Kentuckiana: A Novel

by Johnny Payne

Set in a decidedly postmodern subdivision in Appalachia, Kentuckiana focuses on the lives of the Miles family, an imaginary clan invented by a real-estate developer who is authoring a report on the neighborhoods he has created.

The travails of the deeply troubled but endearing Miles family—Jean and Constance and their children, Judy, Stephen, Elaine, Talia and Lynnette—are played out against the backdrop of early-1970s suburban Lexington, KY in this darkly funny, moving second novel from the author of Chalk Lake . Both generations recount their brushes with divorce, addiction and domestic violence through a series of chapter-long monologues.

Genres: Fiction

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Johnny Payne is a novelist, poet, and dramatist. he is a recent gold medal winner of the Benjamin Franklin IBPA award in Horror. His novels include The Hard Side of the River, the forthcoming Confessions of a Gentleman Killer, Bedfellows, Silver Dagger, Second Chance, La Muerte de Papi, Vampire Girl, North of Patagonia, Kentuckiana. Books of poetry are Heaven of Ashes, and Vassal.

Payne writes novels in various genres. His most recent novels are about slavery and a serial killer. He is currently writing a fantasy novel, Man of Granite. He will be writing a blog on GoodReads.

Follow him on Instagram:
paynejohnny7858

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The postmodern novel is so passe, as is the dysfunctional family. Not here, though, under Johnny Payne's pen.

I've never read a book like this. It's got magical realism, a' la Murakami (Ha! Seth! I fit a Murakami reference in!), but rather than being about a detached, spaghetti-loving sexual deviant, it's about a family. And the family has problems.

I don't know why, but I kept thinking about spoons as I'd learn more about each family member. You know how you sometimes use a spoon to dig out ice cream, and it gets all bent? And you try to bend it back, but it's never the same. It never quite nests in with the others the same way again. Well, this family is like a stack of spoons that have all been used to scoop out ice cream. Each time they are hurt, abused, self-abusive, neglected, etc., they get bent until they don't fit with their family anymore. Each family member feels it. They are trying to nest back in with each other, but they're too damaged.

Sorry for that stupid metaphor!!!

Each child intrigued me. I felt particularly amazed after reading a chapter where the post-suicidal Talia is in a psychiatric facility. I'd try to explain it, but I wouldn't do it justice.

The character I loved (I think love is the right word actually) is the father, Jean. An alcoholic, he did them wrong, but he was trying and trying and trying and TRYING to make up for it. The way he dealt with Talia's independence was amazing. The way he dealt with Judy's abuser was awesome. When he "spoke" to his dead father in a surreal and powerful scene, I was smiling the whole time because I was in awe of how Payne was making me feel so invested. Good God, y'all! And I actually got angry at Constance, his wife, when she wouldn't recognize how he'd changed. Too caught up in herself. I'm a sucker for fathers, anyway.


I just counted how many pages I'd dog-eared to go back and look at later (yes, I'm a librarian who dog-ears!) There are 18. Not bad for a 250 page book.

[Mary Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Payne has picked a clever vehicle (the exploration of a subdivision) to delve into the psyches of the family and explore what drives each and how one affects the other. You have to really pay attention as his style changed several times throughout. But well worth paying attention!