Field Notes for the Earthbound

by John Mauk

Fiction. Cursed by tenderhearted witches, saved by Nazarene healers, and haunted by brazen lunatics, the characters in FIELD NOTES FOR THE EARTHBOUND yearn to escape the relentless horizon of Northwestern Ohio. These connected stories chronicle an area dying to shedding its history and awakening to modernity—to highways, speed, bottled beer, and rock-n-roll.

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2014

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the stories didn't startle me or stay with me, the crowning virtue of this collection is a long story that amounts to a novella tucked into the center of the book. A novel in stories? Not really, more of a linked story collection that circles back to itself at the end. Overall 4 stars for me, but 5 stars for the novella "The Electric Nowhere" that had me riveted to every sentence like the best novels out there. One of the best pieces of writing I've read this year in long form. I dogeared my copy with all the carefully crafted sentences Mauk constructed with apparent ease. An interesting study of the trials and tribulations of growing up in Ohio's flat lands. The final story, "The Full Horizon," is another gritty, original winner.

[Thea Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written collection of stories with an arresting cover that I wish was displayed here. Though described as a novel in stories, I would classify the work as loosely connected stories. The voice is a rural one, and it is for this reason that my rating is not five stars, which is simply a matter of preference; I'm also not fond of numerous characters provided in short spaces because I struggle to keep track of who is who. Most of these stories end in a wash of sadness that is inevitable yet surprising, executed masterfully. The magic in these stories is woven effortlessly into communities that would rebuke such heathen goings on, and yet. What can they say? How can it be explained otherwise? Yea verily.

[Simón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unrelenting abuse and violence -- quite appropriate for this week, actually. Conveys the claustrophobia of living in a fundamentalist small town with no good options. No one survives unscathed and most don't survive at all.

I would have enjoyed more supernatural elements, set up by the first line about a friend who can fly. (Spoiler: probably not really flying). But I will keep several images -- the man on the roof, the rocknroll concert in a trashed Victorian, and a cousin to Mrs. Duboce the guy who berates people from his porch.

I also admire the interrelationships that build -- someone's family reappears in another story, one character gets a job while another isn't qualified. It's a great lesson in how to write about place primarily, not people. Especially a bleak place.

[A.R. Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection, especially "The Repo Man," which was my favorite out of the bunch.

This year I'm saving my 5 star reviews for a book that won't let me walk around without thinking about it all day. If I don't find one of those this year, I'm okay. That just means my top rating is four stars.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm biased because the author is a good friend, but I really enjoyed this novel-in-stories. The writing was well-crafted without being overwrought, the characters are recognizable to anyone who grew up in the rural Midwest but still idiosyncratic enough to feel like real people and not caricatures. A good read.