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Savage: 1986-2011
Nate’s nervous mother chews gum at warp speed and has a bob that resembles Darth Vader’s helmet. His icy father dabbles part-time in the death trade at a funeral home after working for a decade in the insurance racket. His older sister Holly is always lurking in the shadows or away at school. Nate, a creative, messy, and anxious teen, has chosen Randy Savage as his hero. As he finishes high school, the world to which Savage belongs is quickly waning in popularity, and Nate begins to see the wrestler’s downfall mirrored in his own life.
Savage 1986-2011 chronicles the middle-class implosion of Nate’s nuclear family, bracketed by July 1986 – when he first saw Randy Savage in person – and the wrestler’s sudden death in May 2011. When Savage dies, Nate is freed from beliefs—once a source of beauty and escape—that had come to constrict him, fusing him to a moribund past… The novel is about the blurred lines between child and adult roles and the ever-changing landscape of interior heroism. Whether dealing with a family’s economic turbulence, the scarring effects of teenage love, or creating a new family order, Moore revisits, remasters, and repackages a twenty-five year family odyssey with guts, honesty, and love.
Savage 1986-2011 chronicles the middle-class implosion of Nate’s nuclear family, bracketed by July 1986 – when he first saw Randy Savage in person – and the wrestler’s sudden death in May 2011. When Savage dies, Nate is freed from beliefs—once a source of beauty and escape—that had come to constrict him, fusing him to a moribund past… The novel is about the blurred lines between child and adult roles and the ever-changing landscape of interior heroism. Whether dealing with a family’s economic turbulence, the scarring effects of teenage love, or creating a new family order, Moore revisits, remasters, and repackages a twenty-five year family odyssey with guts, honesty, and love.
- GenresFiction
278 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2013
About the author
Nathaniel G. Moore
14 books12 followersNathaniel is the author of Savage 1986-2011 winner of the 2014 ReLit Award for best novel. His latest book Goodbye Horses, is coming out with Mansfield Press in spring 2018. Visit his new site: http://nathanielgmoore.tumblr.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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July 30, 2015http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2014/0...
Review by Kathleen Yamazaki
The World Wrestling Federation’s (now WWE) "Macho Man" Randy Savage was at the top of his game during the sport’s golden era in the 1980s and early 1990s. Known for his signature phrase ("Oooh yeah"), his ring attire (cowboy hat, flashy glasses and tassels), his signature move (double axe handle from the top rope*) and his unlikely entrance song ("Pomp and Circumstance"), Macho Man was one of the most colourful and adored wrestlers on the circuit.
In Nathaniel G. Moore’s fifth book, Savage 1986 – 2011, protagonist Nate idolizes Savage's swagger and showmanship, closely following the wrestler's career from an early age. Emerging into adulthood, Nate is unable, or unwilling, to outgrow his fascination of wrestling like his peers. Rather, he finds comfort in perceived parallels in his own life and that of Randy Savages' fictional public persona.
For one, Nate equates his close boyhood friendship with neighbour and fellow student Andrew to Savage’s close alliance, known as the Mega Powers, with wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan. Furthermore, after both relationships are severed, Nate begins to perceive the world as an outsider: an experience he aligns with Savage’s narrative transformation from adored hero to isolated villain in the ring.
In keeping with this theme, Savage 1986 - 2011 begins with Nate’s very first live wrestling match and ends with Randy Savage’s death 25 years later.
Read more here: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2014/0...
Review by Kathleen Yamazaki
The World Wrestling Federation’s (now WWE) "Macho Man" Randy Savage was at the top of his game during the sport’s golden era in the 1980s and early 1990s. Known for his signature phrase ("Oooh yeah"), his ring attire (cowboy hat, flashy glasses and tassels), his signature move (double axe handle from the top rope*) and his unlikely entrance song ("Pomp and Circumstance"), Macho Man was one of the most colourful and adored wrestlers on the circuit.
In Nathaniel G. Moore’s fifth book, Savage 1986 – 2011, protagonist Nate idolizes Savage's swagger and showmanship, closely following the wrestler's career from an early age. Emerging into adulthood, Nate is unable, or unwilling, to outgrow his fascination of wrestling like his peers. Rather, he finds comfort in perceived parallels in his own life and that of Randy Savages' fictional public persona.
For one, Nate equates his close boyhood friendship with neighbour and fellow student Andrew to Savage’s close alliance, known as the Mega Powers, with wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan. Furthermore, after both relationships are severed, Nate begins to perceive the world as an outsider: an experience he aligns with Savage’s narrative transformation from adored hero to isolated villain in the ring.
In keeping with this theme, Savage 1986 - 2011 begins with Nate’s very first live wrestling match and ends with Randy Savage’s death 25 years later.
Read more here: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2014/0...
February 26, 2014
This is the first time I have read anything by Canadian author Nate and not the last.
Here is the life story of Nate, mid-eighties to late 2000s. With Wrestlemaina as a backdrop, his teen life was eerily familiar to my own (even down to him having a sister named Holly).
Parental challenges and exploring his sexuality are bravely documented here with a clear and honest narrative. I hesitate to give too much away but I loved the Toronto setting and the breath of issues and challenges Nate faced. I didn't want the story to end, wanting to call Nate and let me in on what happened when the book closed. Great teen fiction or a nostalgic read for those who grew up in the 80s.
Thank you Nate for a great story and hanging around to tell it. Check it out.
Here is the life story of Nate, mid-eighties to late 2000s. With Wrestlemaina as a backdrop, his teen life was eerily familiar to my own (even down to him having a sister named Holly).
Parental challenges and exploring his sexuality are bravely documented here with a clear and honest narrative. I hesitate to give too much away but I loved the Toronto setting and the breath of issues and challenges Nate faced. I didn't want the story to end, wanting to call Nate and let me in on what happened when the book closed. Great teen fiction or a nostalgic read for those who grew up in the 80s.
Thank you Nate for a great story and hanging around to tell it. Check it out.
August 1, 2014
Smart, engaging, edgy writing that fantastically captures the dysfunctional and urban feel of this story. Wrestling parallel storyline is effective without alienating non-wrestling fans.
November 9, 2022
I was expecting a more formally-challenging text given what I had previously read of Moore, but this was fairly straightforward by comparison. Astonishingly gut-wrenching at times.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews