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Pay As You Go
New to town and delusionally confident, Slide imagined himself living in a glossy building with doormen and sweeping views of the skyline. Instead he's landed in a creaking, stuffy apartment with two roommates: a loping giant who hardly leaves his room, and a weight-obsessed neurotic who keeps no fewer than forty-seven lamps throughout the house, blazing at all hours.
Unwilling to accept this fate, Slide--a barber with an opaque past--embarks on a quest for the perfect apartment, pinballing through the sprawling, madcap city of Polis and its endless procession of neighborhoods. As he bounces from foldout couch to disaster-relief tent, falling in with some tough types, Slide begins to realize that he's going to have to scratch and claw just to claim a place for himself in this world--let alone a place with in-unit laundry.
An exuberant, fantastical odyssey, Pay As You Go wonders if what we're searching for is ever really out there. Its pages--surreal, biting, and teeming with life--announce the startling talents of Eskor David Johnson, who knows that all any of us really want is a place to rest our head.
Unwilling to accept this fate, Slide--a barber with an opaque past--embarks on a quest for the perfect apartment, pinballing through the sprawling, madcap city of Polis and its endless procession of neighborhoods. As he bounces from foldout couch to disaster-relief tent, falling in with some tough types, Slide begins to realize that he's going to have to scratch and claw just to claim a place for himself in this world--let alone a place with in-unit laundry.
An exuberant, fantastical odyssey, Pay As You Go wonders if what we're searching for is ever really out there. Its pages--surreal, biting, and teeming with life--announce the startling talents of Eskor David Johnson, who knows that all any of us really want is a place to rest our head.
500 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2023
110 people are currently reading
6219 people want to read
About the author
Eskor David Johnson
1 book58 followersEskor David Johnson is a writer from Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
November 30, 2023
“You think you're doing one thing when really you're doing something else. You think, Today I'll save some change for a show at the cinema, but instead those are the dollars you end up handing over to the bandit in the alley. You think, Click dick dick, these are such good photographs I am taking!, and then two blocks too late you realize the lens cap was on. You go to the beach and the water is bright with sparkling colors, but then when you jump in you realize it's because of jellyfish.
And just when you figure you've done the one good deed you won't get punished for, the world comes tapping on your shoulder to collect its debt.”
Geeez-us! What a rollercoaster! Johnson’s mock epic is at all times funny, charming, suspenseful and heartwarming. An absolute delight from cover to cover, it’s hard to believe this is the author’s debut novel. Johnson writes with the imagination and virtuosity of a seasoned novelist, bringing Polis and all its characters, Slide especially, vividly to life; and perfectly encapsulating the trials and tribulations of modern day life.
“So if some of us who you see out here are not musicians, it’s only because those we loved the most once took back the keys.”
And just when you figure you've done the one good deed you won't get punished for, the world comes tapping on your shoulder to collect its debt.”
Geeez-us! What a rollercoaster! Johnson’s mock epic is at all times funny, charming, suspenseful and heartwarming. An absolute delight from cover to cover, it’s hard to believe this is the author’s debut novel. Johnson writes with the imagination and virtuosity of a seasoned novelist, bringing Polis and all its characters, Slide especially, vividly to life; and perfectly encapsulating the trials and tribulations of modern day life.
“So if some of us who you see out here are not musicians, it’s only because those we loved the most once took back the keys.”
September 8, 2023
*Thanks to NetGalley and McSweeney's for letting me read this novel in exchange for my honest review*
An unbelievably contemporary, urban odyssey that takes you on an eventful journey that feels like a long overdue catch-up with that friend that lives on the other side of town.
It's an oddly relatable story for whoever has lived in a big city for at least a couple of years. You'll find the mindset, the sense of hope that easily turns into despair, the house-hunting struggle, and all those random characters crossing your path that are only true for the big city people. There's a specific degree of madness and attitude you find in yourself to survive the city, and it's all in here.
We follow Slide, who tells us in his story in first person, through a very peculiar but still ordinary spiral of events, searching for a place to call home. Slide catapults us in a never-ending present full of random signs of carpe diem, and acts like we would, sometimes endorsing them and other times fearing them wholeheartedly. It's a quest through the multi-faced metropolis reality, painted as a sort of mercurial god on a constant whim, that pull the strings of a mere mortal testing his character and willing to live in its unsettling, cruel realm.
Every encounter in Slide's journey is connected to the previous one in some way, driving the story on this continuous present where different worlds (the metropolis neighbourhoods) collide, burn and rise at the same time. We get to experience the full circle in the end, and it's refreshing to read something so different, in terms of story structure and message; in fact, I don't think I've come across anything similar to this novel before.
I really enjoyed the writing style, fresh and rich. The tone is ironic and genuine, yet poignant, and naturally pleasant in its realism. Slide is a lovable, relatable character that, as many of us, is just trying to figure out what to do with his life, looking for beauty and a purpose to motivate himself to improve and ultimately find peace within.
An unbelievably contemporary, urban odyssey that takes you on an eventful journey that feels like a long overdue catch-up with that friend that lives on the other side of town.
It's an oddly relatable story for whoever has lived in a big city for at least a couple of years. You'll find the mindset, the sense of hope that easily turns into despair, the house-hunting struggle, and all those random characters crossing your path that are only true for the big city people. There's a specific degree of madness and attitude you find in yourself to survive the city, and it's all in here.
We follow Slide, who tells us in his story in first person, through a very peculiar but still ordinary spiral of events, searching for a place to call home. Slide catapults us in a never-ending present full of random signs of carpe diem, and acts like we would, sometimes endorsing them and other times fearing them wholeheartedly. It's a quest through the multi-faced metropolis reality, painted as a sort of mercurial god on a constant whim, that pull the strings of a mere mortal testing his character and willing to live in its unsettling, cruel realm.
Every encounter in Slide's journey is connected to the previous one in some way, driving the story on this continuous present where different worlds (the metropolis neighbourhoods) collide, burn and rise at the same time. We get to experience the full circle in the end, and it's refreshing to read something so different, in terms of story structure and message; in fact, I don't think I've come across anything similar to this novel before.
I really enjoyed the writing style, fresh and rich. The tone is ironic and genuine, yet poignant, and naturally pleasant in its realism. Slide is a lovable, relatable character that, as many of us, is just trying to figure out what to do with his life, looking for beauty and a purpose to motivate himself to improve and ultimately find peace within.
Read
January 10, 2024This novel, while fun to read and full of good stories, suffered for me merely as a result of poor timing on my part. I usually try to choose material vastly different from that preceding it, and having just read an excellent dystopian novel set in a city in decline, could not help but comparing it, and given the length of this one, could not finish it. I may return at some time in the future, but have shelved it for now.
February 3, 2024
4.5
“The world has become my oyster, but I lost my appetite. Now that’s sad.”
You immediately know you’re getting something a little bit different with this book, something a little off. The title page calls it a fable. One of the epigraphs is from Nas. Then you encounter a map of Polis, disconnected from anything else. It is its own world.
In the simplest of terms, Slide is looking for an apartment of his own, preferably with in-unit laundry and in a better part of the city. Throughout the 500 pages of this hero’s journey, he encounters a hostile city, a wild cast of characters (with amazing names), and a biblical flood. This makes it sound so simple, but this is a layered book about capitalism, class, community, narrative, and climate change. It’s about how we all tell our own stories and frame them to, sometimes, create an armor, and, maybe, to help us reach our goals, but definitely to take up some space in this cold world. It’s how we are all in this capitalistic system that is crushing us, but the same structures can be bent to work for us. It isn't the material apartment that Slide is looking for, rather it's a home to be welcomed in and to be welcoming in.
Johnson is a STORYTELLER with a fresh voice and a love of language. So many of these sentences and turn of phrases are ooof. This book has a frenetic energy that in other hands could have been way too much or burned up too soon. This book is alive, the city is filled to the brim with people, sights, and sounds. And even though I mention doom and gloom subjects like capitalism and climate change, this is essentially a happy book, a strange and funny one at that. Slide being an open and likable character makes us root for him, even when he’s naive, a big talker, a complainer, or getting into trouble. The fact that he’s telling us this story and doesn’t change the way he comes off makes it even funnier and makes Slide more pure. He honestly just wants the best for everyone and I wanted the best for him.
I'm not going to try to compare this to other books, this surreal satire is wholly it's own. In a world full of no's, but's and maybe's, be like Slide and say yes.
Thank you to the publisher and author for the gifted copy
-----
I do still wonder about hints we’re given about Slide’s past. He’s mostly a blank slate, but there are allusions to a trauma with memory issues and maybe an orphanage. PAYG inspired me to pick up A Confederacy of Dunces finally. Totally different books that made me laugh and I’m happy to see that Slide is nothing like Ignatius. There is a hot dog vendor in one scene though, I wonder if that’s a nod.
“The world has become my oyster, but I lost my appetite. Now that’s sad.”
You immediately know you’re getting something a little bit different with this book, something a little off. The title page calls it a fable. One of the epigraphs is from Nas. Then you encounter a map of Polis, disconnected from anything else. It is its own world.
In the simplest of terms, Slide is looking for an apartment of his own, preferably with in-unit laundry and in a better part of the city. Throughout the 500 pages of this hero’s journey, he encounters a hostile city, a wild cast of characters (with amazing names), and a biblical flood. This makes it sound so simple, but this is a layered book about capitalism, class, community, narrative, and climate change. It’s about how we all tell our own stories and frame them to, sometimes, create an armor, and, maybe, to help us reach our goals, but definitely to take up some space in this cold world. It’s how we are all in this capitalistic system that is crushing us, but the same structures can be bent to work for us. It isn't the material apartment that Slide is looking for, rather it's a home to be welcomed in and to be welcoming in.
Johnson is a STORYTELLER with a fresh voice and a love of language. So many of these sentences and turn of phrases are ooof. This book has a frenetic energy that in other hands could have been way too much or burned up too soon. This book is alive, the city is filled to the brim with people, sights, and sounds. And even though I mention doom and gloom subjects like capitalism and climate change, this is essentially a happy book, a strange and funny one at that. Slide being an open and likable character makes us root for him, even when he’s naive, a big talker, a complainer, or getting into trouble. The fact that he’s telling us this story and doesn’t change the way he comes off makes it even funnier and makes Slide more pure. He honestly just wants the best for everyone and I wanted the best for him.
I'm not going to try to compare this to other books, this surreal satire is wholly it's own. In a world full of no's, but's and maybe's, be like Slide and say yes.
Thank you to the publisher and author for the gifted copy
-----
I do still wonder about hints we’re given about Slide’s past. He’s mostly a blank slate, but there are allusions to a trauma with memory issues and maybe an orphanage. PAYG inspired me to pick up A Confederacy of Dunces finally. Totally different books that made me laugh and I’m happy to see that Slide is nothing like Ignatius. There is a hot dog vendor in one scene though, I wonder if that’s a nod.
January 29, 2024
I ordered this one because I saw some buzz for it among my little circle of freaks. The freaks do not typically lead me astray.
The freaks have led me astray. This book feels like diet Adam Levin, and Adam Levin already feels like the diet version of a few other authors (I do enjoy his work though). Our narrator is insufferable, but not in an interesting way - he says “Geez-us!” every other page and only demonstrates agency when the plot demands it. The majority of the book consists of a series of random and somewhat interesting things happening to him while he says “gosh this is strange” and moves on to the next event. Most of these events prove inconsequential, as characters are introduced and then forgotten, subplots are dropped or become irrelevant, and just when things threaten to get interesting, some circumstance propels the protagonist to leave their current situation in favor of something new. This reads as less of a “madcap odyssey” (taken from a dreadful blurb on the dust jacket) and more of an aimless wandering. I will read Eskor David Johnson’s next novel, but the way this one is structured suggests that he doesn’t know how to wrap up a story and would rather throw something new at readers rather than actually seeing any given plot to its conclusion.
Other things I disliked: framing device that adds nothing to the story, dialogue that feels intentionally stilted for a while until you realize that it’s just not very good, and a final hundred pages that can be summarized as “we live in a society.”
I hate to sound so negative though, as I did think this was an interesting read. It signals the start of a career that I will follow for a while (fingers crossed that Johnson finds his footing with the next one) and despite its flaws, it’s a fun and engaging read. I worked through its 500 pages in no time, I just wished that I didn’t feel like I had gotten everything there was to get within the first 100.
The freaks have led me astray. This book feels like diet Adam Levin, and Adam Levin already feels like the diet version of a few other authors (I do enjoy his work though). Our narrator is insufferable, but not in an interesting way - he says “Geez-us!” every other page and only demonstrates agency when the plot demands it. The majority of the book consists of a series of random and somewhat interesting things happening to him while he says “gosh this is strange” and moves on to the next event. Most of these events prove inconsequential, as characters are introduced and then forgotten, subplots are dropped or become irrelevant, and just when things threaten to get interesting, some circumstance propels the protagonist to leave their current situation in favor of something new. This reads as less of a “madcap odyssey” (taken from a dreadful blurb on the dust jacket) and more of an aimless wandering. I will read Eskor David Johnson’s next novel, but the way this one is structured suggests that he doesn’t know how to wrap up a story and would rather throw something new at readers rather than actually seeing any given plot to its conclusion.
Other things I disliked: framing device that adds nothing to the story, dialogue that feels intentionally stilted for a while until you realize that it’s just not very good, and a final hundred pages that can be summarized as “we live in a society.”
I hate to sound so negative though, as I did think this was an interesting read. It signals the start of a career that I will follow for a while (fingers crossed that Johnson finds his footing with the next one) and despite its flaws, it’s a fun and engaging read. I worked through its 500 pages in no time, I just wished that I didn’t feel like I had gotten everything there was to get within the first 100.
January 14, 2024
"That's Polis for you - an island of life's hostages."
A madcap, down-and-out picaresque who those who know (and appreciate) what an absolute dogfight it is trying to anchor their life to something stable in the Year of our Lord 2023 (well, 2024 at the time I write this). Johnson explodes the capacities of ordinary experience into something extraordinary, much in the same way one of my favorite contemporaries Adam Levin does. I would expect those who find themselves at home in the latter's hospitable novels would feel welcomed in Johnson's careening, hyperbolic metropolis. This is an odyssey for those who don't want to go on one, and a wildly impressive debut.
"It's no use trying to burn this place down [...] We would just build another."
A madcap, down-and-out picaresque who those who know (and appreciate) what an absolute dogfight it is trying to anchor their life to something stable in the Year of our Lord 2023 (well, 2024 at the time I write this). Johnson explodes the capacities of ordinary experience into something extraordinary, much in the same way one of my favorite contemporaries Adam Levin does. I would expect those who find themselves at home in the latter's hospitable novels would feel welcomed in Johnson's careening, hyperbolic metropolis. This is an odyssey for those who don't want to go on one, and a wildly impressive debut.
"It's no use trying to burn this place down [...] We would just build another."
January 2, 2024
Fantastic debut novel! I was fully invested in Slide and his journey from the very first page. Funny, full of a rich cast of characters, thrilling at times, and always entertaining. Highly recommended.
January 26, 2024
Maybe more like 2.5? Finally finished this thing; really found it a slog at 500 pages. Actually liked the first 200 pages or so but found myself looking for the exit - asking myself just where is this thing going? - during the second half when it just descends headfirst into its weirdness. I appear to be in the minority here, not sure the trip was worth the ride.
December 17, 2023
I’m bout to cuss that was so good. Full review to come on Instagram @jcgrenn_reads.
February 2, 2025
If it looks like this on the front and is compared to Augie March on the back, it's going to get my full attention. Thank you Auckland Libraries Staff Picks shelf
April 22, 2024
This book was like an over-seasoned meal: full of flavor and quickly overwhelming that you want to stop eating altogether. Rarely does a book at times tempt both a 1- and 5- star rating. There is some truly exceptional writing here which gets diluted by frequent meandering and loses the thread. The back describes it as “maximalist”. Well, yeah. This thing clocks in at a dense 500 pages and felt twice that. Trimmed down to a lean mean 350 it might have rocked me. Despite its flaws, for a first book it’s an impressive – though fatiguing – read. I suspect when this writer finds the sweet spot it will be magnificent.
March 13, 2024
“That kind of stuff will make you cry if you’re not careful, this stubborn dream we keep agreeing to.”
I loved this book and enjoyed every rant, every misstep, every new character, and every quotable line that I could write all over this review. Mr. Slide is truly my guy. Enjoy the (boat) ride y’all!
I loved this book and enjoyed every rant, every misstep, every new character, and every quotable line that I could write all over this review. Mr. Slide is truly my guy. Enjoy the (boat) ride y’all!
January 23, 2024
“It wasn’t all fun and games, being raised by wolves: they’d expect you to share their diet too.”
.
`Eskor David Johnson has crafted a debut novel that feels like you’re reading the works of a grizzled veteran. A waking nightmare all too close to home for the millennial/ Gen Z demographic just doing whatever we can to stay afloat within our own real life metro-“polis”
Hinting at Wallacian style writing mixed with the Joycean-esque story brings together influences from two of the powerhouses of 20th century literature, but maybe gives you something a little more palatable. It feels like an underdog story but not just for Slide the main character but for humanity itself, the crumbling ideology of comfort, peace, and a feeling of purpose is erased from the faces of each person we come across ( and man there are a lot)
A pendulum swinging with the weight of a guillotine blade slowly cutting the rope that our last nerve is hanging from, sharpen the ax and get ready for the pitfall
.
Johnson has managed to create a Homeric odyssey with a new modern day hero, he gives us hope and then tears us apart. Each triumph is short lived and we embrace the downfall as we surly know it’s coming. A torrential flood of literary greatness in a world that lacks, a new voice that I can’t wait to hear more from. Johnson managed to create a trembling fear that we don’t know what might happen next in life, but at the end of the day, like him, we can all quote the great NAS and simply tell our main man Slide that hey man “The world is yours”
.
`Eskor David Johnson has crafted a debut novel that feels like you’re reading the works of a grizzled veteran. A waking nightmare all too close to home for the millennial/ Gen Z demographic just doing whatever we can to stay afloat within our own real life metro-“polis”
Hinting at Wallacian style writing mixed with the Joycean-esque story brings together influences from two of the powerhouses of 20th century literature, but maybe gives you something a little more palatable. It feels like an underdog story but not just for Slide the main character but for humanity itself, the crumbling ideology of comfort, peace, and a feeling of purpose is erased from the faces of each person we come across ( and man there are a lot)
A pendulum swinging with the weight of a guillotine blade slowly cutting the rope that our last nerve is hanging from, sharpen the ax and get ready for the pitfall
.
Johnson has managed to create a Homeric odyssey with a new modern day hero, he gives us hope and then tears us apart. Each triumph is short lived and we embrace the downfall as we surly know it’s coming. A torrential flood of literary greatness in a world that lacks, a new voice that I can’t wait to hear more from. Johnson managed to create a trembling fear that we don’t know what might happen next in life, but at the end of the day, like him, we can all quote the great NAS and simply tell our main man Slide that hey man “The world is yours”
March 27, 2024
What a wild ride!! We follow Slide around on one improbable adventure to the next. He’s like that friend you have that ends up in the most improbable situations. The thing is though, the author never once made me think this is unbelievable, or this is so contrived. It felt so naturally fantastical. Loved all the characters and the setting. The writing was easy to read, yet had a nice depth. Let me wondering what Slide is up to now.
December 31, 2023
geeeez-us! this was a wild ride from start to finish. in pay as you go, eskor david johnson has crafted a consuming, witty, imaginative fable following protagonist, slide, as he wanders the boroughs of fictitious polis and featuring an array of perfectly flawed characters along the way. loved every strange, beautiful, inventive second of this and very much look forward to future work from eskor david johnson.
January 15, 2024
I was reminded constantly throughout this novel that sometimes the things we seek with such desire don’t exist in the way we so certainly believed in our search of them. Pay As You Go illustrated this brilliantly in its tragicomic 500 pages. For me, it was a novel that read itself, and felt much shorter than its length. Its praise thus far is entirely deserved, and I will certainly read anything else Eskor publishes. There were many passages and quotes I adored throughout my reading, though the two below were my favourites (aside from the rant);
‘One time I was brought along to see how it was done. How on those darkest of nights still in winter's hold, the Dread Merchants would set off on their bikes in search of bleak roads on which to lay ambush. How on so finding one they scattered themselves along its length and burrowed into pockets of shadow, shutting their engines off. How their breath would steam, the hairs on their arms rise to attention, their chatter assume the cryptic jargon of highwaymen. How they sat balanced and waited infinitely. How the lights of passing cars, had their drivers glanced aside for even a moment, would have illuminated of those faces not the faces of men, but of ghouls for whom pity had been tucked away somewhere distant and secured behind impenetrable locks, and of those eyes not eyes but corridors without end, and that they knew nothing of love nor of tomorrow, and that their shadows were but extensions of their reach, for the spirit of malice was within them and held sway over their hearts, and that there remained of fate's outcomes not a single one they were not willing to brave on that cold, pitiless night with no stars to witness...’
And;
‘There are those you meet whose entire lives can feel like little more than a prelude to their dying.’
Beautiful. I won’t include the rant in this, but the rant was a marvel; one of those moments in literature you wish you could experience for the first time again.
5/5.
‘One time I was brought along to see how it was done. How on those darkest of nights still in winter's hold, the Dread Merchants would set off on their bikes in search of bleak roads on which to lay ambush. How on so finding one they scattered themselves along its length and burrowed into pockets of shadow, shutting their engines off. How their breath would steam, the hairs on their arms rise to attention, their chatter assume the cryptic jargon of highwaymen. How they sat balanced and waited infinitely. How the lights of passing cars, had their drivers glanced aside for even a moment, would have illuminated of those faces not the faces of men, but of ghouls for whom pity had been tucked away somewhere distant and secured behind impenetrable locks, and of those eyes not eyes but corridors without end, and that they knew nothing of love nor of tomorrow, and that their shadows were but extensions of their reach, for the spirit of malice was within them and held sway over their hearts, and that there remained of fate's outcomes not a single one they were not willing to brave on that cold, pitiless night with no stars to witness...’
And;
‘There are those you meet whose entire lives can feel like little more than a prelude to their dying.’
Beautiful. I won’t include the rant in this, but the rant was a marvel; one of those moments in literature you wish you could experience for the first time again.
5/5.
March 11, 2025
One of the best things about reading, particularly when it comes to fiction, is the possibility of discovering a world entirely unique. Eskor David Johnson's Pay As You Go is such a world. When the novel opens, Slide, the novel's central narrator and protagonist, is living with two roomates in the dystopian-seeming fictional city of Polis, which could represent any modern metropolis. However, what other reviewers may call dystopian, I regard as Kafkaesque.
On the surface, this is a simple yet long-winded tale about Slide's quest for an apartment amidst impossible to traverse urban hierarchies and bureaucracy. Much like the novel's setting, the busyness of Johnson's prose is absurd yet delightful to navigate.
Long, descriptive paragraphs, and stray fragments of conversations fill in the story. Pay As You Go is both picaresque and mock-epic. The novel hums with life, and readers who are not troubled by verbosity will delight in the lucid story telling, quirky characters and even quirkier surroundings.
Ignatius J. Reilly from The Confederacy of Dunces comes to mind when I think of similar protagonists to Slide, or even Holden Caufield from The Catcher in the Rye.
It's my pleasure to give this book five stars, even though one major loose end is never addressed. While it's mildly unsatisfying to never learn the true origins of the book's affable and charismatic narrator, I am unable to give this book anything but the highest praise.
On the surface, this is a simple yet long-winded tale about Slide's quest for an apartment amidst impossible to traverse urban hierarchies and bureaucracy. Much like the novel's setting, the busyness of Johnson's prose is absurd yet delightful to navigate.
