The Ugly

by Alexander Boldizar

Muzhduk the Ugli the Fourth is a 300-pound boulder-throwing mountain man from Siberia whose tribal homeland is stolen by an American lawyer out to build a butterfly conservatory for wealthy tourists. In order to restore his people’s land and honor, Muzhduk must travel to Harvard Law School to learn how to throw words instead of boulders. His anarchic adventures span continents, from Siberia to Cambridge to Africa, as he fights fellow students, Tuareg rebels, professors of law, dark magic, bureaucrats, heatstroke, postmodernists, and eventually time and space. A wild existential comedic romp, The Ugly tells the tale of a flawed and unlikely hero struggling against the machine that shapes the people who govern our world.

Best Book of 2016 Grand Prize winner, CAC17
Somerset Prize for best literary fiction of 2016
Indies 2016 Book of the Year double finalist (literary, humor), winners TBD
Best Books of 2016: Best Fiction, Entropy Magazine
The Best Fiction Books of 2016, Book Scrolling

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction

365 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2016

About the author

Alexander Boldizar was the first post-independence Slovak citizen to graduate with a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. Since then, he has been an art gallery director in Bali, an attorney in San Francisco and Prague, a pseudo-geisha in Japan, a hermit in Tennessee, a paleontologist in the Sahara, a porter in the High Arctic, a consultant on Wall Street, an art critic out of Jakarta and Singapore, and a police-abuse watchdog and Times Square billboard writer in New York City. He now lives in Vancouver, Canada.

‍Boldizar’s writing has won the PEN/Nob Hill prize, a Somerset Award for literary fiction, and other awards, including a Best New American Voices nomination. His novel, The Ugly, was a best-seller among small presses in the United States with several “Best Book of 2016” awards and lists. He has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, is a founding director of a charity that brings circus to youth in at-risk communities, and was once challenged to a leg-wrestling contest by the founder of The Onion.

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, though my enjoyment of it seems to have decreased proportionately to how far into it I progressed. Don't get me wrong, it's quite good, thoroughly original and very intelligent, it just...got overwhelming after a while. There was so much philosophy, meditation on legal concepts, tribal African politics, academic satire...that it managed at times to overpower the plot itself. And the plot itself is great...Muzhduk The Ugli The Fourth (priceless already, right) is a Siberian Slovak (yes, really, there is a terrific explanation for it in the book) who sets off (on foot) to study the art of throwing words aka legalese as oppose to the art of throwing boulders, which has been his thing theretofore. So as a story of personal journey, self discovery, etc. it works very well. The juxtaposition of radically different cultures, America as seen through the eyes of a total outsider, again works very well. But then the author gradually but insistently plows into such heavy and dense territories that the narrative starts plodding and dragging, despite its and its protagonist's inherent charisma. There is also a matter of incessant timeline alternations and, to make matters more challenging, the present time narrative in Africa is told from a first person perspective and the past is told from a third person perspective. What's really fascinating is how much of himself the author managed to put into such a seemingly absurdist story, stranger than fiction indeed. Also a thought...would lawyers find this more compelling? Possibly. Again, interesting book, good, not great, exceptionally clever, vocabulary expanding (unless you already know an arcane term for peeing...it's micturate), distinctive, nonconformist oddball of a story. Apparently quite obscure, it wasn't on Amazon or GR, the latter of which I rectified with this entry. Requires some patience, but for the most part worth the effort. Thanks Netgalley.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an advance copy, and the first thing I noticed is that nearly all of the blurbs from other authors talk about how funny this book is. They are right. The Ugly is hilarious, in the sort of dry dark humor way that ends up leaving the world slightly tilted by the time you’re finished.

If Kafka and Musil threw boulders at each other while Monty Python watched, all in a One-L Harvard Law classroom (or Siberia, the Sahara desert, Everest, or any of the other places the wild plot goes), you’d get something resembling The Ugly. It’s hard to describe other than to say it’s very smart, funny and a can’t-put-the-book-down roller coaster of a story.

And if you’re even considering going to law school, read this book.

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was puzzled by this book. At the start, it was really interesting and it seemed to be going somewhere. The story is engaging up to maybe 60%, but afterwards... I just kept skipping. All the talk about god knows what, you start wondering whether you're either just you stupid for the book, or maybe there is little point of them talking about the weird lawyer philosophy, maybe? The format switches between two perspectives in time every several pages - it also switches between first and third person, and it really bothered me. Constant back and forth between legalese and action scenes really bothered me. By the end things went into total absurd mode and I had trouble picking out what was really going on.

Anyway though, the novel is based on the absurd and that was interesting. The main character Muzhduk is used as a way to show us our own culture is an alien thing. To expose our daily nonsenses and systems which are otherwise too hard to notice. The rigidity of our society and our laws and rules. At the same time, Muzhduk is both the sides of your archetypal fool - he's silly like the youngest brother in a fairytale, searching for some mythological gold. But he is also incredibly smart, like the fools that were supposedly the advisors of kings. It's a very interesting symbolic type of character.

In short, this might be a really good book for literary analysis, for the layers upon layers of meaning in it, but it's just not a very fun story to read. The law lingo makes it all the harder, cause if you haven't been to Harvard, you might end up feeling like you're not reading English anymore, some of the times. It's a challenge to uncover what this book was really going for, and I respect those who do, but I also feel like these will be few.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Ben Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent novel in the style of Joseph Heller (Catch 22), using absurdity and the vision of an "Outsider" in Ugli to critique culture and thinking. Genuinely funny throughout, parts towards the end can be a bit "dense", both in purpose and prose, but really enjoyable nonetheless.

[Olivia-Savannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ugly by Alexander Boldizar is novel which I discovered through Shelf Awareness. The cover had me interested, but it had to be the synopsis which had me convinced that I wanted to read it. I feel like our capital and Westerner ways make up thinking we have the right to impose on other tribal and indigenous areas because we have our reasons. It does not matter that it doesn’t match up with theirs. As someone who strongly believes this, I wanted to read this novel and find out more about how it would be portrayed here.

And while this is the underlying predicament in the novel, we get a lot more than I bargained for! For starters, when following the issue of their tribe basically being kicked out, I really liked how the novel started off. I liked how we got to see a little bit of what the tribe was like, and what their values were. We get to see what the businessmen do when they first arrive. But I was a little disappointed by the ending. I didn’t quite understand the way in which they resolved the issue? Or if they actually had, in the long term? I felt like it was a very short term resolution, or maybe I was just not understanding something…


As Muzhduk travels to America and spends his time there, we are told about all of that as if it were in the past. The perspective also switches to the present day, where Muzhduk is in Africa for some reason. That reason is revealed to us as we read. The two different perspectives are both told from his point of view, but in America we have third person voice and in Africa first person voice. I believe the author did this so we wouldn’t become confused between the two times, and I was glad for it. I also liked the switch, and seeing how the past tied in with what Muzhduk had learned and how he acted in the present day. It also really helped in steadily understanding his reason for why he is in Africa and how he feels so determined to find who he went there to find.

Muzhduk was an interesting main character. He was very straightforward, but then also very intelligent, which intrigued me. I believe I quite grew to like him as we read more and more. When there is something in life he wants or is after, he goes and gets it. When he feels something, he will tell you. He struggles to grasp the Western ways of the world when he first gets to America, and it’s kinda adorable in a way. I also like how quickly he managed to adapt, and how shocked people were when a tribal member was intelligent. Yeah, he showed them! I believe that’s another misconception we have and his character showed that very well. Just because we don’t know about their ways, or about someone, doesn’t mean we have to assume we know more and therefore be condescending. This applies in more situations than just the one in this novel.


I should also mention that this novel is quite explicit. Not in terms of it being very descriptive, but there are sexual scenes and the author simply describes what is happening. And because Muzhduk is someone who likes sex and it is also part of some traditions in his tribe, it’s kind of mentioned quite a bit.

However, when reading this novel I felt like I couldn’t enjoy it as much as someone who was a law student might’ve, because I simply didn’t understand it. I felt like I needed to be smarter to fully grasp everything I was reading, but I wasn’t. Which doesn’t have to do so much with the book, but maybe for those who want to read it. There is quite a lot of law discussion in this book, as Muzhduk is going to America to study law. There are also quite a lot of bridges between law, society, religion, human nature and so on. It was all over my head. I felt like I was reading philosophy at times, and I could tell some of the conclusions being reached were incredibly clever, but my mind just couldn’t keep up and be able to understand how and in what way. So while I did read this one and like it, some of it just went right over my head.


There is a love interest in the novel, but the love is less expressed in the usual pursuit of her, but showing how dedicated he is to her? I wouldn’t classify this book as a romance at all. But there is some love in it, but more so a gentle, steadfast love than the characters realising they love each other and going on dates or that kind of thing.

This was a nice read. A little confusing at times, but still enjoyable.

This review and others can be found on Olivia's Catastrophe, a book blog: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/20...

[Andrew Case · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honor of reading The Ugly pre-publication and it is an extraordinary accomplishment. The story is an epic satire not only of American legal education and the American legal system, but of modernity itself. It is easy to say that we have become complacent by living in an ordered world that we had no role in creating, or that we are out of touch with our animal instincts, but it is very hard to tell us this lesson--and so much more--by making us laugh, think, feel, and weep.

The closest comparison I can think of to this book is A Confederacy of Dunces--it is a story of an outsider who has a pure heart and a vast mind exposing our comfortable world simply by being forced to live in it. While the book challenges the reader, it does so through humor and a wicked wit, and with great flourishes of language and terrific prose.

A tremendous achievement. Read this book now and you will be able to say you were one of the ones who did.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A full on satire of contemporary law as mesmerizing and complex as something lost from Foster Wallace, yet as light in tone as "A Confederacy of Dunces."

[Lori]

I DNF'd this about halfway through. I just couldn't do it. A boulder-throwing, unschooled, 300 pound Slovakian, who grew up in a totally-off-the-fucking-grid secluded village governed by their own private rules, is pissed that an American lawyer tricked him into selling them their homeland and WALKS his huge, hairy hiney ALL THE WAY TO HARVARD, yes the college, where he apparently out-tests all other applicants because of course he's an IDIOT SAVANT, and is awarded entrance through some funky birth certificate trickery performed by the COLLEGE HEADS THEMSELVES because (1) he is not in America legally and (2) doesn't have any record that he even exists but (3) he's tested a perfect score and they absolutely must have him, and shoot-me-in-the-face because now he can learn how to throw words, not boulders, back at the tricky lawyer and win his land back and receive 'his second eye' and return as the rightful king of the Uglis. Uhm. No thanks.

[Michael McLellan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ugly is reminiscent of fairy tales I read as a child: You can’t take it seriously, yet you must take it seriously. Loaded with irony, absurdity, and plenty of opportunities for a laugh, Alexander Boldizar’s novel follows protagonist Muzhduk the Ugli the Fourth’s unlikely journey from a boulder-throwing Siberian villager to a word-slinging Harvard law student (yep, see absurdity).
I thought the first half of the book was exceptional, but the story’s grip loosened slightly during the second half, where it got a little heavy and cumbersome for me. Some of the language got a bit more challenging than I normally care for in fiction.
All things considered, I found The Ugly to be an extraordinarily original piece of storytelling by an insightful and talented writer. It was well worth the occasional trip to the dictionary.

[Grahame Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ugly is a serious piece of satire. It begins in a Siberian/Slovak village where men gain power in boulder throwing contests. Muzhduk the Ugly the Fourth walks from Siberia to Boston to study law so he can learn to throw words instead of boulders. The story proceeds through Harvard Law School and Africa, alternating in time and place.

Warning: some parts are heavy reading, particularly some "scholarly" arguments at Harvard. Be prepared to use a Dictionary in a few places. I understand why some readers DNFed part way, but persevere and you will appreciate the end.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the book, and I am in awe of the author's power with words.

[Carol Glassman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This definitely qualifies as one of the books that I finished reading only to figure out why I disliked it so much.
Fairy tale or nightmare? Maybe both.
When I read two reviews of it I could only assume the critics were close relatives or friends.
I would advise anyone to read it hand in hand with a guide, if one exists. The author is described as one who has held a wide variety of occupations, but unlike one as talented and genuinely humorous as Nelson deMille, those occupations do not seem to have lent any credence, sense, or purpose to this fantasy at all.
The Ugli is a professional Slovak rock thrower seeking a Harvard education in order to protect his hometown, somewhere in Siberia, from encroachment by the modern age. John the attorney has managed, by wise use of words, to gain access to the land to build a hotel and butterfly garden for rich tourists and Ugli must learn to use words instead of rocks to take back the land and preserve his honor.
Enter a shopping list of weird people and incidents that accompany the 200-pound Ugli mountain man on his trip to Cambridge and then all around the world, that could read something like a challenging reality TV show, were it not so obsessed with raunchy sex and lurid descriptions of distasteful scenes and odors. In fact, the novel reads like some juvenile cutting loose from parental supervision and filling a notebook with all of his wildest wet dreams and formerly forbidden language.
There are one or two scenes in Harvard law school classrooms which could possibly develop into comedy but they are inevitably drawn down into the ridiculous.
As an author, Boldizar seems intent upon entertaining himself and assuming everyone will follow along, not knowing or allowing good sense to indicate when to stop.
At Harvard Ugli is finally judged in a moot court by Sclera (the white of the eye)., Oedda (possibly a Welsh name, witch, or old Norse for dark fate) and the blue bear Pooh.
Yes, a fantasy is just that, but even the metaphors and similes make absolutely no sense: as confused as dirt in milk?
Two stories run parallel: Ugli liberating his girlfriend Peggy from terrorists in Mali/Timbuktu, and Ugli attempting to make sense of and graduate from Harvard law school.
This book was supplied to me without cost by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This one is really unique and brilliant. The son of a lost Slovak tribe's chief is tasked with "conquering the mountain" of Harvard Law School after a lawyer shows up in their idyllic, boulder-throwing village and tricks them out of their sovereignty. I have a soft spot for exceptionally bright protagonists and Muzhduk was a surprising one, possessing the shape and ethos of a mountain. I also love outsider interpretations of American culture that seem bizarre on the surface, but in actuality, cuts right to the heart of things in an adorable way that couldn't be more unencumbered.

The parts about the Slovak tribe's culture are also endearingly, hilariously presented. Like, honor is the biggest deal to the community, and everything is approached in terms of honorable battle. Even a house fire. Once it looked like the fire was going to win the fight, "then the owner of the house declared a loss and threw in some of the objects he'd saved to show that he wasn't a bad sport." And at that declaration, the village suddenly shifts form fighting the fire with full force, to marking it a spectacle to hold a celebration around.

[Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars: The Catch-22-esque humor starts to dissipate as the book goes on and things get increasingly philosophical, absurd, and somewhat confusing, or at least unnecessarily dense. I still enjoyed it and am glad I read it, but I'm not sure I'd rank it as a favorite or be eager to re-read it (not the whole thing anyway... certain passages are excellent). Part of the discomfort in reviewing this was because after I started it, I immediately recommended it to quite a few friends and in one case gifted it. As I got further into it, I thought... hmm, I'm not sure everyone is actually going to like it as much as I thought they would in the beginning. Muzhduk's frustration with Oedda may mirror the reader's exasperation at some points with the obscure/opaque references or assertions, especially when they are not communicated in English.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ugly by Alexander Boldizar makes for an interesting read. Muzhduk the Ugli the Fourth is a absolutely huge mountain man from Siberia who decides to tackle the last mountain, "Harvard Law School" in order to claim back what a dishonest American lawyer has stolen. Muzduk will use words as weapons instead of large boulders.
What follows is a hilarious journey that takes Muzhduk from his home in the mountains to Africa to the "wilds" of an American campus. The book has a very dry humor but I did find myself having to put the book down from time to time because I found the writing to be a bit too dry and I needed to take a break with something lighter. It is a very good book though and really worth a read through to the end.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Sage Adderley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am confident to say that I have never read anything like The Ugly. It is fantasy mashed with history and then mixed with the modern world. It is funny, entertaining, and packed with adventure.

Muzhduk the Ugli the Fourth is an awesome character. I was constantly amused by how he named things and people, and his descriptions were simple, yet his story was deep. He is on his way from his Siberian town to Harvard to study words. On the way, he has one unbelievable experience after another.

If you are looking for a fun brain twister that is well written and filled with humor, check out The Ugly.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful satirical romp, Boldizar's prose is sparse, easily absorbed and big on ideas. This is probably the best book I'll read this year.

[Mike Compton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conan the Barbarian attempts to solve the Riddle of Steel at Harvard Law School in a story plotted by David Foster Wallace and written by John Kennedy Toole.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading it, but it quickly gripped me. It is really well written and takes the reader on the journey along with the protagonist, Muzhduk. It flips between Muzhduk's time at Harvard and his travels in Africa. If you think the politics of Harvard are difficult to follow, his journey across Africa is almost unfathomable!

Although I enjoyed this book, some of the concepts and satire were lost on me - being neither American nor Siberian. However, there are themes that are recognisable to all and if, like me, you enjoy the critique/satire of crazy bureaucratic worlds, this book won't disappoint .

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ugly is amazing! Seriously, this is not a book you come across everyday. A 300-pound boulder thrower who goes to Harvard law to fight for his homeland? That's epically epic. The book is full of giggles and chuckles. It seriously was great to read after a long day. Super funny. The Ugly is totally a book that I'm surprised I enjoyed, it seems out there, which it is, but it's great! The writing is awesome, so is the plot. I love how Muzhduk is so headstrong and just fantastic. He is one of those characters that surprises you. Overall The Ugly is five stars! I'd recommend it to anyone, so please come check this book out!

[Jackie Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A multi-layered highbrow book with muscle and brawn. I got completely immersed in the world of Muzhduk the Ugli - his wit, his shoulders, and his quirky ways. I wasn’t expecting it to be so funny, but parts are Monty Python-esque. There are many layers to this story, and by the end of it I felt like I’d achieved something great or climbed a mountain in Siberia. Wonderful read.

[Ryan Farnsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever giant. Sometimes I feel a kinship with the boulder throwing giants....there is an honor in being intransigent! Well done Mr Boldizar.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is a very challenging read. Perhaps the key idea to take way from the novel is the opening scene. The major character, Muzhduk, must catch a very large boulder thrown in order to retain his role of tribal leader somewhere in Central Asia. Muzhduk not only catches the enormous rock but also throws it back, killing his challenger.

Quickly, the tribe and Muzhduk encounter a more deadly threat: A lawyer representing a corporation makes claims that would evict the clan. Muzhduk quickly discovers that throwing rocks has been replaced by the language of the law to decide who is in control. He discovers that he can stay a leader only by becoming a lawyer. As someone who has always been the leader, he goes to Harvard University to get a law degree.

This all happens in the first 20 pages (or so) of the 356 page novel. This sounds like the set up for a funny and fanciful novel. Not so.

