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Old Open
Aging widower Russ Lanaker knows he doesn't know his neighbors--but when he finds out one of them was a witness to, and career expert on, the strange UFO phenomenon known as the Phoenix Lights, he realizes that's a situation he'd like to change. What follows is an odyssey out of his air-conditioned comfort zone, through the sun-baked Arizona suburbs, and onto the franchise-lined (and not-so-great) American road.
In an existential style reminiscent of Don DeLillo, but with the humor and heart of a Coen Brothers film, Alex Higley takes us along as Russ strikes out in search of knowledge about an alien encounter, and perhaps something far more bizarre--genuine human connection.
In an existential style reminiscent of Don DeLillo, but with the humor and heart of a Coen Brothers film, Alex Higley takes us along as Russ strikes out in search of knowledge about an alien encounter, and perhaps something far more bizarre--genuine human connection.
- GenresNovels
164 pages, Paperback
Published November 7, 2017
1 person is currently reading
97 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 26, 2017
With echoes of DeLillo, Old Open is a deceptively simple novel that rebels against modern disillusionment, capturing nothing less than the texture and flux of life. Higley's subjects include the gap between information and meaning, aliens and alienation, the desire to communicate and the need to feel understood. The result is a funny, moving, and hopeful novel
February 19, 2019
While eating the worst of mac-n-cheese of my lifetime at a clean, trying-too-hard-to-be trendy college eatery, I read Old Open by Alex Higley. As I was pondering how to throw away my mac-n-cheese even though all the trash cans were covered with signs that said "think about the turtles, "I started to hope that widower Russ Lanaker would sit across from me and ask if I wanted a beer. I don't like beer, but I think would drink a beer with Russ to contemplate sitting in the unknown and being old open instead of old closed and how I don't want to die before my husband because I don't want him to go on a road trip with a strange woman.
Lots to think about in this short little novel...this story is what Man of Called Ove could have been if A Man Called Ove was not overwrought with sentimentalism and a heavy-handed Carpe diem message. Old Open has some of the same themes as a Man Called Ove but done in a more subtle way. It is simultaneously light-hearted and deeply philosophical. Wonderfully entertaining and thought-provoking. The perfect novel to read while eating gross man-n-cheese.
Lots to think about in this short little novel...this story is what Man of Called Ove could have been if A Man Called Ove was not overwrought with sentimentalism and a heavy-handed Carpe diem message. Old Open has some of the same themes as a Man Called Ove but done in a more subtle way. It is simultaneously light-hearted and deeply philosophical. Wonderfully entertaining and thought-provoking. The perfect novel to read while eating gross man-n-cheese.
December 16, 2017
I loved this novel. The narrator, Russ, is a 55 year old widower whose idiosyncratic thought patterns and observations make the novel hilarious, thought-provoking, and emotionally stirring. Russ often wonders about the details of other people's lives, what really makes another person tick, what's behind a human connection. The way he tries to fill in the blanks and read between the lines of his interactions with others is at the core of what makes this book such a funny, compelling investigation of human nature. It's a short but unforgettable read, one that offered me a lot of food for thought and will stick with me. Something genuine and true to life.
"Regardless, I was not really taking in information very well at the time: unemployed, worried about myself. Not a lot has changed. If there is a difference I can claim here in this lobby, while suited men type performatively, it's that I want to know my neighbor. I'll skip social media, I'll skip the last two decades or more of political quakes in our country, I'll skip the new Batman movies, but I do want to know some of these people around me. Whether or not they want to know me, I want to try."
"Regardless, I was not really taking in information very well at the time: unemployed, worried about myself. Not a lot has changed. If there is a difference I can claim here in this lobby, while suited men type performatively, it's that I want to know my neighbor. I'll skip social media, I'll skip the last two decades or more of political quakes in our country, I'll skip the new Batman movies, but I do want to know some of these people around me. Whether or not they want to know me, I want to try."
November 25, 2017
This book is a shape-shifter. I thought it was a mystery, but then it felt like an alien story, then I thought maybe a road trip saga, but then it becomes a story about male friendship in old age. I loved it. I love not know what is coming next, but what held the book together was the singular and intriguing way the narrator thinks.
