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AMERICAN NEOLITHIC
In naming American Neolithic a Best Book of 2014, Kirkus Reviews called it "a towering work of speculative fiction." In a dystopian near future, America has become a Police State Lite. The Homeland Police have exclusive jurisdiction over anything touching on national security. Their drones patrol the skies. Civil liberties have been legislated away by the Patriot Amendments. Americans born of Middle Eastern parents wear electronic ankle bracelets. Scientific creationism is the state religion.
Into this world comes Blingbling, a member of the last surviving band of Neanderthals. Hiding in plain sight on the Lower East Side, they shelter in an abandoned Chinese restaurant supply warehouse and subsist on the proceeds of mightnight dumpster dives. Having taught himself to read and write--the first of his people in many generations to do so--Blingbling is sent into our world to get a job and so supply the Neanderthals' few remaining needs.
This doesn't work out well. He is framed in a hiphop murder. Shadowy benefactors retain a cynical, hard-boiled attorney, Raleigh, who in the course of his defense uncovers the true nature Blingbling has struggled so hard to conceal. He is ultimately caught up in a conflict with the government that threatens to cost him his client, his career, and much more.
Into this world comes Blingbling, a member of the last surviving band of Neanderthals. Hiding in plain sight on the Lower East Side, they shelter in an abandoned Chinese restaurant supply warehouse and subsist on the proceeds of mightnight dumpster dives. Having taught himself to read and write--the first of his people in many generations to do so--Blingbling is sent into our world to get a job and so supply the Neanderthals' few remaining needs.
This doesn't work out well. He is framed in a hiphop murder. Shadowy benefactors retain a cynical, hard-boiled attorney, Raleigh, who in the course of his defense uncovers the true nature Blingbling has struggled so hard to conceal. He is ultimately caught up in a conflict with the government that threatens to cost him his client, his career, and much more.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 20, 2013
About the author
Terence Hawkins
8 books32 followersKirkus Reviews called Terence Hawkins' second novel, American Neolithic, "a towering work of speculative fiction" when naming it a Best Book of 2014. Julia Glass said, "You will be amazed at Terence Hawkins’s prodigious imagination, his Bowie-sharp wit, and the skill with which he tells a story."
Hawkins' first novel, The Rage of Achilles, is a prose account of the Iliad in modern and sometimes brutal prose. Based on the bicameral mind theories of Julian Jaynes--also the conceptual basis for HBO's Westworld--it describes not only an historical Trojan War, but a revolution in human consciousness.
His short stories have appeared in such publications as Calliope Crashes, Blue Mountain Review, Keyhole, Eclectica, and Pindeldyboz. His commentary has appeared in the New Haven Register and on Connecticut Public Radio. His most recent publication is an excerpt from a sequel-in-progress to American Neolithic provisionally entitled Rats' Alley.
Hawkins' was the founding director of the Yale Writers' Conference. In 2015, he capitalized on that experience to start the Company of Writers, offering editorial services, seminars, and workshops to authors at every stage in their careers.
He grew up in Uniontown, a coal town in southwestern Pennsylvania. Both grandfathers and several uncles were miners. He graduated from Yale, where he was Publisher of the Yale Daily News, and the University of Wisconsin Law School.
He lives in New Haven with the enigmatic yet pithy Mrs. H., his muse and keeper.
Hawkins' first novel, The Rage of Achilles, is a prose account of the Iliad in modern and sometimes brutal prose. Based on the bicameral mind theories of Julian Jaynes--also the conceptual basis for HBO's Westworld--it describes not only an historical Trojan War, but a revolution in human consciousness.
His short stories have appeared in such publications as Calliope Crashes, Blue Mountain Review, Keyhole, Eclectica, and Pindeldyboz. His commentary has appeared in the New Haven Register and on Connecticut Public Radio. His most recent publication is an excerpt from a sequel-in-progress to American Neolithic provisionally entitled Rats' Alley.
Hawkins' was the founding director of the Yale Writers' Conference. In 2015, he capitalized on that experience to start the Company of Writers, offering editorial services, seminars, and workshops to authors at every stage in their careers.
He grew up in Uniontown, a coal town in southwestern Pennsylvania. Both grandfathers and several uncles were miners. He graduated from Yale, where he was Publisher of the Yale Daily News, and the University of Wisconsin Law School.
He lives in New Haven with the enigmatic yet pithy Mrs. H., his muse and keeper.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 18, 2014
What a spectacular read. BlingBling has my heart. I am so grateful to Mr. Hawkins for giving me the opportunity to read this novel in its intended format(thanks again).
