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Let's No One Get Hurt: A Novel
WINNER OF THE 2019 EMYL JENKINS SEXTON LITERARY AWARD FOR FICTION
"An inventive and powerful coming of age story about the search for community and all the ways our ties to one another come undone. Jon Pineda has a poet's eye for the details of this vivid, haunting landscape, and he brings it blazingly to life." --Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation
With the cinematic and terrifying beauty of the American South humming behind each line, Jon Pineda's Let's No One Get Hurt is a coming-of-age story set equally between real-world issues of race and socioeconomics, and a magical, Huck Finn-esque universe of community and exploration.
Fifteen-year-old Pearl is squatting in an abandoned boathouse with her father, a disgraced college professor, and two other grown men, deep in the swamps of the American South. All four live on the fringe, scavenging what they can--catfish, lumber, scraps for their ailing dog. Despite the isolation, Pearl feels at home with her makeshift family: the three men care for Pearl and teach her what they know of the world.
Mason Boyd, aka "Main Boy," is from a nearby affluent neighborhood where he and his raucous friends ride around in tricked-out golf carts, shoot their fathers' shotguns, and aspire to make Internet pranking videos. While Pearl is out scavenging in the woods, she meets Main Boy, who eventually reveals that his father has purchased the property on which Pearl and the others are squatting. With all the power in Main Boy's hands, a very unbalanced relationship forms between the two kids, culminating in a devastating scene of violence and humiliation.
"An inventive and powerful coming of age story about the search for community and all the ways our ties to one another come undone. Jon Pineda has a poet's eye for the details of this vivid, haunting landscape, and he brings it blazingly to life." --Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation
With the cinematic and terrifying beauty of the American South humming behind each line, Jon Pineda's Let's No One Get Hurt is a coming-of-age story set equally between real-world issues of race and socioeconomics, and a magical, Huck Finn-esque universe of community and exploration.
Fifteen-year-old Pearl is squatting in an abandoned boathouse with her father, a disgraced college professor, and two other grown men, deep in the swamps of the American South. All four live on the fringe, scavenging what they can--catfish, lumber, scraps for their ailing dog. Despite the isolation, Pearl feels at home with her makeshift family: the three men care for Pearl and teach her what they know of the world.
Mason Boyd, aka "Main Boy," is from a nearby affluent neighborhood where he and his raucous friends ride around in tricked-out golf carts, shoot their fathers' shotguns, and aspire to make Internet pranking videos. While Pearl is out scavenging in the woods, she meets Main Boy, who eventually reveals that his father has purchased the property on which Pearl and the others are squatting. With all the power in Main Boy's hands, a very unbalanced relationship forms between the two kids, culminating in a devastating scene of violence and humiliation.
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 20, 2018
27 people are currently reading
1498 people want to read
About the author
Jon Pineda
8 books52 followersJon Pineda's new novel Let's No One Get Hurt, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, won the 2019 Emyl Jenkins Sexton Literary Award for Fiction. He is the author of five other books and teaches at William & Mary.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
March 25, 2018
***ARC provided by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in exchange for an honest review.***
Told in an almost poetic prose. A modern picaresque novel divided in seemingly fragmented chapters,
about a young girl living in the swamps of the deep south, with nothing to call her own but her untamed spirit and her thrown together family, living on a run down houseboat. I found it disturbing and exact, not approximate in any way.
Upon closer inspection the reader is quickly made to realize that this is not an adventure for Pearl, the young protagonist. She is the unknowing recipient of a life based on erratic decisions by her parents. She is simply surviving. The characters all have their positions in Pearl's life, and some of the scenes are told so vividly, I internally flinch from the imprint. What an incredible commentary of the class system we have designated in this country.
Told in an almost poetic prose. A modern picaresque novel divided in seemingly fragmented chapters,
about a young girl living in the swamps of the deep south, with nothing to call her own but her untamed spirit and her thrown together family, living on a run down houseboat. I found it disturbing and exact, not approximate in any way.
Upon closer inspection the reader is quickly made to realize that this is not an adventure for Pearl, the young protagonist. She is the unknowing recipient of a life based on erratic decisions by her parents. She is simply surviving. The characters all have their positions in Pearl's life, and some of the scenes are told so vividly, I internally flinch from the imprint. What an incredible commentary of the class system we have designated in this country.
November 10, 2017
This is a gem of a novel that reads as if it emerged fully formed from a poetic dreamscape inside Jon Pineda's heart. The language is precise and surprising, the sentences tight tight tight. Fragmented moments accumulate into an unforgettable portrait of a place and of characters seldom seen in literature. The novel's opening 15 pages are edge-of-your-seat tense, brilliantly handled, and so is the homestretch. The final pages are unexpected and magical. This is going to be—should be—a much-talked-about novel of 2018.
June 19, 2018
Pearl had an ordinary life with a father who taught at the university, a mother who was working on her doctorate, a nice house and a good dog. But now she, her father and her dog are living with two other squatters in an abandoned boathouse. Now fifteen, Pearl encounters a group of teenage boys, who live in the affluent town nearby and ride around on their golf carts, filming pranks for YouTube.
The feel of Let's No One Get Hurt is similar to some of Ron Rash's work, a bit like a less grim Daniel Woodrell. It's set in an unnamed part of the American South, although it felt like coastal Virginia to me. Author Jon Pineda is also a poet, so each word feels carefully chosen and his descriptions are vivid. This would be out of place in most stories about people living outside of society, but since Pearl is the child of two highly educated parents, it works. There's a strong narrative pull to this novel, but it's rendered largely in brief, snapshot-like vignettes. I'm looking forward to seeing what this author writes next.
The feel of Let's No One Get Hurt is similar to some of Ron Rash's work, a bit like a less grim Daniel Woodrell. It's set in an unnamed part of the American South, although it felt like coastal Virginia to me. Author Jon Pineda is also a poet, so each word feels carefully chosen and his descriptions are vivid. This would be out of place in most stories about people living outside of society, but since Pearl is the child of two highly educated parents, it works. There's a strong narrative pull to this novel, but it's rendered largely in brief, snapshot-like vignettes. I'm looking forward to seeing what this author writes next.
January 1, 2018
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'For the last few years I’ve had no choice but to become someone else.'
This is a strange book, but then fifteen-year-old Pearl is living no ordinary life. Squatting in an abandoned boathouse with her father, who we learn was once a college professor, Pearl is receiving an education beyond anything her father once taught. The reader is left to wonder what event caused such a shift in their lives and where her mother is? Pearl remembers their life before the boathouse, when everything was predictable, safe and she had both a mother and father. Her life now is that of an outsider, her father having decided he is done with the world and she simply at the mercy of his whims. Life before changed direction with the winds of her mother’s moods and always her father somewhere at a distance, there and yet not, then as now. Roughing it with two other men (Dox and Fritter) along the swamps of the south, Pearl shares bits and pieces of their life before, because her father refuses to talk about it. Everything about her life now is makeshift, but for all her grit she still longs for the things any girl would while also resenting that hunger.
When she meets Main Boy (Mason Boyd) he has the power to destroy the home her ragtag ‘family’ is living in, because his wealthy father owns the land. Pearl finds herself split between longing and distrust for Mason as his friends treat her more like a specimen than a human being. Mason can be tender as much as he can be cold. The creature comforts of his home are a seduction as much as his attention, but the power he wields is a dangerous beast. Pearl projects a tough demeanor, but with Main Boy it starts to crumble and she finds herself doing things most girls would find degrading. Mason is spoiled and entitled but Pearl’s life is an empty belly, her future directionless, unsettled. Her sense of self-worth waxes and wanes, and Main Boy knows how to manipulate the game in his favor.
Mason and his friends love to record dangerous pranks, and there is a disconnect in reality and their humanity which mirrors the real life internet clips we hear about in the news. I found myself cringing at Pearl’s seeming passivity in being around the boys. In her mind they might just be “flies” but in groups they can turn rabid and maul. Mean boys love nothing more than testing another’s bravado, especially if it’s a girl, be she Wendy to their lost boys or not.
The men in Pearl’s life are tough as nails but damaged, and her father seems to be losing sight of her and just what his job as parent means. Her father is steeped so deeply in his own loss that he never thought to question what all of it would mean for Pearl’s future. She is learning to live off the land, to eschew all the ‘things’ regular people desire but whose will is it? There are other vital lessons of survival for a girl that the land alone can’t teach her and someone should be watching over her. As the danger culminates we see the measure of worth placed on people based on their standing in society. Poverty, after all, seems to make Pearl an open target to any abuses the boys can invent. I’d like to say never would they dare the things they do with one of their own, but that’s erroneous, instead I say in their minds a girl who looks and acts like Pearl is an easier target, less precious.With her family of misfits squatting as they are where they legally shouldn’t be, the local boys have false sense of superiority, leverage to hold over Pearl. If something were to happen, surely she wouldn’t go for help, when they are breaking the law living as they are. There is a moment during the climax when one of the ‘flies’ says ‘we were just kidding’ and though I can’t go into the chapter without giving the story away, it hit me hardest. That’s often the way to squirm out of blame, when you hurt others and try to disguise it with the weak excuse of ‘just joking’, it’s used to excuse all manner of transgressions. The wilds of her surroundings, with so much wealth nearby makes for a hell of a story. It’s poverty, class, family collapse, and the chaos and confusion in the heart and mind of a girl just needing love. It’s narrated by a girl who has her foot in two worlds and doesn’t seem to understand either, not yet… but she will.
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
'For the last few years I’ve had no choice but to become someone else.'
This is a strange book, but then fifteen-year-old Pearl is living no ordinary life. Squatting in an abandoned boathouse with her father, who we learn was once a college professor, Pearl is receiving an education beyond anything her father once taught. The reader is left to wonder what event caused such a shift in their lives and where her mother is? Pearl remembers their life before the boathouse, when everything was predictable, safe and she had both a mother and father. Her life now is that of an outsider, her father having decided he is done with the world and she simply at the mercy of his whims. Life before changed direction with the winds of her mother’s moods and always her father somewhere at a distance, there and yet not, then as now. Roughing it with two other men (Dox and Fritter) along the swamps of the south, Pearl shares bits and pieces of their life before, because her father refuses to talk about it. Everything about her life now is makeshift, but for all her grit she still longs for the things any girl would while also resenting that hunger.
When she meets Main Boy (Mason Boyd) he has the power to destroy the home her ragtag ‘family’ is living in, because his wealthy father owns the land. Pearl finds herself split between longing and distrust for Mason as his friends treat her more like a specimen than a human being. Mason can be tender as much as he can be cold. The creature comforts of his home are a seduction as much as his attention, but the power he wields is a dangerous beast. Pearl projects a tough demeanor, but with Main Boy it starts to crumble and she finds herself doing things most girls would find degrading. Mason is spoiled and entitled but Pearl’s life is an empty belly, her future directionless, unsettled. Her sense of self-worth waxes and wanes, and Main Boy knows how to manipulate the game in his favor.
Mason and his friends love to record dangerous pranks, and there is a disconnect in reality and their humanity which mirrors the real life internet clips we hear about in the news. I found myself cringing at Pearl’s seeming passivity in being around the boys. In her mind they might just be “flies” but in groups they can turn rabid and maul. Mean boys love nothing more than testing another’s bravado, especially if it’s a girl, be she Wendy to their lost boys or not.
The men in Pearl’s life are tough as nails but damaged, and her father seems to be losing sight of her and just what his job as parent means. Her father is steeped so deeply in his own loss that he never thought to question what all of it would mean for Pearl’s future. She is learning to live off the land, to eschew all the ‘things’ regular people desire but whose will is it? There are other vital lessons of survival for a girl that the land alone can’t teach her and someone should be watching over her. As the danger culminates we see the measure of worth placed on people based on their standing in society. Poverty, after all, seems to make Pearl an open target to any abuses the boys can invent. I’d like to say never would they dare the things they do with one of their own, but that’s erroneous, instead I say in their minds a girl who looks and acts like Pearl is an easier target, less precious.With her family of misfits squatting as they are where they legally shouldn’t be, the local boys have false sense of superiority, leverage to hold over Pearl. If something were to happen, surely she wouldn’t go for help, when they are breaking the law living as they are. There is a moment during the climax when one of the ‘flies’ says ‘we were just kidding’ and though I can’t go into the chapter without giving the story away, it hit me hardest. That’s often the way to squirm out of blame, when you hurt others and try to disguise it with the weak excuse of ‘just joking’, it’s used to excuse all manner of transgressions. The wilds of her surroundings, with so much wealth nearby makes for a hell of a story. It’s poverty, class, family collapse, and the chaos and confusion in the heart and mind of a girl just needing love. It’s narrated by a girl who has her foot in two worlds and doesn’t seem to understand either, not yet… but she will.
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
August 4, 2018
Lovely and lyrical and just the tiniest, most infinitesimal bit twee, with a stubbornly independent teen heroine.
They're a beautifully makeshift family who swap stories, teach each other fishing tricks, and singalong Son Volt songs to the accompaniment of a cigar box guitar. But they can't keep the teenager, Pearl, off the grid forever, and things get interesting when she starts dabbling in "civilization." Especially since Pearl is the opposite of helpless.
keywords: those Civil War reenactors had it coming, and you know it; this isn't going to be one of those Carrie proms is it? yes, I did mean to paint an all-black mural; catfish dreams; are you going to eat that last cattail root?
An alcoholic father and grieving daughter drop off the grid. Instead of getting all weird and survivalist and grim as in last year's dreadful novel My Absolute Darling, they take up with two equally lost souls and haplessly forage. And they barely scrape by.Me and you and a geriatric retriever named Marianne Moore, travellin' and livin' off the land.
They're a beautifully makeshift family who swap stories, teach each other fishing tricks, and singalong Son Volt songs to the accompaniment of a cigar box guitar. But they can't keep the teenager, Pearl, off the grid forever, and things get interesting when she starts dabbling in "civilization." Especially since Pearl is the opposite of helpless.
keywords: those Civil War reenactors had it coming, and you know it; this isn't going to be one of those Carrie proms is it? yes, I did mean to paint an all-black mural; catfish dreams; are you going to eat that last cattail root?
March 6, 2018
Pearl is a teenager desperately trying to come of age in the midst of her own chaotic world. She lives with her father and two fellow squatters in an abandoned shack within a land development space. Their southern ways of life are harsh, impoverished, and wild, but they are a tight-knit unit brought together by the hardships of life. Pearl meets the son of one of the masters of the universe in the spread of mansions nearby. Main Boy, as she calls him, offers her shelter and intimacy, but his pack of wannabe-Lost Boy rich friends see her as an easy butt of their jokes. She is the toughest of teenage girls, and she refuses to let her heart get bruised when Main Boy tosses it around carelessly. The primitive life she leads and the emotional maturity she's curated propel her above the mucky waters of circumstance.
This is a coming-of-age story like no other. Jon Pineda's darkly southern narrative is hopeful, but not optimistic. It is charming, but dingy. It is lovely, but heartbreaking. Pearl is innocent, but has a skin made of steel. Her family is fractured, but it is enough.
Her first encounter with love is shattering, but Pearl refuses to be shattered. The class difference between her and Main Boy is an enormous chasm; ultimately, their young love is doomed, subject to the cruelty of socioeconomic contrast, and when it implodes, it pulls our heartstrings into the blast.
Pineda's voice is incredible. I have a habit of stumbling upon novels written by poets, so I shouldn't have been surprised when I discovered that Pineda fits that bill exactly. His prose is poetry with momentum. His writing gives me the image of lace doilies tinged with the grime, dirt, and blood of Pearl's unyielding way of life. At the same time that he has built a world without luxury, his protagonist is a young girl who is capable of fierce adaptation. The beautiful language is tactfully used to narrate Pearl's thoughts in a world without material beauty. In the same page of describing how she hits a fish or sets hunting traps, he swiftly delivers the most concisely graceful thoughts. I'm in love with Pineda's writing. Many of the phrases threaded throughout the story would be in my Quote Hall if Fame, ifI had one (I should really make one).
Pineda's dreamy prose is jumpy, and slightly erratic at times. We follow Pearl's stream of consciousness, and she is a girl who likes to ponder. Ever so occasionally, I had to remind myself of plot points that ran away with the currents of his vivid voice, just to keep myself on the right path of the story.
Let's No One Get Hurt is heart-wrenching, but Pearl's cynical, carefree attitude desperately tries to remind us that nothing is that bad, that it's all just life. She doesn't dwell, even when she is preyed upon by forces that no young girl should have to fight off. She has lived a hard life, but she does not pat herself on the back for her trouble. Pearl is one of my favorite modern female protagonists, and her story has captured my whole heart.
Thank you so much to FSG for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a coming-of-age story like no other. Jon Pineda's darkly southern narrative is hopeful, but not optimistic. It is charming, but dingy. It is lovely, but heartbreaking. Pearl is innocent, but has a skin made of steel. Her family is fractured, but it is enough.
Her first encounter with love is shattering, but Pearl refuses to be shattered. The class difference between her and Main Boy is an enormous chasm; ultimately, their young love is doomed, subject to the cruelty of socioeconomic contrast, and when it implodes, it pulls our heartstrings into the blast.
Pineda's voice is incredible. I have a habit of stumbling upon novels written by poets, so I shouldn't have been surprised when I discovered that Pineda fits that bill exactly. His prose is poetry with momentum. His writing gives me the image of lace doilies tinged with the grime, dirt, and blood of Pearl's unyielding way of life. At the same time that he has built a world without luxury, his protagonist is a young girl who is capable of fierce adaptation. The beautiful language is tactfully used to narrate Pearl's thoughts in a world without material beauty. In the same page of describing how she hits a fish or sets hunting traps, he swiftly delivers the most concisely graceful thoughts. I'm in love with Pineda's writing. Many of the phrases threaded throughout the story would be in my Quote Hall if Fame, ifI had one (I should really make one).
Pineda's dreamy prose is jumpy, and slightly erratic at times. We follow Pearl's stream of consciousness, and she is a girl who likes to ponder. Ever so occasionally, I had to remind myself of plot points that ran away with the currents of his vivid voice, just to keep myself on the right path of the story.
Let's No One Get Hurt is heart-wrenching, but Pearl's cynical, carefree attitude desperately tries to remind us that nothing is that bad, that it's all just life. She doesn't dwell, even when she is preyed upon by forces that no young girl should have to fight off. She has lived a hard life, but she does not pat herself on the back for her trouble. Pearl is one of my favorite modern female protagonists, and her story has captured my whole heart.
Thank you so much to FSG for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 24, 2018
This book is clearly the work of a poet. Each page, sentence, word is trim and precise. Jon Pineda has crafted some indelible imagery in his cruel corner of the South – a fading old dog named Marianne Moore, a monstrous skinned fish that still swims in the depths of a murky river like some prehistoric beast.
