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Incomplete Works: A Novel
Incomplete Works is a comedy about a young urban snob who is forced to attend a vocational college in Wyoming.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 28, 2013
18 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Noah Goats
8 books32 followersNoah Goats is an office drone who writes in his spare time. He's married and has four kids. Now that he has them, four seems like kind of a lot. He also has a big white dog that looks like a wolf and wants to run away to live with the coyotes who populate the mountains near Goats's house. There is a cat named Remi skulking around the family home as well.
Goats has been writing for fun and no profit since he was 14. He started with comedy bits, and then moved on to poetry in college. Fortunately, none of this poetry has survived beyond one typo packed T.S. Eliot ripoff that was published in the college literary magazine. You will never read this.
He wrote a novel each year he was in law school, which is a stupid thing to do and can only negatively impact your grades and harm your chance at getting a real job in the legal profession. He self published one of these novels as Incomplete Works. He shoved the other two down the memory hole.
He's written a few more books since then, and self published one of them (Houses on the Sand). In 2016 a collection of ghost stories that he wrote with Erren Michaels (Jersey Ghost Stories) was published by The History Press in the UK.
Goats has been writing for fun and no profit since he was 14. He started with comedy bits, and then moved on to poetry in college. Fortunately, none of this poetry has survived beyond one typo packed T.S. Eliot ripoff that was published in the college literary magazine. You will never read this.
He wrote a novel each year he was in law school, which is a stupid thing to do and can only negatively impact your grades and harm your chance at getting a real job in the legal profession. He self published one of these novels as Incomplete Works. He shoved the other two down the memory hole.
He's written a few more books since then, and self published one of them (Houses on the Sand). In 2016 a collection of ghost stories that he wrote with Erren Michaels (Jersey Ghost Stories) was published by The History Press in the UK.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 11, 2018
INCOMPLETE WORKS by Noah Goats is the hilarious record of an over-educated, under-motivated young man’s attempts to deliberately not fit in at a rural agricultural college to which his parents have sent him, in order to, I assume, give him a taste of the real world, or just as likely, get him comfortably out of their hair.
Think Ignatius Reilly writing to Phoebe Caulfield for the tenor of the novel and you’ll be ready to enter into the wacky adventures of one Mr. Thornton Mordecai Lathrop, lately of Snaketree College.
Think Ignatius Reilly writing to Phoebe Caulfield for the tenor of the novel and you’ll be ready to enter into the wacky adventures of one Mr. Thornton Mordecai Lathrop, lately of Snaketree College.
June 5, 2019
This was such a fun read, and at 177 pages, anyone can fit this slim volume into a lazy afternoon. Incomplete Works is a perfect title. It's all of us. We are all incomplete works, and everything we do, have done, and will do, is incomplete, because we can't see anything other than the vague arc of our own developing memoirs in progress. Noah Goats keeps his character list compact, for greater impact, and he crafts perfectly sized mini subplots into the narrative. An example is one character's idea of creating her own field of literary criticism, which is an extraordinary and intriguing mental exercise. The author carefully expounds on the pitfalls of narcissism, stereotyping, social system rigidity, and socio-economic caste systems. He even cleverly swipes at the absurd and damaging effects of our superficial acceptance of capitalism.
The references to classic literature, especially the works of Greek mythology, are legion. The author draws on a foundation of higher education which is augmented by real world experience. In short: he understands people, what makes them tick, and how to condense the complex human experience. Any of the subplot lines are evidence of this understanding of human sociological and individual behavior. Who knew, for example, that there were lessons of humanity to be learned from a single visit to the fair? The overarching lesson is to be on guard to neither underestimate others nor overestimate ourselves, lest we risk falling off our own little world.
The references to classic literature, especially the works of Greek mythology, are legion. The author draws on a foundation of higher education which is augmented by real world experience. In short: he understands people, what makes them tick, and how to condense the complex human experience. Any of the subplot lines are evidence of this understanding of human sociological and individual behavior. Who knew, for example, that there were lessons of humanity to be learned from a single visit to the fair? The overarching lesson is to be on guard to neither underestimate others nor overestimate ourselves, lest we risk falling off our own little world.