Right from the beginning the writing flowed beautifully, making this an easy read.(Although the police state was a bitter pill to swallow). I became so invested in the characters and this book had me questioning my morals constantly. It's somewhat of a depressing read, but an important one as well.
I wanted this novel to be longer, I need to find out what happens next!
Note: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
September 16, 2015
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
The last book I read by author Terence Hawkins was The Rage of Achilles, a well-done novel but nothing too terribly groundbreaking (it's simply The Iliad rewritten with modern language and slang); so imagine my surprise after reading his latest, the haunting and flabbergasting American Neolithic, and realizing that it's quite literally one of the top three books I've read in the last several years, a shocker that came out of left field for me and which made it even more enjoyable. At its heart it's a speculative tale -- the story of the very last tribe of Neanderthals in existence, who through a convoluted series of events have ended up "hiding in plain sight" within a contemporary Manhattan, with one of the members being mistaken for a developmentally challenged human by a rap gang and sort of adopted as a beloved yet laughed-at member of their posse. But when a rival gang member is killed and the blame shifted onto our hapless "Blingbling," this is where the story suddenly starts getting even meatier; for it turns out we're not in contemporary Manhattan at all, but rather a near-future America that has effectively weathered a coup by the Tea Party, which among other things has made it illegal to talk about evolutionary theory in public, which suddenly makes it a national security problem when Blingbling turns out to have DNA that is utterly unlike modern human genetics. Then if this wasn't enough, the book is a hardboiled crime and courtroom procedural as well, as our hero lawyer Raleigh navigates the tricky waters of a "justice" system under a semi-fascist state, trying through black humor and shady dealings to keep his own hide afloat while not letting down this most curious new client of his.
Already an amazing novel just from the premise alone, what tips this into one of the best books of recent memory is that the entire thing is written in this beautifully poetic style, presenting a clan of cavemen in a startlingly original way that few would ever think of presenting themselves, a heartbreaking story of migration and loss that is fascinating, clever, and bleakly funny in equal measure. About as perfect as a novel gets, which is why it's receiving a rare 10 out of 10 from me, American Neolithic floored me at a moment when I was least expecting it, and it will undoubtedly be making CCLaP's best-of lists at the end of the year. If you're going to read only one contemporary speculative novel this year, make it this one.
Out of 10: 10
The last book I read by author Terence Hawkins was The Rage of Achilles, a well-done novel but nothing too terribly groundbreaking (it's simply The Iliad rewritten with modern language and slang); so imagine my surprise after reading his latest, the haunting and flabbergasting American Neolithic, and realizing that it's quite literally one of the top three books I've read in the last several years, a shocker that came out of left field for me and which made it even more enjoyable. At its heart it's a speculative tale -- the story of the very last tribe of Neanderthals in existence, who through a convoluted series of events have ended up "hiding in plain sight" within a contemporary Manhattan, with one of the members being mistaken for a developmentally challenged human by a rap gang and sort of adopted as a beloved yet laughed-at member of their posse. But when a rival gang member is killed and the blame shifted onto our hapless "Blingbling," this is where the story suddenly starts getting even meatier; for it turns out we're not in contemporary Manhattan at all, but rather a near-future America that has effectively weathered a coup by the Tea Party, which among other things has made it illegal to talk about evolutionary theory in public, which suddenly makes it a national security problem when Blingbling turns out to have DNA that is utterly unlike modern human genetics. Then if this wasn't enough, the book is a hardboiled crime and courtroom procedural as well, as our hero lawyer Raleigh navigates the tricky waters of a "justice" system under a semi-fascist state, trying through black humor and shady dealings to keep his own hide afloat while not letting down this most curious new client of his.
Already an amazing novel just from the premise alone, what tips this into one of the best books of recent memory is that the entire thing is written in this beautifully poetic style, presenting a clan of cavemen in a startlingly original way that few would ever think of presenting themselves, a heartbreaking story of migration and loss that is fascinating, clever, and bleakly funny in equal measure. About as perfect as a novel gets, which is why it's receiving a rare 10 out of 10 from me, American Neolithic floored me at a moment when I was least expecting it, and it will undoubtedly be making CCLaP's best-of lists at the end of the year. If you're going to read only one contemporary speculative novel this year, make it this one.
Out of 10: 10
August 9, 2014
Imagine that a small band of Neanderthals survives in contemporary America. Imagine also that after another terrorist attack the US goes even further to the right, amending the Constitution expanding governmental power and limiting civil liberties because of "national security" and that the Religious Right has gained even more political power, basically enacting the laws that they've been wanting to enact for thirty years. Now imagine the Neanderthals encountering that America. It won't go well for anyone.
