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Broken Sleep
Spanning 1940s to 2020s America, a Pynchon-esque saga about rock music, art, politics, and the elusive nature of love
Meet everyman Moses Teumer, whose recent diagnosis of an aggressive form of leukemia has sent him in search of a donor. When he discovers that the woman who raised him is not his biological mother, he must hunt down his birth parents and unspool the intertwined destinies of the Teumer and Savant families.
Salome Savant, Moses’s birth mother, is an avant-garde artist who has spent her life in and out of a mental health facility. Her son and Moses’s half-brother, Alchemy Savant, the mercurial front man of the world-renowned rock band The Insatiables, abandons music to launch a political campaign to revolutionize 2020s America. And then there’s Ambitious Mindswallow, aka Ricky McFinn, who journeys from juvenile delinquency in Queens to being The Insatiables’ bassist and Alchemy’s Sancho Panza. Bauman skillfully weaves the threads that intertwine these characters and the histories that divide them, creating a postmodern vision of America that is at once sweeping, irreverent, and heartbreaking.
Meet everyman Moses Teumer, whose recent diagnosis of an aggressive form of leukemia has sent him in search of a donor. When he discovers that the woman who raised him is not his biological mother, he must hunt down his birth parents and unspool the intertwined destinies of the Teumer and Savant families.
Salome Savant, Moses’s birth mother, is an avant-garde artist who has spent her life in and out of a mental health facility. Her son and Moses’s half-brother, Alchemy Savant, the mercurial front man of the world-renowned rock band The Insatiables, abandons music to launch a political campaign to revolutionize 2020s America. And then there’s Ambitious Mindswallow, aka Ricky McFinn, who journeys from juvenile delinquency in Queens to being The Insatiables’ bassist and Alchemy’s Sancho Panza. Bauman skillfully weaves the threads that intertwine these characters and the histories that divide them, creating a postmodern vision of America that is at once sweeping, irreverent, and heartbreaking.
- GenresFiction
656 pages, Paperback
First published October 27, 2015
11 people are currently reading
598 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 4, 2015
I"m taking this book off the "Not Yet Released" list--it out!
What a fabulous, kaleidoscopic, Pyncheon-scented, multi-voiced, told-across-time careen of a book! A man in the present day, in need of a bone marrow donor, discovers he is in no way the man he had assumed he was. Hidden parentage, secret siblings, generations of secrets and destiny. What is his relationship with the genius artist from the 70's, Salome Savant, her rock god son Alchemy Savant,scores of others in this wonderful mad cultural road trip of a novel. Such fun! And some wonderful concepts I'm still thinking about--the best stuff is Salome's--like her view that people don't die of this or that disease, but of the collected blows of life which she terms "the Gravity Disease." Loved this, especially the 70s art world stuff. Bauman is married to an artist, and knows this scene to a T.
What a fabulous, kaleidoscopic, Pyncheon-scented, multi-voiced, told-across-time careen of a book! A man in the present day, in need of a bone marrow donor, discovers he is in no way the man he had assumed he was. Hidden parentage, secret siblings, generations of secrets and destiny. What is his relationship with the genius artist from the 70's, Salome Savant, her rock god son Alchemy Savant,scores of others in this wonderful mad cultural road trip of a novel. Such fun! And some wonderful concepts I'm still thinking about--the best stuff is Salome's--like her view that people don't die of this or that disease, but of the collected blows of life which she terms "the Gravity Disease." Loved this, especially the 70s art world stuff. Bauman is married to an artist, and knows this scene to a T.
October 15, 2015
Wow, my mind is totally freaking blown. This is one heck of a good book. First of all, it's really long which is something I really like when I'm buying a book. I read too fast to pay $30.00 for something that takes me like 4 to 5 hours to read. Next, these people are cray cray. They live Woodstock like everyday. The mom, Salome, is in and out of the nuthouse and there's a reason why, hello cray cray.
The story is told by several people. Sometimes you have to read a few pages to figure out who the person is that's talking. I think that's the author's way to help you get into these people by making you cray cray. Ha!! Except for when it's Salome, you always know in advance that it's her talking.
The main basis is that Moses is very sick and needs a family member as a donor to save his life. This is when he learns that his family is not his biological family. He then learns that Alchemy, the best lead singer of the greatest band in the whole entire universe, is his half brother. And that Salome is his mother. However, Salome was fifteen when she had Moses and was told that he was stillborn. And that's the easiest part to explain about this book. HA!!!
For the most part, I was really into this book. There is so much going on, it is definitely sex, drugs and rock and roll. Sex is implied and there are not pages and pages of the sexual acts for those of you concerned. There were parts of it that were a bit boring too and parts of it that I think could have been left out also. But if you've ever wanted to be a fly on the wall as a groupie, this book goes a long way to getting you there.