On the micro level, “Let’s No One Get Hurt” is beautiful. But that spare, exacting language makes this an exercise in narrative minimalism. On the macro level, the story is a wisp, barely there. While I appreciated it intellectually, the whole story evaporated upon completion.
The story has the basic elements of a Southern picaresque. Fifteen-year-old Pearl is the picture of contemporary Southern poverty. She lives with her father, two other grown men and a dying dog in a ramshackle boathouse, where they scavenge to survive in abject squalor. She stands in fierce contrast to the “flies,” the crude rich boys in town who ride around in golf carts, filming their plotted mayhem for YouTube views.
Pearl begins a gross sexual relationship with the chief fly, “Main Boy,” in exchange for access to running water, soap, and food that wasn’t caught in coffee cans from a filthy river. Throughout this ugly pantomime, Pearl’s past and her parents’ tragic history gradually begin to surface. There’s a wide gulf between these haves and have nots. When Pearl takes to the river with a man named Fritter on a makeshift raft, you’d expect this to turn into a modern Huckleberry Finn.
But there’s no real adventure here, just a dreamlike haze that never coalesces into action. The writing is so intimate with Pearl you can practically smell her hair, feel its gritty texture. But for all that claustrophobic closeness, I still didn’t feel like I knew her in the end, and was not sad to see her go.
On the micro level, “Let’s No One Get Hurt” is beautiful. But that spare, exacting language makes this an exercise in narrative minimalism. On the macro level, the story is a wisp, barely there. While I appreciated it intellectually, the whole story evaporated upon completion.
The story has the basic elements of a Southern picaresque. Fifteen-year-old Pearl is the picture of contemporary Southern poverty. She lives with her father, two other grown men and a dying dog in a ramshackle boathouse, where they scavenge to survive in abject squalor. She stands in fierce contrast to the “flies,” the crude rich boys in town who ride around in golf carts, filming their plotted mayhem for YouTube views.
Pearl begins a gross sexual relationship with the chief fly, “Main Boy,” in exchange for access to running water, soap, and food that wasn’t caught in coffee cans from a filthy river. Throughout this ugly pantomime, Pearl’s past and her parents’ tragic history gradually begin to surface. There’s a wide gulf between these haves and have nots. When Pearl takes to the river with a man named Fritter on a makeshift raft, you’d expect this to turn into a modern Huckleberry Finn.
But there’s no real adventure here, just a dreamlike haze that never coalesces into action. The writing is so intimate with Pearl you can practically smell her hair, feel its gritty texture. But for all that claustrophobic closeness, I still didn’t feel like I knew her in the end, and was not sad to see her go.
November 29, 2017
By far, one of the most beautiful and moving novels I've read in a very long time. Pearl is resilient yet vulnerable. Her voice is captivating. The language and landscape are precise yet dreamy. This book deserves a wide audience, and I truly hope it gets one!
June 1, 2018
Pearl is a 15 year old girl in the deep South that is squatting with her father, a former college professor and now perpetual drunk, Dox and Fritters. She is a wild child living in a wild world surrounded by "flies" Main Boy being the most talked about. He and his friends get into all kinds of hijinks and shenanigans and record it to try to get enough views to get paid. I loved the descriptions of Marianne Moore, their aging dog, that bookend this short novel with edge of your seat southern gothic writing. The middle parts did seem occasionally disjointed, but the writing and descriptions throughout more than make up for it. I would recommend this for fans of David Joy, Larry Brown, or Daniel Woodrell.
Thank you to the publisher for making this arc available through netgalley.
Thank you to the publisher for making this arc available through netgalley.
May 12, 2018
I really, really enjoyed the first part of this book. Pineda’s writing style is simple yet whimsical, and I felt like I was in the story with the characters.
Unfortunately, the plot took a sudden shift about halfway through, with no warning or foreshadowing. It kind of ruined the ability for me to stay “inside” the story. It was confusing. Certain main characters disappeared for chapters and chapters and it all felt awkward.
Had the story not derailed so badly, I would have loved it. Instead I’ll give it two stars. Based on his quality of writing it deserves more, but I just can’t.
Unfortunately, the plot took a sudden shift about halfway through, with no warning or foreshadowing. It kind of ruined the ability for me to stay “inside” the story. It was confusing. Certain main characters disappeared for chapters and chapters and it all felt awkward.
Had the story not derailed so badly, I would have loved it. Instead I’ll give it two stars. Based on his quality of writing it deserves more, but I just can’t.
April 8, 2018
A girl's coming of age story written from a man's perspective. There are no women in her life and she is always at the mercy of the males around her and has to be rescued. It tries to be poetic but the story falls flat.
Read
July 17, 2018I have never felt more despondent for Pearl, Marianne Moore and I don't know what to say. I don't know how to rate this book. I can only say it took a lot out of me and I'm still thinking about it.
May 9, 2018
This was a coming of age story,but somehow it did not resonate with me. Lovely writing, love those short chapters, but I can't say I enjoyed it. Perhaps I'm just a philistine. Sorry, Jon.
May 22, 2018
I see I am in the minority but although I thought the writing was beautiful, I could not warm to the characters and there were too many holes in the narrative. Also, a real downer....
November 20, 2018
“I take out my journal and start writing. I remember something my mother once told me: “Don’t be afraid, Pearl, or you’ll be just like everyone else.” I wish I could have summoned these words sooner. But I’m not sure I would have made it here, thinking of myself as a girl with the whole world still in front of her.”
“If anyone’s a dumbass, it’s Main Boy for thinking girls are precious. I have news for him. We’re not precious. We’re the least precious things in the world. Boys, on the other hand, are as fragile as glass.”
In the second novel from poet Jon Pineda, he sets his sights on 15-year-old Pearl, her makeshift family, and a group of boys referred to as “the flies.” The book is well-written with evocative, lyrical language, though there were certain passages that I thought went on for too long. Pearl is a strong female presence in this coming of age story. It reminded me of another recent coming of age story/plot I read recently but this felt executed better to me. One thing I didn’t like is that there was a brutal scene toward the end of the book, which I thought was unnecessary. All in all, however, a moving read.
“If anyone’s a dumbass, it’s Main Boy for thinking girls are precious. I have news for him. We’re not precious. We’re the least precious things in the world. Boys, on the other hand, are as fragile as glass.”
In the second novel from poet Jon Pineda, he sets his sights on 15-year-old Pearl, her makeshift family, and a group of boys referred to as “the flies.” The book is well-written with evocative, lyrical language, though there were certain passages that I thought went on for too long. Pearl is a strong female presence in this coming of age story. It reminded me of another recent coming of age story/plot I read recently but this felt executed better to me. One thing I didn’t like is that there was a brutal scene toward the end of the book, which I thought was unnecessary. All in all, however, a moving read.
October 1, 2018
A haunting coming-of-age story with overtones and a dark underbelly that will ring unfortunately true these days. Fifteen-year-old Pearl lives a spartan squatter's life with her father and their father/son housemates Dox and Fritter in an abandoned boathouse in the American South. That rich language of southern grit lit is here as is a dream-like poetic quality in the writing. Pearl's story is at times sweet, but often tragic as she befriends and is taken in by the filthy rich Mason Boyd, who she calls Main Boy, and his gang of buddies she refers to as "Flies." Privilege and entitlement meet the oppression of poverty and grief in this unflinching tale reminiscent of We The Animals. A story that deserves to be read.
July 12, 2023
“If a body is abandoned, does it become a poem?” - my favorite line.
This story is very poetic and has some exquisite lines. But hey, mister male writer, and all male writers out there, let’s agree to stop writing about women’s boobs, okay? The amount of times Pearl refers to her nipples and obsesses over her chest… I promise you that teenage girls don’t think of their boobs THAT much. So you should stop thinking of them too, mkay? There are more important things on a girl’s mind than whether her boobs will grow.
This story is very poetic and has some exquisite lines. But hey, mister male writer, and all male writers out there, let’s agree to stop writing about women’s boobs, okay? The amount of times Pearl refers to her nipples and obsesses over her chest… I promise you that teenage girls don’t think of their boobs THAT much. So you should stop thinking of them too, mkay? There are more important things on a girl’s mind than whether her boobs will grow.
February 12, 2018
Thank you Netgalley and FSG for the ARC.
Pearl's a wild one living in a boathouse with her fellow squatters. This book is one long chapter broken down in easy readable soundbites. Pearl's observations of life around her, the haves and have-nots. This is poetry in motion, a strong story.
Pearl's a wild one living in a boathouse with her fellow squatters. This book is one long chapter broken down in easy readable soundbites. Pearl's observations of life around her, the haves and have-nots. This is poetry in motion, a strong story.
January 10, 2019
This beautiful book deserves all five stars. When I first tried to read it, I got stuck on the language. My advice is to try to read it without lingering. You need a bit of speed to make the narrative work, which Pineda expertly crafts using vignettes and lots of white space. This is the best novel by a poet I’ve ever read. I want to write like this. — I want to add that this book feels like THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME. It’s got that “outsiders living in squalor” motif, which is cozy in its own way.
April 9, 2018
Jon Pineda's Let's No One Get Hurt is a coming-of-age story set in the Deep South of the USA. It sounded right up my street, and I was eager to give it a go. Pineda has structured his work with a series of short fragments and vignettes, all of which build to create the full story. The narrative voice is well crafted, and I was reminded at times of Gabriel Tallent's My Absolute Darling, which received a lot of buzz last year.
