Couch

by Benjamin Parzybok

"Couch hits on an improbable, even fantastic premise, and then rigorously hews to the logic that it generates, keeping it afloat (at times literally) to the end."--"Los Angeles Times""Delightfully lighthearted writing. . . . Occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, the enthusiastic prose carries readers through sporadic dark moments . . . Parzybok's quirky humor recalls the flaws and successes of early Douglas Adams."--"Publishers Weekly""The book succeeds as a conceptual art piece, a literary travelogue, and a fantastical quest."--"Willamette Week""Hundreds of writers have slavishly imitated--or outright ripped off--Tolkien in ways that connoisseurs of other genres would consider shameless. What Parzybok has done here in adapting the same old song to a world more familiar to the reader is to revive the genre and make it relevant again"--"The Stranger"A Spring Summer Indie Next Reading List Top 10 Reading Group Suggestions""Couch" follows the quirky journey of Thom, Erik, and Tree as they venture into the unknown at the behest of a magical, orange couch, which has its own plan for their previously boring lives. Parzybok's colorful characters, striking humor, and eccentric magical realism offer up an adventuresome read."--Christian Crider, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FLA January 2009 Indie Next List Pick"This funny novel of furniture moving gone awry is a magical realism quest for modern times. Parzybok's touching story explores the aimlessness of our culture, a society of jobs instead of callings, replete with opportunities and choices but without the philosophies and vocations we need to make meaningful decisions."--Josh Cook, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA"A lot of people are looking for magic in the world today, but only Benjamin Parzybok thought to check the sofa, which is, I think, the place it's most likely to be found. "Couch" is a slacker a gentle, funny book that ambles merrily from Coupland to Tolkien, and gives couch-surfing (among other things) a whole new meaning."--Paul La Farge"One of the strangest road novels you'll ever read. It's a funny and fun book, and it's also a very smart book. Fans of Tom Robbins or Christopher Moore should enjoy this."--Handee Books"It is an upholstered Odyssey unlike any other you are likely to read. It is funny, confusing in places, wild and anarchic. It is part Quixote, part Murakami, part Tom Robbins, part DFS showroom. It has cult hit written all over it."--Scott, "Me and My Big Mouth"Benjamin Parzybok on tour //booktour.com/author/benjamin_parzybokIn this exuberant and hilarious debut reminiscent of "The Life of Pi" and "Then We Came to the End," an episode of furniture moving gone awry becomes an impromptu quest of self-discovery, secret histories, and unexpected revelations.Thom is a computer geek whose hacking of a certain Washington-based software giant has won him a little fame but few job prospects. Erik is a smalltime con man, a fast-talker who is never quite quick enough on his feet. Their roommate, Tree, is a confused clairvoyant whose dreams and prophecies may not be completely off base. After a freak accident fl oods their apartment, the three are evicted--but they have to take their couch with them. The real problem? The couch--huge and orange--won't let them put it down. Soon the three roommates are on a cross-country trek along back roads, byways, and rail lines, heading far out of Portland and deep into one very weird corner of the American dream.Benjamin Parzybok is the creator of "Gumball Poetry," a journal published through gumball machines, and the Black Magic Insurance Agency, a city-wide mystery/treasure hunt. He has worked as a congressional page, a ghostwriter for the governor of Washington, a web developer, a Taiwanese factory technical writer, an asbestos removal janitor, and a potato sorter. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with the writer Laura Moulton and their two children.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Adventure, Magical Realism, Book Club, Literature

256 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Ben lives in Portland, OR
full bio for Ben Parzybok

Reviews

[Oriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book, one of the newest offerings from Small Beer Press, the little publishing house run by amazing surreal-ish fantasy-ish author Kelly Link and her husband. And this is really just exactly the kind of book you'd expect them to be championing, a totally modern reality-based novel, which just also happens to have one or two overt – and many many subtle – details which couldn't strictly belong to our consensus-based reality.

Like a couch with kind of magical powers.

It starts off innocently enough, with three roommates with no prior knowledge of one another, living in a little apartment in Portland. Eric is kind of sleazy, a bit of an amateur conman, tricking out-of-town cuties into buying him lunch with promises he doesn't intend to keep. Thom is a computer nerd and champion hacker, who perpetrated a very clever hacker trick a few years ago which won him moderate recognition and cultish awe – and got him fired from his job, and blacklisted from many other companies. Tree (that's the third roommate, not something that grows in the ground) is kind of a lovable, spacey hippie kid, who spends a lot of time twisting wire into intricate sculptures not-quite-consciously, only to look down, shocked, at the wire figures in his hands.

