Lookaway, Lookaway

by Wilton Barnhardt

One of Slate's and Kirkus Review's Best Books of 2013 and The New York Times, National Public Radio , and Indie Bound bestseller: "Lookaway, Lookaway is a wild romp through the South, and therefore the history of our nation, written by an absolute ringmaster of fiction." ―Alice Sebold, New York Times bestselling author of The Lovely Bones

Jerene Jarvis Johnston and her husband Duke are exemplars of Charlotte, North Carolina's high society, where old Southern money―and older Southern secrets―meet the new wealth of bankers, boom-era speculators, and carpetbagging social climbers. Steely and implacable, Jerene presides over her family's legacy of paintings at the Mint Museum; Duke, the one-time college golden boy and descendant of a Confederate general, whose promising political career was mysteriously short-circuited, has settled into a comfortable semi-senescence as a Civil War re-enactor. Jerene's brother Gaston is an infamously dissolute bestselling historical novelist who has never managed to begin his long-dreamed-of literary masterpiece, while their sister Dillard is a prisoner of unfortunate life decisions that have made her a near-recluse.

As the four Johnston children wander perpetually toward scandal and mishap. Annie, the smart but matrimonially reckless real estate maven; Bo, a minister at war with his congregation; Joshua, prone to a series of gay misadventures, and Jerilyn, damaged but dutiful to her expected role as debutante and eventual society bride. Jerene must prove tireless in preserving the family's legacy, Duke's fragile honor, and what's left of the dwindling family fortune. She will stop at nothing to keep what she has―but is it too much to ask for one ounce of cooperation from her heedless family?

In Lookaway, Lookaway , Wilton Barnhardt has written a headlong, hilarious narrative of a family coming apart, a society changing beyond recognition, and an unforgettable woman striving to pull it all together.

A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2013

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Southern, Audiobook, Family, Contemporary, Historical Fiction

361 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2013

About the author

Wilton Barnhardt (born 1960) is a former reporter for Sports Illustrated and is the author of Emma Who Saved My Life (1989), Gospel (1993), Show World (1999), and the New York Times bestseller Lookaway, Lookaway (2013). Barnhardt took his B.A. at Michigan State University, and was a graduate student at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, where he read for an M.Phil. in English.

He currently teaches fiction-writing to undergraduate and graduate students at the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, in the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing.

Source:Wikipedia

Reviews

[Lawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lookaway, Lookaway: A Novel: Wilton Barnhardt's New Southern Family


Wilton Barnhardt

I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times there are not forgotten;
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.--Daniel Decatur Emmett, 1859

Two Ladies of the South discuss the new book in Town

Two women, immaculately dressed, sit in white rockers on a broad porch. Ceiling fans turn above them. Ice tinkles in glasses of sweet tea. They sip daintily. The light reveals the swirl of sugar, a cool drink more akin to syrup. Tart lemon cuts the heaviness of the sweetness just enough.



Although it is 98 in the shade, the ladies are impervious to the muggy afternoon. In the South, Ladies do not sweat. Nor do they perspire. They simply glisten. The white of the Magnolia Grandiflora blooms and the Snow Queen Hydrangeas lend a false sense of coolness on the shaded porch. The air is perfumed with Gardenias.



Wait, wait! You mean "Dixie" was written by a Yankee?

Uhm, hum. In New York City.

New York City?

'Fraid so, Nadine.

Well, for land's sake, Mary Leigh.

It was a favorite of Abraham Lincoln, too.

Well, hush my mouth. What is this world coming to?

2014. In case you haven't noticed, the War is over, Nadine.

But what about tradition, Mary Leigh? History? Honor? Southern Invincibility?

Why, it's gone with the wind. I guess you heard about the Johnston family up in Charlotte.

THE JOHNSTONS, the descendants of General Joseph E. Johnston? The General who held out against the War of Northern Aggression even after our Beloved Robert E. Lee? Oh, everybody knows the Johnstons. And, of course, the Jarvises, too. Why, when Jerene Jarvis married Duke Johnston that was the marriage of two Old North State dynasties. Both families had absolutely spotless reputations, peerless, the very scions of society.

I can see you haven't read that new book by Wilton Barnhardt. Cleo Estes has stacks of it in the window down at the gift shop. Everybody's talkin' about it.

Well, why?

I'll tell you why, Nadine. Those Jarvises and Johnstons have been pulling the wool over this whole town's eyes for years. THEY are not what they have seemed. Mr. Barnhardt certainly opened up that entire family to the scrutiny they well deserved. They will never, ever hold their society position in this entire State. And to think that Duke Johnston might have been Governor.

Do tell, Mary Leigh. Do tell.

Well, Nadine, I can tell you it all started with that Gaston Jarvis hero worshipin' Duke Johnston when Duke was that big football hero at Duke University. You know before that neck injury that put him off the field forever, and out of Vietnam, I might add. There was just something unnatural about those two. Well, more Gaston than Duke. After all, Duke did sire four children with Gaston's sister, Jerene. You remember "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?" It almost seemed like that Brick and Skipper thing. Just not natural. And you know Gaston was a writer. You know how they are. Him goin' up to New York, writin' that first book and he was the next God's gift to literature. Hanging around with the likes of James Baldwin. Despite all that drinking and pretending to cat around--well, Gaston Jarvis never sired ONE child, much less four. He was happy as a lark when Duke married his sister.