January 19, 2018
Trying to explain this odd yet engaging book is like trying to explain one of Spike Jonze's movie. It's just too much effort. It reads like a cross between A Man Named Ove and the X Files. The main character is semi-retired in Arizona and has too much time on his hands, so he watches his neighbors rent house. When he discovers that his neighbor speaks at UFO conferences, he takes off on a aimless road trip to learn more about these conferences. Or that's his plan. What he really wants to know is more about his neighbor, he wants someone to hang out with and this neighbor is really just a con artist that's found his calling. So there you go . . .
November 17, 2018
Old Open is a reminder of how much a short novel can accomplish when the writing is this crisp and insightful. It's an exploration of the idea that we don't stop learning new things about our neighbors and the communities we've created for ourselves as we grow older (and as someone closer in age to Russ Lanaker, the narrator, than he'd care to admit, it made it all the more resonant). Peppered throughout the story you'll find entertaining dialogue, UFO's, and a road trip full of vivid stops and characters. This was a great read -- looking forward to more from the author.
February 3, 2018
More philosophical than I expected.
May 30, 2022
I wanted to dislike this book, because I bought it on a whim due to Alex Higley’s viral tweet (whose subject I don’t even recall). But I can’t. It was a treat. I devoured it in a single sleep-deprived fugue state. And I feel like the viral-tweet-to-book-in-hand pipeline is exactly the type of random events he would appreciate. But then I looked for the tweet (I’m thorough, okay) and couldn’t find it. So either I imagined it, or he got really cancelled in the last month or two.
At first, I struggled to feel the pull of Terrell and his mysteries. Who cares? He seemed like a regular guy, for the most part, like everyone else in the story. And then I realized that’s the point.
The staggering events and conversations feel like I’m stumbling at a party, tipsy, sparkling with confidence and verve that I’ll cringe at in the morning. Why should I cringe over this at all?
Also, I feel like intrigue/reveal can feel forced, like an author’s power trip over the reader’s knowledge. But the twists and turns here felt genuine; mysteries seemed naturally incomplete; resolution came realistically.
I can’t help but feel the Lolita parallels in the road trip.
I’m corporately boring now, but this book reminds me of a time in my life where I had the time and energy to dive into a random person just for the story, like picking a good scab.
I’ve been struggling lately, fearing that I’m fading into oblivion. But this book is a reminder that the only thing we get to hold onto is our place in the web of people. Let’s get out there and get hurt sometimes and find the weird, hopefully.
At first, I struggled to feel the pull of Terrell and his mysteries. Who cares? He seemed like a regular guy, for the most part, like everyone else in the story. And then I realized that’s the point.
The staggering events and conversations feel like I’m stumbling at a party, tipsy, sparkling with confidence and verve that I’ll cringe at in the morning. Why should I cringe over this at all?
Also, I feel like intrigue/reveal can feel forced, like an author’s power trip over the reader’s knowledge. But the twists and turns here felt genuine; mysteries seemed naturally incomplete; resolution came realistically.
I can’t help but feel the Lolita parallels in the road trip.
I’m corporately boring now, but this book reminds me of a time in my life where I had the time and energy to dive into a random person just for the story, like picking a good scab.
I’ve been struggling lately, fearing that I’m fading into oblivion. But this book is a reminder that the only thing we get to hold onto is our place in the web of people. Let’s get out there and get hurt sometimes and find the weird, hopefully.
December 8, 2017
An existential detective story of the most golden sheen. UFOs. Ennui. Mysteries expansive. OLD OPEN is like Joy Williams and Charles Portis wrestling to the death in a dusty lot just before torrential rain. Alex Higley takes ordinary words and crushes them up into a fine powder that you can do any magic thing you want with. He's one to behold.
December 28, 2020
This book covered so much in a deceptively small space. Road trip saga meets conspiracy theory deep dive meets critique of American paranoia meets midlife crisis meets so much else. I loved it. Every character was a joy to unearth.
October 2, 2019
4.8/5
i picked up this book completely randomly and man oh man did i enjoy it. it’s short and sweet,the writing style is just stunning and there are so many bits of little wisdom. it just feels so genuine & is really beautiful. i loved the narrator and it felt philosophical as hell in its entirety. super bummed that “cardinal & other stories” isn’t available at my library but hopefully i’ll order it soon. also i think the narrator's weird-ass thoughts allowed me some more empathy for myself because they’re really similar to how my thoughts often look i dunno
favorite quotes:
(literally 8 which is insane considering this book is only around 150 pages but i tried to limit myself to 5 and it was too hard)
“I’ve heard it said colloquially that the ability to communicate is a certain openness is allowed by both parties; I believe this to be far from the truth. The amount of self-knowledge pre-supposed in a word like “openness” is vast.”
“I try and let my words stand for him by not responding, in order for him to be able to hear what he’s said and examine its content. But I don’t think this happens. I’m certain it doesn’t.”
“I have investigations in my days. In my working days and days off. It’s because I don’t have a wife anymore, have never had dependents or a dog, work from home (less and less) and am generally, increasingly, unsure. I become fixated on a subject, a person, an image, and pursue; there is no one in my life to check me.”
“I know the appeal of a stranger and that her most entertaining trait is her brevity. Her contextlessness, her brief, partial, reality. The loss of a stranger’s company is expected, welcomed, and at best, in place of her company, dreamy tendriled speculation moves in. A stranger cannot be known, by definition, but certainly can be understood. I have the desire to be understood, hate the idea of being known.”
“‘Known’ is burdened with history, with memories, deals in and becomes a shorthand with an ignorance of the person present. And so I try to avoid being known to most people.”
“Look how porous I’ve become, letting any woman that comes along take me by the hand and lead me.”
“She looks at me as if we have never met. As if whatever we are entering into in the present is not happening and we are strangers struggling to level.”
“I feel he must be avoiding what is most likely, most like life, that she is lost to him, to us. That is my experience. We’ve no been duped, no matter what happened. People are not constant, people drop away, people are lost to us eventually, and what is persistent is internal. What persists is the question surrounding the person. The alternate realities. Coupling seems like a defense against the fact that so many others will be lost to ya. Almost like an admission of: I know I will lose all of you, I will attempt to cling to one. The attempt is futile, of course, and our spouses or friends become lost to us in a variety of ways, but the attempt feels important.”
i picked up this book completely randomly and man oh man did i enjoy it. it’s short and sweet,the writing style is just stunning and there are so many bits of little wisdom. it just feels so genuine & is really beautiful. i loved the narrator and it felt philosophical as hell in its entirety. super bummed that “cardinal & other stories” isn’t available at my library but hopefully i’ll order it soon. also i think the narrator's weird-ass thoughts allowed me some more empathy for myself because they’re really similar to how my thoughts often look i dunno
favorite quotes:
(literally 8 which is insane considering this book is only around 150 pages but i tried to limit myself to 5 and it was too hard)
“I’ve heard it said colloquially that the ability to communicate is a certain openness is allowed by both parties; I believe this to be far from the truth. The amount of self-knowledge pre-supposed in a word like “openness” is vast.”
“I try and let my words stand for him by not responding, in order for him to be able to hear what he’s said and examine its content. But I don’t think this happens. I’m certain it doesn’t.”
“I have investigations in my days. In my working days and days off. It’s because I don’t have a wife anymore, have never had dependents or a dog, work from home (less and less) and am generally, increasingly, unsure. I become fixated on a subject, a person, an image, and pursue; there is no one in my life to check me.”
“I know the appeal of a stranger and that her most entertaining trait is her brevity. Her contextlessness, her brief, partial, reality. The loss of a stranger’s company is expected, welcomed, and at best, in place of her company, dreamy tendriled speculation moves in. A stranger cannot be known, by definition, but certainly can be understood. I have the desire to be understood, hate the idea of being known.”
“‘Known’ is burdened with history, with memories, deals in and becomes a shorthand with an ignorance of the person present. And so I try to avoid being known to most people.”
“Look how porous I’ve become, letting any woman that comes along take me by the hand and lead me.”
“She looks at me as if we have never met. As if whatever we are entering into in the present is not happening and we are strangers struggling to level.”
“I feel he must be avoiding what is most likely, most like life, that she is lost to him, to us. That is my experience. We’ve no been duped, no matter what happened. People are not constant, people drop away, people are lost to us eventually, and what is persistent is internal. What persists is the question surrounding the person. The alternate realities. Coupling seems like a defense against the fact that so many others will be lost to ya. Almost like an admission of: I know I will lose all of you, I will attempt to cling to one. The attempt is futile, of course, and our spouses or friends become lost to us in a variety of ways, but the attempt feels important.”
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews