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Shrapnel
Shrapnel is a coming-of-age story in the nick of time for 77-year-old Bing Butler. Forced by age and circumstance to leave his beloved Texas and move in with his daughter in West Virginia, Bing's right-wing, old-school ways often put him at odds with his left-leaning daughter. Also challenged are his views of Appalachia, a place known only through 1960s War-on-Poverty commercials and lame punchlines. His wild journey reveals a fuller picture of the people of West Virginia, but it also unearths painful wounds and family secrets that he and his daughter never fully addressed. Bing must build a new life for himself in a place, and with a family, he doesn't understand, but he finds allies in unexpected places who help him become a better man.
- GenresFiction
329 pages, Hardcover
First published August 24, 2012
4 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Marie Manilla
6 books52 followersMarie Manilla is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her novel The Patron Saint of Ugly won the Weatherford Award. Shrapnel received the Fred Bonnie Award for Best First Novel. Stories in her collection, Still Life with Plums, first appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Prairie Schooner, Mississippi Review, Calyx, and other journals. Her essays have appeared in Word Riot, Cossack Review, Gargoyle, Atticus Review, and elsewhere. This is A Game I Play: A Memoir, will be published in Oct. 2026. Learn more at www.mariemanilla.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 6, 2021
I adore a classic theme with a twist, my favourite motif is self-discovery. As I marvel at the courage and strength possessed by a character forging his own path, I feel proud and genuinely happy for the accomplishment. I tend to close these books feeling satisfied. Usually, the person that I’m admiring is a teen, or a young adult. Things change dramatically when the person embarking on this journey is a seventy-seven year old, WWII veteran.
Recently widowed and forced to leave his home in Texas to live with his daughter and her family in West Virginia, Bing has absolutely no idea that he is about to question beliefs held and enforced for a lifetime. He is not a fool. He knows he will be terribly home-sick. A chilly reception is the best that he can hope for. Well, that and indoor plumbing.
At a blush, Bing is just a grumpy old man, set in his ways. But, there are certain things about “old folks” that tend to be forgotten. First, they are tougher than nails. These folks were forced to grow up quickly and deal with real problems. There was no time to pontificate; work had to be done to keep food on the table during the bleakest of times. Ideas and thoughts weren’t questioned or challenged; people simply put their heads down to work for their families and homes, as well as to fight for their countries. Times may have been simpler, but not easier.
This is how Bing was raised. He had been taught to see things as black or white, wrong or right. That philosophy served him just fine for the past seventy-odd years, it would surely see him through. So, when he learns ‘the secret’ about his new friend Ellen, they can no longer be acquainted. It isn’t his doing, not his decision—it is simply The Way Things Are. Never mind that he misses her terribly, or that he desperately needs a friend.
Searching his meager belongings for a way to strengthen the tentative bond forming with his granddaughter; Bing uncovers a newspaper clipping that threatens to shatter all he has ever known. Questions asked during typically formative years become his internal struggles. Suddenly, he has to make choices. Rather than being told what is right or wrong, Bing will have to decide for himself; apparently, alone.
Ms. Manilla’s portrayal of the traditional, grumpy old curmudgeon is astonishingly real. With a seemingly simple plot, she reveals to the reader that sometimes, people are the way they are for good reason. Without feeling chastised, I felt humbled as I accompanied Bing on his transformative journey. As I read the final pages of this book, I wept. I shed tears of sorrow for missed opportunities, mixed with tears of happiness for new beginnings. If you’ve ever had a Bing in your life, well, this book’s for you.
Recently widowed and forced to leave his home in Texas to live with his daughter and her family in West Virginia, Bing has absolutely no idea that he is about to question beliefs held and enforced for a lifetime. He is not a fool. He knows he will be terribly home-sick. A chilly reception is the best that he can hope for. Well, that and indoor plumbing.
At a blush, Bing is just a grumpy old man, set in his ways. But, there are certain things about “old folks” that tend to be forgotten. First, they are tougher than nails. These folks were forced to grow up quickly and deal with real problems. There was no time to pontificate; work had to be done to keep food on the table during the bleakest of times. Ideas and thoughts weren’t questioned or challenged; people simply put their heads down to work for their families and homes, as well as to fight for their countries. Times may have been simpler, but not easier.
This is how Bing was raised. He had been taught to see things as black or white, wrong or right. That philosophy served him just fine for the past seventy-odd years, it would surely see him through. So, when he learns ‘the secret’ about his new friend Ellen, they can no longer be acquainted. It isn’t his doing, not his decision—it is simply The Way Things Are. Never mind that he misses her terribly, or that he desperately needs a friend.
