the rest of the world, it's as if he has disappeared into thin air. In reality, he crash lands on a lush tropical island, where the first person he sees bears an uncanny resemblance to Marilyn Monroe. As he recuperates, he meets various other an elderly aviatrix who may or may not be Amelia Earhart; her cross-dressing putative copilot; elegant Princess Annie; and a barrel-chested barbecue chef named Jimmy--Hoffa, that is. Just like these famously dead and disappeared celebrities, Superman has found the one place that could fulfill his own secret to fly so far away from his own life that he registers on no one's radar at all. The author of wacky Southern bildungsromans such as Tender and Crazy in Alabama, Mark Childress branches out into new imaginative territory with Gone for Good, a novel with an all-star cast and a sprawling, slightly ramshackle plot. Superman's presence on the island unleashes some mighty odd goings-on, involving a power-mad islander the locals call El Mago, armies of mystically inclined monkeys, and a wizened native sage who produces gnomic utterances such as "Sometime is no why. Sometime just is." At times it seems that Childress's hero has escaped one adolescent male fantasy (rock & roll stardom) only to fall into the arms of he gains magical powers, makes love to Marilyn Monroe, and engages in some highly entertaining monkey-wrenching against the island's would-be developers. Plus, everybody keeps telling him how important he is. No like Superman himself, the book has a shaggy-dog charm, and in the end, the author produces some moving truths about fame, love, and what it truly means to disappear. --Mary Park

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Humor

Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Mark Childress was born in Monroeville, Alabama. He is the author of the novels A WORLD MADE OF FIRE, V FOR VICTOR, TENDER, CRAZY IN ALABAMA, GONE FOR GOOD, ONE MISSISSIPPI, and GEORGIA BOTTOMS. Childress has received the Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished Author, Thomas Wolfe Award, the University of Alabama's Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Alabama Library Association's Writer of the Year. He is a staff member and a director of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley. He has lived in Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, California, Costa Rica, and currently lives in Key West, Florida, where he is writing his eighth novel and a film script.

Reviews

[Tom Eldridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing Mark Childress fiction that had amazing potential and about halfway through falls flat. Great concept that goes awry, about supposedly dead celebrities actually retired to a secret island community, living the remainders of their lives in peace and seclusion. Great idea that starts off well but he flounders with the story and ends ridiculously out of control.

[Rosalea Carttar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating premise. Very entertaining in the first half to 2/3. Laugh out loud funny at points. Disappointing denouement… last 1/3 seems cluttered & confusing.

[Jeannie May · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very Southern writer, reminds me somewhat of Flannery O'Connor. A delightful ingenious story.

[Amyschwarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise, the story is full of twists and turns. Definitely need to suspend reality.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gone for Good, Mark Childress, 370 pages. 4 of 5 stars. Worth reading for the love scene with “Daisy,” aka Marilyn Monroe, alone. As with all the Childress novels I’ve read, this one balances a good deal of humor with some grandiose tall tales. And this novel, as with Crazy in Alabama, alternates narrators. The premise: a 1970’s folk-rock star named Superman Willis disappears in his solo plane flight and crash-lands on an island where other famous personalities seem to be living. These include Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Hoffa and several surprises. Are they dead? Is he dead? The island plot builds enticingly. Why are these people here? Who is the mysterious “magician” who is reportedly in charge? As mentioned, there is a love interest: after all, Superman Willis is either dead or forever stranded, he believes, so why not sleep with one of the world’s sexiest women? He wasn’t all that fond of his wife Alexa anyway. Befitting a rock star’s—even a folk-rock star’s—demise—there are plenty of drugs, lots of booze. So, party time at the island’s central “Discoteca.” For the next ten or so years the island’s mysteries roam into death, a revolution, and some fine and funny and sexy!, discoveries. Meanwhile—multiple narration, remember—Superman’s son, Benjamin, grows into teenhood. Blossoming independence, a drug-crazed mother, and a mysterious note found, yes, in a bottle, send Benjamin looking for Dad. Here is where I believe the plot weighs down a bit. We have seven chapters from Benjamin’s first-person viewpoint and one from wife Alexa’s viewpoint stacked up against 36 concerning Superman Willis and the mysterious island. It’s sometimes painful to leave Superman Willis and the mysteries surrounding him for the son. And . . . the island plot builds so wildly, with such a climax, that the other dénouement comes across anticlimactic. Still, there are 36 grand chapters of fun, luxurious reading. Go for it.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Buch war ganz "okay", daher zwei Sterne. Den Schreibstil von Childress mag ich zwar sehr gerne, doch bei "Der Bruchpilot" sind mir einige Passagen zu langatmig geworden. Auf dem Buchrücken steht: "Childress ist ein begnadeter Fabulierer mit einem großen Herz für seine Figuren". Die meisten sympatischen Figuren sterben in diesem Roman. Ferner heißt es, er sei "ein wunderbarer Geschichtenspinner". Die Betonung liegt dabei auf den letzten beiden Silben. Ich bewundere Childress zwar für seine immense Fantasie, aber diesmal hat ist er mir echt zu weit gegangen. Viel lieber mag ich seine glaubwürdigeren Romane "Verrückt in Alabama" und "Abgebrannt in Mississippi", in denen er sich u.a. mit Rassismus in den Südstaaten der USA beschäftigt. Nach diesen beiden brillanten Büchern ist es eine Enttäuschung "Der Bruchpilot" zu lesen.