I think the author did a great part with the story, for the most part, even did a name dropping to really make you feel like this was a real band. The characters seemed so real that I almost googled them, especially with the bibliography in the end. The characters, while on top of the world, still showed their humanity in that they still had flaws just like the rest of us. No matter how much money they had or how many people knew them.
A huge thanks to Other Press and Net Galley for providing me this free e-galley in exchange for an honest review. This was definitely entertaining and enjoyable. I totally recommend this book to everyone!
The story is told by several people. Sometimes you have to read a few pages to figure out who the person is that's talking. I think that's the author's way to help you get into these people by making you cray cray. Ha!! Except for when it's Salome, you always know in advance that it's her talking.
The main basis is that Moses is very sick and needs a family member as a donor to save his life. This is when he learns that his family is not his biological family. He then learns that Alchemy, the best lead singer of the greatest band in the whole entire universe, is his half brother. And that Salome is his mother. However, Salome was fifteen when she had Moses and was told that he was stillborn. And that's the easiest part to explain about this book. HA!!!
For the most part, I was really into this book. There is so much going on, it is definitely sex, drugs and rock and roll. Sex is implied and there are not pages and pages of the sexual acts for those of you concerned. There were parts of it that were a bit boring too and parts of it that I think could have been left out also. But if you've ever wanted to be a fly on the wall as a groupie, this book goes a long way to getting you there.
I think the author did a great part with the story, for the most part, even did a name dropping to really make you feel like this was a real band. The characters seemed so real that I almost googled them, especially with the bibliography in the end. The characters, while on top of the world, still showed their humanity in that they still had flaws just like the rest of us. No matter how much money they had or how many people knew them.
A huge thanks to Other Press and Net Galley for providing me this free e-galley in exchange for an honest review. This was definitely entertaining and enjoyable. I totally recommend this book to everyone!
November 4, 2015
The best novels these days, such as The Goldfinch, A Little Life, and now Broken Sleep, seem to have a few things in common: interwoven stories with multiple points of view, carefully crafted narratives with a depth of connection to history and culture, and a heft that makes them preferable on an e-reader, lest we strain our fore-arms. Coming in at 656 pages, Broken Sleep is a dreamlike tome that requires a serious commitment to read. However, not once did reading it feel like a chore; it was a four course meal, to be savored: every bite, every word, was spectacular.
Ranging from the Second World War to 2020s America, the novel traces the interwoven lives of the Teumer and Savant families. Moses Teumer has a tumor and requires a bone marrow transplant, only to discover that his mother is not his mother. He sets off in search for his blood relatives in a life-or-death chase. Meanwhile, Salome Savant, who is his mother, is in and out of mental health facilities while his half-brother, the rock star and revolutionary Alchemy Savant, is one of the most famous people on the planet. Finally, the fourth perspective from which this story unfolds is that of Ambitious Mindswallow, Alchemy's bandmate and a degenerate "good-for nuthin'" whose trip from juvenile delinquency to Alchemy's right-hand-man takes the form of his salacious memoirs.
Art is dead, and the killing of Art hooked me with its explosive beginning for the novel. This novel is about four people but it is primarily about art and the human experience, and how we struggle to find ways to express our unique experience of the world. From the introspective and unreliable, yet philosophical viewpoint of Salome, whose synesthetic ideas of soul smells and how the weight of our experiences affects our physical health, to the drug-addled and bigoted rantings of Ambitious Mindswallow, whose ignorance and closed-mindedness sharply contrasts with Alchemy's revolutionary approach to morality, the novel is filled with quirky and fascinating characters. Their weirdness is balanced out by the relatively normal Moses, whose narrative serves to propel the plot along, while he deals with his own mortality and sense of identity. The characters and their unique voices are the strongest part of the novel for me. I found each of them equally interesting and sympathetic.
As three of the four protagonists are creative-types, the novel is intimately woven with art and creative processes. Famous names are dropped like carefully placed confetti: Duchamp, Greta Garbo, Salvador Dali, Lichtenstein, Pollock, Warhol and Freud make appearances that felt so convincing I was tempted to see how far reality had affected the saucy fiction. Salome's freeness of her sexuality is transmitted to the son she raises, and his openness about it reflects the changing attitudes to sex that can be found in more liberal sections of our own society. Furthermore, each narrative has its own conflicts that propel the story such that the 656 pages whizz by without a moment of tedium. They each have their own flavour; the voices are distinct and convincing.
It has been called relentless, and sometimes verges on stream-of-consciousness (but equal or even superior to Faulkner or Pynchon). The novel untangles and re-tangles complex issues of abandonment and cultural identity in the aftermath of the Second World War, as well as the post-modern and contemporary societies. Art carries the collective identity of the past societies into the present as we create art to represent our current experiences, and that art is viewed and interpreted (and affects) those who come after us. This novel traces the effects that the histories of our parents affect our present. It explores how we locate our own identities within constantly changing boundaries of political, religious, social and economic culture. However, while experimenting and exploring these heavy subjects, the gravity that could have dragged this rather heavy book is buoyed by the tongue-in-cheek mockery of pretentiousness and inflated egos of the artists, as well as some well-placed puns for good measure. It is one of the most engrossing, thought-provoking and entertaining books I have ever read.