Long, descriptive paragraphs, and stray fragments of conversations fill in the story. Pay As You Go is both picaresque and mock-epic. The novel hums with life, and readers who are not troubled by verbosity will delight in the lucid story telling, quirky characters and even quirkier surroundings.
Ignatius J. Reilly from The Confederacy of Dunces comes to mind when I think of similar protagonists to Slide, or even Holden Caufield from The Catcher in the Rye.
It's my pleasure to give this book five stars, even though one major loose end is never addressed. While it's mildly unsatisfying to never learn the true origins of the book's affable and charismatic narrator, I am unable to give this book anything but the highest praise.
February 8, 2024
Pay As You Go is a mock-epic à la Don Quixote. Slide, the main character and the narrator (a bold decision that I think the author pulls off), is on a quest to find an apartment in Polis, where he has just arrived. What follows is a Dantesque journey through the inferno that is the fictional city.
I don’t want to say too much about Pay As You Go to avoid spoilers. I will say that it was an absolute pleasure to read. The characters are strange and interesting, the prose is solid, and the story is full of funny moments and it keeps you hooked. Don’t let the fact that it’s a 500-page novel deter you; it’s a relatively quick read that’s worth your time.
Also, I think it’s important to mention/notice/remember that this is framed as a fable from the get-go. The setting, the people, the events are all a little surreal, everything in Polis is a little off-kilter and exaggerated. It’s not our world exactly–it’s a fictional place, after all–but there is enough of our world that it feels recognizable, familiar enough that some of the insights contained in the narrative feel applicable here, in the real world, where we’re all on a quest for something.
“It’s some kind of number they’ve done on us, I tell you. We’ve been scammed so bad we hate anyone who points it out. That’s called pride, and it’s no substitute for rent…What to do? What can you even do? I’m not suggesting we burn the whole thing down or anything like that, that’s definitely not it. Except what if we did?”
I don’t want to say too much about Pay As You Go to avoid spoilers. I will say that it was an absolute pleasure to read. The characters are strange and interesting, the prose is solid, and the story is full of funny moments and it keeps you hooked. Don’t let the fact that it’s a 500-page novel deter you; it’s a relatively quick read that’s worth your time.
Also, I think it’s important to mention/notice/remember that this is framed as a fable from the get-go. The setting, the people, the events are all a little surreal, everything in Polis is a little off-kilter and exaggerated. It’s not our world exactly–it’s a fictional place, after all–but there is enough of our world that it feels recognizable, familiar enough that some of the insights contained in the narrative feel applicable here, in the real world, where we’re all on a quest for something.
“It’s some kind of number they’ve done on us, I tell you. We’ve been scammed so bad we hate anyone who points it out. That’s called pride, and it’s no substitute for rent…What to do? What can you even do? I’m not suggesting we burn the whole thing down or anything like that, that’s definitely not it. Except what if we did?”
September 13, 2025
2 words that came to mind to give the feeling for the book / author… humane and kind.
This is a story of almost magical adventure of Slide. He meets people of all kinds along the way, observing kindness and cruelty, poverty and privilege and excesses. He sort of glides ( or slides ?) along, trying to find his place. So in a way it’s kind of coming of age story too.
I totally see influences of 100 years of solitude with the epic rain and flooding… characters come into focus and then fade, though some more dramatically than others.
I appreciated a light, really quite gentle treatment of violent scenes, it was never too graphics or angry.
Loved the ease of reading, though the ending section took me out a bit. The whole bit with social media didn’t jive somehow with the first part of book of almost magical reality.
Overall really great novel, fresh and something I needed to make my heart big again after catastrophic Franzen experience.
This is a story of almost magical adventure of Slide. He meets people of all kinds along the way, observing kindness and cruelty, poverty and privilege and excesses. He sort of glides ( or slides ?) along, trying to find his place. So in a way it’s kind of coming of age story too.
I totally see influences of 100 years of solitude with the epic rain and flooding… characters come into focus and then fade, though some more dramatically than others.
I appreciated a light, really quite gentle treatment of violent scenes, it was never too graphics or angry.
Loved the ease of reading, though the ending section took me out a bit. The whole bit with social media didn’t jive somehow with the first part of book of almost magical reality.
Overall really great novel, fresh and something I needed to make my heart big again after catastrophic Franzen experience.
January 31, 2024
Here's the thing, on my personal rating scale, this isn't quite a three–but a two feels unfair. Admittedly, this isn't my style of novel. I thought I was in the right mindset for it—and initially I was—but the experience didn't work out. The first 200 pages I liked. The eclectic cast of characters were strong. But then when Slide—the protagonist with an exceptional name—escapes a massive flood in the city on his journey to finding the perfect apartment in NYC (that's what the story's about), I started feeling disconnected. The book is too long, although if you're into significant character backstories to get to know them on a deeper level—even if some of them truly aren't relevant to the story—then I can see how this might appeal. The author is skilled with his witty dialog especially, but stylistically this odyssey didn't quite do it for me. I kept wondering what the purpose was; something I clearly didn't connect with enough to understand.
August 15, 2024
It’s like the creators of the show Atlanta on FX wrote a full length movie animated by the Bojack Horseman, and hire Gorillaz to do the soundtrack. For fans of Sorry To Bother You (movie), Broad City (show), absurdism, surrealism.
“She had hair down to her waist, a Cowboys way of entering a room, and the scandalous gaze of a tattletale.”
“In Sir Artem Borand’s mouth, all of the English language liquefied into molten ore for use along the ramparts against the siege of life.”
“ I couldn’t imagine myself having any dreams in there that didn’t involve some sort of stampede.”
“She had hair down to her waist, a Cowboys way of entering a room, and the scandalous gaze of a tattletale.”
“In Sir Artem Borand’s mouth, all of the English language liquefied into molten ore for use along the ramparts against the siege of life.”
“ I couldn’t imagine myself having any dreams in there that didn’t involve some sort of stampede.”
March 18, 2025
PAY AS YOU GO is one of the most unique novels I’ve ever read. The setting is brilliantly constructed and the tone is apt. I think it errs into verbosity, but that does not expend with the genuinely smart story about the generic metropolis in which the protagonist seeks to find his way. Beautiful, haunting, and inspirational all in one—even if it feels a bit diluted and checked-out at times.
November 5, 2023
In Eskor Johnson’s debut novel Pay As You Go, we travel into the marvelous, sometimes sinister, city of Polis. The novel’s hero Slide, largely amnesic of his backstory, save his skill set as a barber, embarks on a journey of not only a place to call home, but a community in which to belong. As in the grandest of epics, Slide encounters a series of vicious fates: a flood of biblical proportions, vile old aunties, accidental admittance into a street gang, and even a femme fatale.
If such ambitious plotting doesn’t persuade you to pick up this novel, then perhaps the larger themes on the futility of a modern vocation might.
Slide notes at his realtor’s office, “On the twelfth floor, the elevator doors slid open to a glare of hard times, a common area with snacks, men in suspenders and women in pale blouses pointing out things in folders. Everyone was going, “Shoot me that file,” or “We’ll set something up,” or “Let’s circle back once we’ve touched base.” (117)
Or, as Slide’s friend Calumet reflects on his previous place of employment and boss, “[It was a place] where every worker fit into his or her own role like a cog and every solution arrived before the problem….Nights would have her up late, pencil in hand, erasing and rewriting every minute of tomorrow.”
And of Slide’s reflections of trying to get ahead: “It feels like the ladder I’m climbing is a wheel.” “It’s not supposed to be a career chasing your dreams, it’s supposed to be temporary. You’re supposed to catch them eventually, aren’t you? [Or is it] Dream within your budget.”
I would be remiss not to underscore the novel’s comic tendencies; a kid named Soup-Eye steals Slide’s socks from the laundry; a fast-talking real estate agent named Osman the Throned only pretends to be helpful, Slide earns entry into a street gang by treating their lice, and for more than ten pages, ninety to one-hundred-two, the narrative is sustained by Slide’s obsession with finding a bathroom and wonders if there is a “record for holding in your pee.”
This novel of Polis—with its unexpected plot, dazzling sentences, and philosophical musings—is like looking in a funhouse mirror: distorting, curious, comic, and magnetizes parts of life, of truth, of perspective, in a whole new way. This is the most wonderfully original book I've read in years.
If such ambitious plotting doesn’t persuade you to pick up this novel, then perhaps the larger themes on the futility of a modern vocation might.
Slide notes at his realtor’s office, “On the twelfth floor, the elevator doors slid open to a glare of hard times, a common area with snacks, men in suspenders and women in pale blouses pointing out things in folders. Everyone was going, “Shoot me that file,” or “We’ll set something up,” or “Let’s circle back once we’ve touched base.” (117)
Or, as Slide’s friend Calumet reflects on his previous place of employment and boss, “[It was a place] where every worker fit into his or her own role like a cog and every solution arrived before the problem….Nights would have her up late, pencil in hand, erasing and rewriting every minute of tomorrow.”
And of Slide’s reflections of trying to get ahead: “It feels like the ladder I’m climbing is a wheel.” “It’s not supposed to be a career chasing your dreams, it’s supposed to be temporary. You’re supposed to catch them eventually, aren’t you? [Or is it] Dream within your budget.”
I would be remiss not to underscore the novel’s comic tendencies; a kid named Soup-Eye steals Slide’s socks from the laundry; a fast-talking real estate agent named Osman the Throned only pretends to be helpful, Slide earns entry into a street gang by treating their lice, and for more than ten pages, ninety to one-hundred-two, the narrative is sustained by Slide’s obsession with finding a bathroom and wonders if there is a “record for holding in your pee.”
This novel of Polis—with its unexpected plot, dazzling sentences, and philosophical musings—is like looking in a funhouse mirror: distorting, curious, comic, and magnetizes parts of life, of truth, of perspective, in a whole new way. This is the most wonderfully original book I've read in years.
November 14, 2023
I try to wait for paperbacks because they’re more cost effective and slightly more space efficient. But there are certain favourite authors whose hardbacks I won’t ever be able to resist. And sometimes I’ll get an email from McSweeney’s (when McSweeney’s get it right, they get it very right!) announcing a debut novel that sounds so precisely like something I would love that I just can’t resist it. (Even with the sometimes prohibitive cost of getting a book from the US to the UK!)
I’m happy to say this one was well worth it. Pay As You Go by Eskor David Johnson does not disappoint.
If I was writing a blurb I might describe it as an exuberant mashup of Catcher in the Rye and Confederacy of Dunces with a healthy dose of inspiration from One Hundred Years of Solitude. But that would do nowhere near the justice such a masterwork deserves. Essentially, you’ll follow Slide (you’ll be glad — his narration is close and vivid and wonderful!) as he tries to find a decent place to live. I was addicted to the sent meds before the end of page 1. But Pay As You Go is so much more than that.
But, let me assure you, this isn’t JUST a beautifully written book. It has spades of depth and substance — you know, character and story and setting and the like — to back up its excited prose. It’s playful and it’s full of energy and all of life.
Sometimes, If I’m struggling to enjoy a book I’ll read ever so slowly. Sometimes, I’ll read slowly because I’m enjoying the book so much I want to reread every page, savouring every moment. The latter is the reason it took me a week to finish Pay As You Go. While I’m happy and satisfied with its ending (I have a thing about endings…), I was so enjoying it that I could have happily read another 500 pages of Slide’s adventures.
I just want you to find a copy and buy it and read it, okay, please? Even if you’re in the UK. I promise it’s worth it.
If you take the time to get to know Slide, you’ll miss him when his story is done. I’ll miss him.
I’m happy to say this one was well worth it. Pay As You Go by Eskor David Johnson does not disappoint.
If I was writing a blurb I might describe it as an exuberant mashup of Catcher in the Rye and Confederacy of Dunces with a healthy dose of inspiration from One Hundred Years of Solitude. But that would do nowhere near the justice such a masterwork deserves. Essentially, you’ll follow Slide (you’ll be glad — his narration is close and vivid and wonderful!) as he tries to find a decent place to live. I was addicted to the sent meds before the end of page 1. But Pay As You Go is so much more than that.