So you read the book, Mary Leigh?

Twice. And is it ever juicy. Absolutely wicked. I'm telling you that Jerene Jarvis Johnston was a witch. And you know what rhymes with witch. That woman had a tongue that could cut you to pieces. God help you if you ever got on the wrong side of her.

But what about the Jarvis Art Trust? Those priceless early American artworks? She built that Trust for the sake of the community! For us!

Scandal.

And why did her youngest, Jerilyn, never come out? You know that's one of the two most important white dresses a young women will ever own.

Scandal, Nadine. Something nasty happened a fraternity party. That woman has spent her life hiding secrets and scandals. And you know Jerilyn shot her new husband Skip Baylor.

But that was an accident, Mary Leigh!

Just read the book Nadine. I'm telling you every one of those Johnston Children have grown up totally confused.

But Bo's a Presbyterian MINISTER!

Then you tell me why his wife took off doing mission work down somewhere in South America.

Well...

And that Joshua has a boy friend from NIGERIA.

But I thought he was with that Creole lookin' girl, Dorrie.

Nothing but a cover for the both of 'em. Scandal, Nadine, scandal. Although I HAVE heard she knows how to show a woman a real good time.

Why, shame on you, Mary Leigh Bedsole.

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

MARY LEIGH!

And last, but not least, since she hadn't been in a size 16 for the last ten years, there's Annie that realtor putting HISPANICS in houses. I'm tellin' you this RECESSION's gonna catch up to her. And married THREE times and lookin' at number four, not that she has to marry every one of em.

Land sake's Mary Leigh. Well, old times here are not forgotten.

No, Nadine, they're buried. Buried, buried, buried.

The Reviewer Wraps Up

We leave our two Southern ladies to their porch and sweet tea. Barnhardt has written a wickedly funny novel spanning the Old South to the New South. Don't think this is a bit of light fluff. Bad things happen to good people. Even traumatic experiences to her own children will not stop Jerene Jarvis Johnston from covering up anything that might affect her perceived position in Charlotte Society. Barnhardt has an ear for Southern speech and an eye for the changing nature of the South. This is a magical blend of comedy, drama, and tragedy rolled into satire at its best.

Lookaway, Lookaway: A Novel is Wilton Barnhardt's fourth novel. It will be published by St. Martin's Press August 20, 2013. Barnhardt is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He directs the MFA program at the University of North Carolina at Raleigh.

Highly recommended.

[Susan in NC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I took a chance on this book and requested it from the Amazon Vine program; at worst, I figured, it might be a Pat Conroyesque scandal-and-angst fest told with a dash of dark humor, and at best it might be a profile in family dysfunction told with raw, biting humor a la David Sedaris. Worth a try, right? Yes!

I'll admit, the first chapter had me a bit unsure; told from the point of view of society bride wannabe Jerilyn Johnston, youngest of the Johnston family and in the midst of sorority rush at UNC-Chapel Hill as the story opens, I felt I knew this girl. I have met her several times in the 20-plus years I have lived in North Carolina; Jerilyn is the good little serious girl who decides when she gets to college that she "just wants to have a little fun" and lets herself be led lemming-like by her hard-partying older sorority sisters into all sorts of bad situations.

Jerilyn seemed too predictably shallow and empty-headed and I felt hard-pressed to care about her as a character, but Barnhardt wrote each chapter from the POV of a different family member so I kept going into the next chapter and was amply rewarded with Gaston Jarvis, Jerilyn's uncle, bitter, self-loathing alcoholic and best-selling author (read hack) of Civil War romances starring Cordelia Florabloom (seriously). At this point I was thoroughly hooked and couldn't read fast enough - Gaston was snide, vicious, disgusted with the himself, his failure to write the Great American Novel - you name it, he's every stereotype of the miserable, self-centered, past-it, self-aggrandizing writer, yet the author makes us see the humanity in him. Barnhardt is an amazing writer - he makes us care about each and every member of this dysfunctional hot mess of a Southern family with all of their secrets, lies and very real and human shortcomings.

At first it seems like there is no plot per se, just a series of vignettes, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad - often both at once, a real gift! - featuring this old-money Charlotte family seemingly made up of stereotypical Southern types: steely, polished-to-icy-perfection Jerene; her husband, former golden boy teetering on the brink of old age Duke; drunken hack author Gaston; pretty, ineffectual gay son Josh; mouthy, overweight and fiercely smart Annie, etc. But moving through the chapters and differing points of view I felt like I was digging deeper behind the wicked humor and the stereotypes and peeling back layers and years of dark and painful secrets and lies, often tarted up over time to become storied family lore. As Jerene's mother Jeanette tells her, "If you say something long enough...people will think it's true...people like those kind of lies down here. They're good, entertaining lies - I suspect history is eighty percent those kind of lies." What a deliciously wicked, self-centered, and indestructible old battle ax she turned out to be - and that's the grandmother! These characters are priceless...

