Sweet Adversity

by Donald Newlove, Rick Schober (Cover)

Originally published in 1978, Sweet Adversity is two novels in one. Author Donald Newlove edited his critically acclaimed novels of jazz-playing alcoholic Siamese twins, Leo & Theodore (1972) and The Drunks (1974), into a single volume for the release, explaining in his Author's Note that "the story loses scope and focus when halved into two books." Further, he stated that his original texts were "forever CANCELLED and do not represent my final thoughts about my twins."

The New York Times called Leo & Theodore "One of the most desperately funny books we've been given in a long time." And, of The Drunks, The New Yorker wrote, "A dazzling highwire act ... the sheer inventiveness and strength of his writing turn risk into triumph, drunken monologues into subtle satire, A.A. meetings into riveting dramas, and what in another writer might be bathos into brilliant comedy ... probably the most clear-eyed and moving--and certainly one of the most honest--books ever written about alcoholics."

Genres: Fiction, American

600 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1978

About the author

Donald Newlove was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1928, and currently lives in New York City's Greenwich Village. As a reporter, book reviewer, and short story writer, his work appeared in Esquire, New York Magazine, Evergreen Review, and The Saturday Review. His first novel, The Painter Gabriel (1970), was hailed by Time Magazine as "one of the best fictional studies of madness, descent, and purification that any American has written since Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Newlove is the author of several other novels, a series of books on the art of writing, and the critically acclaimed memoir, Those Drinking Days: Myself and Other Writers (1981).

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't write much in the way of reviews here anymore, though I do try when the book is, like this one, unjustly unknown. So I hope to come back at some point when I have time and write something properly. However, for now:

This is an extraordinary work of art, and without doubt one of the greatest books on alcoholism, addiction, and A.A. It is also contains some of the best writing of American childhood and youth I have read in a long time. The prose itself is at times jawdroppingly well crafted. It is at times also almost unbearably brutal. Or, as one would expect from highly literate alcoholics, at times extremely annoying (though our annoyance, frustration, is deliberate). The second half is a much harder read than the first, because the second half of their life is where things really go to shit. But the dynamism and energy of the writing never flags. And when we get to rock bottom and to the final struggle back, well, then I defy you not to be deeply moved.

While I dislike lazy comparisons, the types of works that came to mind as I read were:

D Keith Mano's Take Five
Stanley Elkin
Vollmann's Royal Family
Paul West
Look Homeward Angel

And lots of other good stuff. In you are a fan of any of those, I heartily recommend you check this one out.
If you are curious, read this for more:
https://pleasekillme.com/donald-newlove/

Then go buy a copy

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Kickstarter for this just Kick'D in. And it's a pretty sweet Kick=Start. Listen.

For you in the Usofa -- your name in the Ack'ments AND a copy ship'd free to you. For a meager TwentyFive Bucks. [!!]

For you in Canada -- the same, but shipping $ included in the suggested 38 Bucks.

For you Elsewhere -- Just ten bucks and "Because of the sheer bulk of this book (600 pages), the cost of shipping overseas would exceed the retail price of the book itself. Wait until it's published, order a copy from your favorite online bookseller, and see your name inside when it arrives."
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

[kickstarter though was a technical nightmare this morning ; took me twenty minutes to hand over my cash ;; it didn't want to talk to FireFox so I had to use that Safari shit. Damn I hate getting pissed at broken tech]



oh and "holy moses" ;; Sweet Adversity is in the running for most expensive Avon MM (I'd say) ::
https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Adversit...

US$275+ [!!]



________
BURIED.

Forthcoming from Tough Poets Press in early '19.
http://www.toughpoets.com/index.htm#f...

