Nowhere Fast

by Kevin Waltman

The latest from a startling first novel about guy friendship, difficult choices, and life in the middle of nowhere.

This startling debut novel is about both the velocity and the inertia of being a teenage boy in America. It's about Gary, who drives around aimlessly with his best friend Wilson in a stolen car, looking for something to do but only finding trouble or boredom. It's about Gary's attempts to be a good boyfriend and a good son, even though his girlfriend is on to his issues and his dad has a tornado temper. It's about living in a town that you've known your whole life but doesn't know you at all. It's about looking for escape, and the price you sometimes have to pay to get free.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Kevin Waltman was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and spent his teens and twenties in Indiana--time spent mostly around basketball courts and political events. He moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2001 to get his MFA in fiction at The University of Alabama. There, he met his wife, Jessica Kidd. He now lives in Coker, Alabama, with Jessica, their daughter Calla, and their dog Henry. He teaches. He writes. He gardens. He cuts kudzu from their woods.

He is the author of four y.a. novels. The first two are Nowhere Fast and Learning the Game. The two most recent--Next and Slump--are the first two parts of a four-part series from Cinco Puntos Press. The third in the series, Pull, will be out in late 2015.

You can see more about Kevin, or find teaching guides to some of his work, at kevinwaltman.com..

Reviews

[Lele · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of an ordinary teenager in an ordinary small town. Nothing I haven't seen before, but reading it as a teenager it really opened my eyes to some of things that I was already all too aware of. It made me realize that becoming numb to the recklessness and listlessness of adolescence is at once thrilling and frightening.

[Carolyn Breckinridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first page of 'Nowhere Fast' transported me firmly into the head and life of Kevin Waltman's main YA character--a fifteen year old boy struggling with his identity, his future in what he perceives as a dead-end town, and his competing interpersonal relationships. Mr. Waltman does an amazing job of maintaining the tension between these relationships: an abusive father; passive mother; calm and positive girlfriend; a demanding, difficult, and delinquent best friend; and a teacher whose messages and behaviors confuse him. This coming of age novel is exceptional. It captures adolescence in all of its raw emotions and competing desires. Excellent adventure!

[Michelle Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Nowhere Fast' is a young adult novel about teenagers growing up in archetypal Midwestern America with stilted life prospects and little exposure to the outside world. It is set in the fictional town of Deerborn Springs, Indiana, a cesspool of casual misogyny, racism, substance abuse, and broken dreams. Deerborn Springs is rape culture writ small, a backwater town where racism festers and domestic violence is accepted.
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[mana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book can have flawed characters, but the supporting characters in this book enable, support and/or ignore the main character’s flaws. For me, I didn’t enjoy reading about a 15 year old’s inability to control his sexual impulses and how he relates/connects with a former teacher and sexual predator…! I also didn’t appreciate Lauryn continuously forgiving Gary and giving him more chances than he deserved. Nowhere Fast is a quick read and could’ve been a great book about a young teen boy and his sexuality and naiveté.

[jimtown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a young adult book about choices and friendship. It's really well done for the most part. There is a tension and a little mystery to it. The characters seem to be spot on. Wilson, a bold, daring, cocky boy who pushes his luck and gets by with his smile knows he has a grip on Gary. He toys with Gary because Gary is gullible and needs to be led. Gary tries to think things through with the best interest at heart, but he lacks the knowledge and life experience to make good decisions, so he just seethes with wanting to leave his little home town.

The balance is upset when Roverson steps in and with calm compliments influences Gary in another way. It's hard for Gary to make the right decisions, and we never really find out what the trouble was with his parents, but by the end of the story, Gary has disappointed everyone with his decisions while Wilson, the instigator seems to go on unscathed by it all.

I kept thinking something more disastrous would happen in this story, but it was for young adults and in their minds, these events can seem so.
The book makes a person realize how quickly life can change with each decision we make, but it cannot prompt us to make good decisions, because so many of us, like Gary lack the ability to immediately see and avoid people like Wilson and Roverson. Worthwhile read for teens, especially boys and it held the interest really well.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was not the book I was expecting when I started it. I was expecting a "young white male has a troublemaker best friend, an abusive father, and complains a lot about how there's nothing for him in his small town, and how his girlfriend won't put out, boo hoo hoo." And there's some of that -- the small town, the abusive father -- but the neat thing about Nowhere Fast is just how much RESPECT it has for its relationships. Nobody is two-dimensional. The best friend is just as complex as the narrator himself, nothing is easily fixed, and the one thing that doesn't change throughout the novel is just how much the narrator respects his girlfriend, what she does and doesn't want, and the fact they're the only interracial relationship in their town. I wasn't expecting that kind of progressiveness. Well done, book.

[Thea Villa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished it in one sitting. or lying down. Anyway, it's a short book, not going to say that it's a masterpiece but definitely a book really worth reading. I might be biased since I'm into books like this, with the protagonist being full of angst and everything.

I like how the Gary developed throughout the story but anyway that's how we all expected in the end right? That he'll be free and whatnot, but the way the author told the story with all the events makes you wish that there'll be more to the end, but maybe it'll just drag the ending if that'll happen and it will completely miss out the point.

Definitely something that I could reread in the future.

[Maia Ogembo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Waltman's Nowhere Fast is a novel about Gary's life. It includes his relationship with his girlfriend, his abusive father, and his trouble maker friend. The book was slow at some parts, but got interesting. I think I enjoyed this book because it is a teen novel and I could sort of relate. It was written in a way that made the main character seem real and it was awesome. I recommend this book mainly for teens or adults who want to read a teen novel.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I can normally fly through teen books, this took me a verfy long time to read. I continually put it aside to find something more entertaining. And, to be honest, I couldn't even tell you what this one ended up being about. What a shame, as I had usually enjoyed the MTV books in the past.

[Kacie]

Growing up mostly in Indiana, I can totally relate to a lot in this book. It was upsetting that Roverson turned out the way he did, though, and that Gary still had a lot of respect for him in the end. Pretty good read.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book but hoping for better ending could barely put it down when reading but have read many books like it from the past like That was then and this is now

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story went nowhere, slowly.

[Amy Rosenfeldt · Rating 2 out of 5]

You were written nice, but finish the damn story!

You can read more about my thoughts on it here: https://amy-rosenfeldt.com/2020/04/03...