This is truly an amazing family saga, brilliantly written, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a rollicking yet intimate American story laced with a healthy dose of satire, black humor, and conniving, over-the-top, almost operatic characters and plot twists.

[Antigone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I was in the land of cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Look away, look away,
Look away, Dixieland.

Wilton Barnhardt takes a sentimental swipe at the vestiges of Southern aristocracy desperately seeking relevance in the modern age. He draws as his example the Johnston family of Charlotte, North Carolina. Society matron Jerene and her Civil War re-enactor husband Duke would prefer nothing more than that their four adult children settle down and, one or two at least, embrace the traditions their parents hold so dear. The children have other plans, none of which appear exceptionally promising, and it is through this tension of ambition (and the manipulation thereof) that the hijinks proceed.

For this is a romp, make no mistake about it. It is a wry train wreck of a tale that spins from disaster to disaster in what I gather is a deliciously Southern way. Unfortunately, I lack the familiarity required to appreciate the satire on offer here. So much of the dark delight seemed designed exclusively for the insider...which left me on the shoulder of this literary highway; thumb out to the next vehicle and an author heading in a direction that feels a little closer to home.

[Book Concierge · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

From the dust jacket: Jerene Jarvis Johnston and her husband Duke are exemplars of Charlotte, North Carolina’s high society, where old Southern money – and older Southern secrets – meet the new wealth of bankers, boom-era speculators and carpetbagging social climbers. Steely and implacable, Jerene presides over her family’s legacy of paintings at the Mint Museum; Duke, the one-time college golden boy and descendant of a Confederate general whose promising political-career was mysteriously short-circuited, has settled into a comfortable semi-senescence as a Civil War reenactor.

My Comments
The novel includes Jerene’s mother and two siblings, as well as Jerene and Duke’s four children and their spouses or partners. It is divided into three distinct books: Scandal Averted (2003), Scandal Regained (2007-2008) and Scandal Redux (2012), and each of the eleven chapters is narrated by a different character.

The opening chapter focuses on the youngest Johnston child, Jerilyn, beginning her freshman year at college and rushing the “wild” sorority. I am not a prude and have no problem reading graphic material, but this was just vulgar – and unnecessary. We never get back to Jerilyn’s story, though she makes a significant contribution to later scandal in book two. Chapter two is narrated by Jerene’s brother Gaston – a wildly successful author of a series of historical novels set in the Civil War era South. Despite his success he is unhappy and seeks solace in drinking, because he has never been able to write the great American novel he’s wanted to write since his college days.

The novel continues just meandering among the characters – all of them behaving badly, while Jerene struggles to maintain appearances. But none of their stories was remotely interesting to me. I was bored and had to force myself to keep going. When I first heard about this book I was immediately interested and wanted to read it. There’s a good idea for a novel in this scenario: A once-great family slowly and inexorably declining – even disintegrating – but only on the inside, leaving an outside veneer that continues to give the impression of greatness. But I’m afraid that describes the novel as well. It has a great veneer, but it crumbles once you get inside it.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't need to look on the dust jacket to know the author is a professor in North Carolina. It was evident in the first 20 pages.
Like sitting in a lecture hall listen to a professor drone on, loving the sound of his own voice, this book was as torturous to get through as my 8:30 AM American History class. I really wanted to like this book but had to force my through it. The author tends to rambles on about various topic such as the Civil War, Religion, and the hierarchy of universities in NC for endless pages. The meat of the story (which is the fascinating character) is weight down by the author schooling us on the lengthy details of the Civil War history (literally down to the buttons).
And did I mention there are parts detailing the Civil War and is set in North Carolina? Well it true. You can't go a PAGE without having a reference to the Civil War, North Carolina, Charlotte, or a landmark in the great state of North Carolina. It's too much. We get it. It's set in Charlotte and it's a fascinating place.
What I did enjoy was the characters the author developed. Intriguing but they had few redeeming qualities in the bunch. They were put in some wildly hilarious situations but the circumstances of the situations took chapters to explain and became lackluster. The chapters on each character were far too long though and draw out. The chapters devoted to lesser characters which were a waste. The flow of the story was constantly interrupted by pointless information. Less about the Civil War and Tar Heel State and the characters/ plot would have shined.
This book made me remember why I slept this American History 101. Zzzzz

[Franc · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only gave it 1 star, but I only read the first 2 chapters. Then I gave up on it.
Why I wanted to like it - I like North Carolina, I generally like southern stories.

Why I couldn't get past chapter 2:
- chapter 1 had more nasty details of White fraternity pledging then ever needed to know and hope will evaporate from my memory, soon. The daughter was a bit spoiled and naive, but in an irritating way. This could work b/c the reader doesn't have to like the character to be invested in them, but I couldn't feel attached to her either way.
- chapter 2 was about the famed, but unhappy, author uncle. His story just didn't grab me.

I did want to like it b/c i liked the tone of the writing - it was smart, funny, detailed, and drew a clear picture of the story. I just didn't like the story.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cliché and stereotyping abound in this tasteless and boring novel. It sounded so appealing, but I knew by the end of the first chapter that this was not going to be a book I even wanted to finish. Since it was a book club selection I waded through it all, and it did in fact improve, but not enough!

[Ange · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best part of this book was the title. I should have followed it's advice. I'm not sure where the humor was because I do not think there was one time that I laughed, much less, laughed out loud.

The characters were unlikeable, the story was tedious, not to mention rambling and in spots, fall asleep, boring.

I did like the cover...and I do buy a book by the cover which is how I was sucked into this word-ie waste of money.

Not my glass of sweet tea at all!!

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wilton Barnhardt's appeal to the very basest of human nature is noted. His writing comes off with an air of self-importance, but reading his book makes me believe he is just vulgar -- and a sorry excuse for a writer.
The fact that he is a professor who influences college students makes me cringe.

[RoseMary Achey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in my hometown of Charlotte was the reason I picked up this novel. Laugh out loud funny as the author takes some facts and stretches them. It is always good to see yourself or your friends through the lens of another perspective.

[DeB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lookaway, Lookaway is one novel which has had me mulling over what to write about it for a couple of days. I read previous reviews which condemned it as silly froth, due to its "debutante" beginning and had abandoned it and those who felt it was just another "Southern" genre book. It is neither.

For me, this is the story of the Johnston/Jarvis family, the public profile it tries to maintain, the conflicted emotions over beloved family traditions constraining its members in present time and the family anchor which provides a semblance of stability, in life's chaos as long as someone believes in it. It is a very human story, told in an exuberant voice, tinged with satire and gentle humour. And it is a very serious novel, facing the grinding duality of being a slave state - lifted temporarily by Civil War battle reenactments, history remembered positively.

Each chapter introduces one member of the family and each individual has a private, if not secretive, side to their lives which must be juggled adeptly both within the Johnston family (Jerene, Annie, Duke, Bo, Joshua, Jerilyn) and to its extended members, Jeannette, mother of Jerene, and Dillard and Gaston Jarvis, her siblings. The Southern standards, so like those of Britain, have been infused into its society, from its very proper way to conduct oneself within the Old Families echelon to its choice to sigh over comical or eccentric reprobates which such a culture can't avoid creating.

With each chapter, the family dynamics become more fully fleshed out, the money issues, the interplay between individuals which need intervention by the most socially astute in its rarified community and the personal burdens some of the characters have carried. How they deal with those events make for compelling, tragic and brave moments in this very satisfying story.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much wanted to love this book, but in the end I can only say that I liked it a lot.

Barnhardt's earlier works were critical in my reading life. Emma Who Saved My Life came to me at exactly the right time, and helped me understand who I was in my early twenties. Gospel was like reading The DaVinci Code, before The DaVinci Code was written, and if The DaVinci Code had wit, humanity, and a soul. Show World didn't work for me, but I'll give Barnhardt a Mulligan on that.

It's a cliche, but I got lost in Lookaway, Lookaway, and I mean that in a good way. This is a rich book - rich in character, place, and history. For the first half I had no idea what the plot was, or if there was even going to be a plot. But it didn't matter because I was immersed in the lives of the Johnstons and the history (modern and ages past) of The South.

But in the end the device of one chapter per character doesn't sustain itself. Some characters, and therefor chapters, are weak, and I ended up wishing for more of Gaston, Duke, or Jerene, and less of Joshua and Bo.

Still, this is staying on my shelf, and is probably worth of a second read one day - something I rarely do.

Now I just can't wait for the re-release of Emma Who Saved My Life this summer.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely outrageous characters... completely believable if you have spent time in the South. Barnhardt perfectly nails the generations of Southern socialites. The "Christmas dinner" scene is one of my all-time favorites, and Gaston Jarvis is a character for the literary record books. The story moves along as each character gets their own POV chapter. Really fun, very funny, but also very serious. I promise, you'll know these people.

[Joyce Hamel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lookaway, Lookaway: A Novel
by Wilton Barnhardt
Edition: Hardcover
Price: $17.75



4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Dazzling Satire, April 13, 2013


This review is from: Lookaway, Lookaway: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Can you visualize the monogram JJJ in serif script adorned on the best linen and tea service? Jerene Jarvis Johnston is more than a symbol of how old Southern money disintegrates. She is the daughter of Jeannette Jarvis and sister to Dillard, a sorry recluse, and Gaston Jarvis, Jr. who is famous author, probably the only one with real money. She is hell-bent on preserving the family's legacy and will really stop at nothing to uphold the tenuous family honor and its fast-shrinking fortune.

Reading a novel about the decadent South is a joy. The characters can be spitfire cruel, jealous, corrupt while ensconced in debauchery. Such fun. Wilton Bernhardt writes a stunning, humorous novel of the South using the Jarvis and Johnston family as the lead merchants of depravity and surprisingly, more than a spattering of intellect. Gaston is a famous writer who, despite his alcoholism, which seems to be a family trait, is witty and mean. He is terrible to his mother, Jeannette who probably deserves her children's contempt.

Jerene is married to "Duke" Johnston, once a star college athlete, who is obsessed with the Civil War; he can pontificate on every battle scene and nuances of the "real" Confederacy. Their four children play equal roles in the story, with some emphasis on Jerilyn who is pretty and rather shallow. Bo (Beauregard) is a minister, Joshua is a for-sure gay and Annie is a loud, heedless liberal and the smartest of the four progeny. Republican and Obama politics play a major role, too.