October 3, 2015
I am not a fan of incomplete works because they feel incomplete, but this book was amazing. Typically, indie author books are reserved for bedside reading material because they have a tendency to lull one to sleep. This does not mean, of course, that all indie books are like this: some exceptions by famous authors are: The U.S.: I’m Gonna Screw it Up and You Can, Too! by Trump D., Rewriting History by Hillary Clinton, The Futility of Hope by Barack Obama, and Confessions of a War-Monger by George W. Bush.
My error that Incomplete Works is not bedside reading material was discovered by my wife one evening. While reading, I happened upon a particularly funny passage and started chuckling, which turned the waterbed into a wave machine. Once the waters settled into their natural state, my wife gave me the finger and promptly told me to shove off. Even lying in the living room on the Victorian sofa that night, I continued to read, believing I had developed a relationship with the author. Then again, I think I have a relationship with anyone I’ve given my hard earned money to. If that was the case, the government should adopt me as an illegitimate child.
The story takes place at a community college somewhere in the United States. I am not sure of which state; I believe it begins with a W or a K. It is about a man who falls in love with a beautiful creature called V. No, wait: I am mistaken. That is the plot of a Thomas Pynchon novel. I am fairly certain the story is really about a broke college student who falls in love while eking out a miserable existence at a ski resort, but in these unsettled times it is difficult to be certain about anything. You’re on your own for the middle and the ending.
Will definitely be looking forward to reading more stories by this particular author, who may or may not be another pseudonym liked ‘Adrian Jones Pearson’ who is really Thomas Pynchon himself.
My error that Incomplete Works is not bedside reading material was discovered by my wife one evening. While reading, I happened upon a particularly funny passage and started chuckling, which turned the waterbed into a wave machine. Once the waters settled into their natural state, my wife gave me the finger and promptly told me to shove off. Even lying in the living room on the Victorian sofa that night, I continued to read, believing I had developed a relationship with the author. Then again, I think I have a relationship with anyone I’ve given my hard earned money to. If that was the case, the government should adopt me as an illegitimate child.
The story takes place at a community college somewhere in the United States. I am not sure of which state; I believe it begins with a W or a K. It is about a man who falls in love with a beautiful creature called V. No, wait: I am mistaken. That is the plot of a Thomas Pynchon novel. I am fairly certain the story is really about a broke college student who falls in love while eking out a miserable existence at a ski resort, but in these unsettled times it is difficult to be certain about anything. You’re on your own for the middle and the ending.
Will definitely be looking forward to reading more stories by this particular author, who may or may not be another pseudonym liked ‘Adrian Jones Pearson’ who is really Thomas Pynchon himself.
November 10, 2020
A humorous and entertaining book about an intelligent and hopelessly dumb young man's first years away from his privileged upbringing and thrown into a world he doesn't understand. Exactly what his parents wanted to complete his education and prepare for life.
February 9, 2020
Noah Goats has a romantic and absurd sensibility I love and that reminds me of Gary Shteyngart or Jonathan Ames. My only hesitation rewarding 5 stars is the bits about people naturally being carnivores which I- a passionate vegan- will have to protest. But I enjoyed every bit. Being from northern Wyoming and knowing that none of the ski resorts are owned by actors with indie film festivals, and that in reality the only university of the state is in the south, I was sure that the location had to be based on Park City, UT. Wrong or not, that will forever be the visual in my head. A place I used to race at in high school, with yuppy millionaires and ski bums alike. My how the times are always changin’ and yet always remain the same.
November 3, 2019
A Unique Tale
Incomplete Works is a good example of the value indie authors bring to the reading public. An imperfect tale, but one that is told in such a unique way that you have to keep reading to see where it ends.
Incomplete Works is a good example of the value indie authors bring to the reading public. An imperfect tale, but one that is told in such a unique way that you have to keep reading to see where it ends.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews