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Commonwealth
From the author of the internationally acclaimed Torture the Artist , a fiercely funny novel about red-state politics, family traditions, and a common man who decides to fight back.
Somewhere in the middle of America dwells Blue Gene Mapother, a mullet-headed patriot who staunchly supports the American war effort without question. Besides his patriotism, little enlivens him except for pro wrestling, cigarettes, and any instance in which he thinks his masculinity is at stake. And though you wouldn’t know it, Blue Gene hails from one of the wealthiest families in the country.
His mother, a fanatical Christian socialite, has a dream in which she sees Blue Gene’s older brother, the handsome but anxious John Hustbourne Mapother, becoming an apocalyptic world savior. Eager to fulfill his mother’s prophecy, John runs for Congress but finds that as a corporate executive, he’s not very popular with his largely working-class constituents. And so, after years of estrangement, the Mapothers reach out to Blue Gene, realizing that they need his common-man touch in order to cast their family name in a more favorable light with voters.
With absurd humor and poignant wit, this timely, small-town epic takes us from flea markets to mansions to abandoned Wal-Mart buildings, all the while examining the bizarre relationship between the “high” and “low” classes of America.
Somewhere in the middle of America dwells Blue Gene Mapother, a mullet-headed patriot who staunchly supports the American war effort without question. Besides his patriotism, little enlivens him except for pro wrestling, cigarettes, and any instance in which he thinks his masculinity is at stake. And though you wouldn’t know it, Blue Gene hails from one of the wealthiest families in the country.
His mother, a fanatical Christian socialite, has a dream in which she sees Blue Gene’s older brother, the handsome but anxious John Hustbourne Mapother, becoming an apocalyptic world savior. Eager to fulfill his mother’s prophecy, John runs for Congress but finds that as a corporate executive, he’s not very popular with his largely working-class constituents. And so, after years of estrangement, the Mapothers reach out to Blue Gene, realizing that they need his common-man touch in order to cast their family name in a more favorable light with voters.
With absurd humor and poignant wit, this timely, small-town epic takes us from flea markets to mansions to abandoned Wal-Mart buildings, all the while examining the bizarre relationship between the “high” and “low” classes of America.
350 pages, Hardcover
First published June 13, 2008
19 people are currently reading
287 people want to read
About the author
Joey Goebel
15 books169 followersAdam Joseph "Joey" Goebel III (born September 2, 1980) is an American author whose work centers around the peculiarities of culture in Middle America. He was raised in Henderson, Kentucky, a small town on the Ohio River across from Evansville, Indiana. His parents, Adam Goebel of Louisville, and Nancy Bingemer Goebel of Henderson, were both social workers and met in Frankfort, Kentucky. His older sister CeCe is also a social worker.
Goebel's books have been published in over ten languages and have found their largest audience in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Goebel's books have been published in over ten languages and have found their largest audience in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
February 15, 2020
A highly entertaining political satire about the election campain of a rich family among the working class of a small town.
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Anstatt mich selbst an einer ausführlichen Review zu versuchen möchte ich auf diese ausgezeichnete Rezension verweisen.
Ich fand das Buch wirklich unterhaltsam, aber durch die satirebedingte Überzeichnung der US-amerikanischen Phänomene überzogener Patriotismus, vollkommen verblendete Religiosität, die Neigung der Unterschicht zu völlig verblödeten Freizeitbeschäftigungen, das schmerzhaft unzureichende Gesundheitssystem in den USA und die (nicht auf die USA beschränkte) Dummheit der Menschen ist mir die Geschichte öfter mal auf den Magen geschlagen.
Ich könnte mir vorstellen, dass die vom Autor beschriebenen Stimmungen ganz genauso anzutreffen sind.
Aus meiner Sicht 4 Sterne und volle Leseempfehlung.
-----------------------------
Anstatt mich selbst an einer ausführlichen Review zu versuchen möchte ich auf diese ausgezeichnete Rezension verweisen.
Ich fand das Buch wirklich unterhaltsam, aber durch die satirebedingte Überzeichnung der US-amerikanischen Phänomene überzogener Patriotismus, vollkommen verblendete Religiosität, die Neigung der Unterschicht zu völlig verblödeten Freizeitbeschäftigungen, das schmerzhaft unzureichende Gesundheitssystem in den USA und die (nicht auf die USA beschränkte) Dummheit der Menschen ist mir die Geschichte öfter mal auf den Magen geschlagen.
Ich könnte mir vorstellen, dass die vom Autor beschriebenen Stimmungen ganz genauso anzutreffen sind.
Aus meiner Sicht 4 Sterne und volle Leseempfehlung.
August 6, 2019
Stuntshows, Boxkämpfe oder sogar die dümmste Erfindung von allen: NASCAR-Rennen. Kein amerikanisches Event darf ohne eine geladene Portion Patriotismus daherkommen, inklusive schwenkender Fahnen, Südstaatenflaggen und dauerhaften "USA! USA! USA!"-Skandierungen. So auch in der Kleinstadt Bashford, die abseits der "Flat-White-mit-Sojamilch"-Kaffees, den coolen Kids mit ihre Schmartphones & den aktuellen Genderdebatten, im Herzen der USA liegt und in der Freizeitgestaltung meistens nur eine Frage des Pegels ist. Arbeitslosigkeit, fehlende soziale Auffangnetze und ein verbissen geführter Erfüllungsdrang runden dieses pittoreske White-Trash-Bild perfekt ab.
Gewinner dieses modernen Feudalismus ist die Mapother Familie, deren Tabakkonzern fast die Hälfte aller Arbeitsplätze der Region stellt. Skynet & Lugenkrebs approved. Und da es als privilegierter Konzernerbe schnell langweilig wird (nachdem die ersten 20 Jahre eine Eskapade auf die nächste folgte) kandidiert John Mapother, im Auftrag seiner streng-gläubigen Mutter für den Kongress, um (surprise, surprise) in nachfolgenden Wahlen zum Präsidenten aufzusteigen. Ein Mapother gibts sich halt nicht mit Peanuts ab!
Gegenpol dazu bildet Blue Gene, der als Aussteiger und schwarzes Schaf der Familie ein Leben voller prätentiöser Gespräche, teurer Autos und maßgeschneiderter Anzügen gegen ein Leben voller Trailerparks, Monstertruck-Shows und Rednecks mit Schrotflinte eingetauscht hat. Und ist damit vollkommen glücklich. Bis eines Tages seine Mutter unangekündigt vorbeikommt und Blue Gene bittet im Wahlkampf seines Bruders auszuhelfen.
Gekonnt meisterhaft zeichnet Goebel mit feiner, emotionaler Präsenz, ein ambivalentes Bild sozialer Eigenheiten der heutigen, amerikanischen Gesellschaft. Gerade die durch den Wahlkampf in Fokus gestellten Themen finden sich in aktuellen Debatten wieder und werden, (anders als im Roman vom Autor ironisch geschildert) mit lakonischer, bitterer und hasserfüllter Diktion geführt, ohne auch nur den Hauch von Würde erkennen zu lassen. Wahlkampf als Big-Brother mit Politikern. Homophobe, rassistische oder neo-liberale Inhalte werden durch Schlagworte, wie "Familienwerte" oder "lokale Wirtschaft" in der Metaebene verankert...same as usual.
Trotz oder gerade auf Grund der non-konformen Einstellungen und ausgeschmückten Vorgeschichten zahlreicher Charaktere erschafft der Autor eine realistische Nähe, die den sozial wunden Punkt erschreckend genau trifft. Abwechselnd treffen dabei die sozialen Missstände, Ängste und Hoffnungen der unteren Gesellschaftsschicht auf die überprivilegierten Verhältnisse, "Sorgen" und Hohe-Ross-Attitüden der oberen Gesellschaftsschicht, was in der Praxis eine wunderbar explosive Mischung erzeugt und den Leser so aktiv mit einbindet.
Dabei driftet die Narrative über die Zeit immer weiter von den oberflächlichen Wahlkampfthemen weg, hin zu einer fast märchenhaften, moralischen Charakterentwicklung, die in ihrer Häufigkeit und Wirkung einen fiesen, ironischen Unterton erhalten.
"Heartland" ist ein unglaublich fesselndes Werk, das seinen Fokus stark auf die emotionale Ebene legt, diese dafür aber auch mit Bravur zu bespielen weiß. Verschiedene, unterschiedliche Gesellschaftsschichten werden in ambivalenter Manier vom Autor eingefangen und farbenfroh wiedergespiegelt. Dabei entwickelt sich eine herzzerreißende Geschichte über die Fragen der eigenen Verantwortungen und Aufgaben in der Gesellschaft, sowie eine dramatische Familiengeschichte mit einer ordentlichen Portion Leichen im Keller.
Ohne Schleichwerbung machen zu wollen: eine ausführlichere, auditive Rezension zu diesem tollen Werk (und zwei anderen Goebel-Büchern) findet ihr unter diesem Link.
Gewinner dieses modernen Feudalismus ist die Mapother Familie, deren Tabakkonzern fast die Hälfte aller Arbeitsplätze der Region stellt. Skynet & Lugenkrebs approved. Und da es als privilegierter Konzernerbe schnell langweilig wird (nachdem die ersten 20 Jahre eine Eskapade auf die nächste folgte) kandidiert John Mapother, im Auftrag seiner streng-gläubigen Mutter für den Kongress, um (surprise, surprise) in nachfolgenden Wahlen zum Präsidenten aufzusteigen. Ein Mapother gibts sich halt nicht mit Peanuts ab!
Gegenpol dazu bildet Blue Gene, der als Aussteiger und schwarzes Schaf der Familie ein Leben voller prätentiöser Gespräche, teurer Autos und maßgeschneiderter Anzügen gegen ein Leben voller Trailerparks, Monstertruck-Shows und Rednecks mit Schrotflinte eingetauscht hat. Und ist damit vollkommen glücklich. Bis eines Tages seine Mutter unangekündigt vorbeikommt und Blue Gene bittet im Wahlkampf seines Bruders auszuhelfen.
Gekonnt meisterhaft zeichnet Goebel mit feiner, emotionaler Präsenz, ein ambivalentes Bild sozialer Eigenheiten der heutigen, amerikanischen Gesellschaft. Gerade die durch den Wahlkampf in Fokus gestellten Themen finden sich in aktuellen Debatten wieder und werden, (anders als im Roman vom Autor ironisch geschildert) mit lakonischer, bitterer und hasserfüllter Diktion geführt, ohne auch nur den Hauch von Würde erkennen zu lassen. Wahlkampf als Big-Brother mit Politikern. Homophobe, rassistische oder neo-liberale Inhalte werden durch Schlagworte, wie "Familienwerte" oder "lokale Wirtschaft" in der Metaebene verankert...same as usual.
Trotz oder gerade auf Grund der non-konformen Einstellungen und ausgeschmückten Vorgeschichten zahlreicher Charaktere erschafft der Autor eine realistische Nähe, die den sozial wunden Punkt erschreckend genau trifft. Abwechselnd treffen dabei die sozialen Missstände, Ängste und Hoffnungen der unteren Gesellschaftsschicht auf die überprivilegierten Verhältnisse, "Sorgen" und Hohe-Ross-Attitüden der oberen Gesellschaftsschicht, was in der Praxis eine wunderbar explosive Mischung erzeugt und den Leser so aktiv mit einbindet.
Dabei driftet die Narrative über die Zeit immer weiter von den oberflächlichen Wahlkampfthemen weg, hin zu einer fast märchenhaften, moralischen Charakterentwicklung, die in ihrer Häufigkeit und Wirkung einen fiesen, ironischen Unterton erhalten.
"Heartland" ist ein unglaublich fesselndes Werk, das seinen Fokus stark auf die emotionale Ebene legt, diese dafür aber auch mit Bravur zu bespielen weiß. Verschiedene, unterschiedliche Gesellschaftsschichten werden in ambivalenter Manier vom Autor eingefangen und farbenfroh wiedergespiegelt. Dabei entwickelt sich eine herzzerreißende Geschichte über die Fragen der eigenen Verantwortungen und Aufgaben in der Gesellschaft, sowie eine dramatische Familiengeschichte mit einer ordentlichen Portion Leichen im Keller.
Ohne Schleichwerbung machen zu wollen: eine ausführlichere, auditive Rezension zu diesem tollen Werk (und zwei anderen Goebel-Büchern) findet ihr unter diesem Link.
September 3, 2025
712 Seiten Spaß und extrem scharfe Dialoge!!
March 7, 2009
I wanted to like this book. I really really wanted to like it... but in the end I was disappointed. The first half was good, but when I only had 100 pages to go it hit a wall. It took me probably a week to read those last 100 pages. It was like being in a swamp. It takes so much effort to walk through it but on the other hand, you don't want to lie down in it, so you keep on slopping through.
I found it hard to stay interested after the Big Surprise Twist (which, no, I didn't see coming. So that's a good point, I guess). You would think the opposite would be true; that I wouldn't be able to put it down. I don't know why it was so hard to finish. It was just so long. It seems like the same story could have been told in 300 pages rather than 500. It's not that I dislike long books. I dislike fluff and filler.
And while the last hundred pages dragged, the last chapter was extremely rushed. Things happened without any explanation or with too much explanation (does that make sense?). I had an "Oh, brother" moment which I never would have expected from a Goebel story.
The premise was great, but new elements kept getting thrown in, making it weirder and weirder and harder for me to care. In the end, I didn't truly care what happened to any of the characters. Nothing was wrapped up fully and the last few pages had me scratching my head. I still can't figure it out. If you want true Goebel magic, read The Anomalies
I found it hard to stay interested after the Big Surprise Twist (which, no, I didn't see coming. So that's a good point, I guess). You would think the opposite would be true; that I wouldn't be able to put it down. I don't know why it was so hard to finish. It was just so long. It seems like the same story could have been told in 300 pages rather than 500. It's not that I dislike long books. I dislike fluff and filler.
And while the last hundred pages dragged, the last chapter was extremely rushed. Things happened without any explanation or with too much explanation (does that make sense?). I had an "Oh, brother" moment which I never would have expected from a Goebel story.
The premise was great, but new elements kept getting thrown in, making it weirder and weirder and harder for me to care. In the end, I didn't truly care what happened to any of the characters. Nothing was wrapped up fully and the last few pages had me scratching my head. I still can't figure it out. If you want true Goebel magic, read The Anomalies
December 1, 2019
Joey Goebel ist immer dann am besten, wenn er die Lebensweisen der USA mit bösem Humor und scharfem Blick beobachtet. "Heartland" hinterfragt nicht nur das politische System, sondern entführt Leserinnen und Leser in die Welt der "Rednecks". Hier werden Kriege als wichtiges Mittel der Freiheitserhaltung angeschaut, Wrestling ist ein Volksfest und linke Gedankengänge Teufelswerk. Religiöse Verblendungen mischen sich mit Waffengeilheit, Bierkonsum und fette Bäuche mit lauten Autos.
Doch was passiert, wenn ein so denkender Mensch plötzlich seine eigenen Handlungen und Meinungen zu hinterfragen beginnt? Wird politischer Aktivismus möglich? Welche Rolle spielen Geld und Herkunft im Leben? All diese Punkte werden bei "Heartland" angesprochen, mit viel absurden Figurenzeichnungen und sarkastischen Sätzen. Ein langes Buch, das sehr schnell zu lesen ist, mit viel Witz und leider einem etwas zu pauschalisiertem Ende.
Doch was passiert, wenn ein so denkender Mensch plötzlich seine eigenen Handlungen und Meinungen zu hinterfragen beginnt? Wird politischer Aktivismus möglich? Welche Rolle spielen Geld und Herkunft im Leben? All diese Punkte werden bei "Heartland" angesprochen, mit viel absurden Figurenzeichnungen und sarkastischen Sätzen. Ein langes Buch, das sehr schnell zu lesen ist, mit viel Witz und leider einem etwas zu pauschalisiertem Ende.
January 23, 2015
Came as a reccomendation from a friend, turned out to be a great one. I really enjoyed the writing and found myself absorbed into the story. The writing style lends well to visualization, which is complemented by an incredible attention to character creation.
February 10, 2009
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
So as if the Bush administration didn't cause enough damage when they were actually in power, the lit world is seeing a growing problem even in these Obama days that was still ultimately caused by them -- namely, the proliferation these days of sh-tty f-cking obvious political novels about the Bush administration. Take for example Joey Goebel's Commonwealth, whose badness is especially inexplicable given that it was personally recommended to me by a friend whose opinion I usually admire (who in fact physically tracked down a copy of the book and gave it to me, just to guarantee that I'd read it), a book which has received nothing but five-star ratings so far at Amazon; much like Augusten Burroughs' Running With Scissors, I kept having to stop while reading this and checking the front cover, wondering constantly whether I was reading the same book these other people had.