Barnhardt gives us the play-by-play narrative of a family coming apart. The reader is finally convinced that most Southern families probably did not inherit or earn their fortunes honestly. They cheated their own relatives out of their rightful inheritances to ensure they maintain their stature and place in upper society with all the other phonies. It is comical, sad and downright licentious as Jerene, who is determined to rein in her family battles to hold on to their birthright.

I highly recommend the book; Barnhardt is an outstanding writer and if a reader is not familiar with southern authors, he provides an excellent entry into the brilliance of satire. I recognized some Tom Wolfe and a spirit of Capote. My only criticism is that the narrative became a bit tedious in the middle making this a 4.5 star review. But don't lookaway from Dixieland to grasp the flavor or our country.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a difficult review for me to write. I won this book from Goodreads- the first book I have won. So, in the spirit of the give away, I am writing a review, but I do not have anything positive to say. The first chapter is disgusting, disturbing, perverted, and very inappropriate. I forced myself to finish the first chapter and decided to give the second chapter a chance. Well, I couldn't even finish the second chapter before giving the book up. So, my review may not be fair to the book and author because I only read 60 pages out of the 360. I wanted to like this book and be able to give a good review for the author as I received this book as a giveaway. Perhaps the fault is mine as I entered the giveaway of my own accord. However, there are so many great books out there to read, that I cannot recommend this book to anyone.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant satire, really excellent characterization. Each chapter was from a different character, and it didn't feel like a schtick, it felt like a nuanced and multi-faceted presentation of a many-limbed and complicated family, with each chapter offering a new viewpoint or tidbit of information. Extremely funny, but at the same time a close look at the undercurrents of sexuality, race, and violence in our society. Hard to put down!

[Maine Colonial · Rating 2 out of 5]

This satire of the modern-day South is consciously modeled after a Victorian novel. As one of the character observes about a book he plans to write: it would be like a Sir Walter Scott or Anthony Trollope, as a great family fights to hold its fortune for a final generation before the collapse and ruin.

Like a Victorian novel, this is a closely observed examination of a small group of people that illustrates the values of their time and place. The cast of characters:

Joseph Beauregard "Duke" Johnston: Golden boy at Duke University, expected to become Governor of North Carolina, but instead retired early and spends his days sitting around the house with his Civil War books and memorabilia, waiting for the money to run out.

Jerene Jarvis Johnston: Duke's wife is beautiful, with a core of solid steel under the perfect coiffure and clothing. Nothing and nobody will stop her from preserving her family's top position in Charlotte society.

Gaston Jarvis: Jerene's younger brother and Duke's close friend from Duke University. Gaston has become fabulously wealthy writing a potboiler series of novels set in the Civil War. He's wasted his talent and knows it, and spends every spare minute propping up the bar at the country club and launching bitter barbs at the nearest target, which is often a family member.

Annie: Duke and Jerene's daughter, who has always lived to reject everything the family holds dear.

Jerilyn: Annie's opposite, little sister Jerilyn just wants to have a successful debut and get her Mrs. degree.

Bo: Duke's son, a Presbyterian minister who feels he is ineffective––and he's right.

Kate: Bo's wife relates to parishioners' concerns better than Bo does, but she can be too outspoken for a pastor's wife and she longs to return to more hands-on work with the poor.

Joshua: Duke's semi-closeted gay son, who has a yen for black men who operate on the down low.

Dillard: Jerene's sister, a widow who lost her only son to drugs.

Jeannette: Jerene, Dillard and Gaston's mother, who failed to protect them from their abusive father.

Dorrie: Joshua's best friend and constant companion, Dorrie is a black lesbian who is practically a member of the family.

I was predisposed to like this book, because I'm a big fan of Wilton Barnhardt's Gospel, but it was very uneven. Each chapter features one of the book's key characters, and how interesting or appealing each chapter was depended on the character. Unfortunately, the book starts with Jerilyn, who is the weakest character in the book, and her disastrous introduction to Greek life at the University of North Carolina. Don't give up on the book until you get past Jerilyn, because then we move on to Gaston, who is wildly outrageous and entertainingly offensive.

The bottom line for me was that those chapters with the highest Jerene quotient would get top ratings, and the lower the Jerene quotient, the more the rating would drop. Jerene is like some combination of Scarlett O'Hara, Hilary Clinton and maybe Nancy Reagan. You do NOT want to mess with this woman. But people try to get around her or go up against her, and the best parts of the book take place while they're trying and she's eviscerating them–––but with plenty of southern politesse.

And poor Jerene does have plenty to deal with. There is enough bad behavior and scandal in this group to take up two Tennessee Williams plays. You thought Christmas dinner with your family was combative? Dinner at the Johnstons' place takes full body armor to survive.

While the Christmas dinner scene was a terrific combination of appalling and hilarious, and every scene with Jerene was something Machiavelli could only dream of, other parts of the book were often far less successful. Way too much of the book was devoted to the Johnstons' children, a sorry lot without much of interest about them. So the book tends to bog down with them, and it was at those times that I would notice other flaws, like the extreme improbability of some plot elements (even taking into account that this is, after all, satire)–––which I probably would have happily slid right past if the book had stayed as lively as it does when focused on other characters.