Damn. I'm digging up some stuff on this and damn don't it sound fan=frickin=tastic. [tough poets a real good rec in itself.] Listen ::

This mm edition is rewrite/reissue of TWO previous novels, rendering those two novels obsolete ;; Leo & Theodore and The Drunks ;; which is a shame cuz Sweet Adversity is selling(asking) FOUR hundred buckeroos whilst the individual novels a spare (under) 20. BUT Tough Poets Press to the rescue. [I'll feed the details as I find them trust me to do that much for you]

The very thoughtful Aeolian Books (Marysville, WA, U.S.A.) bookseller on abe has provided the following information (link to their listing below in case you've got a spare FOUR hundred bucks for a BURIED Avon mm) ::

The only edition of Sweet Adversity ever released came out in this paperback Avon/Bard edition. A neglected masterpiece and one of the most ambitious American novels of it time.Newlove edited his two separate novels "Leo and Theodore" (1972) and " The Drunks" (1974) into a single volume for this paperback release. Newlove rewrote some of the text and said that he considered the original texts "now forever cancelled." New type was set for this edition instead of simply photographing the hardback texts. A heartbreaking novel of recovery from alcoholism. Quoting a website about the book : the protagonists "Leo and Theodore are Siamese twins, joined at the waist by a short band of flesh, blood, and nerve tissues. Now for many would-be readers, a 600 plus page novel about Siamese twins-paticularly one coming out at at time when Tom Robbins, Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonegut were among the hottest names in new fiction--must have seemed like some kind of over-the-top fabuliist work, full of exaggerated characters and absurd situations. Instead, this is one of the most realistic books you'll ever read. Almost too realistic, at points. 'Nowhere has the green or red bile of hangover, piss, bleeding assholes, and d.t.'s been so carefully catalogued', according to the Kirkus Review's assessment of 'The Drunks.'.As (Newlove) describes in 'Those Drinking Days: Myself and Other Writers', Newlove knew intimately the humiliations and illusions of a hard-core, long-term alcoholic, and the twins are not spared many of these. The New Yorker's reviewer was not alone in considering this novel "probably the most clear-eyed and moving and certainly one of the most honest--books ever written about alcoholics'.Donald Newlove and his twins are among the great fiery phoenixes in American literature." On a personal note, I read Sweet Adversity when it came out 40 years ago as I started my own recovery from alcoholism and it has stuck in my memory as few other novels have. I wish it would be reprinted and many would be able to read it. This is my own personal copy, but alas I am a bookseller and scarcity does generate high prices and if I sell it I probably will never see another copy. Photos provided upon request. Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Book...

Highlights ::
-- 600 pages which makes it BIG but it's literally the size of TWO 'normal' novels cuz it is TWO 'normal' novels. heh.
-- "at a time when Tom Robbins, Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonegut were among the hottest names in new fiction"
-- "over-the-top fabuliist work, full of exaggerated characters and absurd situations."
--"Instead, this is one of the most realistic books you'll ever read." [heh ; fie on you!!]

Donald Newlove also has this trilogy of sorts for you writerly types ::
First Paragraphs: Inspired Openings for Writers and Readers
Painted Paragraphs: Inspired Description For Writers And Readers
Invented Voices: Inspired Dialogue For Writers And Readers
[if you go for that kind of thing]


And neglected books has the following to say ::
http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=2904

"Sweet Adversity is easily one of the most ambitious American novels of the last fifty years." [I'll read every book thusly describe, eh?]

"the original texts “now forever CANCELLED.”"

"And so what is already a heart-breaking book itself became something of a tragedy as it quietly vanished from the bookshelves with scarcely a notice." [Kind of de rigueur for literature eh?]

[NR says "I can't help but suspect this'll be better than that recent one from Muri Commie eh"]

"It’s not the only good book to get forgotten, as this site continues to demonstrate." [been there done that still neck deep in the soils]

"Now, for many would-be readers, a 600-plus page novel about Siamese twins–particularly one coming out at a time when Tom Robbins, Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonnegut were among the hottest names in new fiction–must have seemed like some kind of over-the-top fabulist work, full of exaggerated characters and absurd situations." [natch]

"Instead, this is one of the most realistic books you’ll ever read. Almost too realistic, at points. “Nowhere has the green or red bile of hangover, piss, bleeding assholes, and d.t.’s been so carefully catalogued,” according to the Kirkus Review’s assessment of The Drunks." [Kirkus Circus!! You had me at 'catalogued'!]