See, it's the story of one "Blue" Gene Mapother, about the most ludicrously cartoonish stereotype of an uneducated hillbilly you'll find in contemporary fiction; the exact kind of mullet-sporting, flea-market-vending, NASCAR-watching illiterate brownshirt thug who put Bush and his cronies into power both in 2000 and again in '04. But see, he also happens to be the son of the twelfth richest man in the US, the scion of a tobacco empire who owns most of the backwards small town where all these characters live. Pop's own political dreams were squashed when younger, after discovering that his grating personality will always keep him from getting elected; and that's why he's been grooming Gene's meek brother John since childhood for an eventual political career instead, almost ruined when he became a drug addict in his twenties, eventually saved by his sex-hating Evangelical wife, who in classic puppetmaster style has seized the social-issue agenda of John's first-ever Congressional campaign, taking place over the course of this novel. Only one problem, though, which is that John's blue-blood elitism doesn't play well with the mouth-breathers actually responsible for voting him in; and thus is black-sheep Gene called back into the family fold, promised whatever he wants in return for delivering the "Bubba Vote."
Holy sh-t, ladies and gentlemen, can you even count the number of lazy stereotypes concerning paleocon America just mentioned in that last paragraph? Oh, but it just keeps getting worse, believe it or not, much worse; turns out that Gene ends up meeting and dating an alt-rock lefty hottie, who convinces him to convert the old flea-market space (in reality an abandoned Wal-Mart -- insert eyeroll here) into a Progressive community center (the "Commonwealth" of the book's title), providing things like free healthcare to the town's citizens using the newfound political pull of his ideologically hijacked family. And that's when things start getting truly ridiculous, which is why I'll stop my plot recap at this point.
Now, all of this is bad enough, of course; but now combine it with a whole series of logic holes found throughout this manuscript, just glaring omissions sometimes in common sense that will make most intelligent readers shake their heads in frustration. Like, it's obvious that Gene takes his redneckiness seriously, and that he's supposed to legitimately believe in the flag-shirt-wearing jingoism on display; but it's also a fact that he was raised his entire childhood in the same elitist blue-blood mansion environment that his brother John was, being forced to wear prep clothes and sport a tasteful haircut all the way until the age of eighteen, and with him only in his mid-twenties now. So you're telling me that this guy then ends up artificially affecting all of these hillbilly accrouchements by choice, every single one of them, over the course of just half a decade altogether, without it even once ever occurring to him, "You know, it seems to me that maybe I'm actually putting on a costume of red-state authenticity, and am in reality a self-parodying joke?" Not even once? Or how about when Gene asks John to meet him at a monster-truck rally to discuss the campaign; and not only does John try to keep it a secret, despite his campaign staff desperately trying to make him look more like a regular blue-collar joe whenever humanly possible, but even wears a full freaking business suit to it? Are you really telling me that a candidate for Congress and his entire campaign staff are too f-cking stupid to understand, "If you don't want hillbillies to think of you as an elite snob, you shouldn't wear a business suit to a monster-truck rally?" Really?
I mean, I get what Goebel is going for, and I get why the front cover prominently features praise from Tom Robbins; Goebel obviously means for this to be a wacky absurdist comedy in the style of Robbins himself or Carl Hiassen or Christopher Moore, a deliberately ridiculous fairytale that very much on purpose uses cartoonish stereotypes precisely to tell a quietly astute political fable underneath it all. No no, what I'm saying is that Goebel sucks at this, a ham-fisted writer possessing all the subtlety of a brick to the head spray-painted "IMPEACH BUSH," who manages over the course of 500 excruciating pages to offer no more original an insight than, "Rich people bad, little kids good." I'd be merely disappointed if this was done using a 200-page story; but at the size of an entire ream of paper like it currently is, its pointlessness makes me actively angry, and the four days I wasted on it I feel earns me the right to be an attitude-laden little snot about it. What a real letdown this was, after hearing so many great things about it; needless to say, it's a book to be avoided at all costs.
Out of 10: 4.4
So as if the Bush administration didn't cause enough damage when they were actually in power, the lit world is seeing a growing problem even in these Obama days that was still ultimately caused by them -- namely, the proliferation these days of sh-tty f-cking obvious political novels about the Bush administration. Take for example Joey Goebel's Commonwealth, whose badness is especially inexplicable given that it was personally recommended to me by a friend whose opinion I usually admire (who in fact physically tracked down a copy of the book and gave it to me, just to guarantee that I'd read it), a book which has received nothing but five-star ratings so far at Amazon; much like Augusten Burroughs' Running With Scissors, I kept having to stop while reading this and checking the front cover, wondering constantly whether I was reading the same book these other people had.
See, it's the story of one "Blue" Gene Mapother, about the most ludicrously cartoonish stereotype of an uneducated hillbilly you'll find in contemporary fiction; the exact kind of mullet-sporting, flea-market-vending, NASCAR-watching illiterate brownshirt thug who put Bush and his cronies into power both in 2000 and again in '04. But see, he also happens to be the son of the twelfth richest man in the US, the scion of a tobacco empire who owns most of the backwards small town where all these characters live. Pop's own political dreams were squashed when younger, after discovering that his grating personality will always keep him from getting elected; and that's why he's been grooming Gene's meek brother John since childhood for an eventual political career instead, almost ruined when he became a drug addict in his twenties, eventually saved by his sex-hating Evangelical wife, who in classic puppetmaster style has seized the social-issue agenda of John's first-ever Congressional campaign, taking place over the course of this novel. Only one problem, though, which is that John's blue-blood elitism doesn't play well with the mouth-breathers actually responsible for voting him in; and thus is black-sheep Gene called back into the family fold, promised whatever he wants in return for delivering the "Bubba Vote."
Holy sh-t, ladies and gentlemen, can you even count the number of lazy stereotypes concerning paleocon America just mentioned in that last paragraph? Oh, but it just keeps getting worse, believe it or not, much worse; turns out that Gene ends up meeting and dating an alt-rock lefty hottie, who convinces him to convert the old flea-market space (in reality an abandoned Wal-Mart -- insert eyeroll here) into a Progressive community center (the "Commonwealth" of the book's title), providing things like free healthcare to the town's citizens using the newfound political pull of his ideologically hijacked family. And that's when things start getting truly ridiculous, which is why I'll stop my plot recap at this point.
Now, all of this is bad enough, of course; but now combine it with a whole series of logic holes found throughout this manuscript, just glaring omissions sometimes in common sense that will make most intelligent readers shake their heads in frustration. Like, it's obvious that Gene takes his redneckiness seriously, and that he's supposed to legitimately believe in the flag-shirt-wearing jingoism on display; but it's also a fact that he was raised his entire childhood in the same elitist blue-blood mansion environment that his brother John was, being forced to wear prep clothes and sport a tasteful haircut all the way until the age of eighteen, and with him only in his mid-twenties now. So you're telling me that this guy then ends up artificially affecting all of these hillbilly accrouchements by choice, every single one of them, over the course of just half a decade altogether, without it even once ever occurring to him, "You know, it seems to me that maybe I'm actually putting on a costume of red-state authenticity, and am in reality a self-parodying joke?" Not even once? Or how about when Gene asks John to meet him at a monster-truck rally to discuss the campaign; and not only does John try to keep it a secret, despite his campaign staff desperately trying to make him look more like a regular blue-collar joe whenever humanly possible, but even wears a full freaking business suit to it? Are you really telling me that a candidate for Congress and his entire campaign staff are too f-cking stupid to understand, "If you don't want hillbillies to think of you as an elite snob, you shouldn't wear a business suit to a monster-truck rally?" Really?
I mean, I get what Goebel is going for, and I get why the front cover prominently features praise from Tom Robbins; Goebel obviously means for this to be a wacky absurdist comedy in the style of Robbins himself or Carl Hiassen or Christopher Moore, a deliberately ridiculous fairytale that very much on purpose uses cartoonish stereotypes precisely to tell a quietly astute political fable underneath it all. No no, what I'm saying is that Goebel sucks at this, a ham-fisted writer possessing all the subtlety of a brick to the head spray-painted "IMPEACH BUSH," who manages over the course of 500 excruciating pages to offer no more original an insight than, "Rich people bad, little kids good." I'd be merely disappointed if this was done using a 200-page story; but at the size of an entire ream of paper like it currently is, its pointlessness makes me actively angry, and the four days I wasted on it I feel earns me the right to be an attitude-laden little snot about it. What a real letdown this was, after hearing so many great things about it; needless to say, it's a book to be avoided at all costs.
