The Last Studebaker

Break Away Books

by Robin Hemley

A story set in South Bend, Indiana, where the closing of the Studebaker plant has shaped the course of history for twenty-five years, insightfully depicts the typical quirks of middle American family life. A first novel.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Robin Hemley has published seven books of nonfiction and fiction. His latest book, Invented Eden, The Elusive, Disputed History of the Tasaday deals with a purported anthropological hoax in the Philippines. James Hamilton Paterson, writing in the London Review of Books, call Invented Eden, "brave and wholly convincing." John Leonard writes in Harpers, "Besides a terrific story, Invented Eden is a savvy caution." Invented Eden was an American Library Association's Editor's Choice book for 2003.

Robin Hemley co-edited the anthology Extreme Fiction:Fabulists and formalists with Michael Martone, and is the author of the memoir, Nola: A Memoir Of Faith, Art And Madness, which won an Independent Press Book Award for Nonfiction. His popular craft book Turning Life Into Fiction, which was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection as well as a Quality Paperback Book Club Selection has sold over 40,000 copies and will soon be reissued by Graywolf Press. He is also the author of the novel, The Last Studebaker and the story collections, The Big Ear and All You Can Eat.

His awards for his fiction include, The Nelson Algren Award from The Chicago Tribune, The George Garrett Award for Fiction from Willow Springs, the Hugh J. Luke Award from Prairie Schooner, two Pushcart Prizes, and many others. He has published his work in many of the best literary magazines in the country, including Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Willow Springs, Boulevard, Witness, ACM, North American Review, and many others. His fiction has been widely anthologized, translated, and heard on NPR's "Selected Shorts" and others. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop and has taught at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Western Washington Univeristy, St. Lawrence University, Vermont College, and the University of Utah, and in many Summer writing conferences. He was also the Editor-in-Chief of the Bellingham Review for five years.

Reviews

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is second book I have read in the last 2 weeks that has failed to reach a conclusion. Unless I missed something in the beginning/middle that was pertinent to the ending, this is another novel that didn't end.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by an old friend, Robin Hemley, who I knew while we were both students at Indiana University. Imagine my surprise when I learned he was teaching at Western Washington University, located in Bellingham where I now live. His book was chosen by my local book group and he came to our discussion meeting back in 1995. My memory of his book has more to do with renewing our acquaintance than the book itself—a humorous tale about the closing of the Studebaker plant in South Bend, Indiana. Robin no longer lives in Bellingham. He has gone on to write several more books and I believe he is a Goodreads author, so if he should happen to read this—“Hi Robin, it’s been a while, hope all is well. Good to know you’re still writing. Send me a recommendation of which of your books is a favorite.”--Nancy

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a few interruptions to read better books, I finally finished this. It was OK; I was ready to be done with it. Hardly any of the characters were likable or very interesting.

[Layne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Studebaker is an excellent novel. When a divorced man and wife finally agree to separate their family, they have to figure out how to live normal lives, but that’s difficult when two teenaged daughters are making judgments on every move. Their motives are all reasonable: Dad wants a new life with his girlfriend; mom wants to nurture her daughters in a healthy environment; daughter Gail wants normal lives for herself and her sister Meg. All of them, though, have to work at dragging themselves out of the stagnation that’s rusting their father’s collection of Studebakers. The questions Hemley poses kept me riveted. What do you do when your mother drives away, leaving your father standing beside the road? What do you say to the strange man who’s just appeared in your kitchen? And how do you explain why you’re standing publicly in your underwear? So real and so ironic. I loved this novel.

[Edy · Rating 5 out of 5]

With its cult appeal and N. American origins, I thought the use of the Studebaker was a particularly effective symbol to tell the tale of a bygone era. Employing wry humor and a sympathetic ear, the author weaves together a plot that is largely a Midwestern human drama driven by pivotal car moments throughout their lives. Most people who grew up in America taking long road trips with their family and friends like I did, can understand how an inanimate object like a car can have an especially large significance on our memories, interactions, and lives. Quite honestly, I love everything that has been published by Graywolf Press (the original publishers of this book). They have an uncanny ability to seek out writers who clearly love the written word and are able tell a story with remarkable elegance.

[Edy · Rating 5 out of 5]

With its cult appeal and N. American origins, I thought the use of the Studebaker was a particularly effective symbol to tell the tale of a bygone era. Employing wry humor and a sympathetic ear, the author weaves together a plot that is largely a Midwestern human drama driven by pivotal car moments throughout their lives. Most people who grew up in America taking long road trips with their family and friends like I did, can understand how an inanimate object like a car can have an especially large significance on our memories, interactions, and lives. Quite honestly, I love everything that has been published by Graywolf Press (the original publishers of this book). They have an uncanny ability to seek out writers who clearly love the written word and are able tell a story with remarkable elegance.