Having never read Bauman before, I am thoroughly seduced by his style and the complexity of his characters and story. I loved how different each narrative voice was, and I became invested in characters I initially disliked, through curiosity and their realistic (if at times exaggerated) traits. Weaving fact and fiction so seamlessly that I was tempted to fact-check some of the more salacious parts, and with a depth of psychological understanding (while seasoning the emotional weight with a dash of tongue-in-cheek jabs at artistic pretension and a few puns for zest), this novel is a pleasure to read, and one that should be savored. At over 600 pages, this book requires a bit of commitment, but every word of it entertained me. It altered my perceptions of the world, and myself. This book is definitely worth a read and I absolutely recommend it.
Read more of my reviews on Literogo.
Suddenly, there she stood. Off to the west side of the fountain where the cement met the grass. Under the still dusky sky, the lamps flickered around the fountain area, and the fireworks' black smoke disseminated above the Plexiglas booth like a papal signal, a distant goddess in a long leopard skin coat and a big tan hat and oversize round sunglasses. Greta.
Ranging from the Second World War to 2020s America, the novel traces the interwoven lives of the Teumer and Savant families. Moses Teumer has a tumor and requires a bone marrow transplant, only to discover that his mother is not his mother. He sets off in search for his blood relatives in a life-or-death chase. Meanwhile, Salome Savant, who is his mother, is in and out of mental health facilities while his half-brother, the rock star and revolutionary Alchemy Savant, is one of the most famous people on the planet. Finally, the fourth perspective from which this story unfolds is that of Ambitious Mindswallow, Alchemy's bandmate and a degenerate "good-for nuthin'" whose trip from juvenile delinquency to Alchemy's right-hand-man takes the form of his salacious memoirs.
No sound. No smell. No taste. No touch. No image. No words. His father's physical legacy: empty space and a name. He was Moses, son of Hannah and Malcolm, the father who had died in his heart in 1961. His struggle, before he consciously knew it, was to find expression for the inexpressible, the pain of a mother's tears, and the blunted scream of loss that an abandoned child with no words feels when grasping for answers.
Art is dead, and the killing of Art hooked me with its explosive beginning for the novel. This novel is about four people but it is primarily about art and the human experience, and how we struggle to find ways to express our unique experience of the world. From the introspective and unreliable, yet philosophical viewpoint of Salome, whose synesthetic ideas of soul smells and how the weight of our experiences affects our physical health, to the drug-addled and bigoted rantings of Ambitious Mindswallow, whose ignorance and closed-mindedness sharply contrasts with Alchemy's revolutionary approach to morality, the novel is filled with quirky and fascinating characters. Their weirdness is balanced out by the relatively normal Moses, whose narrative serves to propel the plot along, while he deals with his own mortality and sense of identity. The characters and their unique voices are the strongest part of the novel for me. I found each of them equally interesting and sympathetic.
After incubating in Orient, I realized I had to leave or become an erased soul inside a physical shape pantomiming the motions of life.
As three of the four protagonists are creative-types, the novel is intimately woven with art and creative processes. Famous names are dropped like carefully placed confetti: Duchamp, Greta Garbo, Salvador Dali, Lichtenstein, Pollock, Warhol and Freud make appearances that felt so convincing I was tempted to see how far reality had affected the saucy fiction. Salome's freeness of her sexuality is transmitted to the son she raises, and his openness about it reflects the changing attitudes to sex that can be found in more liberal sections of our own society. Furthermore, each narrative has its own conflicts that propel the story such that the 656 pages whizz by without a moment of tedium. They each have their own flavour; the voices are distinct and convincing.
The bicentennial sissy boom-bah God Bless America blitzkrieg and the anti-rah-rah blather of the downtown scene made me almost want to be... French.
It has been called relentless, and sometimes verges on stream-of-consciousness (but equal or even superior to Faulkner or Pynchon). The novel untangles and re-tangles complex issues of abandonment and cultural identity in the aftermath of the Second World War, as well as the post-modern and contemporary societies. Art carries the collective identity of the past societies into the present as we create art to represent our current experiences, and that art is viewed and interpreted (and affects) those who come after us. This novel traces the effects that the histories of our parents affect our present. It explores how we locate our own identities within constantly changing boundaries of political, religious, social and economic culture. However, while experimenting and exploring these heavy subjects, the gravity that could have dragged this rather heavy book is buoyed by the tongue-in-cheek mockery of pretentiousness and inflated egos of the artists, as well as some well-placed puns for good measure. It is one of the most engrossing, thought-provoking and entertaining books I have ever read.
Some people need to leave home to escape war. Some need to leave to see war. In the end, no one ever really leaves home and you're always at war. You're only rearranging the furniture.
Having never read Bauman before, I am thoroughly seduced by his style and the complexity of his characters and story. I loved how different each narrative voice was, and I became invested in characters I initially disliked, through curiosity and their realistic (if at times exaggerated) traits. Weaving fact and fiction so seamlessly that I was tempted to fact-check some of the more salacious parts, and with a depth of psychological understanding (while seasoning the emotional weight with a dash of tongue-in-cheek jabs at artistic pretension and a few puns for zest), this novel is a pleasure to read, and one that should be savored. At over 600 pages, this book requires a bit of commitment, but every word of it entertained me. It altered my perceptions of the world, and myself. This book is definitely worth a read and I absolutely recommend it.
Read more of my reviews on Literogo.
August 18, 2015
I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this and I'm really happy that I was fortunate enough to read it before it's officially published. It is definitely a rather epic novel in scope and vision. While for the most part I enjoyed it, and Bauman's writing style, there were times when it was a little bit slow and felt a bit bogged down.
First though, I want to talk about everything I liked, because there were lots of aspects about the writing that I felt were very strong. The characters and their development throughout the course of the novel was superb. I really liked how the novel was told from different view points, the timelines of these characters pretty spread out at the beginning, until they end up becoming parallel by the end of the novel. We have Moses, who I would argue is the main character, a cancer patient with a complicated parental history, Salome, an eccentric artist who is Moses' birthmother, and Ricky McFinn aka Ambitious Mindswallow, a member of the band that Alchemy forms. There are also a few chapters from Hannah, Moses' adoptive mother, and one from Alchemy, Salome's other son and Moses' half-brother, who is also a hugely dominant character in the book.
More than anything, this is a family saga, that tries to describe the complicated relationships that can arise between mothers, sons, brothers, husbands, wives and more. I'm a sucker for books like this that have a large cast of characters weaving in and out and around one another. Even though there are a lot of characters, I was always able to keep them organized and knew who was who, which is a testament to the author's writing talents. I liked that the chapters were rather short, and that things shifted a lot, but also still seemed to be progressing towards some end. The band that Alchemy was the front man for, The Insatiables, seemed fully realized, with actual names for albums and songs with song lyrics littered throughout the book. While the ending wasn't as glorious as I wanted it to be, it still resonated pretty strongly. I love artist characters, and reading about Salome was probably the most interesting part of the novel. Although I enjoyed Moses' perspective as well.
I found Ambitious Mindswallow's chapters to be hard to get through quite often, and found myself stopping to take a break whenever I came upon another 'Good for Nuthin' chapter, (as these sections were subtitled.) I really enjoyed the early chapters from Hannah, and wish there would have been more of them.
At over 600 pages this is not an easy read, and at times I felt like I was going to be reading it forever. It took me two weeks to finish, and usually I am a pretty quick reader, so I do think that says something about the pacing and overall content. Nevertheless, I am very happy I read it, and would still recommend for others to pick up a copy as well. It is layered, complex, and although nowhere near perfect, still an enjoyable read.
First though, I want to talk about everything I liked, because there were lots of aspects about the writing that I felt were very strong. The characters and their development throughout the course of the novel was superb. I really liked how the novel was told from different view points, the timelines of these characters pretty spread out at the beginning, until they end up becoming parallel by the end of the novel. We have Moses, who I would argue is the main character, a cancer patient with a complicated parental history, Salome, an eccentric artist who is Moses' birthmother, and Ricky McFinn aka Ambitious Mindswallow, a member of the band that Alchemy forms. There are also a few chapters from Hannah, Moses' adoptive mother, and one from Alchemy, Salome's other son and Moses' half-brother, who is also a hugely dominant character in the book.
More than anything, this is a family saga, that tries to describe the complicated relationships that can arise between mothers, sons, brothers, husbands, wives and more. I'm a sucker for books like this that have a large cast of characters weaving in and out and around one another. Even though there are a lot of characters, I was always able to keep them organized and knew who was who, which is a testament to the author's writing talents. I liked that the chapters were rather short, and that things shifted a lot, but also still seemed to be progressing towards some end. The band that Alchemy was the front man for, The Insatiables, seemed fully realized, with actual names for albums and songs with song lyrics littered throughout the book. While the ending wasn't as glorious as I wanted it to be, it still resonated pretty strongly. I love artist characters, and reading about Salome was probably the most interesting part of the novel. Although I enjoyed Moses' perspective as well.
I found Ambitious Mindswallow's chapters to be hard to get through quite often, and found myself stopping to take a break whenever I came upon another 'Good for Nuthin' chapter, (as these sections were subtitled.) I really enjoyed the early chapters from Hannah, and wish there would have been more of them.
At over 600 pages this is not an easy read, and at times I felt like I was going to be reading it forever. It took me two weeks to finish, and usually I am a pretty quick reader, so I do think that says something about the pacing and overall content. Nevertheless, I am very happy I read it, and would still recommend for others to pick up a copy as well. It is layered, complex, and although nowhere near perfect, still an enjoyable read.
December 16, 2016
I think most of my complaints are due to the marketing team behind this novel. I'll say it again, a panoramic scoped novel with >5 characters, many bearing unusual names does not a Pynchon-esque novel make.
Bauman's style bears very very little resemblance to the razor sharp riffing, singular style of the aforementioned pomo sage. Bauman's prose peaks and plummets. It ascends when he falls into the rhythm of distilling memories. It plummets when drawing the intricacies of the character's relationships with one another. A truly uninspiring (or perhaps lazy) passage reads: 'Alchemy had given Moses a new life. Now he was offering him a new life. Again.'
For a novel that is wholly about familial relationships, family being a birthright or chosen, many of the characters are rather flatly drawn. Alchemy for example, has nary any character flaws, aside from always trying to to the right thing to protect those he cares about. He's the genius progeny of a brilliant artist, a renowned rock star, a dabbling politician, a careful friend and brother. Whom never exhibits a dark side, whom for all his philandering never hurts anyone. For being a central character, I expected a more three dimensional, less grayscale version of a protagonist.
Bauman's style bears very very little resemblance to the razor sharp riffing, singular style of the aforementioned pomo sage. Bauman's prose peaks and plummets. It ascends when he falls into the rhythm of distilling memories. It plummets when drawing the intricacies of the character's relationships with one another. A truly uninspiring (or perhaps lazy) passage reads: 'Alchemy had given Moses a new life. Now he was offering him a new life. Again.'
For a novel that is wholly about familial relationships, family being a birthright or chosen, many of the characters are rather flatly drawn. Alchemy for example, has nary any character flaws, aside from always trying to to the right thing to protect those he cares about. He's the genius progeny of a brilliant artist, a renowned rock star, a dabbling politician, a careful friend and brother. Whom never exhibits a dark side, whom for all his philandering never hurts anyone. For being a central character, I expected a more three dimensional, less grayscale version of a protagonist.
January 8, 2016
Brilliant, mind-bending and deeply felt. A kind of reverse Sophie's Choice told through multiple points of view. Couldn't put it down. Couldn't get over the final revelation. If you loved the deeply felt experimental writing of Morrison's Beloved, you will love this book. And if you are a fanatic for twisted family ties, this book will make you ache. (less)
March 20, 2016
Let me start by saying that it has been years since I gave up on a book. I read a wide variety of ARCS from numerous publishing companies but I just couldn't make it through this one. I conked out on page 270 of 600. The premise was promising with the main character, Moses, finding out he has Leukemia and he must find a donor. This is complicated as he must find a half brother he was unaware of and Moses finds that he is even related to Greta Garbo. Some might find this a very creative book but others, like me, a convoluted mish mash of divergent stories.
December 10, 2015
One of the best books I've read this year.
A haunting, heartbreaking and beautiful book. Music, love, art, politics all comes together perfectly in Bauman's book.
This is what it's all about. This is the book that heals, comforts, and does everything you need it to do.
Excellent. Simply excellent.
A haunting, heartbreaking and beautiful book. Music, love, art, politics all comes together perfectly in Bauman's book.
This is what it's all about. This is the book that heals, comforts, and does everything you need it to do.
Excellent. Simply excellent.
March 20, 2018
It's all over the place, shifting narrators and moving back and forth in time, and often juxtaposes verisimilitude with deliberately dream-like aspects (notably character names). There's lots of rock'n'roll, sex, art and anti-art, politics and "alternate" history. It didn't grab me immediately, but I stayed with it for 50 pages or so, which paid off: I wound up loving it despite (sometimes because of) its flaws, not the least its 600+-page length. Bruce is a long-time friend of mine, so you may want to take my review with a grain of salt ... or figure that unlike such a friend, you would not be able to persevere until the book could grab you. Be that as it may, while already a fan of my friend, I became a fan of the Insatiables, too, and ... it could happen to you.
October 15, 2020
Tremendous book. The plot, as it seems from the synopsis, is over quite quickly, and then it’s about what unspools after that. It’s basically a family drama, but the narrative - a couple of first person perspectives, and one or two third persons - tell the story of Moses, his famous half brother Alchemy, and their mother, Salome Savant, all fractured and put together masterfully, jumping forwards and backwards in time, referring to incident indirectly or in some cases that have not happened, creating a tension that builds towards the climax.
April 6, 2018
Despite other reviews on GRs and elsewhere in the WWW-- including a blurb on the dust jacket itself-- Broken Sleep is neither Pynchon-esque nor experimental (several threads from different POVs and times converge); rather, the book's a clunky, kinda straight-ahead melodrama. Some moments rose above the others but the story bogged down in earnest cheesiness, somewhat cartoonish characters, and a seriously over-the-top ending.
March 27, 2017
This book was way too long. There were some interesting storylines but they never really went anywhere. I was never really sure exactly what the author was trying to say or what his characters were trying to do.
December 29, 2017
Great book, well written. It quickly captures you and keeps you reading till the end while giving subtle hints on what may happen next. Beautiful fresco of a family history, highly recommended!
July 10, 2022
Inventive, yet dull... and such generous portions. Might have been a 4 star book at 250 pages.
February 23, 2016
Feminist author Carol Hanisch’s oft-quoted phrase, “The Personal is Political,” certainly applies to Bruce Bauman’s sprawling, big-hearted novel Broken Sleep. It's told through the points of view of three very different characters - Salome Savant, an avant garde New York artist, Moses Teumer, the son she thought died at birth, and Ricky McFinn (aka Ambitious Mindswallow) the tough-talking bassist in her other son’s band. Bauman keeps plenty of balls in the air, effortlessly swapping between narrators to piece together a complicated tale of individual identity, family relationships and the invisible pull of DNA.
At the outset, we find out that Moses has been diagnosed with a form of cancer that requires a closely matched bone marrow donor. Failing to find anyone from the available pool of volunteers, he seeks out his half-brother, a rock star improbably named Alchemy Savant, who not only provides the life-saving donation, but accepts Moses immediately as family. Their shared mother, a renowned artist institutionalized with mental illness, was told that Moses died at birth, and both men grapple with whether to introduce her to Moses or not. But that’s only part of the story. This is a sweeping tale that starts during the 1960’s Pop Art era and moves up to the 2020 presidential election. There’s crooked lawyers, outlaw artists, record company executives, Nazi war criminals, anti-government radicals and Greta Garbo.
At 656 pages, the book seemed daunting at the start, but it’s broken up into many short chapters, swapping between narrators, each giving their take on particular periods of time and events, so it moves along swiftly. And while the author is grappling with big ideas, it is not in the least dry or didactic. As matter of fact, in many ways, it's very sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. The plot itself is very engrossing, pulling the reader along through its various twists and turns to see where it will go next. The narrative voices are all very distinct and, for the most part, the characters are sympathetic and believable (even if their individual perceptions of things is not always to be trusted). I had a bit of a problem with the Ambitious Mindswallow chapters, whose voice came across less like a modern punk and more like a 1940's anachronism...Leo Gorcey from The Bowery Boys.
The novel asks fundamental questions about what it is that makes us who we are. Obviously, Moses and Alchemy are medically bound by a common thread of DNA, but does a discovery about the identity of Moses’s father (who was entirely absent from his life) change who Moses is in any way? In this day and age, when everyone is just a cheek swab away from knowing their complete genetic make-up, I can’t help but wonder if Bauman is conflating our modern-day obsession with DNA with the Nazi’s perverting of Eugenics for the purpose of “ethnic cleansing."
This is a hugely entertaining epic. Unputdownable.
At the outset, we find out that Moses has been diagnosed with a form of cancer that requires a closely matched bone marrow donor. Failing to find anyone from the available pool of volunteers, he seeks out his half-brother, a rock star improbably named Alchemy Savant, who not only provides the life-saving donation, but accepts Moses immediately as family. Their shared mother, a renowned artist institutionalized with mental illness, was told that Moses died at birth, and both men grapple with whether to introduce her to Moses or not. But that’s only part of the story. This is a sweeping tale that starts during the 1960’s Pop Art era and moves up to the 2020 presidential election. There’s crooked lawyers, outlaw artists, record company executives, Nazi war criminals, anti-government radicals and Greta Garbo.
At 656 pages, the book seemed daunting at the start, but it’s broken up into many short chapters, swapping between narrators, each giving their take on particular periods of time and events, so it moves along swiftly. And while the author is grappling with big ideas, it is not in the least dry or didactic. As matter of fact, in many ways, it's very sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. The plot itself is very engrossing, pulling the reader along through its various twists and turns to see where it will go next. The narrative voices are all very distinct and, for the most part, the characters are sympathetic and believable (even if their individual perceptions of things is not always to be trusted). I had a bit of a problem with the Ambitious Mindswallow chapters, whose voice came across less like a modern punk and more like a 1940's anachronism...Leo Gorcey from The Bowery Boys.
The novel asks fundamental questions about what it is that makes us who we are. Obviously, Moses and Alchemy are medically bound by a common thread of DNA, but does a discovery about the identity of Moses’s father (who was entirely absent from his life) change who Moses is in any way? In this day and age, when everyone is just a cheek swab away from knowing their complete genetic make-up, I can’t help but wonder if Bauman is conflating our modern-day obsession with DNA with the Nazi’s perverting of Eugenics for the purpose of “ethnic cleansing."
This is a hugely entertaining epic. Unputdownable.
November 30, 2016
Like the time period it encompasses (from the 1940s to the near future) and the disparate characters who tell its story (from soul-sniffing performance artist Salome Savant to crass rock ‘n’roll bruiser Ambitious Mindswallow, né Ricky McFinn), Bruce Bauman’s kaleidoscopic tale of families lost and found is difficult to distill into a single impression. Upon finishing it—appropriately late at night, when I ought to have been sleeping—I lost even more sleep as I simultaneously replayed the novel’s climactic final confrontation and mourned the loss of the characters who’d been sharing my brain as their fates unfolded. This is not a novel that goes down easy—it’s a novel that stretches the brain and leaves the heart questioning.
At the center of this whirlwind is Moses Teumer, an unassuming history professor who is about to discover that he doesn’t in fact know who he is. Raised by a devoted single mother, Moses’s cancer diagnosis leads to the revelation that he was adopted under hazy circumstances and catalyzes his search for a blood relation to provide a life-saving bone marrow donation. In the course of this search, Moses and the reader are thrown into the orbits of the legendary (and fictional, though Bauman makes that fact easy to forget) rock band the Insatiables, its Bono-by-way-of-Peter-Murphy-esque frontman Alchemy Savant, and Alchemy’s by turns witchy and wise mother, the aforementioned Salome. His death temporarily averted (because life is temporary by nature, and any lifesaving is merely kicking the can down the road), Moses is left to contend with the light he’s stumbled into, as well as the darkness creeping at its corners.
Insatiables lyrics weave in and out of the narrative as touchstones between characters from different walks of life, conflating personal dramas with politics and vice versa. And it’s a song lyric from the real world that keeps coming back to me as I think about Moses, the Savant family, the Insatiables, and the secrets and lies that both bind and destroy them, from Jens Lekman’s “Your Arms Around Me”: What’s broken can always be fixed / What’s fixed will always be broken. Moses has patched the hole at the center of his identity, but the stitches remain. By the novel’s final pages (notwithstanding the Ferrante-style encyclopedia of characters, a useful reference in this complex web), the reader is left wondering whether Moses might have been better off had he never learned the truth about his origins. His life would have followed a simpler course, certainly, with less heartbreak, less jealousy, and less trauma. But he would have missed out on the expansiveness of life he found with his lost family, and the opportunity to make history rather than study it. A question lingers: What is family for? If family is love, what are we to do with all the un-love that comes with it? In Moses’ case, the answers are as troubling as they are revelatory.
At the center of this whirlwind is Moses Teumer, an unassuming history professor who is about to discover that he doesn’t in fact know who he is. Raised by a devoted single mother, Moses’s cancer diagnosis leads to the revelation that he was adopted under hazy circumstances and catalyzes his search for a blood relation to provide a life-saving bone marrow donation. In the course of this search, Moses and the reader are thrown into the orbits of the legendary (and fictional, though Bauman makes that fact easy to forget) rock band the Insatiables, its Bono-by-way-of-Peter-Murphy-esque frontman Alchemy Savant, and Alchemy’s by turns witchy and wise mother, the aforementioned Salome. His death temporarily averted (because life is temporary by nature, and any lifesaving is merely kicking the can down the road), Moses is left to contend with the light he’s stumbled into, as well as the darkness creeping at its corners.
Insatiables lyrics weave in and out of the narrative as touchstones between characters from different walks of life, conflating personal dramas with politics and vice versa. And it’s a song lyric from the real world that keeps coming back to me as I think about Moses, the Savant family, the Insatiables, and the secrets and lies that both bind and destroy them, from Jens Lekman’s “Your Arms Around Me”: What’s broken can always be fixed / What’s fixed will always be broken. Moses has patched the hole at the center of his identity, but the stitches remain. By the novel’s final pages (notwithstanding the Ferrante-style encyclopedia of characters, a useful reference in this complex web), the reader is left wondering whether Moses might have been better off had he never learned the truth about his origins. His life would have followed a simpler course, certainly, with less heartbreak, less jealousy, and less trauma. But he would have missed out on the expansiveness of life he found with his lost family, and the opportunity to make history rather than study it. A question lingers: What is family for? If family is love, what are we to do with all the un-love that comes with it? In Moses’ case, the answers are as troubling as they are revelatory.
December 29, 2015
A lengthy, and compelling read, Broken Sleep is a story told by numerous people with a lot going on such as sexual acts, drug use, secrets, and rock music, spanning 1940s to 2020s America. In Broken Sleep, Moses is very ill, and needs a donor, particularly a family member, to save his life. Throughout the story we learn that there is a band, the Alchemy, and he is related to the lead singer, who is his half brother, and in comes his mother, Salome. It is revealed that Salmone gave birth to Moses when she was fifteen, but she was told that he was a stillborn.
Despite multiple characters, it is written in a way that it is easy to understand, and does not toss a reader out of the loop with what is going on. This is a beautifully heartbreaking book about family, love, loyalty, sickness, and secrets. It is a large book with 635 pages and 100 chapters, which was intimating at first, but don’t let that stop you! It did take some time for me to read this because I wanted to give it all my concentration, but I am glad I did take my time because it was a story that I wasn’t quite ready to see end.
This is by far one of the best books that I have read in 2015 because it touches on so many aspects, but it touches the reader, too. This is a novel that sticks with you for months to come. It’s a literary experience that will not be forgotten, with it’s beautifully heartbreaking story that is wild and captivating with a wide range of characters.
I received a copy in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.
Despite multiple characters, it is written in a way that it is easy to understand, and does not toss a reader out of the loop with what is going on. This is a beautifully heartbreaking book about family, love, loyalty, sickness, and secrets. It is a large book with 635 pages and 100 chapters, which was intimating at first, but don’t let that stop you! It did take some time for me to read this because I wanted to give it all my concentration, but I am glad I did take my time because it was a story that I wasn’t quite ready to see end.
This is by far one of the best books that I have read in 2015 because it touches on so many aspects, but it touches the reader, too. This is a novel that sticks with you for months to come. It’s a literary experience that will not be forgotten, with it’s beautifully heartbreaking story that is wild and captivating with a wide range of characters.
I received a copy in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.
December 10, 2016
“BROKEN SLEEP” WILL KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT
You’ll be hooked from page one because the moment you read Art is Dead get ready to be transported. The words are literal and figurative, a metaphor and a theme that’s explored throughout Bruce Bauman’s beguiling BROKEN SLEEP. The tangled web of the Savant family and friends unravels against the landscape of sex, drugs, rock n roll, celebrity, religion, history and politics. Bauman’s use of language is crazy creative. His words seduce with a story told from points of view that are lyrical, literary and homeboy poetic. A timely read that spans over half a century, BROKEN SLEEP will wake you up. Open your eyes and your heart. Awesome and edgy, it’s an epic ride that everyone living in today’s America must take.
You’ll be hooked from page one because the moment you read Art is Dead get ready to be transported. The words are literal and figurative, a metaphor and a theme that’s explored throughout Bruce Bauman’s beguiling BROKEN SLEEP. The tangled web of the Savant family and friends unravels against the landscape of sex, drugs, rock n roll, celebrity, religion, history and politics. Bauman’s use of language is crazy creative. His words seduce with a story told from points of view that are lyrical, literary and homeboy poetic. A timely read that spans over half a century, BROKEN SLEEP will wake you up. Open your eyes and your heart. Awesome and edgy, it’s an epic ride that everyone living in today’s America must take.
December 1, 2015
First, this book FEELS wonderful! The cover is so satin-like and the pages are so silky--it was a pleasure to hold while I read! This is quite an amazing story about family, love, ambition, secrets, and loyalty caught up in the web of the rock music scene and politics. Even tho there are dozens of characters, it is fairly easy to keep them straight and the main ones are excellently developed. The language is what really wowed me: so many new words for me to learn and phrases I wanted to highlight. It is a completely developed plot, even including a list of the fictional rock band's albums/songs and a list of art shows of the "mother".
March 9, 2016
I am still currently reading this book, it seems that I've had so many things going on over the holidays but what I have read so far, has become very interesting and somewhat of a quick turn of events for every page turned. It may take some time to finish reading broken sleep, but I promise to finish it, as soon as the chaos calms down and I finally get a little bit of quiet time again. I will definitely post my review.
December 25, 2015
I could have given up on this book; chapters are written from different character's POV and times; it requires an investment of time and concentration that was almost prohibitive. When I worked out who the main characters were, I wasn't sure I liked them enough to continue, I started to speed read then I was surprisingly invested and I had to read to the end.
The same plot device / family issue occurred twice in the story, which seemed odd.
And yet it was riveting. 4.5/5
The same plot device / family issue occurred twice in the story, which seemed odd.
And yet it was riveting. 4.5/5
April 16, 2016
"Broken Sleep by Bruce Bauman characterizes a functional/dis-functional family of artists from the 1960's through a future 2018, including much political thought. Perhaps because I read it late at night before bedtime, "Broken Sleep" put me to sleep. That's why it took me so long to read it. I give it a two-star rating, because I lived through that period in the San Francisco Bay Area.
January 29, 2019
Exquisite, complex, beautiful, melodic, Broken Sleep will infiltrate your sleep and ignite your imagination. It will make you laugh, cry, sing! The Savant family will be living with you forever after you've read Broken Sleep.
June 22, 2016
Great use of multiple points of view
October 25, 2016
See my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...
November 24, 2016
A slog with enough good bits to keep me reading but not enough to pull the whole thing together.
July 16, 2016
More Mindswallow, Salome, Laluna, ANYONE but boring ass Moses.
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