Fight Song

by Joshua Mohr

When his bicycle is intentionally run off the road by a neighbor's SUV, something snaps in Bob Coffen. Modern suburban life has been getting him down and this is the last straw. To avoid following in his own father’s missteps, Bob is suddenly desperate to reconnect with his wife and his distant, distracted children. And he's looking for any guidance he can get.

Bob Coffen soon learns that the wisest words come from the most unexpected places, from characters that are always more than what they appear to be: a magician/marriage counselor, a fast-food drive-thru attendant/phone-sex operator, and a janitor/guitarist of a French KISS cover band. Can these disparate voices inspire Bob to fight for his family? To fight for his place in the world?

A call-to-arms for those who have ever felt beaten down by life, Fight Song is a quest for happiness in a world in which we are increasingly losing control. It is the exciting new novel by one of the most surprising and original writers of his generation.

Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Novels

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

JOSHUA MOHR is the author of five novels, including “Damascus,” which The New York Times called “Beat-poet cool.” He’s also written “Fight Song” and “Some Things that Meant the World to Me,” one of O Magazine’s Top 10 reads of 2009 and a San Francisco Chronicle best-seller, as well as “Termite Parade,” an Editors’ Choice on The New York Times Best Seller List. His novel “All This Life” was recently published by Counterpoint/Soft Skull.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review can now be seen at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud and Shelf Inflicted!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun romp. It's about a man who works for a computer game programming company. His boss is 10 years younger than he is. He is tired and at a lull in his life. His wife is unhappy. She is currently trying to break the worlds record in treading water. His children are attached to computers. He suffers a mid life crisis. He ends up getting kicked out of his house by his wife, who brings her Mother to the house. He begins living at is work. He discovers a janitor living there too, and said janitor is in a "Kiss" band. It's a crazy story. Mohr is a clever writer who keeps the reader interested in the silliness of the book. It's a fun read.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

I was a big fan of Joshua Mohr's debut novel, Some Things That Meant the World to Me, back when I read it in 2010; and after another novel in 2011 that I missed, Damascus, I just had a chance to read his brand-new one, Fight Song by the now Counterpoint-owned Soft Skull Press, which I not only liked just as much but found a lot more entertaining. A Jonathan-Franzen-style comedy about the foibles of a dysfunctional family, for most of this book we are following the misadventures of our hapless hero Bob Coffen, a meek and overweight videogame developer who is dealing with a whole series of quirky situations -- a wife training to break the world record in water-treading, a female bodybuilder and fast-food attendant who also runs a "drive-thru speaker-sex" business on the side, a janitor who's also a guitarist for a French KISS cover band, and a New Age marriage counselor who's also a professional magician, among others. And in fact, Mohr's solid and mature handling of what could've been a a spiral down into B-movie mayhem reminded me many times of another book that got this balance really right, Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys; for like that novel, Mohr has a good grasp over believable and complex characters, but nicely spices it up with a considerable amount of absurdism and even sometimes outright slapstick. A book that will be a little too silly for some, it'll be perfect for existing fans of literary writers who do smart comedy right, from Tom Perrotta to Jane Smiley to John Irving, and is the novel that finally starts vaulting the talented Mohr up into the same ranks of all the people just mentioned. Strongly recommended.

Out of 10: 9.4

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

from author

Read 12/23/12 - 12/25/12
4.5 Stars - Highly Recommended / middle age mid-life crisis fiction never looked so good
Pgs: 252
Publisher: Soft Skull Press
Release Date: February 12, 2013

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who allow things to happen and those who make things happen. Right from the opening pages of Fight Song, it's easy to see that Bob Coffen is a classic case of the former. Our overweight, middle-aged video game programmer is a victim of his routine, compliantly riding the waves of boredom day in and day out, awkwardly poking fun at himself before others ever have the chance. At home, he suffers a chilly marriage to a wife who is too busy training to break the world record for treading water to show him any affection. His technology-obsessed children barely acknowledge him. His neighbor - an old high school football player - bullies him relentlessly, while at work, he feels the life force being sucked right out of his skull working for a boss doesn't even know his name.

But it all comes to a head one evening when, pedaling his bike home from work, his neighbor takes things too far and runs him off the road. No longer willing to be the world's doormat, Coffen gathers up all of his anger and humiliation and makes a stand against Schumann. This, like everything else he does, crumbles and flops to the grass of his neighbor's lawn as he finds himself, instead, accepting Schumann's offer to become his "life coach".

And so begins Coffen's seventy-two hour metamorphosis from a man who allows things to happen into a "man who makes things happen". In no time flat, he finds himself the head designer of a bestiality video game, co-kidnapper of a marriage counseling magician, and temporary roommate to the company janitor, who also happens to moonlight as a guitarist in a KISS cover band. (Well, no one said he'd make the right kind of things happen, now, did they?)

Joshua Mohr continues to dazzle us with characters that are stuffed to the brim with deliciously wild flaws while keeping things grounded with a healthy dose of humor and heart. Rather than suffering through the depressing tale of a man on the brink of losing it all, we find ourselves on a journey of self-discovery, of finding friends in the unlikeliest of places, of learning the value of accepting help even when you weren't asking for it, and of shedding those layers of dead skin that have been weighing you down without you having realized it.

Be sure to celebrate the release of Fight Song as we bring you a two-week long Fight Song Blog Tour this February. Dates and destinations will be released soon! Hope to see you there.

[Lewis Buzbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fight Song is a brilliant comic novel, one that made me laugh out loud over and over, and which, in the end, was very moving. Mohr's portrait of suburban follies and vanities is spot on, so close to satire it's unnerving, and yet so close to the truth at the same time. As you watch Bob Coffen wander through this shiny wasteland, in search of his real life, meeting the most outrageous characters along the way, you may even recognize some of your neighbors, or yourself. Mohr's voice and vision are truly remarkable. If you love the novels of Thomas Berger or Stephen Dobyns, then rush out to get this. Heck, if you love a good read that strikes deep into the heart of the world, read this. Heck, just read it.

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

It could have been a very, very bad, moralizing book, but it ended up being quite an uplifting experience. That's due to Joshua Mohr's unflinching stance about his subject, here being the mid-life crisis. He makes this stance really clear and FIGHT SONG turned out to be a wall-to-wall fun ride. It's not a feel-good book and it's not cautionary tale either. It fell between the cracks somewhere in between and down a slapstick rabbit hole. Joshua Mohr has a twisted mind, but a good heart and FIGHT SONG reflects that duality. He surfed dangerous waters and lived to tell about it.

FIGHT SONG will be a success, I'm convinced.

[Ilona · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world of Fight Song is at once marvelously strange and uncomfortably familiar. Anyone who has received pin or plaque from an employer after years of service that were never intended to be so long will find an avatar in our protagonist, Bob, and cheer for him to beat the game. As Bob gets drawn into a preposterous vortex revolving around an unstable neighbor and a vengeful magician, he faces an unfulfilled life that is all too real. Joshua Mohr brilliantly juxtaposes the magical with the mundane and there are just some unforgettable moments, both weird and wonderful. Nacho cheese Doritos used to be my favorite. I'm not sure I'll be able to eat them anymore.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bob Coffen has been an employee at Dumper Games for ten years. His boss is ten years his junior. Bob is presented with a clock for his all his years as an employee. The engraving on the clock has his name wrong…It says Robert Coffen. Bob is just Bob not Robert. Even his own boss does not know his name.

On his way home, Bob is run off the road on his bicycle by his neighbor, Nicholas Schumann. Schumann is a douche bag. At if things are any better at home. Bob’s son plays violent video games and his wife, Jane is worried about one thing. Training to be a world champion in treading water.

To be honest, I really wanted to stick this book out as I had read other peoples thoughts on this book and they all liked it a lot. Unfortunately this book was not for me. Right from the get go. I found Bob’s family to be annoying. His neighbor is a jerk. Bob to be such a punching bag. I know this was about Bob finding himself and growing as a person and getting a back bone but I was so turned off by everyone else that I did not care if Bob had a happy ending. At the same time, I do count the fact that I did not like the characters as a good thing. It meant that they were fully dimensional and not just one sided. I wished that I could have stuck this book out but just could not.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know what's really great about Joshua Mohr? He takes his demented imagination, creates highly-developed yet totally improbable characters, and then turns these freaks who reside in some low-grade absurdia and makes them a lovable bunch of characters who take control of their lives in the way we all wish we could.

For the first 160 pages of "Fight Song", you want to kick these degenerates in the butt and get as far away from them as you can. But then they collectively find a point of transformation and you find yourself smiling about their exploits and cheering for their success.

Mohr took the same tact in "Damascus" and he repeats it in a wonderfully successful manner here. I adored this novel and will continue to seek out the author's earlier works.

Great story and characters garners four stars, lackluster prose is only reason it doesn't get five.

[J.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first selection I recd. as a member of The Nervous Breakdown book club, and I'm so glad I joined up in time for it! Fight Song is a wonderfully clever novel that moves at a swift pace from start to finish. And the touch of magical realism flooding the end of the book is pretty brilliant. I'm very much looking forward to Mohr's next project, and will probably need to return to one or two of his earlier novels as well, just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Bob wonders how the HOA will handle this: Who shall be the recepient of a belligerent, bullying email about an unauthorized rainbow."

Really spot on, this novel. Highly recommended. There's a plock (plaque clock) and a magician named Bjorn who turns a man into a mouse. I've said too much already...

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

All mid-life and struggle and family.

More - http://bentanzer.blogspot.com/2013/01...

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick, fun read, and honestly felt like a book I would write about the suburbs. But I thought Fight Song lacked the depth and clarity of Mohr's previous novel, Damascus, which I loved.

[K M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sure hope Joshua Mohr is busy writing another book because I do believe I've now read everything he's written. This was fun - quirky and entertaining.

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This comic novel tells about a few days in the life of Bob Coffen, a suburban dad who designs video games, after the wins as a plock (plaque/clock) that is stuck at midnight as a reward for 10 years on the job. It sends him into a funk, as he doesn't enjoy the work and finds that his family is drifting away from him. During the next few days, Bob and his wife separate, and Bob encounters all sorts of strange and quirky people who help him begin to understand what he wants out of his life. I thought the book was fairly funny with strange, but sympathetic characters, but in the end I wasn't fully drawn into the book.

[Ally M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is oddly endearing, oddly wonderful. Mohr's ability to balance the blah of suburbia (described oh so well) with the shenanigans of Bob and his neighbors, was so good and so unlike anything I've read in a long time. I actually found this book by chance at the library, and I'm glad I read it. The short chapters really drive the pace, the dialogue is delightful, and the witty descriptions are just below being a little too much. I'd recommend for anyone who's a fan of Vonnegut or Douglas Adams.

[Thurston Hunger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also has been a while, since I read this...."Blue Velvet" played for laughs, with a tincture of "Office Space." Broad swipes at the suburbs and technocrats (especially some of the small company insanity that makes dysfunctional families look like the Waltons.)

With the silly/con Silicon setting, never mind a Kiss coverband, I am well in the demographic sights for this. In fact, I think the target is painted on my back.

Perhaps I should read his debut novel based on other reviews.

[Avril Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved Bob's crew - totally feels like Dorothy's crew in Wizard of Oz.
Each person he encounters and befriends is comical (in the best way) and archetypes that help him come to terms with where he's at and where he needs to be.

[Haszari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good example of madcap subversive suburbia. See also A M Homes.

[Dorcas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this song b/c I like to sing this song

[Jeffrey Paris [was Infinite Tasks] · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second in my recent reading of books written by USF profs. I thought it was very funny, smartly so, though much less dark than I expected (probably because of reviews of earlier books). I loved the secondary characters especially: Tilda, Ace, Bjorn, and Gotthorm. Although they all tend to talk a bit alike.

Other aspects, too, are automatic winners. Computer nerd gets swimsuit girl, marries girl, bores girl, joins Kiss cover band, and the end is pretty much guaranteed at that point, right? More seriously, I liked Bjorn's sorcery (because doesn't a healthy marriage need a bit of magic?), Tilda's speakerphone sexwork (because fast food and fast porn are equally part of modern life), and Gotthorm's aqua-Zen (because, well, seaweed).

Although I don't know him, Joshua Mohr teaches at my university, and I look forward to maybe spending some time. I've already begun Some Things That Meant the World To Me, and it is terrific, if quite different. It is the dark tale I was expecting, but not unfunny, for all that.

[Laine Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review
Fight Song by Joshua Mohr
Soft Skull Press, 2013

Satire is one of those things that is insanely difficult to do. Not only does the author have to make the reader laugh, they also have to leave readers with something more than just the fast chuckle or lingering giggle. A strong satire will take down our cultural mores, poke holes in what we believe to be right, and provide a sense of satisfaction at the end of the work.

Fight Song does all this in a nearly flawless manner. The main character's plight could degenerate into something macabre or even just depressing. But in Mohr's hands, the story ramps ever upward into stronger absurdity and greater fun.

Not to be missed!

For a different type of work that will make you laugh out loud while tackling today's cultural mores and the fallout of them, try Writing While Female or Black or Gay: Diverse Voices in Publishing.

5 stars!

[Rebecca Scaglione · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m part of TNBBC’s Fight Song Blog Tour, and the other day, I was lucky enough to have Joshua Mohr on my blog talking about his quest for happiness and how it’s related to his amazing novel, Fight Song.



Fight Song chronicles a period in Bob Coffen’s when he is run down, with a job he despises, kids who would rather use technology than speak to him, and a wife, Jane, who is distancing herself. Bob finds some unexpected advice in strange places, such as with his overly aggressive and living-in-his-football-past neighbor, a janitor from work who is the lead singer in a unique Kiss band, and a fast food employee who makes extra cash as phone sex operator through the drive thru intercom.

Bob Coffen essentially goes on a quest to achieve happiness in his life. Some of the things I will take from Fight Song and Bob’s journey are:

For the full review, visit Love at First Book

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

An ultimately disappointing read about a white, upper middle class, suburb-dwelling family man's search for identity in a world that's ground him down. The faint pulse of magical realism perked me up, but every mention of the "fluorescent orange dust" or the main character's bestiality-themed video game just brought me back down.

I read an interview saying Fight Song was the first novel Mohr's written sober, and I can see the emergence of more stable, "adult" style and themes. This wasn't the Worst Book Ever, but I did feel disappointed after how much I enjoyed Some Things that Meant the World to Me and Damascus. I guess you can't write blackout stories forever, though.

[Michael Martz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one unique book, I'll say that..... Part 'The Office', part 'Office Space', part 'Wide World of Sports'- I could go on. Any novel that has characters like the magician-marriage counselor with a drinking problem and a vindictive streak, a takeout-window employee at a Mexican restaurant who delivers phone sex (excuse me, intercom sex) along with the tacos, a swimmer who is after the world mark for dog-paddling, and a schlub who is at the center of it all, is good with me!

first of all, I love Mr. Mohr's writing. His dialogue is real and funny where it needs to be, and the plot in this case is pretty hilarious, when you get right down to it. This is first rate, well-written fun with a message or two embedded within !

[Travis Fortney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Joshua Mohr I have read, and I thought it subverted the sad middle-aged white guy genre in a lot of interesting ways. It's also very fun and quirky without being annoying, and touching without being sentimental. It's insane and a bit unhinged, but it's grounded in very real emotion. Though Mohr is exploring very well-trodden territory, Fight Song has the feel of something totally new.

I read this a couple months ago and am just getting around to reviewing it now, but I recently purchased two of Mohr's earlier books and will try to write more in-depth reviews of those as I read them.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell hard for Mohr's work after reading Damascus and I've never been the same since. This novel is diffuse yet focused. There's a driving feeling throughout, like fish swimming against the current. I've always liked "guy wakes up from his life" stories but this book is so much more than that. At this point, I look forward to a new Mohr book the way I used to an album from my favorite band. Fortunately, fiction can still give me that feeling of enthusiastic anticipation and this author has a lot to do with why.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this 3 stars only because I laughed out loud a couple times and it was a quick read. I enjoyed some of the banter, but felt the language was over some of the characters heads. I did not care for his fight, his family were all very rude and inconsiderate.

The writing, to me, felt unnatural and forcefully witty. The writer does have imagination, however, it didn't appeal to me... or science for that matter. It was just too far fetched. The first thing I thought about when I put the book down was that I will write a review and never think about it again. Next!

[Kris V · Rating 4 out of 5]

A completely different book, when I look back at Mr. Mohr's past works.
It was refreshing to see the lack of morbidity and more strangely hilarious mishaps on the protagonist's part.
I didn't expect to grow as attached to the story. I expected darkness where there was little to none - and it was a nice change.

Where he goes from here is fantastically unknown. A great note to hit at this, novel # 5.

[thenewjackieo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I would be happy to read once and then pass along to someone that I felt was having a bad day/week/month/year. It's about finding your feet again - sometimes in the weirdest places. Maybe your inspiration comes from a French KISS cover band, a drive-through lady who moonlights as a drive-through speaker sex phone operator, or a crazy alcoholic magician who may or may not have turned your friend into a mouse.