Exes: A Novel

by Max Winter

For Clay Blackall, a lifelong resident of Providence, Rhode Island, the place has become an obsession. Here live the only people who can explain what happened to his brother, Eli, whose suicide haunts this heartbreaking, hilarious novel-in-fragments. A former movie star impersonates himself; an ex-con looks after a summer home perched atop a rock in the bay; a broken-hearted Salutatorian airs thirteen years' worth of dirty laundry at his school's commencement; an adjunct struggles to make room for her homeless and self-absorbed mother while revisiting a salacious high school love affair; a recent widower, with the help of a clever teen, schemes to rid his condo's pond of Canada geese. Clay compiles their stories, invasively providing context in the form of footnotes that lead always, somehow, back to Eli. Behind Clay's task -- which seems insane, definitely doomed, and, as the pages turn, increasingly suspect -- burns his desire to understand his brother's death and the city that has defined and ruined them both.
Full of brainy detours and irreverent asides, Exes is a powerful investigation of grief, love, and our deeply held yet ever-changing notions of home.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2017

About the author

Max Winter is a graduate of UC Irvine’s MFA program, and a recipient of two Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowships in Fiction. He has been published in Day One, Diner Journal, and elsewhere. His debut novel, EXES , is forthcoming from Catapult in 2017. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Matt Sumell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got an advanced reader's copy of this book--and full disclosure: ended up blurbing it--but it's by far the best thing I've read in years. I can't recommend it enough. As the kind of reader who often puts a book down and never picks it up again, Winter had me from the off and I couldn't stop. No shit: I got a parking ticket, missed a dentist appointment, lost count of the times my coffee went cold--just kept forgetting to drink it. It's structure is wildly inventive, its sentences flat-out fearless, its cast of heartwrecked hustlers, schemers, and grievers of 1990s Providence, Rhode Island, as compelling as they come. The result is a deeply moving, deeply funny confluence of sensibility, setting, and voice that makes the world seem like a richer place. In a single sentence the guy made me laugh, then sucker punched me in the heart, then made me laugh again. I don't just admire it, I envy it. HIGHLY recommended.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclosure: Max Winter (that's not a pen name, that's his birth name) was a friend of mine in high school in Providence, Rhode Island. I have a few good stories about him; nothing incriminating or acutely embarrassing. These Goodreads reviews aren't necessarily objective critical journalism anyway, but I point this connection out because it's relevant to the book and how I experienced it. This is about people and the relationships left behind (or that left us behind), and the futile effort to reconstruct connections through memory.

Another confession: I dislike a lot of "literary fiction." I'm not sure I agree with the suggestion in Max's afterword that narrative economy is "overprized," and indeed sometimes I wish it were valued more. (Although I don't always model that value myself.) ((Oh, and right now, I'm doing something that Max's novel does: annotating myself, and then annotating the annotations. Makes you realize how much memory really is a construction in the present moment.)) Too often I read literary fiction that disdains the reader, that confuses more than it elucidates, that is more interested in unique sentences than a compelling story, that seems designed to make the author seem profound and beyond the comprehension of the lowly reader. When I smell that on a book, I feel angry. Happily, Max's book is plenty "literary" but it does not bore or bullshit the reader. It does not seek attention through bogus mystification, and once you figure out how the book works it isn't difficult to follow. It is entertaining, often hilarious, and it evokes a beautiful melancholy that can only be understood when you have loved a friend and lost people who mattered to you. It is loaded with stories, many of them fit to stand alone, but the jumble of histories (and the annotations that follow) depict the struggle to touch people across a distance with memory. It reminds me of Max : here is his deceptively casual wit (masking a lifetime of attentive reading and media absorption) - all the characters sound like Max altering his voice ever so slightly - and also his heart. The book also stoked my long-smoldering homesickness for Rhode Island, its unique colloquialisms and irascible characters. The book struck me like a specially formulated pill: my own memories and people I've lost mingling with the characters (some of whom are very much based on persons living or dead, trust me). And if you have loved people and places, this might be your experience as well. I don't think you'll regret spending a little time with "Exes."

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a kaleidoscopic, telescopic novel. Winter melds form with story in a way that transcends its gimmick to feel organic--in the past, I've spoken out against the 800-page novel that tries to encompass everything, but here's a novel that manages to do it in only 210. That alone should be praise enough to convince you to buy a copy for you and ten for your friends: its specificity, its universality, is astounding. Written across more than a half-dozen perspectives, each of which feel inhabited and authentic, the story feels staccato and legato and fluid and breakneck all at the same time. This is the kind of novel that captivates the mind and becomes a staple of craft/theory coursework. Bravo, Max Winter. I'm watching you.

My rating: 5/5

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5. I received a free copy of this book from via the Goodreads giveaway.

While I really liked the concept of this book, the majority of the execution fell flat. Starting with Clay Blackall, the author introduces various unique characters who somehow revolve around the life and death of Clay's brother, Eli. Some of these are very interesting, such as Alix's perspective, and the second to last chapter talking about the geese from Rob's father's perspective.

Unfortunately, the book is very disjointed and while many of the characters mention each other in their stories, the overall stated concept of the book (the ways in which the characters relate to Eli) never really materializes.

In all, while parts of the book are interesting and the overall concept has great potential, I probably wouldn't recommend this book as it never really came together for me.

[sam wilder · Rating 2 out of 5]

if you're considering reading this book, turn to the inside of the back cover. if the facial hair in the author photo gives you a strange feeling, put the book back on the shelf and choose something else. if you're comfortable with the author's facial hair, you have questionable taste and will probably enjoy "exes."

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird and elliptical and poignant and funny and flawed and immensely appealing. Thanks for the galley, AWP. This was fun.

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way to say way too much, without saying anything at all. I'll just leave it at that.

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wild disjointed roller caoaster of a read.Really enjoyed,

[Kerstyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got maybe ten pages in and decided this book is absolutely not for me. Don't want to have to read the same sentence three times before deciding to just move on and hope the next one makes more sense - over and over again.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads for this book. I have tried on two separate tries to get into the book. Both times failure. Now, after reading the other reviews, I feel that I should give it another try. I had put the book down the first time and picked it up and just could not get into it. Have reread the first chapters and still none the wiser. I think I will put it away for a couple of months and try to get into it again. Sorry!

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book through Goodreads ARC Giveaway. I really tried to get into this book, but as of page 40 (my cut off page) I realized I was not enjoying this book at all. I was forcing myself to read it. Although it was a dark humor book, I was not interested in the characters, and found nothing at all humorous.

[Carolyn Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars is generous. I enjoyed the Providence-ness of the book, but it was way too disjointed for me to follow. I spent too much time trying to remember whose voice I was reading and how it all comes together. I'm still confused, and did not find it compelling enough to figure it out. That being said, there were some amusing parts.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fun to read but the writing style was.. different. One of those books that didn't entirely make sense, had a hard time keeping track of the characters. Definitely well written and interesting/funny, but found it a little confusing.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just had a terrible time keeping pace with this book and all it's footnotes and the footnotes with footnotes. It was too much happening for me from too many people, and I didn't like any of the characters. Just not for me.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't figure this book out. Weird.

[Kyla Belvedere · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't hate or love this book. It mostly kept my interest but I was left completely unsatisfied by the ending. What was the point of this book? What was I supposed to get from it?

[Ashley Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

To begin, I picked up this book on a actual whim because I was sort of on a Romance-Exes-Back-To-Lovers book binge and the title of this book is… well, you get it. So when I promptly discovered the plot (AKA reading its self-described summary) I was a bit miffed at myself for just grabbing it and buying it without looking into it. All that being said, I was stuck on a 4-hour plane ride and needed something to do, so I broke down and read it.

From the beginning, I liked how the prose flowed. I liked the timing and the spacing of the thoughts, emotions, purpose for the small chapters. After a few chapters I felt like I really had the author’s voice in my head, and honestly, it made me laugh out loud a few times. Now I get it, the qualm with this book* is the asides.

*and the tangents for the asides.

But I thought it was unique in the way that I’ve never read a book spaced like someone thinks: person A says something and person B has 15 subplots about that sentence in his head. The asides, at first, were a little annoying and I was trying to determine if they were relevant because I was tempted to skip them. But just like anyone who reads Sally Rooney, once you get it, you get it. And if you get it and don’t like it, then it’s not for you. And to be completely transparent I much prefer this writing over Rooney’s.

Most of all, the things I liked about the book is that the characters had a certain surprising, gritty depth and the way they all melded and shaped each others story, even if it wasn’t directly mentioned, created a silhouette of several different narratives. And I think that’s a true reflection of real life. You meet a teacher and think, eh who cares? You hear about a student-teacher relationship and it’s only the scandal people care about, never the after. They never want to know how the scandalous people are doing. This book addresses the after by acknowledging the during much after the after. Something occurred to me while reading this: whenever someone does something ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’ or ‘against the grain,’ you never really hear from them, just about them. But they’re people too with lives and afters and in this book, I think we hear from those people. From real people.

[Matthew Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one's going to take me a while to process but it's surely the most Rhode Islandy novel I've ever read, with torn-from-the-headlines plot points ranging from the Streuver Brothers debacle to the Coffee Exchange bathroom camera pervert guy.

I knew Max many years ago as the guy who worked at the local video store,* so was pleased that there are many detours into things like how to splice VHS tape and what movies might have been playing at specific theaters at exact points in 1974.

*I've been thinking a lot about Alexander Chee's advice to writing students, to just lie when people ask you about your novel. I met Max again a few months ago and when he said his first name I said "Oh, are you Max Winter?" My hearing's not spectacular but I'm pretty sure he said no.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed at times, felt haunted or gut wrenched at others, but through and through loved the ties to a place I call home. It’s a darker book given the premise, but I was enthralled with each character and how their paths crossed. An overall melancholy read, I was captivated and compelled to return to the book after every chapter.

I read this book over the course of a month and wish I had read it over a shorter time span. The nature of the book and various stories it weaves together left me flipping back to make sure I was connecting all the dots (In typical Rhode Island fashion, everyone is connected, often times uncomfortably so!)

Overall, I enjoyed this book especially as a Rhode Islander. It captured so many of its quirks and local flavor that make home.

[ElizabethJar · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ THIS BOOK. Drop everything, go to the bookstore, buy it, sit down with a cold beverage and tell your friends and family to bug off.
I love this book. The characters are intense, flawed, busted, complicated. The author clearly gives a good goddam about them. The story is winding, gyroscopic, as life is in our memories and living of it.
I had almost given up on contemporary fiction and was hanging around with detective novels and non fiction rather than suffer any more disappointment.

Go. now. get it and read it.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it took me a few beats to get into the rhythm of this book, or perhaps to recognize the beauty in its lack of rhythm, I really, really loved it. A story told in disjointed fragments, like shards of a mirror giving us pieces of the whole, but never the whole in one piece. Cleverly written, with shades of Denis Johnson's anxiety-fueled stories.

[Flowergarden24 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe if I lived in Rhode Island and knew about the many places mentioned I would be able to say something like this book was fun to read. It was quick, I barely hung on, and I can't find anything to say here except I will gladly return this to the library.

[isaacq · Rating 2 out of 5]

there's a book called Ohio by Stephen Markley that's basically this book but done better. some individual sentences in Exes are fantastic, but for this reader the book was confusing and boring.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the writing style, but the plot/stories were meh. I had a really hard time focusing while reading this which kind of made the whole experience feel like a chore. Wasted potential :/

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gooodreads Advanced Reader Copy Win

We meet Clay Blackall who is obsessed with his hometown of Providence where the residence knows what really happened to his younger brother leading to his suicide,

We meet the strange residents who play a role in his upbringing as they play a role in his life. Each are different in their own unique way as they shape him. We are given glimpses of stories portraying snippets of his life in various settings. Not always picture perfect but like life as is.

Exes a story of imperfections and what is around us. An intriguing read.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway.
This is an interesting book. It seemed a bit dis-jointed to me but over all OK.

[Samantha Gunning]

I won this book via Goodreads Firstreads giveaway. I received an advanced reader paperback copy.

[Alisa]

Hard to follow for multiple reasons. One was although the synopsis explains the point of the story, the story doesn't seem to agree with that. I read over half the book though.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an Advanced Reading Copy from the Goodreads Giveaway.

Everything about the description was vague enough to lure me into reading it and I desperately wanted to continue reading because the author's voice, I thought, was really unique. However, it just wasn't my cup of tea. If you like Nick Horby-esque character studies with perhaps self-discovery on the horizon, then this is great for you! I got halfway and, since nothing that had interested me had developed, I decided to give into other novels that have been calling my name.

Don't take my review too harshly, I think I could have stuck it out since the writing was so good except that reading it had become a chore.

Also a warning to some: there is a drawing of a dick. I was caught unaware and was not particularly fond of that image.

[Sara Cutaia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review coming soon via CHIRB