The novel is an immersive one, with prose which is often lyrical. Some of it oddly reads in rather a dull fashion in contrast, and there were several sections in which I almost entirely lost interest. Regardless, Let's No One Get Hurt is certainly a promising debut, and I will be keeping my eye on Pineda's future work.
The novel is an immersive one, with prose which is often lyrical. Some of it oddly reads in rather a dull fashion in contrast, and there were several sections in which I almost entirely lost interest. Regardless, Let's No One Get Hurt is certainly a promising debut, and I will be keeping my eye on Pineda's future work.
June 24, 2022
An absolutely beautiful, tragic, astonishing book. Complex characters, a windingly engaging plot, but most important of all, a care about the language that makes every paragraph a joy to read.
May 21, 2025
beautiful, puzzling, visceral—felt everything, even the things i didn’t want to feel.
April 28, 2018
Full and complex characters pull the reader into this atypical coming of age story. I always felt like I was right alongside Pearl as she found her way through a pretty tough life—scenes are realistic and vivid.
From a sentence level, it was apparent that I was reading a book written by an incredible poet. Each sentence served an important purpose while also being delightful to digest.
From a sentence level, it was apparent that I was reading a book written by an incredible poet. Each sentence served an important purpose while also being delightful to digest.
July 24, 2018
I really liked this book. I met the author at the Gaithersburg Book Festival in May 2018. I was a pavilion manager and he was one of the authors in my Pavilion. As he described the book and answered questions, I knew I wanted to read this book. I suggested it to my book club and all were on board.
I loved his use of language, the characters and the glimpse of life on the margins.
I loved his use of language, the characters and the glimpse of life on the margins.
May 28, 2018
- flies is a great way to describe boys.
- all about them views!
- bite sized chapters.
- yeah why would anyone want to fly fish Aaron.
- Not for nothing but some of the spacing seems to be what I did when I was trying to pad out the page length on an essay in HS/college.
- Kindof thought Wyeth was into Pearl. Not so much!
- all about them views!
- bite sized chapters.
- yeah why would anyone want to fly fish Aaron.
- Not for nothing but some of the spacing seems to be what I did when I was trying to pad out the page length on an essay in HS/college.
- Kindof thought Wyeth was into Pearl. Not so much!
June 19, 2018
I really struggled through this book. It was very confusing and I never really connected with any of the characters or fully grasped what was actually happening. I do NOT like giving an author a bad review or low rating; I do believe there are readers who will appreciate and enjoy this book but I am not one of them.
June 1, 2018
A book told completely from the view of a young woman but written by a man. I never find this type of book very authentic.
June 25, 2018
I didn't even read the flyleaf before I chose this slim novel. I was attracted to the title and rewarded with a lyrical, devastating, satisfying read.
The parents of young Pearl, as well as the author, are all poets, so it's no surprise to me that the prose in these short "chapters" is so captivating. The scenes so well described I could almost smell the catfish in the life sustaining river.
Pearl was raised in an academic setting, her father a professor and her mother a doctorate student. Precision in language was repeatedly encouraged. Yet in her new surroundings as a squatter in a boathouse with three grown men, she finds herself unable to communicate her needs to either her father or her new friends, the flies.
Dox and his son Fritter, help her understand the world around the boathouse. Although they don't see the needs of a teenage girl, they all love her intensely. Their desire to protect her from some of the realities of her history shows how they wish to shelter her from the harshest aspects of life, even when they live in a broken down building with no plumbing or electricity.
I didn't know if I could read this, when the first pages were about putting down a pet the old fashioned way. I knew life and death would be raw in this world. But I kept reading and was glad I did. I've heard this categorized as a "coming of age" story. That fits, in an unconventional setting. Poverty in America isn't called out as such - it's just a way of life for this family living off the land and drinking to forget.
The turning point, when the blue cat was recovered and his fate accepted, was the catalyst needed for the father to be honest with Pearl. No more dreaming of the skinless fish surviving alone, no more pretending that life was other than it is.
The parents of young Pearl, as well as the author, are all poets, so it's no surprise to me that the prose in these short "chapters" is so captivating. The scenes so well described I could almost smell the catfish in the life sustaining river.
Pearl was raised in an academic setting, her father a professor and her mother a doctorate student. Precision in language was repeatedly encouraged. Yet in her new surroundings as a squatter in a boathouse with three grown men, she finds herself unable to communicate her needs to either her father or her new friends, the flies.
Dox and his son Fritter, help her understand the world around the boathouse. Although they don't see the needs of a teenage girl, they all love her intensely. Their desire to protect her from some of the realities of her history shows how they wish to shelter her from the harshest aspects of life, even when they live in a broken down building with no plumbing or electricity.