[Allison Renner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Childress' writing style and story ideas, and this book was no different - the premise was interesting and parts of it were pretty witty. Magical realism doesn't bother me in fiction and I had no problem swallowing it, but in this case, it brought the book down a few notches. Childress' island world needed to be described very vividly for the magic to fly (no pun intended), and he didn't deliver. It was disappointing because many scenes were too wordy when they didn't need to be, so clearly he could have described visuals in order to pull them off, but it just didn't happen. The ending kind of petered off and fell flat as well.

[Karenbike Patterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Howard Hughes buys an island near Costa Rica. He buys all the missing and famous people (Jimmy Hoffa, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Kennedy, Amelia Erhart) and hides them there. Superman Willis, a famous singer, crashes on the beach, tries to leave several times and fails. After many years, his son finds him. The book is silly and too long. I don't remember who recommended this book to me, but I would ban them from recommendations from now on.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. When my friend gave it to me, I thought it would be along the lines of Carl Hiaasen, and it was, and it wasn't. I loved that all of the characters were pretty flawed. No one was perfect, but you still really felt for them. A little funny but not laugh out loud, a little serious but not a downer, a little fantasy but not outrageous...just a little but of everything.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what to say about this book. I had a copy as a library discard, and am trying to shrink the pile. I think I would call it a guy-lit/fantasy/adventure/coming of age novel. It did not grab me to the point where I couldn't put it down, which is my 4 or 5 star rating, but it was a fun and interesting read, with a unique plotline.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A kind of goofy tale about a 70s rockstar who is stranded on a desert island and all of the dead celebrities that allegedly wanted toescape their lives and came to this particualr island. Not bad. A kind of light, airy, silly yet entertaining book

[Karen Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The jury is still out on this one, so I gave it 3 stars for a middle of the road rating.

This book is a little adventure, a little fantasy and really way out there. It was somewhat entertaining but really dragged in places and the end was a bit ridiculous.

[Mike Coe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very excited about the story until the halfway point where it fell flat. The ending was weak. I feel cheated. He had a great story going and let it die... then he kept kicking the can down the road after it was dead--probably to satisfy the publisher and collect his check.

[Melissa Giambelluca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky, funny, quick read. A rock star finds himself stranded on an island with Amelia Erhart, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, you get the idea.

[Laura Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another bizarre, hilarious book that does a superb job at mocking reality. Rock'n'roll fans must read this.

[Saysha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did he really think this was going to be made into a movie? BAD, BAD writing.

[Kwoomac · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this hadn't been a book club choice, I wouldn't have read beyond the first few pages. Fantastical story of anman's surreal life on an island. rads like an adolescent's fantasy.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

For all of those Elvis fans who truly believe the King lives on, he does in this book. In fact, so do Marilyn , Jimmy and Amelia all on a deserted island. This is a fun read.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little too "fantastical"

[Mich · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok so this one didnt do it for me.. eh.. bleah..

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

kinds Tom Robbins-esque...Superman Willis in Costa Rica with Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Hoffa,etc...very good read!

[April Sutherland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had some high expectations for this book after Crazy In Alabama but it didn't EVEN come close. I don't recommend anybody wasting their time on this one. It's just weird.

[LInda L · Rating 1 out of 5]

This started out fairly interesting, but rapidly deteriorated into fantasy land and continued on for 389 pages, which was 289 too many. Hated it, hated it, hated it.

[Trinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some pretty negative ratings, but it was just the kind of quirky story I enjoy sometimes. A 4 may be generous; I'd give it a 3.5 if I could.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a chore to get through. Great idea but boring.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, didn't know where it would end up, sure kept me guessing.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A normal story with an interesting twist to it. You have a singer that became famous, but now doesn't really like being famous. I won't spoil the book by telling you more. A really good book.

[Sheri Horton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started with such a great premise but lost me in the middle. The ending was good. It just meandered in too many directions.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Cin]

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