Zeitgeist

by Todd Wiggins

Set in 1999 against a backdrop of race riots, well-armed zealots, discount euthanasia, and sexual worship, Zeitgeist is a searing portrait of a nation facing Armageddon.

Genres: Fiction

511 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1996

Reviews

[Godzilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book at the back of a cupboard and decided to re-read it. I remembered it more fondly than I found it on this revisit.

There's a lot going on in the book, which centres around a road trip involving a disparate set of characters, who all have different issues they're dealing with.

The backstories are introduced through a series of flashbacks, and prove to be both harrowing and comedic in turn.

The book seems to hang on a few good ideas, but lacks the great execution required to bind it all together.

The blurb quotes talk of Hunter S Thompson amongst others, but this isn't quite in that area IMHO.

[Anissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it. Donating now.

[Josh Call · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between Mailer's The Executioner's Song and Kerouac's On the Road, Zeitgeist is an odd sort of bildungsroman at its most visceral. It's a rare book that takes me to the last two or so chapters to decide if I love it or hate it, but this one was well worth the time.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

little odd at first and i wasn't sure i was gonna like this but by the end i was in tears. i good read if you can stick with it long enough to find out what happens.

[Key Holiday · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give this book a worse rating but won't because of what a curious experience I've had with it. I discovered the book when I was a teenager at a thrift store in upstate New York. Back then, I was enthralled by its licentiousness. It has all the dark, edgy themes one would want or expect from anything at the turn of the mellennium. I tried to look up reviews of the book or really anything about the author back then and came up short. I lost the book before I could finish it and ordered it recently when it came to memory.

I realized that I only hadn't read the last couple chapters as it all came back to me quite lucidly. Unfortunately, the things that I'd appreciate about it as a teen became major vexations as an adult. I just don't care for the relentless bombardment of sexual innuendos and paraphilias anymore.

Reviews or acknowledgements of the book are about as elusive now as they were back then. I understand much better now why it never became the cult classic I had hoped it would. Despite how I feel today, I am still very curious about the writer and whatever became of them as I still can't find anything about them. It's an intriguing book and part of my past. It definitely defined or at least cultivated some aspects of how I feel about sex and society to this day (though I'm glad my brain seems to have filtered out most of the themes/ideas that haven't aged well). It won't be leaving my bookshelf unless I find someone who can appreciate it for what it is. A book that tried too hard to be ahead of it's time, fell flat, but still leaves an impact.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The twentieth century. It’s not just an era: it’s a disease, a pathology. It’s the scene of the crime.”

Madcap thrilling ride through the streets of pre-Millennium America. Sordid but oddly moving.

[Bridget · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think i got this at a remaindered book sale (god I miss those pop up stores.) All I remember is hoping it would be like Generation X and being very disappointed. Also a gang rape.

[Daniel]

Will the approaching millennium bring Armageddon? That seems to be the question in this ambitious satire, which tells the story of a motley collection of young people on the road and on the run, pursued relentlessly by cops, National Guardsmen, and...

[Tuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

a fairly entertaining apocalypse/dystopia story of the end of 20th century end of world, but damn sort of self indulgent grad school stuff too, it seemed. too too long to get to a great great ending. did i have time for this before the end?