That's the premise of this cross-genre novel by Terence Hawkins, who it was my pleasure to befriend while attending this year's Yale Writers' Conference. Terry, a Yale alum and local New Haven attorney, is the director and guiding spirit of the program. Rumor has it that the participants enjoy each other so much and the program works so well because everyone is hand-selected by Terry. If so, I'm even more honored that I made the cut, for he is a funny, charming, smart, encouraging, and dapper man. But enough with the flattery. This novel is fantastic.
Terry's humor is wickedly sarcastic. I'm sure knowing him (and having heard him read a few passages) influenced my reading of the book, because I could hear his voice and his actual sense of humor the entire time I was reading. But you don't have to meet Terry to find this book funny.
And it is funny, right up through the point that it's frightening. Because it is ultimately a commentary on what might have happened to America, and theoretically still could, if the anti-terror and theocratic forces were to gain even more control.
So, whether you like a good story, engaging characters, witty and insightful writing, or being made to think about serious issues, you might enjoy this book.
That's the premise of this cross-genre novel by Terence Hawkins, who it was my pleasure to befriend while attending this year's Yale Writers' Conference. Terry, a Yale alum and local New Haven attorney, is the director and guiding spirit of the program. Rumor has it that the participants enjoy each other so much and the program works so well because everyone is hand-selected by Terry. If so, I'm even more honored that I made the cut, for he is a funny, charming, smart, encouraging, and dapper man. But enough with the flattery. This novel is fantastic.
Terry's humor is wickedly sarcastic. I'm sure knowing him (and having heard him read a few passages) influenced my reading of the book, because I could hear his voice and his actual sense of humor the entire time I was reading. But you don't have to meet Terry to find this book funny.
And it is funny, right up through the point that it's frightening. Because it is ultimately a commentary on what might have happened to America, and theoretically still could, if the anti-terror and theocratic forces were to gain even more control.
So, whether you like a good story, engaging characters, witty and insightful writing, or being made to think about serious issues, you might enjoy this book.
January 10, 2022
8/10 stars
While this slim novel is labelled as sci-fi, it's no more sci-fi than Moore's Utopia. A political allegory, sometimes heavy-handed, but mostly acutely, painfully spot-on, American Neolithic is a haunting, harrowing book that manages to delve deep into what makes us human all the while keeping things short, snappy, and cruelly realistic.
While the premise of a tribe of Neanderthals hiding in plain sight in modern Manhattan bears marks of typical - and actually not so far-fetched - speculative fiction, the Neanderthals in Hawkins's novel are just a - quite ingenious, I might add - stand-in for the Other in their many forms. Even in the few years that passed since the publication, our scope of knowledge about Neanderthals has substantially changed, so the snippets about the Neanderthal life, however alluring, are pure fiction. But the mirror American Neolithic puts up for our, Homo sapiens benefit is true - and not at all complimentary.
It's a hard hitting novel - especially because the reality it depicts is truly not that far from our own.
While this slim novel is labelled as sci-fi, it's no more sci-fi than Moore's Utopia. A political allegory, sometimes heavy-handed, but mostly acutely, painfully spot-on, American Neolithic is a haunting, harrowing book that manages to delve deep into what makes us human all the while keeping things short, snappy, and cruelly realistic.
While the premise of a tribe of Neanderthals hiding in plain sight in modern Manhattan bears marks of typical - and actually not so far-fetched - speculative fiction, the Neanderthals in Hawkins's novel are just a - quite ingenious, I might add - stand-in for the Other in their many forms. Even in the few years that passed since the publication, our scope of knowledge about Neanderthals has substantially changed, so the snippets about the Neanderthal life, however alluring, are pure fiction. But the mirror American Neolithic puts up for our, Homo sapiens benefit is true - and not at all complimentary.
It's a hard hitting novel - especially because the reality it depicts is truly not that far from our own.
April 18, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. At just under 200 pages it is a nice, compact read, but it tells a bigger story about the direction this country of ours was teetering dangerously close to going down just a few short years ago. Indeed, there is no guarantee we will not ultimately choose that path in the future if the wrong string of events plays out. Fast paced and seasoned with just the right amount of humorously biting social commentary along the way, I could see this book appealing to a wide audience ranging from dystopia lovers to readers of politics and any fan of Stephen King's non-horror work. Mr. Hawkins leaves the door cracked open for a follow up with this one and I for one hope he writes it!
May 18, 2014
American Neolithic is excellent! I couldn't put it down. Reminiscent of the works of Jim Harrison, Philip K. Dick, George Orwell, and Jonathan Swift, but projecting the author's unique voice, it presents a world that is sadly too believable, and describes with acid humor how America has changed in recent years. We view this world through the eyes of a lawyer who dedicated his life to representing the downtrodden, and the eyes of a Neanderthal, who made the mistake of trying to succeed in the human domain. Fox News fans be warned, you may not like this book. For the rest of us, it's a highly entertaining work of satire, with a lot of truth thrown into the mix.
November 17, 2019
American Neolithic is a short but provocative work that combines a legal thriller with science fiction and brutal satire, and tosses in two sympathetic protagonists to boot. It takes place in a dystopian near-future United States of America that is, unfortunately, all too recognizable. Raleigh got his law degree at Yale before the US became a police state, before the Constitution was amended (including the watering down of the First Amendment), before civil liberties for all were curtailed and every reference to evolution had to be accompanied with a "Fair to Faith" disclaimer. As the USA has declined, so has Raleigh's place in the world. Raleigh lives for cigars, alcohol, and the occasional ministrations of his much-younger girlfriend. But he has gotten a client in a high-profile case.
Blingbling is accused of killing a famous rapper. He was a dancer for that rapper's group, entertaining crowds. He is also one of the world's last surviving Neanderthals. Blingbling is ambitious, the only member of his small, hidden, New York City-based tribe to learn to read and work for pay. Unfortunately, his visibility becomes his, and potentially his tribe's, downfall. When his DNA is tested, a beefed-up Homeland Security department becomes highly interested in the case. The dead rapper takes a backseat to the fate of a person who is not quite a person in the eyes of the law, one who is not supposed to exist anymore (or, if one listens to the right-wing Christian leaders, ever have existed).
Terence Hawkins has written a tragic indictment of American politics and culture, a warning about what we can become if we allow ourselves, and an examination of what it means, really, to be human, with jokes. The perspectives alternate between Raleigh's and Blingbling's. Both have fascinating stories to tell about the past and the future. Despite the heavy lifting Hawkins took on for himself, the cast and scope never expand too far for concentration.
American Neolithic isn't for everyone, but it will hit all the sweet spots for some. If Blingbling in particular doesn't prick your conscience, you don't have one. There really aren't Neanderthals around anywhere anymore...I think. But Homo Sapiens still has an awful lot to learn.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Blingbling is accused of killing a famous rapper. He was a dancer for that rapper's group, entertaining crowds. He is also one of the world's last surviving Neanderthals. Blingbling is ambitious, the only member of his small, hidden, New York City-based tribe to learn to read and work for pay. Unfortunately, his visibility becomes his, and potentially his tribe's, downfall. When his DNA is tested, a beefed-up Homeland Security department becomes highly interested in the case. The dead rapper takes a backseat to the fate of a person who is not quite a person in the eyes of the law, one who is not supposed to exist anymore (or, if one listens to the right-wing Christian leaders, ever have existed).
Terence Hawkins has written a tragic indictment of American politics and culture, a warning about what we can become if we allow ourselves, and an examination of what it means, really, to be human, with jokes. The perspectives alternate between Raleigh's and Blingbling's. Both have fascinating stories to tell about the past and the future. Despite the heavy lifting Hawkins took on for himself, the cast and scope never expand too far for concentration.
American Neolithic isn't for everyone, but it will hit all the sweet spots for some. If Blingbling in particular doesn't prick your conscience, you don't have one. There really aren't Neanderthals around anywhere anymore...I think. But Homo Sapiens still has an awful lot to learn.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.
March 7, 2015
I would like to recommend American Neolithic, by Terence Hawkins, but what I really mean is that it should be on everyone’s required-reading list. It is a tour de force of how a story may be told in both a minor and major key. It proceeds from the outlandish premise that a Neanderthal in our midst has come to be represented in a criminal trial by a wise and witty attorney whose hangdog countenance is just the way he greets what we all should see of the surreal injustices of this world. It proceeds from there, with elements of Phillip Roth and Franz Kafka - only a bit more humorous than either, to open up to become a complex metaphor for the way our society is evolving, for the manner in which we treat each other, and for all the unutterable threats that lurk behind the veneer of our modern world. And it does this with high humor and a light touch, and a low-key wisdom that will have you taking notes as you compulsively turn the pages.
Most readers will be drawn to the defendant, BlingBling, one of the few remnants of that less evolved species, which disappeared several thousand years ago. His worldly erudition and witty insights will leave the reader wondering and questioning not only the evolution of our own species, but also the nature of progress itself. But the warmth and the put-down-the-book-for-a-moment laughs reside in the person of the lawyer, Raleigh, whose humane self-awareness is only exceeded by his proclivity for getting himself into hilariously difficult situations, all as a product of his own abundant if somewhat recondite compassion. There are layers within layers within American Neolithic, with perhaps the subtlest being that what we may be doing to ourselves now is exactly how we once rendered that other species extinct. Funny, how that is.
Most readers will be drawn to the defendant, BlingBling, one of the few remnants of that less evolved species, which disappeared several thousand years ago. His worldly erudition and witty insights will leave the reader wondering and questioning not only the evolution of our own species, but also the nature of progress itself. But the warmth and the put-down-the-book-for-a-moment laughs reside in the person of the lawyer, Raleigh, whose humane self-awareness is only exceeded by his proclivity for getting himself into hilariously difficult situations, all as a product of his own abundant if somewhat recondite compassion. There are layers within layers within American Neolithic, with perhaps the subtlest being that what we may be doing to ourselves now is exactly how we once rendered that other species extinct. Funny, how that is.
September 29, 2018
Powerful, hip, thought-provoking read. Published in 2014 yet offers an eerily prescient sketch of an almost-totalitarian America, where security concerns have chewed and digested any due process that even whiffs of terrorism. There's also a "Fair to Faith" amendment to the Constitution which has shut down most scientific research and vastly curbed free speech and education rights about concepts like evolution.
Against this backdrop emerges a snarky lawyer who takes on the case of BlingBling, a rap band mascot framed for a shooting death who also happens to be a bonafide Neanderthal. The narrative bounces back and forth, ping pong style, between the jaded lawyer's voice and that of BlingBling, who recounts the twisted survival path of his people in the shadows of a species that will neither accept them nor let them survive. When BlingBling shows up on the media radar, so do all kinds of legal issues because he is living, walking proof that evolution is a thing.
BlingBling and his hidden Neanderthal clan can be a stand-in for whatever marginalized group the reader wishes to plug in; in Trumpian 2018 immigrants of the global South seem to be a logical bookmark. But this book is not a pulpit-pounding moral lesson; it's just a good, solid read with moments of humor and strong emotional spikes as well. Recommended.
Against this backdrop emerges a snarky lawyer who takes on the case of BlingBling, a rap band mascot framed for a shooting death who also happens to be a bonafide Neanderthal. The narrative bounces back and forth, ping pong style, between the jaded lawyer's voice and that of BlingBling, who recounts the twisted survival path of his people in the shadows of a species that will neither accept them nor let them survive. When BlingBling shows up on the media radar, so do all kinds of legal issues because he is living, walking proof that evolution is a thing.
BlingBling and his hidden Neanderthal clan can be a stand-in for whatever marginalized group the reader wishes to plug in; in Trumpian 2018 immigrants of the global South seem to be a logical bookmark. But this book is not a pulpit-pounding moral lesson; it's just a good, solid read with moments of humor and strong emotional spikes as well. Recommended.
December 25, 2016
American Neolithic proves that great stories don't depend on a great many words. Hawkins' second novel was an extremely fast read, not only because it's on the shorter side of most contemporary novels, but also because the pacing is so good. I read this book in the midst of the acrimonious presidential campaign, against the rhetorical backdrop about the rise of demagoguery and fascist tendencies. As a consequence, Hawkins' near-future dystopia--with the de facto collapse of the rule of law--felt disturbingly plausible. Replete with dark humor and raw, authentic characters, American Neolithic had me laughing and sweating at the same time. Although published in 2013 (and obviously conceived and written in the years prior), American Neolithic presciently tapped into an anti-intellectual, xenophobic Zeitgeist that appears to be coming to fruition. This book should be required reading for anyone who values freedom...and a damn good story!
June 12, 2014
I really enjoyed American Neolithic. It's a wild, very edgy story and it's filled with a remarkable knowledge of the lower East Side and the world of its inhabitants. Quite a risky book, I think. The portrait of the Neanderthal is amazing and I was quite taken with the concept of the Nest, for which Raleigh risks his life. Some of the extraordinary scenes were the comic portrayal of Yale (77) "The seasons have sharp edges in college towns." and the great scene with Mario in the Astor Place Hair shop. The bum fights scene was also surprising (136) and I liked the wit involved in the way Blingbling figures out the value of paper money (159). Naturally the threat of vivisection is terrifying (193), but that's mainly because the world portrayed in the shadow of the Patriot Act is really scary. What is imagined is pretty intense.
June 2, 2014
American Neolithic is a highly inventive novel with unique and compelling characters. A scrappy lawyer, Raleigh, unwittingly takes on the murder case of a lifetime--representing a neanderthal who soon becomes ensnared in a judicial system over-run by oppressive laws. When the Department of Homeland Security discovers his client's DNA is not human, Raleigh takes on the system. Satire, social commentary, speculative fiction. It's all there. This is a great, fast-paced read that left me with plenty to think about long after I finished it.
January 9, 2015
"American Neolithic" connects, first, with a brilliantly written character voice, the cynical, funny, hard-bitten lawyer Raleigh, who's constantly being undermined by his attachment to impossible cases. In this book he's handed a doozy: an illiterate hair-salon janitor who's being framed for murder, in what at first looks like a high-profile case of hip-hop violence.
It also connects through its setting in a near future where Patriot-Act suspension of civil liberties is enshrined in the constitution, and the religious right has decisively won the culture wars. Raleigh's progress through New York City is dogged by drones, terror-level announcements, and the prospect of incarceration in an expanded Guantanamo.
But most of all, it connects through the wonderful inventiveness of the premise implied in its title: the 'criminal' turns out to be one of a handful of surviving Neanderthals, who've been blending in to the New York/New Jersey population for generations. He goes by the name BlingBling, and in the chapters he narrates we get an account of an alternate evolutionary path free of jealousy, hatred, and the kind of paranoia that leads to things like the Patriot Act. Although at times BlingBling (and the Neanderthal nest he's part of) seem to risk being 'Noble Savages', the novel never loses sight of the kinds of compromises their lives entail. And of course, when these living proofs of evolution come to light in a society that's given itself over to Biblical literalism on creation, all sorts of complications ensue--which makes for a delightful novel, that will stick with the reader a long time.
It also connects through its setting in a near future where Patriot-Act suspension of civil liberties is enshrined in the constitution, and the religious right has decisively won the culture wars. Raleigh's progress through New York City is dogged by drones, terror-level announcements, and the prospect of incarceration in an expanded Guantanamo.
But most of all, it connects through the wonderful inventiveness of the premise implied in its title: the 'criminal' turns out to be one of a handful of surviving Neanderthals, who've been blending in to the New York/New Jersey population for generations. He goes by the name BlingBling, and in the chapters he narrates we get an account of an alternate evolutionary path free of jealousy, hatred, and the kind of paranoia that leads to things like the Patriot Act. Although at times BlingBling (and the Neanderthal nest he's part of) seem to risk being 'Noble Savages', the novel never loses sight of the kinds of compromises their lives entail. And of course, when these living proofs of evolution come to light in a society that's given itself over to Biblical literalism on creation, all sorts of complications ensue--which makes for a delightful novel, that will stick with the reader a long time.
June 5, 2019
Wow. Humorous, then profoundly serious with a lovable hero. A 'noble beast' and his advocate, a jaded, long-suffering lawyer. This story quietly embeds itself under your skin and leaves you rooting for both characters and then ends with a twist I didn't see coming. Isn't that what we crave from reading books? Wow. The author has dragged his readers right up to the front lines of today's Amerika in all its chilling perversity. Science fiction that pierces way too close to the bone. I'm done in; stunned. This is a quick read and if you've read books like 1984 and Brave New World, this should be on your mandatory list. Thank you, Mr. Hawkins, this was a great read.
November 16, 2015
a sci fi a sorts, in where a representative neanderthal all round dolt but really, a sensitive guy, and hip hop dude of sorts gets busted by homeland security. lawyers are involved, and rich fat cats, and some inter-genera shenanigans happen. the whole premise could easily be applied to intra-species relationship to, to power, the pigs, and the home-tribe. fun , fast, thought provoking read,
January 30, 2022
Funny if you like gallows humour, well done standard versions of the hard boiled lawyer and everybody else except the Neanderthals (only because there is no standard), far too imaginable political institutions and laws.
I take a bit of issue with Blingbling's meta-understanding of the relations between his people and ours, not that it's wrong, but that how could he have, given who he was?
By far the saddest book I have read in years. Because those stereotypes and stereotypical actions and reactions do capture some essentials of what it is to be human.
I take a bit of issue with Blingbling's meta-understanding of the relations between his people and ours, not that it's wrong, but that how could he have, given who he was?
By far the saddest book I have read in years. Because those stereotypes and stereotypical actions and reactions do capture some essentials of what it is to be human.
May 22, 2023
A hip-hop C-lister is accused of the murder of one of other rapper. He gets a lawyer. Case is up for court. A routine DNA check reveals he's a Neanderthal.
Yep, a speculative fiction on what would happen if a small group of Neanderthals survived in our world.
We don't evolve from Neanderthals. They were our genetic cousins. Both Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals evolved from the Homo Erectus.
So how would they be different other looking like how we imagine cavemen to be?
A matriarchal society where the males do not know who their children are. Makes it a far less violent social unit. No need for jealousy, you see.
Now here is where it really caught my attention:
Neanderthals developed larger eyes as they evolved in colder regions where light was limited. Thus a large part of their brains were given to image processing.
The cranial volume used up for this reduced their ability for abstraction. This is where the humans had an edge.
Our ability for abstraction gives us the ability to do math. We can take a group of people and individually assign numbers to them and count them in our heads.
We can take real people and turn them into an abstract idea. A number.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Numbers printed on the arms of the Jews, huddled in a prison awaiting their imminent death.
It's this ability of abstraction that allows us to do math that also allows us to dehumanise others.
Makes you think, no?
One of best work of fiction I have read in recent times. It’s crisp. Well edited. Endearingly empathetic.
American Neolithic really makes you wonder. It makes you question the idea of The Other and consequently makes you question the idea of Us.
Do we create The Other as an extreme for of abstraction? Where we forget the other is human. We strip them of a lot of characters and make them a faceless enemy. The Other.
Do we create The Other due to some residual evolutionary energy from the times when we needed to be alert and aware of The Other to survive?
Is the Other a phantom in the brain, a boogeyman that never was?
Yep, a speculative fiction on what would happen if a small group of Neanderthals survived in our world.
We don't evolve from Neanderthals. They were our genetic cousins. Both Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals evolved from the Homo Erectus.
So how would they be different other looking like how we imagine cavemen to be?
A matriarchal society where the males do not know who their children are. Makes it a far less violent social unit. No need for jealousy, you see.
Now here is where it really caught my attention:
Neanderthals developed larger eyes as they evolved in colder regions where light was limited. Thus a large part of their brains were given to image processing.
The cranial volume used up for this reduced their ability for abstraction. This is where the humans had an edge.
Our ability for abstraction gives us the ability to do math. We can take a group of people and individually assign numbers to them and count them in our heads.
We can take real people and turn them into an abstract idea. A number.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Numbers printed on the arms of the Jews, huddled in a prison awaiting their imminent death.
It's this ability of abstraction that allows us to do math that also allows us to dehumanise others.
Makes you think, no?
One of best work of fiction I have read in recent times. It’s crisp. Well edited. Endearingly empathetic.
American Neolithic really makes you wonder. It makes you question the idea of The Other and consequently makes you question the idea of Us.
Do we create The Other as an extreme for of abstraction? Where we forget the other is human. We strip them of a lot of characters and make them a faceless enemy. The Other.
Do we create The Other due to some residual evolutionary energy from the times when we needed to be alert and aware of The Other to survive?
Is the Other a phantom in the brain, a boogeyman that never was?
May 26, 2014
American Neolithic is one of my favorite fiction releases this spring. There's a lot of great stuff going on in these pages and Hawkins pulls it all off well. The story is set in an alternate reality version of New York, where the Patriot Act has been passed and Homeland Security has taken control of the legal system. A Neanderthal (yes a real Neanderthal!) posing as a member of a hip hop group is framed for murder and his lawyer Raleigh takes on his case. As the lawyer gets closer to the Neanderthal, he discovers that his client has more sensitivity and intelligence than most humans. The novel satirizes race, religion and pop culture, but it's also a moving piece of literary fiction. I thought I'd just gobble up American Neolithic and move on, but I ended up re-reading the novel a few times to savor some of the beautifully written passages (the Neanderthal is a poet, indeed!) and to take apart the book's complex themes. It's definitely a novel that will stay with you. Recommended!
October 7, 2019
Thank you to NetGalley and The Calliope Group for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I honestly don't know what to say about this one ; I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.
The premise, a man who is arrested for murder and is discovered to be a Neanderthal did interest me but I found the execution lacking.
I kept waiting for something to happen but not much did. There were quite a few sex scenes that I don't think needed to be there though I understood at the end why they were there.
There was clearly an attempt at some reflection on the human condition and immigration but nothing was really explored to the fullest so I felt quite disappointed overall.
I did however like the characters and the writing quite a bit but that wasn't enough to make the book for me.
I honestly don't know what to say about this one ; I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.
The premise, a man who is arrested for murder and is discovered to be a Neanderthal did interest me but I found the execution lacking.
I kept waiting for something to happen but not much did. There were quite a few sex scenes that I don't think needed to be there though I understood at the end why they were there.
There was clearly an attempt at some reflection on the human condition and immigration but nothing was really explored to the fullest so I felt quite disappointed overall.
I did however like the characters and the writing quite a bit but that wasn't enough to make the book for me.
April 25, 2017
A Goodreads Free Giveaway!
'American Neolithic' is a wonderfully strange and compelling story set in the not too distant dystopian future.
What was great about the story was that by covering the same event from two very different perspectives, the reader is able to enjoy two very different, yet very fun stories.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the jumps between the two perspectives worked great. The dark and almost sinister feel of the legal wranglings in a police state was well paced and gave a real outlook of a future that could await us as our liberties are exchanged for 'safety'. This was was beautifully contrasted against the 'human' story of BlingBling with his search for survival and acceptance.
Will be keeping an eye out for more from this author!
'American Neolithic' is a wonderfully strange and compelling story set in the not too distant dystopian future.
What was great about the story was that by covering the same event from two very different perspectives, the reader is able to enjoy two very different, yet very fun stories.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the jumps between the two perspectives worked great. The dark and almost sinister feel of the legal wranglings in a police state was well paced and gave a real outlook of a future that could await us as our liberties are exchanged for 'safety'. This was was beautifully contrasted against the 'human' story of BlingBling with his search for survival and acceptance.
Will be keeping an eye out for more from this author!
August 29, 2014
A funny, inventive, and highly readable take on America's various forms of cultural and political madness. And a provocative meditation on our comfortable assumption that we humans are at the top of the evolutionary heap.
I loved everything about Blingbling the Neanderthal and the other members of his "nest:" their chittering fellowship, their solemn rituals, and their abiding passion for Mocha Latte. Terrific fun!
I loved everything about Blingbling the Neanderthal and the other members of his "nest:" their chittering fellowship, their solemn rituals, and their abiding passion for Mocha Latte. Terrific fun!
August 17, 2014
This is one funny book. American Neolithic is speculative, dystopian, fiction written in a style that will have you guffawing out loud. If Joseph Heller, Dashiell Hammett and Gene Roddenberry made a baby together it wouldn't come close to what Hawkins has created here. This book is readable, smart, and a lot of fun.
February 3, 2023
How can a book be so funny and so sad at the same time?
Set in an America that rises from the conditions in place right now, a lawyer must defend a Neanderthal in a christofascist, right-wing, setting.
The story of how this comes to be, and the results are at once hilarious and gut wrenching.
Highly recommended.
Set in an America that rises from the conditions in place right now, a lawyer must defend a Neanderthal in a christofascist, right-wing, setting.
The story of how this comes to be, and the results are at once hilarious and gut wrenching.
Highly recommended.
November 6, 2015
An amazing critique on the homeland security acts that Bush managed to have rushed through. The same loss of democracy has happened in Australia as well.
July 12, 2021
Wow. This book is terrific.
May 4, 2020
Terence Hawkins’s novel is a well-told blend of literary and hard-boiled noir. The main characters, Raleigh and BlingBling, find themselves imprisoned in different ways. Raleigh, a hardened lawyer, attempts to get his client, BlingBling, a creature from a no-longer-acceptable past, declared innocent of a crime he didn't commit. Raleigh runs into newly-instituted legal roadblocks in his efforts and eventually must ask himself if the needs of one are greater than the needs of the many. “American Neolithic” shines light on societal fears and what those fears can create. Hawkins’s story about the new Police State-Lite, hidden societies flourishing in abandoned buildings on the edge of civilization, and emotional quandaries begs the question: Is anyone free anymore?
October 11, 2019
This book is coming out as a reissue, and I was assigned to cover it for Booklist. My review will appear there.
July 5, 2026
I was amazed that this was written 12 years ago and he predicted so much of what is happening now with Homeland Security and the religious right. Funny, scary, prescient.
October 11, 2017
The rating more reflects my feeling about the type of book this is than it reflects the quality of the book.
It is fairly grimdark. Well written, just kind of depressing. Very much Not My Kind of Thing.
If you like books set in... how the world could have gone if our post-9-11 paranoia and surrender to security kept ramping up instead of backing off after a bit, then you might like this.
I got this for free from Goodreads in exchange for a review, insert standard boilerplate here.
It is fairly grimdark. Well written, just kind of depressing. Very much Not My Kind of Thing.
If you like books set in... how the world could have gone if our post-9-11 paranoia and surrender to security kept ramping up instead of backing off after a bit, then you might like this.
I got this for free from Goodreads in exchange for a review, insert standard boilerplate here.
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