"...begin to lift themselves back up with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous." {inevitably someone is going to say that Sweet Adversity influenced Infinite Jest. It just can't be helped!!! One almost said that already of The Last Western (almost because we know Wallace, if he read it, read it too late and the similarities with IJ are thin thin "thin" I say!)}

"fantasize about fighting Nazis" [This is a novel for TODAY's political situation!!! Timely!]

"Newlove’s style draws heavily upon James Joyce’s word-fusing (“the snotgreen … scrotumtightening sea”)..." [see? "scrotumtightening" is a thing DFW stole and he'll forever in my mind also be connected with such a term eh?]

"...and there are times throughout the book when the frenzy of the prose becomes close to unbearable." [High FIVE!!!!]

"The worst comes somewhere in the second helf, when Teddy loses a tooth in the second half, and Newlove subjects us to page after page of lisped dialogue (“There’s thill a double order of chop thuey in that roach.”). It might be realistic but it isn’t interesting reading." [heh]


And from the comments section there on the neglected books page we get this astounding factoid :: "Years ago I exchanged some emails with [Newlove] about Gil Orlovitz (the Philadelphian experimental poet/novelist/dramatist whom he knew pretty well)." [you know how I feel about Orlovitz dont you]

[Mike O'Shaughnessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Tough Poets Press for resurrecting the funniest, most original and beautifully written novel I've ever read. Donald Newlove sprinkles poetry on every page while building a slapstick black comedy on a tragic foundation. Though not similar in character or plot, "Confederacy of Dunces" is perhaps its closest relative in literature. At times, it reads like a comic strip without panels. Like a sommelier who detects hints of blueberry and charcoal, I taste notes of William Burroughs and Loren Eiseley in the descriptive passages. Leo and Teddy, the Siamese twin protagonists, might be my favorite characters in literature. Highly recommended.

[George]

My third and final entry for my Invisible Books column this year is now available to read for free. It's a double-review of Sweet Adversity and Newlove's memoir, Those Drinking Days: https://thecollidescope.com/2023/12/3...

Now available for everyone’s listening pleasure on all major streaming platforms! Standup comedian Henry Gelinas stopped by Collidescope HQ to record the first in-person Invisible Book Buddies episode for The Collidescope Podcast. We discuss the 600-page brick Sweet Adversity by Donald Newlove. We also touch on other literary and humorous topics.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1849671/14...

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is closer to a 4.5.

Really touching story with some genuine laugh out loud moments. Leo and Teddy are just plain sweet characters. Of the two novels that make up this book, Leo and Theodore is the better half. The Drunks has some stellar writing but drags on a bit in the midsection, although the ending is moving and absolutely worth the trip.

[Jack]

When Donald Newlove’s Sweet Adversity was published in 1978 by Avon Books, it flew off dime novel shelves and landed in dustbins. But today used copies are listed on Amazon for as much as $1200, the price of a minor cosmetic surgery or a first edition Melville.

The salient facts, namely who has remembered the book and why, are unclear. Alan Bisbort of the website Please Kill Me calls it a “touchstone” of Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1970s. This seems unverifiable, though in his memoir, Those Drinking Days, Newlove says he “was chairman of two meetings, spoke hundreds of times and at hospitals and prisons,” and “wrote articles for [the] world magazine.” Sweet Adversity, about a pair of conjoined twins hitting alcoholic bottom and digging their ways up, was written while he was “a Stalinist about recovery,” and its plot is thinly autobiographical.

If the sobriety fellowship is responsible for keeping the novel around until its reissue by the Kickstarter-funded Tough Poets Press this January, it would be a first for American experimental fiction, usually the province of university libraries and English departments. Of the former, only four in the United States have a copy, according to WorldCat, and none of them loan it out. By contrast, the Triangle Research Libraries Network shares five copies of the first edition of Joseph McElroy’s famously expensive and hard-to-find Women and Men (back in print since last year, thanks to Dzanc Books). Unlike McElroy, Newlove was never associated with a university nor ran in the well-connected circles that get “writer’s writers” written about –he battled severe alcohol addiction for a quarter century instead, producing, if his memoir is to be believed, hundreds and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts. Typewritten naked, usually on the floor, while “pissing so often I’d use the kitchen sink instead of the toilet,” as Bishop and Baldwin and Fitzgerald and Faulkner all did. Newlove knows that all his heroes, and the academy’s, were drunks; he spent forty years imitating them.

Which is why he wrote Sweet Adversity, a novel about sobriety written sober, so badly. “It’s bad news to get well!” he says; “the vocabulary of recovering isn’t colorful,” and “the [AA] Big Book is some of the worst writing I’ve ever read.” Alcoholism, as the first of AA’s Twelve Steps intimates, is a hopeless disease unless it can be made to articulate itself; an alcoholic will fight this self-speaking self-acknowledgement to the last extremity. As Newlove argues in his memoir, drunkards who write well should be considered as creating through profound disability rather than as chemically enabled mystics. It’s a similar point to the one Antonin Artaud, the dramatist, made in 1925 when he told an editor who had rejected him that he wrote from a place of “unpower,” a fitful creative state in which he could only produce fragments before retiring into unconsciousness. In Newlove’s novel this is figured as a chronic universal breathlessness – lungs flood during bouts of pneumonia, fingers meet around necks in barfights, tongues and lemon peels asphyxiate, oxygen masks become hangover cures – because breath, to the trumpet- and trombone-playing conjoined twins Leo and Teddy, is the medium of creation. (They worship Louis Armstrong as “the man with the most windpower on earth.”) Newlove strangles his own medium, too, robbing his sentences of subjects, verbs, and articles; the dialogue becomes nigh incomprehensible after one of his twins picks up a lisp. Then it all drops, triumphantly, in the last forty pages: one-line ’graphs become thucydidean blocks as a single AA meeting is given speech by speech, the progress to articulation complete.

Literary experimentalism aside, there are clunkers (“slow breasts lifting in a ghostly aquarium”), overwritten descriptions (“Raindarkening bankwindow, hellshine within. Villagers rushing corpsebright. Black noon falls”), and eyeroll-inducers (“It’s part of my sex-opera but I am sending it to some girls I know”). Most of the time it works, oddly enough for a book about not being able to work. The late Denis Johnson, had he ever read Sweet Adversity, would find plenty to admire about its murderous pace through the uncanny valley; echoes of the episode where Leo and Teddy drunk drive an ambulance are hard to ignore in his story “Emergency.” Although the novel is not mentioned in Clare Barker and Stuart Murray’s recent Cambridge Companion to Literature and Disability, its treatments of conjoinment, paralysis, and dementia deserve scholarly study. (Unfortunately, however, when only one of the twins joins AA Newlove turns their conjoinment into a metaphor for the alcoholic’s antagonistic desires.)

Those who aren’t enthused by the thought of six hundred pages of dense fiction can get their dose from Newlove’s Those Drinking Days, which is short, straightforward, and powerfully polemical. It’s easy to find, too, though it deserves a new edition and a return to print. Otherwise, thanks to Tough Poets Press, bottoms up.

[Geoffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

WELL. This was something all right. It does things I've really never seen a novel do before, and it seems obvious that Newlove is a writer who deserves A LOT more attention. I will note, however, that, in spite of being published together, these are really two very distinct novels with very distinct feels. The first, Leo and Theodore, I really did love unequivocally. The second, The Drunks, was, I have to admit slow going at times--a lotta scenes of fairly faceless secondary characters babbling at each other--though it IS a very vivid portrait of alcoholism and the ending is rather moving. Regardless, I think this should definitely be taught in literature classes.

[Randy Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

At turns hilarious and tragic, and always insane, Sweet Adversity follows conjoined twins Teddy and Leo as they try to find love and the next drink, having more success with the latter. It’s not often that such an outlandish premise is executed so beautifully, but here’s an example that leaves the reader with something they have not experienced before. A hidden masterpiece.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/4 stars

[Brent Hayward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely written, with plenty of sordid moments, the story becomes a blatent caution against drinking to excess. But before it gets there, episodic scenes of misadventure, relationship challenges, and a cast of eccentric characters that populate the lives of the co-joined twin proagonist(s?) are highly amusing and, at times, quite dark.