In the end, I think that Barnhardt's organization of the book into these character-based chapters worked against him. It could have been a far stronger and more consistent story with a different structure. As it is, some chapters are boring and/or annoying, while others are acid-etched tragicomedy genius. Barnhardt writes beautifully, so even the unsuccessful chapters aren't terrible, but I think this is just not as good as Barnhardt's other work.

[Marjorie Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gossippy, insightful, terrifying, Barnhardt's jaundiced eye skewers the complacent upper crust South.

Ten characters each get a chapter to uncover the inner workings of the contemporary upper crust Southern mind, from a saucy Creole lesbian college student to a bitter-about-success drunken Southern novelist, all connected by the Johnston family, denizens of high society in North Carolina's city of banks: Charlotte. It took me a while to dig into this book, as Barnhardt starts off with a young deb so silly that she joins a skanky sorority because she believes there will be more access to marriageable men, but I was well rewarded for sticking with it.

True to form, Barnhardt eviscerates the weaknesses of American culture, using a scorched earth policy for subjects from Civil War battlefields to Louisiana's world of free blacks and Creoles, from Nigerian gay Internet dating scams to real estate deals that resemble high-seas privateering, and finally, to a revealing case of family genealogical study. Preachers, Civil war reenactors, failed politicians, and art mavens all get their turn on the grill.

I especially enjoyed the bitter ravings of Gaston Jarvis, whose true home is the end seat at the bar in the local becolumned country club, spewing literary gossip and poking fun at the North Carolina literary scene; this character's complaints, in a wink-nod way, include cameos from some of Barnhardt's dearest colleagues and friends, later thanked in his Acknowledgments.

Throughout it all, scandal is exposed scandal averted, and the steely gaze of Jerene Jarvis Johnston, family matriarch, she of the famous triple-J monogram, dares the reader to judge. A tour de force.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about Lookaway, Lookaway by Wilton Barnhardt and his story of the high society Johnston family of Charlotte, NC. Embracing cliche, here is my review:

The Good: There are several scenes that are so funny that they rival they the hilarity of Florence King's writing. The absolute highlight is a Christmas that is your worst family nightmare brought to life.

The Bad: Each chapter is the story of one of the characters. This throws off the timeline, but the reader catches on quickly. What is frustrating are the chapters about the weaker and boring characters. Boring characters do not need the same amount of pages as the stronger and/or more interesting characters.

The Ugly: No Southern stereotype has been left of this book including Civil War worship, Confederate general relatives, debutant balls, crazy relatives, mean drunk fathers, antebellum homes, good manners, society events and a trailer park. The author takes particular glee in having this family fall off their perch so publicly.

I laughed out loud at several parts, skimmed many sections and enjoyed others. Overall I give this book a "just ok."

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jerene Jarvis Johnston. Now here's a woman who could give Scarlett O'Hara a run for the money. She's the steel spine of this novel, which revolves around her family and is structured so that each section is told from the point of view of a different character.

This is a fabulous novel, with many wonderful scenes (including the ultimate family Christmas dinner from hell). It operated for me on many levels. It was fantastically entertaining with several surprising plot twists and the kind of family shenanigans that have made hits out of television shows from Dallas to Downton Abbey. I also, after I stopped laughing and wincing, found this book had many cogent observations about life in today's South.

I've seen two release dates for this book---May and August. I hope May is correct because I would love to have this available to recommend to people looking for a great literary beach read.

[NancyL Luckey · Rating 5 out of 5]

After slogging through the first chapter of this book (immature sorority and fraternity foolishness), it began to really get good! As expected in Southern families, each member is a Character! And each chapter gets you interested in that character - then you jump to another just as "unusual". I could identify with most of the family except Josh - whose overly descriptive chapter could have been omitted as far as I'm concerned! Love both the heads of the Johnston family - strong figures in their own identities. As I got into the book, I found I couldn't put it down - and did very little for two days but read - surprises throughout! I'm determined to read this author's other books, but I doubt they could be as absorbing as this one. Loved it!

[Claiborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars. The author uses the POV of different members of a family to basically share wry essays analyzing the New South, minimally held together by a plot. His points are usually right on target (from my life experience) and occasionally quite funny, but it can feel a bit preachy at times. That said, I know several people I'll be recommending this book to.

[Susan (aka Just My Op) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The antics of fraternity brothers in the early part of this book was so disgusting it made me sorry I had requested this book for review. Fortunately, once I got past that part, it didn't return. Unfortunately, my opinion went from “disgusting” to “boring.”

The venerable Southern family was not charming, funny, or entertaining, but did live up to some solid stereotypes. I didn't care about any of the characters or their (few) redeeming qualities or their (numerous) foibles. They were not only unkind to outsiders, they were no sweetness and light with one another. Could have been interesting but was not. My general attitude in reading the book was a strong “who cares?”

The book earned a one or two star review from me, that is until the last 50 pages. There it picked up a bit. There was some bit of black history in those pages, supposedly the musings of one of the characters, and I found it interesting, but it felt like it belonged in a different book; it just didn't tie smoothly into this novel.