Out of 10: 4.4
January 24, 2021
Blue Gene ist das schwarze Schaf seiner Familie. Die Mapothers gehören zu den mächtigsten Menschen in der Kleinstadt Bashford und während der ältere Sohn John Mapothers in den amerikanischen Kongress gewählt werden möchte, verkauft sein kleiner Bruder auf Flohmärkten seine Habseligkeiten, um mit etwas Geld über die Runden zu kommen. Blue Gene ist Teil einer Gesellschaftsschicht, die John dringend benötigt, um seinen Wahlkampf zu gewinnen. Leider hat er absolut keine Ahnung wie die Welt dieser Wähler aussieht und Blue Gene soll nun Teil des Wahlkampfteams werden um genau diese Menschen abzuholen und das geht natürlich nicht ohne den ein oder anderen Skandal daher...
Mit „Heartland“ hat Joey Goebel einen wirklich grandiosen gesellschaftskritischen Familienroman geschaffen, der die Problematiken der amerikanischen Kultur aufzeigt. Was wäre Amerika ohne eine ordentliche Portion Patriotismus, ohne „USA! USA! USA!“ Rufe und ohne Fahnenschwenken vor jeglichen Events? Joey Goebel greift sämtliche Klischees, die man über die Vereinigten Staaten kennt, auf und bringt sie in die Kleinstadt Bashford im mittleren Westen der USA. Er vereint die Welten von Trailerparks, biertrinkenden Wrestling- und Monstertruckfans mit den teuren Maßanzügen und bedeutungsschwangeren Gesprächen zur aktuellen Weltpolitik bei einem kleinen Gläschen Schampus in teuren Villen – mit dabei immer ein Hauch von Homophobie und natürlich Rassismus, was auch sonst. Die Charakterzeichnungen sind absolut grandios gelungen und Sympathie trotzdem in weiter Ferne. Gerade in der jetzigen Zeit, kann man sich einige Figuren gut als Trump-Fanatiker vorstellen. Das Buch ließ sich trotz seiner Länge von 712 Seiten recht schnell lesen. Durch Goebels Schreibstil hatte ich direkt den Film dazu im Kopf und durch die stets mitschwingende Satire war das Lesen eine wirkliche Freude. Ich glaube, 200 Seiten weniger hätten dem Buch zwar nicht geschadet, aber dennoch gibt es von mir ohne Frage eine Leseempfehlung.
Mit „Heartland“ hat Joey Goebel einen wirklich grandiosen gesellschaftskritischen Familienroman geschaffen, der die Problematiken der amerikanischen Kultur aufzeigt. Was wäre Amerika ohne eine ordentliche Portion Patriotismus, ohne „USA! USA! USA!“ Rufe und ohne Fahnenschwenken vor jeglichen Events? Joey Goebel greift sämtliche Klischees, die man über die Vereinigten Staaten kennt, auf und bringt sie in die Kleinstadt Bashford im mittleren Westen der USA. Er vereint die Welten von Trailerparks, biertrinkenden Wrestling- und Monstertruckfans mit den teuren Maßanzügen und bedeutungsschwangeren Gesprächen zur aktuellen Weltpolitik bei einem kleinen Gläschen Schampus in teuren Villen – mit dabei immer ein Hauch von Homophobie und natürlich Rassismus, was auch sonst. Die Charakterzeichnungen sind absolut grandios gelungen und Sympathie trotzdem in weiter Ferne. Gerade in der jetzigen Zeit, kann man sich einige Figuren gut als Trump-Fanatiker vorstellen. Das Buch ließ sich trotz seiner Länge von 712 Seiten recht schnell lesen. Durch Goebels Schreibstil hatte ich direkt den Film dazu im Kopf und durch die stets mitschwingende Satire war das Lesen eine wirkliche Freude. Ich glaube, 200 Seiten weniger hätten dem Buch zwar nicht geschadet, aber dennoch gibt es von mir ohne Frage eine Leseempfehlung.
January 10, 2017
An easy to read, often hilarious, entertaining political satire.
The setting is quirky and (to me) strange, exotic almost: A midsized town in Kentucky, far away from "modern" and liberal ideas. None of the characters are really likeable, yet they are all super interesting and really fleshed out. There's the rich Matopher family with its old money and values, a family of those who have and won't share (they employ people in their tobacco plant, the payment is poor, but hey, why would that matter, they create jobs, you know?). Dad's a terrible snob, mum's mostly wrapped up in her reiligion. The oldest son wants to become a poltician but is he really up to it? The youngest son is the black sheep of the family, he wants neither money nor luxury, just his mobile home, a few smokes and a good wrestling show. But the family needs him to get the votes of those like him, those who make up the majority of the county - the poor/uneducated/working class people. And that's where things get messy. And I haven't even touched the dark family secret that may mess up things even more. Uh oh!
So the plot twist was cool, I didn't see it coming at all. Also, I really enjoyed the writing style, the scenery and characterisation all felt very real and "alive". But in the end, it dragged here and there - I could've done with 150-200 pages less. Still a good read, though, especially with the results of the '16 US election in mind and who voted whom.
The setting is quirky and (to me) strange, exotic almost: A midsized town in Kentucky, far away from "modern" and liberal ideas. None of the characters are really likeable, yet they are all super interesting and really fleshed out. There's the rich Matopher family with its old money and values, a family of those who have and won't share (they employ people in their tobacco plant, the payment is poor, but hey, why would that matter, they create jobs, you know?). Dad's a terrible snob, mum's mostly wrapped up in her reiligion. The oldest son wants to become a poltician but is he really up to it? The youngest son is the black sheep of the family, he wants neither money nor luxury, just his mobile home, a few smokes and a good wrestling show. But the family needs him to get the votes of those like him, those who make up the majority of the county - the poor/uneducated/working class people. And that's where things get messy. And I haven't even touched the dark family secret that may mess up things even more. Uh oh!
So the plot twist was cool, I didn't see it coming at all. Also, I really enjoyed the writing style, the scenery and characterisation all felt very real and "alive". But in the end, it dragged here and there - I could've done with 150-200 pages less. Still a good read, though, especially with the results of the '16 US election in mind and who voted whom.
April 13, 2021
Blue Gene ist das schwarze Schaf in seiner Familie. Während sein Bruder als Spitzenkandidat in der Politik durchstarten möchte und sich aufgrund des Familienunternehmens schon einen starken Namen aufgebaut hat, verkauft Blue Gene alte Actionfiguren auf Flohmärkten und geht gerne zu Wrestling- und Monstertruckshows. In seiner Auftrittsweise und Wortwahl ist er simpel und ein amerikanischer Patriot wie er im Buche steht. Als sein Bruder John ihn um Mithilfe beim Wahlkampf bittet, ist er erstmal abgeneigt. Doch dann offenbart sich ihm ein Geheimnis, was seine Familie seit Ewigkeiten zu vertuschen versucht.
Mein erster Roman von Joey Goebel hat mich definitiv nicht enttäuscht. Anfangs war es für mich sehr ungewohntes Terrain, da die Geschichte aus Blue Genes Sicht erzählt wird und dieser nicht unbedingt vor Sympathie strotzt. Trotzdem ist es mir dank des einfachen und umgangssprachlichen Schreibstils gelungen, schnell in die Story einzutauchen. Auch wenn das Buch nicht aktuell ist, so ist die Thematik mit dem Wahlkampf in Amerika und generell dem Thema Patriotismus wohl doch ein Dauerbrenner. Neben einigen Twists ist das Buch spannender als ich anfangs erwartet hätte und hat einige tiefgreifende Passagen, die mich immer noch über das Gelesene nachdenken lassen. Wer sich für Politik und die amerikanische Kultur interessiert, oder einfach mal wieder Lust auf ein sehr intensives Familiendrama mit ordentlich Gesellschaftskritik hat, ist mit diesem Roman sehr gut bedient.
Mein erster Roman von Joey Goebel hat mich definitiv nicht enttäuscht. Anfangs war es für mich sehr ungewohntes Terrain, da die Geschichte aus Blue Genes Sicht erzählt wird und dieser nicht unbedingt vor Sympathie strotzt. Trotzdem ist es mir dank des einfachen und umgangssprachlichen Schreibstils gelungen, schnell in die Story einzutauchen. Auch wenn das Buch nicht aktuell ist, so ist die Thematik mit dem Wahlkampf in Amerika und generell dem Thema Patriotismus wohl doch ein Dauerbrenner. Neben einigen Twists ist das Buch spannender als ich anfangs erwartet hätte und hat einige tiefgreifende Passagen, die mich immer noch über das Gelesene nachdenken lassen. Wer sich für Politik und die amerikanische Kultur interessiert, oder einfach mal wieder Lust auf ein sehr intensives Familiendrama mit ordentlich Gesellschaftskritik hat, ist mit diesem Roman sehr gut bedient.
December 23, 2020
Nachdem ich mehrere wundervolle Bücher von Joey Goebel gelesen habe, war klar, dass mir irgendwann eines nicht so gut gefallen würde. "Heartland" hat durchaus starke Momente bei der Beschreibung von der US-amerikanischen Bevölkerung und man versteht besser wie ein Donald Trump möglich wurde. Aber mit 700 Seiten ist es einfach viel zu lang! Ich habe mich durch jede Seite gequält und die Geschichte ist zudem noch komplett abgedreht. So etwas habe ich schon lange nicht mehr gelesen...
Es kann natürlich sein, dass das Buch 2008 deutlich prophetischer und überraschender war als es heute ist. Unter Obama wirkten die USA noch nicht ganz so gespalten wie unter Trump. Daher sind wir vielleicht heute einfach abgehärteter von den ganzen Skandalen, sodass das Buch wenig Neues und Überraschendes zu bieten hat.
Bessere Bücher von Joey Goebel sind "Ich gegen Osborne", "Irgendwann wird es gut" und "Vincent". Nicht ohne Grund ist er einer meiner Lieblingsautoren❤
Es kann natürlich sein, dass das Buch 2008 deutlich prophetischer und überraschender war als es heute ist. Unter Obama wirkten die USA noch nicht ganz so gespalten wie unter Trump. Daher sind wir vielleicht heute einfach abgehärteter von den ganzen Skandalen, sodass das Buch wenig Neues und Überraschendes zu bieten hat.
Bessere Bücher von Joey Goebel sind "Ich gegen Osborne", "Irgendwann wird es gut" und "Vincent". Nicht ohne Grund ist er einer meiner Lieblingsautoren❤
January 2, 2016
Ohhhh, what a book.
The start / beginning was very, very dogged / dull. I read two pages, made a break and after two weeks I read the next two pages! But after 100 / 150 pages, I read and read and read!
The last 500-600 pages in a few days.
This says a lot.
The start / beginning was very, very dogged / dull. I read two pages, made a break and after two weeks I read the next two pages! But after 100 / 150 pages, I read and read and read!
The last 500-600 pages in a few days.
This says a lot.
December 23, 2021
Çok keyifliydi. Yolda tatilde bi seyler okumak isteyenler icin dogru secim.
August 19, 2022
This book was torture (German version). I don't know why I even finished it. The main storyline is actually so thin, I am astonished how the author managed to make the book 700+ pages long. I hope this was all irony, but to be honest I cannot tell.
To sum it up: thin plot, annoying main characters (though Blue Gene is kinda likeable, but also stupid), cliché depiction of the US (homophobic, white supremacy, apparent equality when it comes to being able to go from rags to riches etc.) and also depicting is as a good way to think like that, even making the characters embodying that win in the end.
And then there's also this prophecy thing.
Would not recommend.
To sum it up: thin plot, annoying main characters (though Blue Gene is kinda likeable, but also stupid), cliché depiction of the US (homophobic, white supremacy, apparent equality when it comes to being able to go from rags to riches etc.) and also depicting is as a good way to think like that, even making the characters embodying that win in the end.
And then there's also this prophecy thing.
Would not recommend.
August 15, 2023
A few parts were funny, but other than that I couldn't care less about the story.
March 30, 2015
This is going to be though to review, because it was such a roller-coaster of a read. Let me try to walk you through:
At first, I was like “meh, not another book about people trying to get into politics... No thank you.” I had just read “house of Cards” and thought I had seen it all.
Then I started reading and was blown away. The settings and characters were so stereotypical and yet so real. It was a sharp portray of the lower classes of America, and critical, too. Then I got a main character with social anxiety who is forced to go into politics because his parents want him to and fell in love with him. The whole idea of the book was really interesting as well, the older brother being helped to gain votes by the younger brother who lives in a trailer and works at a flea market and does not care for the family money.
It got a bit rough later on. I had my doubts about all the religiousness and homophobic opinions and pro-war speeches that were held. Once I realized they were only there as conflict and for the main characters to react to, my mood got better, though. Then Goebel introduced the female lead, who is so cool because she has a political opinion, is not afraid to share it, can stand up for her views and is not romantically involved with anyone.
After the big plot twist (I am still not sure I liked it) I was a bit confused again, because I had seen the dynamic of the brothers getting the older one into politics as the main topic of the book, not the family drama. But okay...
Now, closer to the end, there was the catastrophe, which made me read the rest of the novel in one part, because I wanted to know how it ends. The conclusion of it all was a tiny disappointment from my high expectations at the start, but it was okay.
So, summing up: great novel, captures the “real” America you are not usually shown, criticizes front and center, well written, captivating, great characters (really quirky and individual), great dynamics and conflicts. Does show some conservative, anti-homophobic (among others) opinions, but does not support them. Still, comfort warning for those.
At first, I was like “meh, not another book about people trying to get into politics... No thank you.” I had just read “house of Cards” and thought I had seen it all.
Then I started reading and was blown away. The settings and characters were so stereotypical and yet so real. It was a sharp portray of the lower classes of America, and critical, too. Then I got a main character with social anxiety who is forced to go into politics because his parents want him to and fell in love with him. The whole idea of the book was really interesting as well, the older brother being helped to gain votes by the younger brother who lives in a trailer and works at a flea market and does not care for the family money.
It got a bit rough later on. I had my doubts about all the religiousness and homophobic opinions and pro-war speeches that were held. Once I realized they were only there as conflict and for the main characters to react to, my mood got better, though. Then Goebel introduced the female lead, who is so cool because she has a political opinion, is not afraid to share it, can stand up for her views and is not romantically involved with anyone.
After the big plot twist (I am still not sure I liked it) I was a bit confused again, because I had seen the dynamic of the brothers getting the older one into politics as the main topic of the book, not the family drama. But okay...
Now, closer to the end, there was the catastrophe, which made me read the rest of the novel in one part, because I wanted to know how it ends. The conclusion of it all was a tiny disappointment from my high expectations at the start, but it was okay.
So, summing up: great novel, captures the “real” America you are not usually shown, criticizes front and center, well written, captivating, great characters (really quirky and individual), great dynamics and conflicts. Does show some conservative, anti-homophobic (among others) opinions, but does not support them. Still, comfort warning for those.
March 23, 2011
Die USA vor der Wahl für das Repräsentantenhauses: John Mapother, 40-jähriger Sproß einer der reichsten Familien des Landes, sieht in seiner Kandidatur den Anfang einer Karriere, die in der Präsidentschaft ihren Höhepunkt finden soll. Um sich auch die Stimmen der Unter- und Mittelschicht zu sichern, spannt er seinen 13 Jahre jüngeren Bruder Blue Gene ein. Der hat sich von der Familie und ihrem Reichtum losgesagt, wohnt in einem Trailer und arbeitet als Flohmarktverkäufer, stellt also das krasse Gegenstück zum Snobismus und dem besseren Leben der Mapothers dar. Aber genau dadurch soll er Johns Image auch bei diesem Klientel bessern und Wahlwerbung machen. Als berge dieses Aufeinanderknallen der Kulturen, Wrestling versus Gala Diner, Flohmarkt versus Big Business, nicht schon genug Konfliktpotential, bahnen sich zudem dunkle Familiengeheimnisse ihren Weg ans Licht, die die Pläne der Mapothers zu vereiteln drohen.
Passend am 4. Juli im großen amerikanischen Wahljahr 2008 erschienen erzählt Heartland die Verbindung einer Familiengeschichte, die Spuren der Extreme wie bei John Irving aufweist, mit einer Gesellschaftssatire, die inhaltlich teilweise an die Dokumentationen von Michael Moore erinnert. Beinahe unvorstellbar sind hierzulande die Waffenvernarrtheit, die Rolle, die der Glaube an Gott spielt und wie er mißbraucht wird, der blinde und aggressive Patriotismus, der für viele den einzigen Halt darstellt, weil sie nichts anderes haben. Doch Joey Goebel erzählt auch von Träumen einer besseren Welt, von Alternativen, von Liebe und Ehrlichkeit.
Joey Goebel, 1980 geboren als Sohn zweier Sozialarbeiter, schreibt flüssig und spannend, so daß die 720 Seiten wie im Fluge vergehen. Wer den reißerischen Stil des Michael Moore nicht so mag und dennoch etwas über das Leben in den USA erfahren will, wie schwierig und ungerecht es sein kann, sollte sich Heartland unbedingt zu Gemüte führen. Wer einfach eine gute und fesselnde Geschichte lesen will, kann es dem gleich tun. Heartland bietet beides.
Passend am 4. Juli im großen amerikanischen Wahljahr 2008 erschienen erzählt Heartland die Verbindung einer Familiengeschichte, die Spuren der Extreme wie bei John Irving aufweist, mit einer Gesellschaftssatire, die inhaltlich teilweise an die Dokumentationen von Michael Moore erinnert. Beinahe unvorstellbar sind hierzulande die Waffenvernarrtheit, die Rolle, die der Glaube an Gott spielt und wie er mißbraucht wird, der blinde und aggressive Patriotismus, der für viele den einzigen Halt darstellt, weil sie nichts anderes haben. Doch Joey Goebel erzählt auch von Träumen einer besseren Welt, von Alternativen, von Liebe und Ehrlichkeit.
Joey Goebel, 1980 geboren als Sohn zweier Sozialarbeiter, schreibt flüssig und spannend, so daß die 720 Seiten wie im Fluge vergehen. Wer den reißerischen Stil des Michael Moore nicht so mag und dennoch etwas über das Leben in den USA erfahren will, wie schwierig und ungerecht es sein kann, sollte sich Heartland unbedingt zu Gemüte führen. Wer einfach eine gute und fesselnde Geschichte lesen will, kann es dem gleich tun. Heartland bietet beides.
July 23, 2020
Blue Gene Mapother ist ein Loser wie aus dem Bilderbuch: er trägt eine scheußliche Frisur, einen unsäglichen Schnurrbart und unmögliche Klamotten, lebt in einem Trailerpark und verdient ein kleines bisschen Geld mit dem Versuch, auf Flohmärkten alte Actionfiguren zu verticken. Seine Hauptinteressen: Wrestling und Monstertruck-Shows. Freunde hat er wenig, denn das Kontakthalten ist ihm irgendwann einfach zu anstrengend geworden. Kaum zu glauben, dass dieser abgewrackte Typ der Spross einer der reichsten und bekanntesten Familien der USA sein soll. Aber mit dieser Familie hat er schon lange gebrochen.
Doch nun, da sein älterer Bruder John fürs Repräsentantenhaus kandidiert, könnte Blue Gene durchaus wieder von Nutzen für die Familie sein, wenn es darum geht, die Stimmen des „niederen Volkes“ zu gewinnen. Und so macht sich Mutter Elizabeth auf zum Flohmarkt, um den verlorenen Sohn zurückzuholen.
Nach anfänglicher Skepsis lässt er sich sogar darauf ein, für den geschniegelten John, den der Familienpatriarch schon immer à la Kennedy für ein Wahlamt vorgesehen hatte, auf Stimmenfang zu gehen. Doch nach und nach erfährt er immer mehr Dinge über seine Familie, die er sich nie hätte vorstellen können …
Mit halb ernstem, halb satirischem Blick seziert Joey Goebel in diesem 700-Seiten-Buch die moderne amerikanische Gesellschaft mit all ihren Auswüchsen: Irakkrieg, Waffenlobby, Machtgier, Bigotterie, Protzerei, brutaler Erfolgsdruck, dumpfe Gleichgültigkeit, Verbohrtheit in die eigenen Vorstellungen und eine Politik, in der es schon beinahe egal zu sein scheint, welche Partei man nun wählt, weil am Ende sowieso dasselbe herauskommt.
Der peinliche Blue Gene mit seinen unmöglichen Klamotten und seinem Talent, sich dauernd danebenzubenehmen, ist ein toller Antiheld, während im Laufe des Buches auch bei seiner nach außen hin so strahlenden und erfolgsverwöhnten Familie immer mehr der Lack abblättert.
Ein herrlich bissiges Gesellschaftsporträt, das auf intelligente Weise witzig unterhält.
Doch nun, da sein älterer Bruder John fürs Repräsentantenhaus kandidiert, könnte Blue Gene durchaus wieder von Nutzen für die Familie sein, wenn es darum geht, die Stimmen des „niederen Volkes“ zu gewinnen. Und so macht sich Mutter Elizabeth auf zum Flohmarkt, um den verlorenen Sohn zurückzuholen.
Nach anfänglicher Skepsis lässt er sich sogar darauf ein, für den geschniegelten John, den der Familienpatriarch schon immer à la Kennedy für ein Wahlamt vorgesehen hatte, auf Stimmenfang zu gehen. Doch nach und nach erfährt er immer mehr Dinge über seine Familie, die er sich nie hätte vorstellen können …
Mit halb ernstem, halb satirischem Blick seziert Joey Goebel in diesem 700-Seiten-Buch die moderne amerikanische Gesellschaft mit all ihren Auswüchsen: Irakkrieg, Waffenlobby, Machtgier, Bigotterie, Protzerei, brutaler Erfolgsdruck, dumpfe Gleichgültigkeit, Verbohrtheit in die eigenen Vorstellungen und eine Politik, in der es schon beinahe egal zu sein scheint, welche Partei man nun wählt, weil am Ende sowieso dasselbe herauskommt.
Der peinliche Blue Gene mit seinen unmöglichen Klamotten und seinem Talent, sich dauernd danebenzubenehmen, ist ein toller Antiheld, während im Laufe des Buches auch bei seiner nach außen hin so strahlenden und erfolgsverwöhnten Familie immer mehr der Lack abblättert.
Ein herrlich bissiges Gesellschaftsporträt, das auf intelligente Weise witzig unterhält.
November 19, 2022
I kept reading this book quite quickly and for a long time I kept wondering why I didn’t quit, because it wasn’t THAT interesting. But something pulled me in, and I don’t regret it.
As a German the lifestyle of conservative republicans in the American South was very strange to me, but the book illustrated it so well (I guess. I mean how would I know? But it felt very real). The characters are so well thought out. And by the end of the book it really picks up speed and you’re suddenly no longer in a comedy/satire but a drama...
The characters are extremely interesting and versatile. You sympathize even with the worst and start thinking about what is redeemable or how bad a person can be for you to still sympathize with them. So well written.
After finishing I put the book away completely surprised by what it turned out to be, and it’s one of my favourites. Really underrated in my opinion and it really gives insight into the American power dynamics in local politics.
Structure: 5
Content: 5
World Building: 5
Impact: 4
Fun to read: 4
= 4.6
As a German the lifestyle of conservative republicans in the American South was very strange to me, but the book illustrated it so well (I guess. I mean how would I know? But it felt very real). The characters are so well thought out. And by the end of the book it really picks up speed and you’re suddenly no longer in a comedy/satire but a drama...
The characters are extremely interesting and versatile. You sympathize even with the worst and start thinking about what is redeemable or how bad a person can be for you to still sympathize with them. So well written.
After finishing I put the book away completely surprised by what it turned out to be, and it’s one of my favourites. Really underrated in my opinion and it really gives insight into the American power dynamics in local politics.
Structure: 5
Content: 5
World Building: 5
Impact: 4
Fun to read: 4
= 4.6
February 16, 2009
Contemporary political satire PERFECTLY timed for the 2008 election. A craven family sets up its perfect son to run for congress. To get 'er done, however, they have to recruit the black sheep brother to help campaign -- the brother who has embraced flea markets and NASCAR and trucker caps. The transformations and revelations are silly, fun, funny, and finally winning.
April 1, 2020
My favourite book for many years. Compelling characters and a touching story with a message about capitalism, consumerism and the aged message of the American Dream. I read this when I was about thirteen and then re-read it a few years later - no doubt one of the books I will pick up again in a few years time.
July 27, 2011
One of the best books I've EVER read. If you are at tall interested in American society and politics and want to get to know one of the coolest characters ever created, you should definitely give this one a try.
February 27, 2022
The very first book I read from Joes Goebel and still the one I love the most. A hillarious insight to the political campaign in the rural/smalltown America and to me the beginning of a great affection for a wonderful author
April 16, 2023
Overall, the book is written, very well but from my liking it was way too long. The New Age vibe that the book is giving is very well executed. On the other hand. It’s too detailed in many points.
January 19, 2024
Ich habe es abgebrochen. Auch wenn ich denke, dass es eigentlich ein gutes Buch ist.
Aber ich merke, dass es mich doch nicht so sehr fesselt, dass es für über 700 Seiten reicht.
Aber ich merke, dass es mich doch nicht so sehr fesselt, dass es für über 700 Seiten reicht.