The rest of the story rolls out an ever increasingly complex story that touches on many themes. This is not easy reading as characters come and go. One highlight is the bantering between Ugli and the law professors, often identifying real faculty members. Of course there’s a ring of fellow students in the novel as well. And, there’s a few pages set aside for romance and sexual attraction. Did I read every word? No, but there’s a pattern in the book that helps fill in some of the gaps.

By the middle of the novel, the chapters are introducing new characters and philosophical debates. Boldizar’s use of the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac helps to help the reader focus on major themes in the novel. Still, the novel challenges the average reader to understand the story line at two and even three themes of understanding.

What kept me reading was how powerful the dual metaphor of rocks and words. Once we threw rocks to define who was in charge. Now our language skills replace our rock skills. But they both define who is in charge.

[Sang_d'Encre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but genuine post-modern novels were so much better. Those Americans who just "discovered" the vein and believe it's a Slovakian thing are beyond any help. It's American, folks. Ever heard of Barth, Barthelme, Coover, Vonnegut or Thomas Pynchon?

[Martin Ott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is big, bold, and smartly written, a literary novel with surreal and fantastical moments wrapped around a larger than life character who can tell us much about our own messy current state of affairs in the world. Can't wait to see this writer's next book.

[Cathy Geagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thoroughly original story, intelligent and quite funny in places, and Muzhduk the Ugli the Fourth is a charismatic lead character. I very much enjoyed the first half of the book, as Muzhduk begins his journey to reach Harvard to learn to fling words instead of boulders and win back his ancestral home which has literally been sold from under him. It satirises modernity, masculinity, education (and the American legal system in particular).

However the further I progressed through the book the less I enjoyed it. This could be less an issue with the book and more my personal preference that satire be brief and punchy. I had gotten the formula by then, and so I felt it dragged (although it's entirely possible that for lawyers, the latter part of the book is more compelling). I would recommend this book to fans of Joseph Heller and John Kennedy Toole - or indeed anyone planning on becoming a lawyer in America

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the reviews which stated the first 1/3 of the book was brilliant were spot on. I also feel the critiques of the remaining 2/3 were valid as well. I finished, and enjoyed the book, but could absolutely understand the dnf's. The commentary of the absurdity of "law" was engaging and interesting to me. However, towards the end the material vs. immaterial aspects of reality were muddy, confusing, and honestly sometimes uninteresting. The book seemed to sacrifice its extremely promising storyline on the alter of philosophical exposition. But, that's just my opinion. In the end I still rated it pretty well, however, I'm a philosophy student... so that stuff kinda hoists my flag if you get my drift.

[Daniel Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was throughly captivated by this book from the opening chapter to the last.
Brims with intelligent wit and absurd humour. I would highly recommend this Book.

[MaryAnn Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I'm finally finished The Ugly. Which is, apparently, more than some reviewers can say. I won't say it wasn't challenging, but I read every last word. There were a lot of them. Many of which I didn't understand and likely never will. But then I don't have a Harvard law degree, nor have I read much existential philosophy. I can honestly say, this was the most challenging book I've ever read. I loved it. It charmed and baffled me. Frustrated me. Humbled me. Made me laugh out loud. I think it changed me. And the author (based on an interview I heard) will be happy to hear that it made me think...so much my head hurt. I feel as though I have fought a war, got an education, grown up, had a tumultuous love affair, and have a new best friend, but one whom I hesitate to turn my back on, because he will likely do something unpredictable, messy and probably dangerous when I'm not looking. An experience not to be missed.

[Michael Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a challenging, and original read. Not to mention loopy loopy loopy. I'm a bit hesitant to describe the plot as it is so absurd - but I have to say the craziness is pretty captivating. I got a bit bogged down in the second half when the narrative becomes more and more philosophical, still, a worthwhile read by strong and creative voice.

[Nick Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

absolutely delightful, though it lost more and more luster as it went on. major echoes of catch-22. also, since when does short trade paperback fiction cost $20?!? that is some horseshit.