So, adding a half-star for the last 50 pages, this on rates a 2.5 out of 5 from me, but I wish I had spent that reading time now gone on something else.

I was given an advance copy of the book for review.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest disappointments in my life is that I can never - and will never - know EXACTLY what is going on in a person's head: I cannot know their innermost thoughts, the motivation behind their actions, or what they really do when they are alone. Fortunately for someone as "naturally inquisitive" as me, there are stories that show me exactly that; "Lookaway, Lookaway" is such a book! It chronicles different members of an old Southern family, whether they be members by marriage, blood, or just periphery, they are all fascinating. Whether you are actually a Southerner by birth, or just in spirit, you will love this novel!

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The South and its dubious charms have never had any appeal for me. Not the traditions, not the customs, not the lazy drawl, not the butter soaked cuisine, or the butter soaked culture for that matter. Naturally I don't read too many southern authors because of their proselytizing of their great land. To each their own and all that. And yet, this one is a happy exception. And actual satire of the South and all its storied sordid past and present told wrapped up in a microcosm of the venerable Johnston family comprising the formidable matriarch Jerene, her spouse all too preoccupied with the certain historical events that shaped his world view (world view being firmly republican, of course, their four children and various familial satellites orbiting the Johnstons. Needless to say all family members have enough skeletons in their respective closets for an ossuary...and the author covers a lot here, abortions, secrets, dalliances (gay and straight), date rape, abuse, debutantes and so on...but it's all handled with a distinct panache of the bygone days, which is to say there's a good amount of sweeping things under the rug, negotiations and cover ups. The family is determined to maintain their image no matter what cost, even as they inevitably slide into decline. It's a fascinating Old South/ New South stand off, traditions that won't die crashing and clashing against the increasingly modernizing world. Very interesting. Not my usual audio book fare, but entertaining all the same. The narrator did a terrific job. The only thing was the dizzying changing of perspectives, the necessity of which is understandable given the amount of characters, but it did at times come across as exhausting and confusing. Maybe it wouldn't be the case with the actual print copy, but there are a lot of different narrations and timelines to follow. The satire here isn't hilarious, it's more subtle than that, but it's very clever and there's much to enjoy. It does confirm many biases and stereotypes, so who knows what a real proper southerner will think of this, but the author's from (or at least currently) North Carolina, so maybe it's just a matter of poking fun at what you know. And so while decisively this isn't the sort of book that makes you long for good old days or travel to Charlotte (at least it shouldn't, but who knows), it is a good amount of fun. Southern fried.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up. I did enjoy the comedy of errors in the last chapter but otherwise found most of the characters unlikeable and the plot unrealistic. Maybe that was the point.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lookaway, lookaway.

I came to this book already predisposed to like it. A good review in the NYT, a North Carolina setting (where I live), a promised satirical look at the NC upper crust, plus it's written by someone teaching where I used to work. How could it be bad? The novel focuses on several generations of the families of Duke and Jerene Johnston, their four children, Annie, Bo, Joshua and Jerlyn. Jerene's brother and sister, Gaston and Dillard also play significant parts in the story, as well as their mother.

The book is structured by giving all of the major characters their own chapter. The book gets off to a fine start with both major and minor characters insulting various aspects of North Carolina life. Here's a sample:

"Because he goes to NC State, that’s why. NC State is thirty thousand farmhands who wanted to attain the … the heights of Chapel Hill but had to settle for Cow College U instead.”

“Southerners. Such literate, civilized folk, such charm and cleverness and passion for living, such genuine interest in people, all people, high and low, white and black, and yet how often it had come to, came to, was still coming to vicious incomprehension, usually over race but other things too—religion, class, money.”

“How often the lowest elements had burst out of the shadows and hollers, guns and torches blazing, galloping past the educated and tolerant as nightriders . . . . Oh you expect such easily obtained violence in the Balkans or among Asian or African tribal peoples centuries-deep in blood feuds, but how was there such brutality and wickedness in this place of church and good intention, a place of immense friendliness and charity and fondness for the rituals of family and socializing, amid the nation’s best cooking and best music … how could one place contain the other place?”

“It briefly appealed, being a Tar Heel who didn’t root for the Tar Heels … oh, but the exhaustion of that social stance wearied her in advance.”

“I cannot abide Raleigh! I get on that beltline and I’m like some ball on a roulette wheel: I’ll go round and round and round, never knowing where to get off or be able to get over to the rightmost lane to exit.”

That was the problem with Southern family gatherings: you came away judged, as to weight, as to economic progress, as to who was making good marriages, getting good promotions. And the most horrible old venomous shrews with wretched mislived lives were doing the judging too—that hardly seemed right.”

“Bo would privately tell trusted friends that Christianity in Charlotte possessed the aesthetics of the monster truck show at the Coliseum.”

“You are the one hiding behind some two-millennia-old road show that has only recently stopped burning witches and wiping out Jews and leading crusades and inquisitions. And believe me, if the North Carolina rednecks you’ll be preaching to had their way, there’d be inquisitions all over again.”

