An Honest Ghost

by Rick Whitaker

Rick Whitaker's debut novel, An Honest Ghost, consists entirely of sentences appropriated from over 500 books. Whitaker limited himself to using 300 words per book (in accordance with Fair Use); never taking two sentences together; and never making any changes, even to punctuation. An index includes all attributions. The experience of acknowledging each sentence as literary artifact, combined with the imagined accretion of books that built An Honest Ghost, deftly mirrors the burgeoning nostalgia in the narrator’s voice and, most fittingly, in the careful reader’s heart.

Genres: Fiction

150 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2013

Reviews

[willowdog · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the words of the last words of this compilation of a novel, Forget It. Found the story boring and extremely contrived (even more so than the contrived notion of using parts of works to make a novel.) Come on, haven't we all underlined passages that we thought were interesting in works read. But we have had the sense to not put them together and call it a book. Found myself more interested in where he found the passages then how they fit together.

[Dale · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea.

[Kevin Stebner · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a feat, An Honest Ghost is spectacular. It really does come together, sounding largely like a singular voice, and to have taken the time and effort to assemble the thing into something sensical is to be applauded. Unfortunately, the novel itself runs no narrative - characters (and narrator) continually speak vaguely. Something vague about sex, something vague about their mothers, something vague about each other. Everyone is in a vague daze. As a collection of great lines it succeeds, as a compelling read, not quite.

Truly, the best thing about the book is the list of compiled passages in the back - Whitaker has a great book collection, and to have a nice long readinglist assembled thus is great.

[Cj Wisler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whitacre utilizes a multitude of dead-and-living voices pulled from his personal bookshelf in order to highlight the struggles of art and inner life (topics that, in Whitaker's novel, gave me chills) while simultaneously creating an understandable narrative. While I found this novel to be a wealth of invigorating text and the novel's project intriguing, it did take me a second read to really see the subtleties of the plot - in all its combinations/alternations of bombast, sweetness, and philosophical meanderings. Upon that fateful a second read, I was thrilled by the narrative as well as the project's design, and it is my belief that this is a book easily underestimated at first glance. The characters are, I believe, intentionally over-dramatic, and this makes for some chuckle- and smile-worthy moments. Occasionally, the character's names restrict what texts could be used, and this seemed to occasionally limit the novel's development of characters; physical and psychological profiles are oddly repetitious, despite the use of so many texts. However, this may be a failing on my part; perhaps the circular descriptions were the point.


Overall, I believe that the whole and the sum of the parts are a dual, plural kind of beast; the parts shining brightly individually (Whitacre's complete list of textual attributions makes for a real experiential treat) and machinery achieved at the project's completion never fails to excite. Sometimes experiments fail, yet when this novel succeeds, the ghosts of past and present invention smoke through you and linger beautifully.

[Alex Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea behind this book is so inspired that I nearly bumped up the star rating. Unfortunately, the actual execution of this novel leaves a bit to be desired, or at least pales in comparison to what I imagine it could be. This novel is a compendium of quotes from 500+ books from Mr. Whitaker's personal library - such a cool idea, right?! Unfortunately, Mr. Whitaker actually attempted to tell a narrative (about other people), and thereby limited the potential of his project to the frustration of including quotes mentioning the names David, Joe (etc.) in order to attempt a narrative arc (which never really materializes). This being said, there were glorious, glimmering moments throughout the book where the (nameless) juxtaposition of two different thoughts from two different centuries created an image or a thought that took my breath away. Ultimately, I feel this project would have been amazing if Mr. Whitacre had attempted to write a book solely about himself, no names, no story arc perse, just an exposition of himself through the words of geniuses (or amateurs) long dead.

Overall Rating: Incredibly inspired idea, poorly executed.

[Roy Kesey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I owe a review of this book, and will hold off further comment until I can link to it, but in the meantime, know that it was criminally undersung this year--it is an amazing text.

[Vespasian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the many praises from literary icons, this experiment (or perhaps more accurately a gimmick) failed to resonate with me. The emperor unfortunately has no clothes here.