July 26, 2008
http://www.miamisunpost.com/072408bou...
Bound Miami Sun Post July 24, 08
Hairstyles of the Damned
The uncommon stylings of Joey Goebel’s Commonwealth
By John Hood
Blue Gene Mapowther is a mullet-headed patriot from Kentucky who digs professional wrestling, Parliament Lights, his 1988 Chevy S-10 and bands like Disturbed, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin and Godsmack (not necessarily in that order). Blue Gene also digs a fierce little creature who goes by the name of Jackie Stepchild, fronts a punk band called Uncle Sam’s Finger and hates just about everything under the moon and the stars and the sun, including nearly all that Blue Gene believes in.
But a crush is a crush is a crush, even if it is unrequited, and Blue Gene seems happy to be smashed to smithereens. No, the real problem for this forlorn Romeo with the Wal-Mart résumé is that he’s scion to one of the largest fortunes in Middle America. And believe it or not, for a man who only feels like a real man when he’s wearing a blue collar, way too much loot is one helluva problem.
Fortunately for us, the obscenely rich redneck and his would-be punk rock paramour have more than just money problems — there’s that hate of hers, of course, and there’s their mutual incompatibility. More problematic, perhaps, is their hair: his mullet (which, by the way, is worn without irony), and her unruly shock of anger brown.
Then there’s the fact that they both also happen to live in a county Joey Goebel calls Commonwealth (MacAdam/Cage, $24), a regressively depressing speck in the center of Middle America, where homes come with wheels, people collect hangups and pickup trucks sport sayings such as “100 percent bad ass.”
Well, Blue Gene’s pickup does anyway, right between the antlers and the gun rack. Thank Zeus the slogan on Jackie’s T-shirt kinda concurs; otherwise, they’d never have anything to talk about.
“The more I learn about women, the more I like my truck,” notes Blue Gene. Indeed.
Actually, the two have more in common than even they would suspect. Both are devout fans of wrestling, and both wish their hometown was a better place to live all around, Wal-Marts or no Wal-Marts.
With an election coming up and Blue Gene’s diametrically opposed blue-blood brother John in the running, the fate of their beloved hometown is about to be redecided.
Too bad Johnny boy “ha[s] all the charisma of a paperweight,” and basically lacks confidence, moxie, know-how and common sense; otherwise he wouldn’t have lost the last election. But John figures if he wraps himself in the flag and continuously spouts about “honor, liberty, pride, faith and freedom,” this time might be his time. After all, his devout mother Elizabeth did have a premonition.
And papa Henry has more money than the Almighty, which always comes in handy when running for higher office in America.
But even money can’t buy the love of the rabble; for that they must turn to Blue Gene, whose long exile from the family has left him inordinately popular among the hoi-polloi. Blue Gene’s a simple man, with simple ideas, and since he still believes in simple things like God, gun and country, he foolishly agrees to help his brother’s candidacy.
Things go wildly downhill from there: The wrestling bouts and monster truck extravaganzas and the veteran’s tributes eventually give way to John’s idiocy, daddy’s duplicity and the revealing of one very ugly family secret. Blue Gene breaks the allegiance, shakes down his father and turns the old Wal-Mart into a place for poor folk to eat, drink and see the doctor, which not only is a revolution in common decency, it is anathema to everything that everybody in power stands for, especially dear ol’ Dad.
In Commonwealth, Joey Goebel comes up with a critique of America that’s as biting as the rattlesnake our founders painted on their flags during the American Revolution. Unlike our forefathers’ original battle cry, however, it’s not so much “Don’t Tread on Me” as it is “Don’t Tread on Anyone.” We’ve come to a place in our history where the old cutthroat ways no longer make sense, and unless we begin with a compassionate anew, we might have no history left. It’s a helluva dream, wrought through one helluva novel, and in this election year, it’s the kinda story we’d all do well to heed, if not to tell.
Bound Miami Sun Post July 24, 08
Hairstyles of the Damned
The uncommon stylings of Joey Goebel’s Commonwealth
By John Hood
Blue Gene Mapowther is a mullet-headed patriot from Kentucky who digs professional wrestling, Parliament Lights, his 1988 Chevy S-10 and bands like Disturbed, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin and Godsmack (not necessarily in that order). Blue Gene also digs a fierce little creature who goes by the name of Jackie Stepchild, fronts a punk band called Uncle Sam’s Finger and hates just about everything under the moon and the stars and the sun, including nearly all that Blue Gene believes in.
But a crush is a crush is a crush, even if it is unrequited, and Blue Gene seems happy to be smashed to smithereens. No, the real problem for this forlorn Romeo with the Wal-Mart résumé is that he’s scion to one of the largest fortunes in Middle America. And believe it or not, for a man who only feels like a real man when he’s wearing a blue collar, way too much loot is one helluva problem.
Fortunately for us, the obscenely rich redneck and his would-be punk rock paramour have more than just money problems — there’s that hate of hers, of course, and there’s their mutual incompatibility. More problematic, perhaps, is their hair: his mullet (which, by the way, is worn without irony), and her unruly shock of anger brown.
Then there’s the fact that they both also happen to live in a county Joey Goebel calls Commonwealth (MacAdam/Cage, $24), a regressively depressing speck in the center of Middle America, where homes come with wheels, people collect hangups and pickup trucks sport sayings such as “100 percent bad ass.”
Well, Blue Gene’s pickup does anyway, right between the antlers and the gun rack. Thank Zeus the slogan on Jackie’s T-shirt kinda concurs; otherwise, they’d never have anything to talk about.
“The more I learn about women, the more I like my truck,” notes Blue Gene. Indeed.
Actually, the two have more in common than even they would suspect. Both are devout fans of wrestling, and both wish their hometown was a better place to live all around, Wal-Marts or no Wal-Marts.
With an election coming up and Blue Gene’s diametrically opposed blue-blood brother John in the running, the fate of their beloved hometown is about to be redecided.
Too bad Johnny boy “ha[s] all the charisma of a paperweight,” and basically lacks confidence, moxie, know-how and common sense; otherwise he wouldn’t have lost the last election. But John figures if he wraps himself in the flag and continuously spouts about “honor, liberty, pride, faith and freedom,” this time might be his time. After all, his devout mother Elizabeth did have a premonition.
And papa Henry has more money than the Almighty, which always comes in handy when running for higher office in America.
But even money can’t buy the love of the rabble; for that they must turn to Blue Gene, whose long exile from the family has left him inordinately popular among the hoi-polloi. Blue Gene’s a simple man, with simple ideas, and since he still believes in simple things like God, gun and country, he foolishly agrees to help his brother’s candidacy.
Things go wildly downhill from there: The wrestling bouts and monster truck extravaganzas and the veteran’s tributes eventually give way to John’s idiocy, daddy’s duplicity and the revealing of one very ugly family secret. Blue Gene breaks the allegiance, shakes down his father and turns the old Wal-Mart into a place for poor folk to eat, drink and see the doctor, which not only is a revolution in common decency, it is anathema to everything that everybody in power stands for, especially dear ol’ Dad.
In Commonwealth, Joey Goebel comes up with a critique of America that’s as biting as the rattlesnake our founders painted on their flags during the American Revolution. Unlike our forefathers’ original battle cry, however, it’s not so much “Don’t Tread on Me” as it is “Don’t Tread on Anyone.” We’ve come to a place in our history where the old cutthroat ways no longer make sense, and unless we begin with a compassionate anew, we might have no history left. It’s a helluva dream, wrought through one helluva novel, and in this election year, it’s the kinda story we’d all do well to heed, if not to tell.
March 22, 2010
For a novel that sets out to satirize and illustrate the assorted sillinesses of the American class system, from the blow-your-mind wealthy to the blow-your-mind poor, the reach of "Commonwealth" exceeds its grasp by a long stretch; but don't let that stop you from giving this book a shot.
Blue Gene Mapother comes from old money, and wants none of it. Having never felt accepted by his family, he soon moves into a trailer and finds a semblance of happiness selling toys at a flea market after the local Wal-Mart he was working at closed down. Soon, though, his brother John, a recovering addict, decides to run for Congress, and the Mapother family, each with their own motives, decides to do what they can to get him elected. Blue Gene reluctantly agrees, until he meets a punk rock singer who opens his eyes to what's going on around him. Blue Gene's social and spiritual awakening is the meat of the story.
For stories like this to work as comedy of manners, you need one sane and sympathetic character at the center who reacts the way the reader would. Joey Goebel's attempts to have Blue Gene serve as that character don't really work.
He's a fascinating character; the one thing immensely wealthy and immensely poor people have in common is that the rest of us never really see them, and that bliind spot seems to suit Blue Gene just fine. But he's not a fully multidimensional human being, and neither is anyone else in the book. His apocalypse-obsessed mother, his father, openly contemptuous of any and all who have less money and influence than he does (so, everyone), his the-bottle-led-me-straight-to-Jesus brother, the openly racist military brat with the hair-trigger temper and the huge chip on his shoulder, the skinny punk rock girl-love interest with all the right answers and a speech for every occasion, and everyone else in the large cast of this story, all of them are archetypes, clearly placed in the story to serve a specific purpose. None of them pop cleanly into full human bloom, and that's unfortunate.
But that doesn't mean "Commonwealth" isn't worth reading. It's a quick-flowing 500 pages, with a plot that never stops moving. (You can see why Tom Robbins really liked this book; it reads like an early draft of something he'd have written himself.) It's just that there isn't anything in "Commonwealth," or in the character makeup of Blue Gene Mapother, that wasn't better executed in, say, Mike Magnuson's masterpiece "The Right Man For The Job," another novel about a lower-class lummox clinging to the bottom rung of society and looking for his personal guardian angel.
But Joey Goebel is a fine young writer, and "Commonwealth" is a fine read. He's going to get better at this. Keep him in mind.
February 12, 2009
For starters, I haven't finished a book since early December, what with life and art and all getting in the way. I read the first chapter of Steinbeck's The Log of the Sea of Cortez, but we got busy and it was abandoned for later. Probably not much later. But we'll see.
I really loved (and recommend) Goebel's The Anomalies, to a great deal because of how unjudged everyone was. But I felt like the deck was so stacked in this one that the characters (which were great) were betrayed by an occasionally puppetmastering author.
Also (a pet peeve that's difficult to express) the way Goebel brings in the branded world is, to me, clumsy. Phrases like "and then they played a Justin Timberlake song called 'SexyBack,'" or "people crowded into the drive-in to see the new Will Ferrell movie." They get at me. To me a choice has to be made - either the vibe of the type of song/movie/product/brand name is important or the specific time-capsule of The Historical Moment is important, or maybe both, but it comes out so clunkily, as if an otherwise fairly wise narrator has suddenly become his grandparents - "and then they got out this new-fangled gadget the kids are talkin about the you may not have heard of, so I'll give it a more precise mention than is strictly necessary." And it ends up coming across as either condescention ("and WE know what kind of people drive THOSE trucks") or deck-stacking ("and you THINK you know what kind of people drive THOSE trucks") combined with a cowardice that the reader won't get his cultural references. And it takes me so far out of the world that it takes some doing to get me back in.
Still, wonderful characters. And it made me want to read the (much more concise and punchy) Anomalies again. (If there's similar cultural shorthand in that one, it's about 1/4 the length of Commonwealth and therefore easier to overlook.)
I really loved (and recommend) Goebel's The Anomalies, to a great deal because of how unjudged everyone was. But I felt like the deck was so stacked in this one that the characters (which were great) were betrayed by an occasionally puppetmastering author.
Also (a pet peeve that's difficult to express) the way Goebel brings in the branded world is, to me, clumsy. Phrases like "and then they played a Justin Timberlake song called 'SexyBack,'" or "people crowded into the drive-in to see the new Will Ferrell movie." They get at me. To me a choice has to be made - either the vibe of the type of song/movie/product/brand name is important or the specific time-capsule of The Historical Moment is important, or maybe both, but it comes out so clunkily, as if an otherwise fairly wise narrator has suddenly become his grandparents - "and then they got out this new-fangled gadget the kids are talkin about the you may not have heard of, so I'll give it a more precise mention than is strictly necessary." And it ends up coming across as either condescention ("and WE know what kind of people drive THOSE trucks") or deck-stacking ("and you THINK you know what kind of people drive THOSE trucks") combined with a cowardice that the reader won't get his cultural references. And it takes me so far out of the world that it takes some doing to get me back in.
Still, wonderful characters. And it made me want to read the (much more concise and punchy) Anomalies again. (If there's similar cultural shorthand in that one, it's about 1/4 the length of Commonwealth and therefore easier to overlook.)
November 13, 2010
Kudos Joey Goebel!
My only complaint is that it took a little too long to set everything up. The first section of the book (about 200 pages) were pretty slow going for me--I had to really make myself sit down and read the book. Once I got past that, though, it was smooth saling and I really enjoyed it.
The characters were very realistic and I felt for them. Some of the twists and turns I saw coming before they were actually revealed, but that's ok with me.
As I was reading the book, I kept trying to figure out the title of the book--what did it mean? Did they reside in a commonwealth (like Kentucky) or was it something else. Then Blue Gene opened his building, which he called Commonwealth, and I thought to myself, "Oh, ok, that's why it's called Commonwealth--because the building..." And Blue Gene's building is pretty important to the story, but I decided it's more of a play on words--Commonwealth-a sharing of the wealth. Clever.
I find Goebel's writing style to be more similar to European writers than Americans (which is not a bad thing, but it does point to his popularity in Europe). Adn that makes this book even more interesting, because the story itself is very American. It gives the book the feeling of having been written by someone not native to the country, but yet they still get it...it's difficult to explain, but it makes sense to me...
Anyway. like I said, once I got past the first 200 or so pages, I really enjoyed the book. But then Goebel had to go and end it the way he did. Which really did not surprise me, having read short stories by him before, but still, part of me thinks it would have been better without it, although then it wouldn't be a work of Joey Goebel.
My only complaint is that it took a little too long to set everything up. The first section of the book (about 200 pages) were pretty slow going for me--I had to really make myself sit down and read the book. Once I got past that, though, it was smooth saling and I really enjoyed it.
The characters were very realistic and I felt for them. Some of the twists and turns I saw coming before they were actually revealed, but that's ok with me.
As I was reading the book, I kept trying to figure out the title of the book--what did it mean? Did they reside in a commonwealth (like Kentucky) or was it something else. Then Blue Gene opened his building, which he called Commonwealth, and I thought to myself, "Oh, ok, that's why it's called Commonwealth--because the building..." And Blue Gene's building is pretty important to the story, but I decided it's more of a play on words--Commonwealth-a sharing of the wealth. Clever.
I find Goebel's writing style to be more similar to European writers than Americans (which is not a bad thing, but it does point to his popularity in Europe). Adn that makes this book even more interesting, because the story itself is very American. It gives the book the feeling of having been written by someone not native to the country, but yet they still get it...it's difficult to explain, but it makes sense to me...
Anyway. like I said, once I got past the first 200 or so pages, I really enjoyed the book. But then Goebel had to go and end it the way he did. Which really did not surprise me, having read short stories by him before, but still, part of me thinks it would have been better without it, although then it wouldn't be a work of Joey Goebel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2015
The quote on the cover of this book, from Tom Robbins, reads "Joey Goebel is a born writer, one of those fated orginals...", which should have been enough for me to stay clear. As it turns out, it was a fitting quote from a fitting author, since my dislike for the writing was on par with my dislike for Tom Robbins' writing. This book believes it's being incredibly quirky, subtly subversive, and profoundly honest, when really it fails in all of those endeavours.
The story follows the events of a privileged family over the course of a summer that will change all of their lives. Set in the nonspecific middle American town of Bashford, this is supposed to be representative of some mythical Main Street America that doesn't exist anywhere but in the past and political speeches. In fact, this entire novel revolves around a simplistic interpretation of Bush era political rhetoric. While I'm sure it thinks it's being clever, the story reveals only surface level observations through its dull, one dimensional characters who behave in extremely predefined ways.
This is one of those books that took me forever to read, mostly because I felt as though it just kept getting worse and worse and I never felt like reading it. But I have a thing about not giving up on books and suffered through all 500 pages, of which maybe 40 were enjoyable, and those were spread few and far between.
The story follows the events of a privileged family over the course of a summer that will change all of their lives. Set in the nonspecific middle American town of Bashford, this is supposed to be representative of some mythical Main Street America that doesn't exist anywhere but in the past and political speeches. In fact, this entire novel revolves around a simplistic interpretation of Bush era political rhetoric. While I'm sure it thinks it's being clever, the story reveals only surface level observations through its dull, one dimensional characters who behave in extremely predefined ways.
This is one of those books that took me forever to read, mostly because I felt as though it just kept getting worse and worse and I never felt like reading it. But I have a thing about not giving up on books and suffered through all 500 pages, of which maybe 40 were enjoyable, and those were spread few and far between.
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