But, let me assure you, this isn’t JUST a beautifully written book. It has spades of depth and substance — you know, character and story and setting and the like — to back up its excited prose. It’s playful and it’s full of energy and all of life.
Sometimes, If I’m struggling to enjoy a book I’ll read ever so slowly. Sometimes, I’ll read slowly because I’m enjoying the book so much I want to reread every page, savouring every moment. The latter is the reason it took me a week to finish Pay As You Go. While I’m happy and satisfied with its ending (I have a thing about endings…), I was so enjoying it that I could have happily read another 500 pages of Slide’s adventures.
I just want you to find a copy and buy it and read it, okay, please? Even if you’re in the UK. I promise it’s worth it.
If you take the time to get to know Slide, you’ll miss him when his story is done. I’ll miss him.
July 21, 2024
This is a wonderful debut novel. It’s always terrific to read work from a new author who is so confident in their abilities. Johnson’s command of story, tone and prose is such a delight. He is an author I will be looking out for, and I put him in the vanguard with Adam Levin and Ed Park as an exciting voice in American literature.
Pay As You Go is a modern Odysseus-like tale that follows our somewhat naive hero, Slide, as he treks across the burroughs of the sprawling fictional city of Polis in search of his perfect apartment. Along the way, we meet a cast of hilarious, tragic, and obnoxious city dwellers who, no matter what, seem to tease, manipulate, and to some degree, corrupt our hero. Polis as an idea and literary device is so simple yet ingenious. It makes the reading experience way more exciting and personal. It becomes the reader’s city, so to speak. What I loved is that Johnson takes the time and care to describe and explore the city in such detail. At times, it reminded me of Joyce’s Dublin in Ulysses and DFW’s Boston in Infinite Jest with all its sights, smells, and kinetic energy.
On top of the fun characters and perfectly paced plot, Johnson is touching on some serious subject matter. Race Relations, economic inequality, disaster relief, immigration, viral marketing, and the horrific state of the North American real estate market are significant themes and issues that are deeply embedded into the myth he has created. It exposes how some, if not most, municipal systems are inherently corrupt and how that corruption festers into the lives of the citizens who are trying to navigate them.
For someone who has lived in a big city all their life, this book is spot on. It perfectly encapsulates what I love and loathe about living in the metro(polis) I call home.
Pay As You Go is a modern Odysseus-like tale that follows our somewhat naive hero, Slide, as he treks across the burroughs of the sprawling fictional city of Polis in search of his perfect apartment. Along the way, we meet a cast of hilarious, tragic, and obnoxious city dwellers who, no matter what, seem to tease, manipulate, and to some degree, corrupt our hero. Polis as an idea and literary device is so simple yet ingenious. It makes the reading experience way more exciting and personal. It becomes the reader’s city, so to speak. What I loved is that Johnson takes the time and care to describe and explore the city in such detail. At times, it reminded me of Joyce’s Dublin in Ulysses and DFW’s Boston in Infinite Jest with all its sights, smells, and kinetic energy.
On top of the fun characters and perfectly paced plot, Johnson is touching on some serious subject matter. Race Relations, economic inequality, disaster relief, immigration, viral marketing, and the horrific state of the North American real estate market are significant themes and issues that are deeply embedded into the myth he has created. It exposes how some, if not most, municipal systems are inherently corrupt and how that corruption festers into the lives of the citizens who are trying to navigate them.
For someone who has lived in a big city all their life, this book is spot on. It perfectly encapsulates what I love and loathe about living in the metro(polis) I call home.
August 23, 2025
Slide, our protagonist, is living in a fictionalized big city, kind of similar to New York City, called Polis. His living situation is less-than-ideal, at least until he's forced to leave that apartment. Now he has to find a new place to live and a way to make money and survive, sending him on a long rollercoaster of a journey to finally find a place to call home.
This book had me hooked from the very first pages. I found it extremely relatable, taking me back to my early adult days, living with roommates and not loving where I lived. The struggle to find a place to live that is in your price range, in a good area and being able to afford it in a way where you don't have to work around the clock just to make rent.
Anytime things started looking up, it seemed something would happen out of Slide's control that would set him back, just like real life. Whether it's bureaucratic overreach, a lack of funding, or the people he chose to associate with, I think they're all applicable life lessons than many of us have dealt with on a day to day basis.
The writing is a lot of fun, it draws you in and keeps you entertained throughout. I wouldn't call it an adventure story, but it kind of feels like it with a draw to keep reading. The writing is extremely approachable, but still very impactful, walking that fine line gracefully. Eskor David Johnson clearly has a point he is trying to get across with this fable, but he doesn't knock you over the head with it. You get more out of it the more you think about it.
This is the most I've enjoyed a book in a while and it will certainly stick with me for a time to come. It just might be my new favorite book, but I want to sit with it for a little while before I officially give it that title.
This book had me hooked from the very first pages. I found it extremely relatable, taking me back to my early adult days, living with roommates and not loving where I lived. The struggle to find a place to live that is in your price range, in a good area and being able to afford it in a way where you don't have to work around the clock just to make rent.
Anytime things started looking up, it seemed something would happen out of Slide's control that would set him back, just like real life. Whether it's bureaucratic overreach, a lack of funding, or the people he chose to associate with, I think they're all applicable life lessons than many of us have dealt with on a day to day basis.
The writing is a lot of fun, it draws you in and keeps you entertained throughout. I wouldn't call it an adventure story, but it kind of feels like it with a draw to keep reading. The writing is extremely approachable, but still very impactful, walking that fine line gracefully. Eskor David Johnson clearly has a point he is trying to get across with this fable, but he doesn't knock you over the head with it. You get more out of it the more you think about it.
This is the most I've enjoyed a book in a while and it will certainly stick with me for a time to come. It just might be my new favorite book, but I want to sit with it for a little while before I officially give it that title.