Searching his meager belongings for a way to strengthen the tentative bond forming with his granddaughter; Bing uncovers a newspaper clipping that threatens to shatter all he has ever known. Questions asked during typically formative years become his internal struggles. Suddenly, he has to make choices. Rather than being told what is right or wrong, Bing will have to decide for himself; apparently, alone.
Ms. Manilla’s portrayal of the traditional, grumpy old curmudgeon is astonishingly real. With a seemingly simple plot, she reveals to the reader that sometimes, people are the way they are for good reason. Without feeling chastised, I felt humbled as I accompanied Bing on his transformative journey. As I read the final pages of this book, I wept. I shed tears of sorrow for missed opportunities, mixed with tears of happiness for new beginnings. If you’ve ever had a Bing in your life, well, this book’s for you.
March 12, 2022
Hubby: "What's that book about, is it a war story?"
Me: "I have no idea what it's about... and I'm half way through."
The story was a series of hills and valleys for me: high points being the opening scenes of Bing leaving his home, a wild ride with strangers, and the ending. The low points being the family's attitude toward Bing, his dream-like hallucinations, and the amount of material that just didn't seem to add anything and move the book forward. While that entertaining wild ride with strangers chapter reminded me of one of my all-time favorite books*, it didn't seem to fit in this one.
The book's description would have you believe that Bing, the main character, is a grumpy, dimwitted codger moving in with his daughter so she can care for him in his golden years. Personally, I found Bing to be the most likeable family member other than Frida the dog. Bing's daughter, her husband and their 2 children are all uncaring and rude. They warm up and have attitude changes along the way as you would expect, but I didn't see the narrative having any real influence on this development - it just seemed to miraculously occur.
Bing and Frida are both described as having sight issues although they spend their days doing things that seem unaffected by limited vision. Bing's mental clarity is not questioned and yet he often goes off into lala land seeing visions of his dead wife and son that he finds convincingly real. He claims he is not religious yet questions his beliefs and those of others. Better editing could have cleaned up these inconsistencies and played more to what I felt were its strengths as listed below.
-Bing meets people and has experiences that challenge what he thought he knew and the kind of person he has been. (We see little evidence of this change until the very last pages.)
-I have no military background but could understand that the 3 wars served by the 3 generations portrayed in this story were very different in nature and the attitudes toward them realistic.
-There may be hope for a closer father-daughter relationship. After a recap of about 40 years of their lives, they finally reach a point where they might start to open up to each other and have an actual conversation.
*Handling Sin by Micheal Malone
Me: "I have no idea what it's about... and I'm half way through."
The story was a series of hills and valleys for me: high points being the opening scenes of Bing leaving his home, a wild ride with strangers, and the ending. The low points being the family's attitude toward Bing, his dream-like hallucinations, and the amount of material that just didn't seem to add anything and move the book forward. While that entertaining wild ride with strangers chapter reminded me of one of my all-time favorite books*, it didn't seem to fit in this one.
The book's description would have you believe that Bing, the main character, is a grumpy, dimwitted codger moving in with his daughter so she can care for him in his golden years. Personally, I found Bing to be the most likeable family member other than Frida the dog. Bing's daughter, her husband and their 2 children are all uncaring and rude. They warm up and have attitude changes along the way as you would expect, but I didn't see the narrative having any real influence on this development - it just seemed to miraculously occur.
Bing and Frida are both described as having sight issues although they spend their days doing things that seem unaffected by limited vision. Bing's mental clarity is not questioned and yet he often goes off into lala land seeing visions of his dead wife and son that he finds convincingly real. He claims he is not religious yet questions his beliefs and those of others. Better editing could have cleaned up these inconsistencies and played more to what I felt were its strengths as listed below.
-Bing meets people and has experiences that challenge what he thought he knew and the kind of person he has been. (We see little evidence of this change until the very last pages.)
-I have no military background but could understand that the 3 wars served by the 3 generations portrayed in this story were very different in nature and the attitudes toward them realistic.
-There may be hope for a closer father-daughter relationship. After a recap of about 40 years of their lives, they finally reach a point where they might start to open up to each other and have an actual conversation.
*Handling Sin by Micheal Malone
September 12, 2012
Kept me up until 3 in the morning reading! Saved a few pages for this morning though, as I hate to finish a good book. I must admit, I didn't like the main character, Bing Butler, very much at first. But little by little, the author brings out his life story as he adjusts to a move across country to live with his daughter and her family. We learn about Bing's successes, failures and regrets. Truly a lesson that you are never too old to learn and grow emotionally. I also enjoyed the references to Huntington, WV. And I'm anxiously awaiting her next book, The Patron Saint of Ugly.
February 12, 2013
A moving story about life and death and change and fear and loyalty. A book written with a lot of love.
September 3, 2013
Recommended to me by j.v.
I am so glad I read this book. Three generations deal with life's passing from several different perspectives. This is a thoughtful story, and well worth the time.
I am so glad I read this book. Three generations deal with life's passing from several different perspectives. This is a thoughtful story, and well worth the time.
December 13, 2023
I love Marie Manila’s writing, so I enjoyed reading this book. The story of the relationship that it tells between an aging man and his daughter’s family is also a lovely read. However, the old man in the story is a bigot. He begins the story as a racist. It is revealed in the middle of the story that he is also homophobic. He has a prejudice against Appalachia. There is one racial slur that he uses throughout, which I suppose maybe the author justified to herself because of his and his son’s participation in war. However, I know a lot of war veterans who think beyond the binary terms of enemy (requires slur to describe, as this character seems to) and unquestioning loyalty to one’s own country. The protagonist does start to ask questions about these last two things. His prejudice against Appalachia and his certainty that war is a thing boys should do to become men are two things that unravel in this book, with self-reflection and thoughtfulness. I suppose there is a suggestion in that that other things can also change, other bigotries can also dissipate. I don’t read books looking for “political correctness,” but I also know that there are plenty of books to read involving reflection and growth on the part of their characters that don’t require the reader to be inside the head of a racist, homophobic white man for the entirety of the book. What I’m saying is that I enjoyed the book, but it is certainly not for everyone.
October 16, 2023
While this novel has a good number of funny moments, it's also rather dark. Bing, a resident of Houston, recently lost his wife Barbara. He drives to Huntington, West Virginia, to live with his daughter Susie and her husband Glen, both college professors. A WWII veteran and conservative, Bing is prejudiced against black people, Asians and Hispanics. His daughter and Glen are progressives, so there's arguments and tension. Bing strikes up a friendship with a neighbor, Ellen, also a widower. She fixes him meals and they have long talks. But when Brian, Bing's grandson, informs him that Ellen is a lesbian, he starts giving her the cold shoulder. Manilla deftly portrays Bing's thought patterns in Hemingway-like short sentences. The story is told from the old man's point of view. As the plot proceeds, Bing's far right views began to soften. He can see how he was wrong in backing the Vietnam War and has misgivings about the War in Iraq. It's a novel of redemption and growth. The writing is fresh and crisp.
February 4, 2023
Shrapnel by Marie Manilla
Marie Manilla takes you on a reluctant journey with Bing, everybody’s cranky grandfather. An uncomfortable road trip because Bing is not likable. He is biased, prejudiced and very much frozen in his life. His wife, Barbara has passed away and he misses her terribly. As with many older people, Bing cannot function very well on his own so he agrees to move in with his daughter in West Virginia.
He drives from home he as lived in for over thirty years to a place and family filled with unknowns.
Ms Manilla, is the kind of writer who can wrench emotions from the reader with the nuances of her words. Bing’s journey and growth is fraught with hazards, and she pulls us along so that we become Bing, with his bad parts, his doubts and his painful learning process.
It is the mark of a good book when you, as the reader, sacrifice sleep to finish the next page and when you are done and have read the last line, experience loss. You wish there was more.
Marie Manilla takes you on a reluctant journey with Bing, everybody’s cranky grandfather. An uncomfortable road trip because Bing is not likable. He is biased, prejudiced and very much frozen in his life. His wife, Barbara has passed away and he misses her terribly. As with many older people, Bing cannot function very well on his own so he agrees to move in with his daughter in West Virginia.
He drives from home he as lived in for over thirty years to a place and family filled with unknowns.
Ms Manilla, is the kind of writer who can wrench emotions from the reader with the nuances of her words. Bing’s journey and growth is fraught with hazards, and she pulls us along so that we become Bing, with his bad parts, his doubts and his painful learning process.
It is the mark of a good book when you, as the reader, sacrifice sleep to finish the next page and when you are done and have read the last line, experience loss. You wish there was more.
July 17, 2015
Amazing book...I still think about Bing and wonder if a second book is coming. His character is so real, so like someone you probably know... Totally engaging, tremendously engaging. A MUST read again kinda book!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews