American Fallout

by Brandon Wicks

“ American Fallout is a powerful novel about family and change.— Stephanie Bucklin, Foreword ReviewFor Avery Cullins— library archivist, former teenage runaway, and gay man from a small Southern town— "family" means a live-in boyfriend and a surly turtle. But when his father, a renowned nuclear physicist, commits suicide, Avery's decade-long estrangement from his mother, now hobbled following a stroke, comes to a skidding halt. With his boyfriend's help, Avery takes custody of his mother and the trio heads cross country in a rented U-Haul, back to an apartment in Cleveland and an uncertain future. Their journey soon becomes a pilgrimage into the past when Avery begins sifting through his mother's mementos. What emerges is a story of family, love, and loss as his parents made a home, lost a child, and tested the boundaries of marital love in the 1970s. Meanwhile, in today's uncertain social landscape, Avery must confront his own struggle with a mother who doesn't recognize him and a lover who seeks to claim him for his own.

Genres: Fiction

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2016

About the author

A native of South Carolina, Brandon Wicks is the author of the novel, American Fallout (SFWP, 2016). His fiction has appeared in such journals as Sou’wester, Potomac Review, The South Carolina Review, and others. A graduate of George Mason University’s Creative Writing program, he serves as an associate editor for SmokeLong Quarterly and currently teaches at Emory University.

Reviews

[Virgowriter (Brad Windhauser) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically, this story is about a son looking to put his past to rest by taking his infirmed mother back to the small town in which he was born--and she lived for a chunk of her life. The narrative moves back and forth between the narrative present and the story of how his parents came to live in Copeland, South Carolina. However, the story really feels like it's about the mother--and those parts are the best sections. She and to a lesser extent her husband are fully realized, engaging characters rendered by a talented author who infuses their decisions and thoughts with refreshing honesty. I was less engaged by the narrator, in part because I didn't really know--or feel--enough about him. At times there's more telling than showing with him. However, the book is still a good read. Most notably: the author moves the characters and story enviably through stretches of time.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The nuclear family is a staple in the American lexicon. You've got Mom and Dad and all the little children. It's that unit that is supposed to unite us all together, bind us into one happy family. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it gets corrupted. Brandon Wicks shows the latter in his novel American Fallout, where the father even works for nuclear waste facility (metaphor alert!). Avery Cullins is an archivist living in Cleveland with his boyfriend Freddie when he gets the call that his father, James, has killed himself, leaving behind his mother, Carlie, who's been nearly incapacitated by a stroke 10 years earlier. After the stroke, James took Carlie away with him from their home in Copeland, SC, to Tallahassee. Avery has been estranged from them ever since. But Avery goes with Freddie to retrieve his mother and take a mini road trip to visit the old haunts. Tracking along with this narrative is the story, curiously told by Avery, of his parents as they settle into Copeland and make their home and life. It's in this area that Carlie becomes a driving force of a character, as she fights for her own way of life outside and away from an ever domineering James. James and Carlie's marriage is on precarious footing when a tragedy befalls them nearly driving them finally apart, yet it's the nuclear family idea that keeps them bound together... American fallout. A stronger narrative focus may have benefited this debut novel, either focusing more on Avery and his familiar fallout, or on Carlie's, not necessarily on an unbalanced mixture of the two. Avery remains a tad underdeveloped for being the protagonist, and it strains for the parallels that he is searching for with Carlie in the present day scenes as he seeks reconciliation. And the nuclear metaphor is not as clear as it could be. But Wicks develops a strong 1970's milieu, and a strong case for the shifting sands of James' and Carlie's marriage, creating a real fissure in the cause and case of an American fallout.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this one with a dictionary handy.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It is harder to get rid of someone you loved than it is to get rid of yourself."

It starts a little slow, but this is an expertly-written story of strained relationships and an inquiry into why we stay in them. I was more than pleasantly surprised to be able to dive into some of the darker aspects of the human condition and the way we relate, as it wasn't what I had expected. A cursory reading of the synopsis led me to believe it was a lighter tale of a young gay couple in a comedy of errors as they attempt to care for one half of the pair's paraplegic mother. It is much, much more. Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

[Anne Corbitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a lovely book! It gets better and better as it goes. Highly recommended!

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book from goodreads giveaways. Thank you.