November 1, 2023
"Pay As You Go" is an absolute gem of a novel that takes you on an imaginative, funny, heartfelt, and chaotic journey. The novel follows the protagonist, Slide, on his epic journey through the many neighborhoods of the fictional city of Polis in search of his ideal apartment. Every character you meet stands out, each with a unique voice, immersing you deeper and deeper into the novel’s world. Polis acts as its own character, illustrated by the vibrant personalities of each neighborhood.
Eskor David Johnson employs the perfect balance of reality, fantasy, heart, and satire to mirror our own reality, aiding you in navigating the unknown of Polis. Johnson's sharp prose and keen insight into the human condition keeps you effortlessly engaged, making this a must-read. "Pay As You Go" is more than just a tale of apartment hunting (which most of us can relate to); it is a reflection on the universal quest for belonging and the relentless pursuit of one's dreams and the constant obstacles faced in that pursuit.
Johnson's literary talents are undeniable, and his storytelling prowess shines brilliantly in this narrative, which has rightfully earned its place on the shortlist for the Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize. The vivid descriptions of the kaleidoscope of characters and the city's eclectic neighborhoods make for a delightful and immersive reading experience. This is a novel that everyone should have on their bookshelf.
Eskor David Johnson employs the perfect balance of reality, fantasy, heart, and satire to mirror our own reality, aiding you in navigating the unknown of Polis. Johnson's sharp prose and keen insight into the human condition keeps you effortlessly engaged, making this a must-read. "Pay As You Go" is more than just a tale of apartment hunting (which most of us can relate to); it is a reflection on the universal quest for belonging and the relentless pursuit of one's dreams and the constant obstacles faced in that pursuit.
Johnson's literary talents are undeniable, and his storytelling prowess shines brilliantly in this narrative, which has rightfully earned its place on the shortlist for the Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize. The vivid descriptions of the kaleidoscope of characters and the city's eclectic neighborhoods make for a delightful and immersive reading experience. This is a novel that everyone should have on their bookshelf.
September 4, 2024
To think I picked this book up after a coincidental glance at that library shelf. I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn’t.
Countless hours later, just like that… it’s finally over. I feel like I’ve zoomed through 5 different lives with this book over the span of a week. I’m in awe! From living in heaps of garbage in forests to falling out with gangs in the city, and finally the blatant manipulation of Monica Iñes. I said it before but I say it again, I really felt like that guy from the meme who’s connecting a bunch of photos and lines on a board. I’ve lost sleep over this book and it was all worth it. There were times where I thought do I really want to push through another blocky paged paragraph, but now I’m so glad that I did. Everything that happens to Slide, the people he met, and the situations he was in (I mean c’mon, it’s not everyday you find yourself in a house… with… 2 cousins trying to sabotage you AND their secret 3rd cousin). Yet everything, especially the last act of the book, was perfectly believable.
I might come back to review this thing properly later, but for now just know that I am in shock. In the best way. Thanks Eskor for writing this masterpiece.
Countless hours later, just like that… it’s finally over. I feel like I’ve zoomed through 5 different lives with this book over the span of a week. I’m in awe! From living in heaps of garbage in forests to falling out with gangs in the city, and finally the blatant manipulation of Monica Iñes. I said it before but I say it again, I really felt like that guy from the meme who’s connecting a bunch of photos and lines on a board. I’ve lost sleep over this book and it was all worth it. There were times where I thought do I really want to push through another blocky paged paragraph, but now I’m so glad that I did. Everything that happens to Slide, the people he met, and the situations he was in (I mean c’mon, it’s not everyday you find yourself in a house… with… 2 cousins trying to sabotage you AND their secret 3rd cousin). Yet everything, especially the last act of the book, was perfectly believable.
I might come back to review this thing properly later, but for now just know that I am in shock. In the best way. Thanks Eskor for writing this masterpiece.
October 30, 2023
The reviews keep comparing this book to The Odyssey. And that's pretty clear when reading it.
But really, this feels more like Ulysses. The city. The unusual writing style that isn't quite stream of consciousness, but kinda is. The vernacular speech you'd hear on any city street. The parallels to The Odyssey that are sometimes clear, sometimes obscure, and sometimes don't quite line up. It's like a fresh new Ulysses to wrap up 2023.
Just like Ulysses, it's not going to be for everyone. If you're saying "Christ I can't stand this" on page 10, stop. The structure and writing style don't change. And just because I'm comparing it to Ulysses doesn't mean I think this is a perfect book. But if you're feeling hooked on page 10, stick with it. It's worth it.
But really, this feels more like Ulysses. The city. The unusual writing style that isn't quite stream of consciousness, but kinda is. The vernacular speech you'd hear on any city street. The parallels to The Odyssey that are sometimes clear, sometimes obscure, and sometimes don't quite line up. It's like a fresh new Ulysses to wrap up 2023.
Just like Ulysses, it's not going to be for everyone. If you're saying "Christ I can't stand this" on page 10, stop. The structure and writing style don't change. And just because I'm comparing it to Ulysses doesn't mean I think this is a perfect book. But if you're feeling hooked on page 10, stick with it. It's worth it.
May 11, 2025
Our protagonist has dreams of success in a big city. To achieve this, he undertakes a journey to find an apartment. Through this journey, we meet a cast of characters who help him understand that even his most basic of dreams require a level of grit and tenacity in this cutthroat world.
It's clear that Johnson is concerned with the state of this world for young people. He understands that life now runs by a different set of rules. Through telling a story of the world as it is now, Johnson explores class, exploitation, youthful naivety, and self-discovery.
In the changing landscape of the American Dream, young people simply want a chance at success--a place to lay our heads. Johnson's anger and critique of the system is palpable, and I found a lot of solidarity within these pages.
It's clear that Johnson is concerned with the state of this world for young people. He understands that life now runs by a different set of rules. Through telling a story of the world as it is now, Johnson explores class, exploitation, youthful naivety, and self-discovery.
In the changing landscape of the American Dream, young people simply want a chance at success--a place to lay our heads. Johnson's anger and critique of the system is palpable, and I found a lot of solidarity within these pages.
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