So. They're all unemployed, going through the various demoralizing steps of trying to get jobs and pay rent and keep it together. And then one night their upstairs neighbor brings home a fella, and the, ah, intensity of their sexual gymnastics knocks a candle off the night table, which rolls under the bed a burns a hole in it. The waterbed, that is. So the water puts out the small fire, and then proceeds to destroy the floor, gushing down and wrecking the apartment below.

So the boys get evicted, and oh, that huge orange couch? The landlord would really rather the guys just took it down the street to the thrift store, so he doesn't have to take the moving fee out of their deposit. Well, the thrift store won't take it, and a crabby guy in overalls send them across town to another secondhand place. Where another crabby guy in overalls (or wait, is it the same guy??) says they can't take it either. The boys try to throw it in a dumpster, only to find that it, er, gets heavier when they take it in certain directions, and lighter in others. Or is that just their imagination?

Anyway! Shenanigans ensue, and the boys cart the couch out to Thom's ex-girlfriend's farm outside the city, at which point (through some investigations by Thom's cyberfriends) they realize that they're being chased. Someone offers $10,000 for the couch, and when Thom asks him for $100,000, he's ready to deliver it. They start hearing rumors about the couch being some kind of ancient relic, or maybe the embodiment of evil on earth, or maybe it's a cage for something extremely powerful. Forces are converging to send the boys on a journey, and also to stop them from going off on same.

Tree, meanwhile, is having creepy dreams about the couch in a forest, surrounded by butterflies. He is foreseeing all their deaths. He envisions boats and cloud-storms and yellow fever and all manners of craziness. The boys are pilgrimaging about, letting the weight of the couch and Tree's dreams point them in various directions, when they are ambushed at a campsite. Men are shooting at them and they flee, following Tree's erratic directions... right into the ocean. On the couch. Which floats.

I can't believe how long this summary has gotten. I'm not going to do much more, though, because the quest has really just now begun, and I don't want to give any more away. But the author, taking a strong cue from Tolkein (which is putting it nicely), lets what started as a simple-seeming journey become a truly epic quest. The remainder of the book takes place in South America, all three boys die (but only one stays dead), there is a cloud-making machine, romance, witch doctors, long dissertations on the evils of the modern world, guerillas, guns, crazed beetles, the axis mundi, and hijinks galore.

Couch is a really fun book. I will admit that there are plenty of ways that it feels like a debut novel, put out by a pretty small press which has presumably limited resources, but I still found it highly enjoyable. A great modern fantasy slacker epic.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a lot like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, except instead of a ring you have a couch. And instead of hobbits you have a computer programmer who is allergic to wheat, a conman, and a wire bending psychic. And instead of the Shire, you have Portland. Also, not so much with the epic poetry. But other than that...

[L]

It's not that this isn't a charming little tale with interesting, quirky characters, love, and magic. After all, what's not to like about a quest involving a couch (lead role, here), a computer geek who avoids human interaction, a fairly incompetent con man, and a third young man whose dreams may or may not foretell the future? It's just that I'm not in the mood and it's a library book. They'll want it back.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

COUCH, by Benjamin Parzybok, starts out as an oddly compelling novel. Parzybok is involved with www.ideacog.net, which has lots of cool stuff you should check out. After you read this review.
The couch in question may or may not be somehow magical. Three roommates in Portland, Oregon (in my own neighborhood, no less!) need to dispose of the couch. In bizarro fashion, they end up carrying it down 23rd Avenue, and to points beyond. In fact, VERY beyond.
The writing is somewhat brilliant at times. Unfortunately, I can’t quote anything, because the book hasn’t been released yet (Pub date is November 2008). There are great descriptions and interesting facts scattered throughout.
Two thirds of the way into the novel, the tone shifts from humorous to serious. I really loved the first part, but without giving anything away, I can see why the last part was needed.
This novel made me think, laugh, cringe, and question. It doesn’t get much better than that in what I look for in a book! Highly recommended!
~Stephanie

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three roommates and slackers — Thom, Erik, and Tree — find themselves out of a place to live, when the couple in the apartment above manages to break their waterbed, flooding their apartment. When their landlord asks them to carry the old couch in their apartment to the thrift store. Unbeknownst to them, this simple act triggers an epic journey. The premise for this book was so quirky and strange that I didn't quite know what to expect from Couch. This book is so beautifully grounded and is abundant with heart. These guys get put through the ringer and they grow and learn and become better humans. I was honestly moved and awed by this book. Wish I had read it sooner.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was obsessed with the premise of this book since I read about it in the Times - three guys try to move a couch, and the couch will only allow itself to be taken in certain directions. The quest of the couch begins!

Of course, an idea this ridiculous and silly is right up my alley. The book isn't actually ridiculous though - the characters are like real people and respond in ways one would expect when confronted with a couch with a volition (incredulity, panic). But the lure of the couch is too much to resist, so quest they do. In the end, each character finds himself in a better personal space than they started (but not a better geographical space, oh no), so the quest has benefited all involved in some way or another. Perhaps we all need a quest such as this when we're stuck in a funk? Maybe I will rearrange my living room tomorrow....

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

I really loved the themes in this book. It's s bit disjointed -- it feels like a different vibe in the last half than in the first -- but the whimsy continues throughout and I was into that. It's got good lore and a satisfying conclusion to the thoughts it puts forward, which I didn't think was possible. The characters are very lived-in and nice, but I wish anyone other than Thom was given more fleshing. There are hints to the others and even broad descriptive strokes but ultimately they don't feel as relatable because too much of who they are is kept secret for too long. There are a few strands that are just a bit left dangling as well, though they are all hand-wavable.

[Antonio Urias · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review and others are available on my blog.

Benjamin Parzybok's Couch follows three roommates epic quest to move their couch and save the world. Their journey takes them from Portland to the highlands of Ecuador and beyond with the ever-present, possibly malignant, couch in tow. Parzybok finds a magic in the absurdity, but never slips into outright parody. This is a story of ancient powers, mystical objects, ancient societies, and the fate of the world, that is improbably told through the moving of furniture.

Thom is a former hacker of some renown, who has recently lost his IT job and his girlfriend. He finds an apartment with Eric, a small-time con man who is never quite as clever as he thinks he is, and Tree, a strange man with possibly clairvoyant dreams. They are forced to move out when an unfortunate incident with a waterbed floods the apartment and they and the couch are evicted. What starts as bad day becomes increasing bizarre. No matter what they try, they can't seem to get rid of the couch. Despite all logic, it seems to be leading them somewhere and worse, far worse, someone seems willing to kill to get it.

The three central characters and their relationship are well captured. Thom is clearly the central figure and his efforts to remain rational and skeptical in the face of absurdity and magic are an anchor for the novel. Less successful are Eric and Tree, who despite Parzybok's attempts can feel a little one note. On their journey, they encounter a parade of oddballs and eccentrics, a staple of the genre. At the start, there were moments where it seemed as though the author had watched O Brother, Where Art Thou? about half a dozen times and decided that all it was really missing was a big, orange couch. The novel, however, quickly developed its own distinct flavor.

The most surprising thing about Couch is that it is not a comedy. Its premise is ridiculous, and neither the author nor the characters ever forget that. But the novel never descends or even flirts with outright spoof or farce. Parzybok treats the epic, world-saving moving of a couch with knowing but genuine seriousness, and succeeds, partly because he doesn't force it to be longer than it needs to be. This is a first novel, and some of the cracks do show, but it is a fascinating jumble of ideas and is a delightful read. Personally, I had trouble putting it down. Highly recommended.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I came across this title when browsing the "New Releases" section. I read the summary and thought it sounded really different and original. I downloaded it and dove right in.

The first thing to strike me was the strange way the narrator was speaking. He has a really strange way of stressing random words, and it makes it very difficult to understand what he's saying. I had to back up several times in the beginning to make out the words. There were several times I honestly thought it was computer generated, and then something would be said that sounded more human, and I'd change my mind back...until the next strange sentence.

The summary on the book is inaccurate. It's not that these three fellows can't put the couch down, it's just that they decide not to. Reading the summary I got the impression perhaps their hands were magically stuck to it, but that's not the case.

If you disregarded the strange reading voice, the beginning of the book was actually quite interesting. About half way through however, things started to unravel. The plot seemed on hold while strange monologues and tangents were given the lead. These detours seemed like maybe they were trying to suggest a deeper meaning or moral to the story, but were still dancing around it, leaving me with nothing.

I was so nonplussed by the (non) direction the book had taken, that I thought maybe I was to blame. I went so far as to put the story on hold, while I Googled interviews with the author, to try to get some sort of insight to what his goal had been, so I could listen with fresh ears and try to appreciate it more. I read three different interviews and even a suggested "book club discussion guide" and was left only with the fact that the author and his wife once carried a couch they had bought down a high street in Portland, and some people thought it was performance art, and it gave him the idea to write a book about people carrying a couch. (I'm not kidding).

So... there you go. I will admit that I adjusted to the narrator a little, and the performance did improve a bit as the book went on, but not enough for me to stop wishing for any other narrator. I really hope everyone else likes this selection more than I did. I'll definitely be checking back to see what other reviewers thought of this one.

[else fine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It won me over. Couch starts off as a typically Northwestern tale of woe: three underemployed guys - a laid-off programmer, a fey pie-baking hippie boy, and a smooth-talking con artist - share a dismal Portland apartment, down on their luck and starting to feel desperation creeping in around the edges. When they are forced out of their den of lethargy by a flood, they discover that their perniciously comfortable couch may, in fact, be evil, and certainly possesses a mind of its own. As they try to figure out what exactly the couch wants, they are drawn into an epic road trip involving secret societies, hobos, lost civilizations, space aliens, drunken fishermen, revolutionaries, and girls, lugging the couch the whole way. Awesomely ridiculous and strangely profound, a thoroughly worthwhile read.

[Marley · Rating 2 out of 5]

uncorrected proofs I picked up from outside my fav bookstore. A little clunky but an interesting story so far. First book Small Beer published from the slushpile...you wonder how much editing/guidance the author got. A strange mix of the epic sort of mythological story, and email and technology and general strangeness. A shaggy dog tale--the journey is interesting but the ending had no pay off. Could have been great if the author had more guidance from an agent/editor. Some really interesting thoughts and sentences; some that needed to be cut or reworked.

[Marta Boksenbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so fun! I love that throughout the book, the characters don't know what's going on anymore than we do. Its a fun story about three boys who end up carrying a couch from Oregon to Ecuador on a quest that they don't understand. Yet another book of pure ridiculousness, there's something super interesting about it as well. I definitely would recommend it to anyone looking for a book that will suck them in.

[reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I would hate this book. The whole time I was reading it (laughing, racing to turn the page, refusing to put it down) I felt sure the end was going to be a disappointment. But it wasn't and I'm still not sure why it felt so satisfying. If you like books that are hard to describe, this book is for you.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

This hilarious and thought provoking book is one of my favorites of the year. Three guys are trying to move a couch but the couch has different ideas about where it wants to go. The story ends up traveling across the world. For fans of Quinn's Ishmael, you will love the message. I did.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I totally would love to party with these guys! An imaginitive and surprisingly soulful book. Worth a look or two. Makes you think of couches a bit differently....

[Clinton Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

First book I’ve ever physically burned so that no one else would have to suffer through it.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story:
What if a feeling could manifest itself as a object? What if this object bounced around the world since the beginning of recorded history and could both cause and correct problems? What would happen if this object could pick the poor souls that would be tasked with moving it to its new location?

Meet Thom, Tree, and Erik. Three 20 somethings that happened to come together in an apartment that they could barely afford before their lives got even more complicated with the loss of employment and a rent payment due next week. It would be safe to say that maybe their circumstances didn’t change much when an unexpected waterfall from an upstairs apartment deposited them on the sidewalk with nothing except what they could carry and big red couch that the landlord said they had to take with them.

Except the couch wasn’t having it. It didn’t want to go to the thrift store. It wanted to go somewhere else and it wasn’t moving anywhere but in that direction. Any attempt to do other wise found The Couch plopping itself down like a stubborn mule. So what are three guys to do with a couch they can’t seem to get rid of and only wants to go where it wants? Well make a quest out of it that’s what!

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book. I thought it was a pretty good story about three people, well two really, that are forced to go on a journey that makes them examine their lives up to their current point and figure out what they have been missing.

About three quarters of this book is about two guys, Thom and Erik, that never really were forced to change their behavior because up until this point their actions got them by. Poor Tree on the other hand seemed to have gotten the short straw in it all and is the guide slash club that is needed to move Thom and Erik along. Which happens quite a lot since Thom and Erik for most of the book refuse to do anything other than what they have always done in any given situation no matter what The Couch drags them into.

The only real problem I had with this story is that the ending kinda went off the rails, but I’m not sure how else a story about a magic couch that has to get someplace is going to end. It just felt rushed and meta-physical because you know the universe and balance and stuff man. But in the context of the story it makes sense even though I would have preferred a bit more in the way of what happens to the characters at the end. All in all a good read if your looking for a different\
take on the finding oneself genre that doesn’t take itself to seriously, but has that “wanna know how it ends feel” to it. Would recommend to any looking for a good adventure, coming of age story, or a quirky comedy.

[Ufuk Beyazova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Koltuk / Benjamin Parzybok

Koltuk mucizevi genişlikteydi ve üçünü Thom, Tree ve Eric'i hiç zorlanmadan içine alıyordu. Turuncu ve rahattı. Bir gün evlerini su bastı. Terketmek zorunda kaldılar. Koltuk da onlarla birlikte gelmek istiyordu. Çaresiz onu da yüklenip yola çıktılar. Koltuk ve hareket doğa gereği birbirlerinin antiteziydi. Ama koltuk batıya gitmek istiyordu onu kıramadılar. Bu bir ''arayış'' yolculuğuydu. Kendilerini Don Kişot'a benzetiyorlardı ama onun hiç olmazsa bir yazarı vardı. Koltuğu iki ucundan tuttular ve yola koyuldular
Az gittiler uz gittiler, dere tepe düz gittiler, iki gece bir gündüz gittiler. Dağlar denizler aştılar. Bir de baktılar ki...
Koltuğun talipleri çok. Kutsal bir koltuk değil miymiş kendileri. İnka uygarlığından büyülü bir koltuk. Amerika'dan Ekvador'a evine dönmek istiyor ve üç arkadaşı serüven dolu bir yolculuğa sürüklüyor kendisiyle birlikte. Hem gülümseten hem düşündüren bir öykü.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couch tells the story of 3 roommates on what becomes a somewhat magical quest. They are forced to move out of their shared apartment, and want to get rid of their couch. This turns out to be more difficult than it might seem. Events build on events, and by the end, it seems that the couch may hold the future of humanity in its arms, or under its cushions or somewhere.

I debated between 3 and 4 stars for this one.

[Nathaly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tuším, že každého na tejto novinke zaujme niečo iné. Jedno je isté; nájde sa tam niečo pre vás všetkých. Nemali by ju ale čítať tí, ktorí sa nedokážu preniesť nad literárnu fikciu, pretože potom by si Gauč neužili a iritoval by ich. Je to zvláštny príbeh, no určite neľutujem, že som si ho napokon prečítala. Bola to milá knižočka.

[Charles Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boo couches! Hooray for mindful wandering!

This is a perfectly fine book. It aspires to be so much more, but doesn't quite get there. Reviewers compared it to Life of Pi in that respect, and for me they both fell short about the same amount, although I like the mystical/metaphysical aspects of Couch better.

[Chinasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7 ,,, started off strong but towards the last third of the book it all got very convoluted and kind of messy in my opinion. I’m all for up for interpretation/open endings but for all the time I had spent following these characters I just didn’t feel satisfied. Some beautiful passages and sentences and ideas in here though, it just didn’t come together.

[Nazli Şahin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eglenceli. Tuhaf. Sürükleyici. Hikaye bir koltuk hakkında. Hikayenin bir koltuk olabileceği hakkında. Bir edebiyat metni sizi konfor alanınızdan çıkartmak için uğraşmıyor ise üzerine yayılıp yatacaginiz-yasayacaginiz bir koltuktan daha fazlası değildir.

[Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasn't ready for the end to wallop me as much as it did for a book about 3 guys moving a couch. I was way more hooked than I expected to be and glad this came into my hands as a random recommendation.

[Jeoesra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çok eğlenceli, komik, güldüğüm bir kitap oldu. Hepimizin hayatında taşıdığı yükler ve bulamadığımız yönler, yaşayamadığımız hayatlarımıza güzel bir bakış atıyor. Konfor alanından çık, rahatsız ol, zorlan ve yoldayken aslında yaşadığını hisset diyor yüklerinle birlikte. Sevdim.

[Emily Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relatable characters caught up in a fantastic storyline. Blends the real world with mythology and magic in a unique way. Sometimes funny, sometimes contemplative. Great alternative beach read!

[Kristen Zoeckler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read; dissatisfying ending.

[Mehmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Very absurd and fun... One of my favorites.

[Charlston Goch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real score 3.43.

[Antislice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read an entire book about a couch with high gravity? It was weirdly endearing.