So there is a tone of light humor and then some darker jabs at race relations in North Carolina. All is this is in service to Barnhart's larger purpose, to illuminate the inner lives of one family and through their dysfunction demonstrate some deeper failings at the heart of North Carolina society. There are some very funny moments, the Johnston Christmas dinner is quite hilarious, although only in that watching such moments as a spectator manner, but Barnhart continues peeling off aspects of each character until they are all revealed as wanting. The only exception is Dorrie, Joshua's girlfriend, although since they are both gay, this is pure friendship. In the end it is only Dorrie that succeeds. And I suppose having a black lesbian triumph represents, for the author, a finger to the racist past and a reversal of roles. All this is unobjectionable but the ever increasing dreariness, little relieved by humor as the book concludes makes the author's case with a hammer instead of a word.

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I admit I like books set in the South. And books about people who seem - through the author's good writing - as if they could walk off the pages of the book you're reading and sit right down next to you and chat about things important to you both. This is "Lookaway, Lookaway", by North Carolina author Wilton Barnhardt and it'll go down as one the 10 best novels for me in 2013.

Barnhardt has given the reader an introduction into the lives of the Johnston family of Charlotte. The book begins in 2003 and ends nine years later. Each member of the family, retired lawyer and Civil War reenactor father Duke, tough-as-steel mother Jerene, their four grown children, and various other family members and friends are each given a chapter of the book. The book is not written in the first person so the chapters are not personal, but rather written in the third person, each chapter has that person as the main character.

"Lookaway" is a masterful look at a family and the state in which they live. The book is as much a story of Charlotte and other some NC towns and universities as it is about the Johnston family. It reminds me a bit of work by Tom Wolfe, except that Wolfe is a less concise writer than Barnhardt (whose work I'd never read but I sure will go read his backlist!). Barnhardt writes with a conciseness that doesn't waste a sentence. There are no "likeable" or "unlikable" characters in "Lookaway", only nuanced portrayals of people, people we can see in the mirror everyday. A family whose secrets are spilled in one very funny Christmas dinner. The secrets, however, also show how a family, with it's disparate members CAN change and evolve over time. The sins of the grandfathers need not be repeated to succeeding generations.

I am not going to write a long review because the book was aptly reviewed by all the other reviewers and garnered a wide range of ratings. I will say that the first part of the book may be tough reading but, if possible, please read further. I think you'll be rewarded with an excellent, really excellent novel about a family and its time and place.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads as an ARC, so there were a few issues that I don't think will be part of the final printing. We'll ignore those. I'm fairly torn on this book, I want to say I liked it, but I had enough issues with it that I didn't.

First, the book is broken up into three "book" sections, then those are subdivided between the various characters in the book. The first character is the youngest Johnston daughter, was not a huge fan of her or any of her "friends" in that section, then it jumped to her mother and so on.

Inexplicably, we were left with a sort of cliffhanger at the end of each characters section, but there never seemed to be any resolution to it, maybe brief mention in another section. One part leaped four years, out of no where. There were several areas where something was brought up out of the blue, barely an explanation and I was left wondering why even bring it up if you're not going to explain it? It just felt jumpy, like I was trying to keep up with where we were chronologically, and with what events had happened that we may or may not have been told about already.

There was also far too much history involved. I appreciate the amount of research that must have gone into this, but it got dry in places and there was just too much information on some things. These sections could have been summed up a little quicker, but they just dragged in some areas.

All that said, even the characters I wasn't a fan of, they were wonderfully done, I could visualize everyone and everything that was happening. There was a lot of turmoil from each character, you could understand and empathize with what was going on with each of them.

It just felt unfinished by the time I got to the end. I don't expect neat little packages when I finish books, but I would like to have a direction for what happened, or what would probably happen, with all the characters/situations when the book finishes.

So two stars, it held a lot of potential, but the jumping around and failing to finish out major plot lines lost me.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

LookAway, LookAway
by
Wilton Barnhardt

My " in a nutshell" summary...

Meet the Johnstons of Charlotte, North Carolina in all of their dysfunctional glory!

My thoughts after reading this book...

Hmmm...I don't think I have ever read a book with as much yummy "Southern" dysfunction as this book. There is a mom/ matriarch...Jerene...who rules. There is a dad...Duke...who is obsessed with Civil War history. There is a brother...Jerene's brother Gaston...who is a successful author. Then there are Jerene's children...four of them...each with their own form of DYSFUNCTION. So good...so funny...so snarky. Toss in a few other odd characters and this book totally rocks...in all of its Southern glory!

What I loved about this book...

I enjoyed the character driven scenes and...keep in mind that the characters are Southern and quirky crazy...lots of silliness...lots of wit...lots of fun! One of my favorites was when Jerene was at the home of the boy who dishonored Jerilyn. Her confidence, her wit, her demands...utterly crazily funny!

What I did not love...

Ok...to be honest...this book was a difficult one for me to get into at first...I almost decided that I did not like it...but I persisted and it finally pulled me in. I just sort of didn't pay attention to all the Civil War stuff that Duke...Jerilyn's husband loved.

Final thoughts...

I think I can best call this book a clever Southern comedy/drama? Yes...no questions...I will call it that. There are lots of adorable characters...many of them charmingly flawed. I enjoyed the time I spent with this book.