I didn't know if I could read this, when the first pages were about putting down a pet the old fashioned way. I knew life and death would be raw in this world. But I kept reading and was glad I did. I've heard this categorized as a "coming of age" story. That fits, in an unconventional setting. Poverty in America isn't called out as such - it's just a way of life for this family living off the land and drinking to forget.
The turning point, when the blue cat was recovered and his fate accepted, was the catalyst needed for the father to be honest with Pearl. No more dreaming of the skinless fish surviving alone, no more pretending that life was other than it is.
March 16, 2019
I liked this book so much more than I thought I would! Between the arrogant white boys, and the author I had never heard of, writing about a female main character, I didn't expect much from this, but it was great. Although the writing was good, and the story moved quickly, some parts of it were hard to read because so much of the story is wrapped up in the cruelty of young, privileged, white boys. Unfortunately, we all know the type. Pearl, the main character is living off the land with her father, and some friends, and somehow falls in with this group of arrogant, entitled boys whom she calls the Flies.
Ultimately, this is a book about the strength of a young girl who is still struggling with the grief of losing her mother, and who doesn't fully understand why her father has fallen apart so completely. The only constant living thing in Pearl's life is her dog, Marianne Moore, whose health is failing. Getting into the orbit of the Flies, especially the ringleader, whom she calls Main Boy, is a huge relief to her, even though they are clearly using her. At least she has regular showers, and consistent food when she hangs out with them. And despite being their scapegoat for much of the story, Pearl's sense of self is strong, and she is frank with herself, and the boys about why is allowing herself to laughed at, and degraded by these entitled flies. Her only weakness is disliking the life her father has allowed for her -- living in a shack by the river, gathering inconsistent food, and being filthy is not what she wants on a daily basis.
The end of the book is sort of terrible, and sort of wonderful. I've been upset with the endings of a lot of books this year, and this one felt complete, but much too rushed.
Ultimately, this is a book about the strength of a young girl who is still struggling with the grief of losing her mother, and who doesn't fully understand why her father has fallen apart so completely. The only constant living thing in Pearl's life is her dog, Marianne Moore, whose health is failing. Getting into the orbit of the Flies, especially the ringleader, whom she calls Main Boy, is a huge relief to her, even though they are clearly using her. At least she has regular showers, and consistent food when she hangs out with them. And despite being their scapegoat for much of the story, Pearl's sense of self is strong, and she is frank with herself, and the boys about why is allowing herself to laughed at, and degraded by these entitled flies. Her only weakness is disliking the life her father has allowed for her -- living in a shack by the river, gathering inconsistent food, and being filthy is not what she wants on a daily basis.
The end of the book is sort of terrible, and sort of wonderful. I've been upset with the endings of a lot of books this year, and this one felt complete, but much too rushed.
March 9, 2018
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Jon Pineda's new novel is a lyrical story about issues that are anything but poetic. Pearl lives with her father and another father and son, Dox and Fritter, on a boathouse somewhere in the south. They have nothing material to offer comfort, barely enough food to eat. Sometimes, not enough food at all. Pearl's mother is gone, the details are sparse. Pearl has her dog, Marianne Moore. When Pearl's dad lost tenure at the university, they hit the road with all their belongings; Pearl was twelve.
Now, Pearl is sixteen and hangs out with one of the country club boys. His name is Mason Boyd, but Pearl calls him Main Boy. She calls his friends the flies. They are a cruel bunch of rich kids, and I feared the worst when they entered the picture. Pearl is curious about them and their lives. She goes with Main Boy to his house and sees, for the first time, how rich people live. She isn't entirely impressed but would do anything to use the excellent big shower.
Pearl's inner life gave me an appreciation for the beauty of nature in her part of the world. I was in constant fear for her but should have known that the three good men in her life would take care of her. This unique story will be the topic of many literary conversations in the future. I loved it.
Thank you, NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read this ARC.
Jon Pineda's new novel is a lyrical story about issues that are anything but poetic. Pearl lives with her father and another father and son, Dox and Fritter, on a boathouse somewhere in the south. They have nothing material to offer comfort, barely enough food to eat. Sometimes, not enough food at all. Pearl's mother is gone, the details are sparse. Pearl has her dog, Marianne Moore. When Pearl's dad lost tenure at the university, they hit the road with all their belongings; Pearl was twelve.
Now, Pearl is sixteen and hangs out with one of the country club boys. His name is Mason Boyd, but Pearl calls him Main Boy. She calls his friends the flies. They are a cruel bunch of rich kids, and I feared the worst when they entered the picture. Pearl is curious about them and their lives. She goes with Main Boy to his house and sees, for the first time, how rich people live. She isn't entirely impressed but would do anything to use the excellent big shower.
Pearl's inner life gave me an appreciation for the beauty of nature in her part of the world. I was in constant fear for her but should have known that the three good men in her life would take care of her. This unique story will be the topic of many literary conversations in the future. I loved it.
Thank you, NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read this ARC.
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