Dusk and Ember

by Robert Jacoby

Can a life come apart and be rebuilt in one night? 19-year-old Richard Issych is about to find out. One friend is dead—murdered by another friend—and all Richard wants to do is get to the wake, come home, and start a new life. But for one life to begin another must end.

Since graduating high school the year before and not knowing how to live, or even if he wants to live, Richard has wandered into the graveyard shift at a local foundry, a hellish world of molten metal, rote work, and no prospects. Drawn into a downward spiral of motorcycle gangs and easy drugs, he finds himself on the cusp of a decision that will change his world forever.

Part road trip, part boomerang into past and back, part wrestling with the forces that make us and break us, Dusk and Ember is a hard truth coming-of-age tale in dark Americana. This night, Richard grabs hold and hangs on for the strangest car ride of his life with his oddball friends on their way to the wake.

Dusk and Ember is a prequel to There Are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes.

Genres: Fiction

371 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 15, 2019

About the author

Robert Jacoby is a poet, novelist, memoirist, and lifelong journaler. His work explores memory, faith, trauma, and the long work of making a life through words.

He is the author of four books, including the novels There Are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes and Dusk and Ember, and the nonfiction works Never Stop Dancing: A Memoir and Escaping from Reality Without Really Trying.

There Are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes
Dusk and Ember
Never Stop Dancing: A Memoir
Escaping from Reality Without Really Trying

His poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in more than twenty literary magazines, and his flash fiction piece “The Span of Blood” was selected as runner-up in the 2018 Haunted Waters Press Short Shorts Competition.

He has completed two additional novels and is currently at work on a collection of linked short stories and flash fiction.

More at robert-jacoby.com

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Melvin's dead. Dale killed him."

So begins the book. About nineteen-year-old Richard who wants to get through the wake and begin a new life. He's not too happy with his current life working at the foundry. He uses drugs to stay up and drugs to come down. Richard is adrift. He really doesn't have any friends. He is a follower who is easily influenced by those around him.

"I see time, I feel it, I feel it eating me. It eats us all."

There are some interesting passages and beautiful moments in this book and moment which went right over my head. This book is told in many parts and at times felt philosophical having the characters thinking and saying things which didn't seem right for their age range. Another review noted some of the writing felt like a stream of consciousness and I must agree with that. Plus, at times I was downright confused. This was not the book for me.

"Then Samuel spoke in his galloping way so that Richard lost himself listening to Samuel say that one with the correct comprehension can we have correct thinking, that dominion over your body is the essence of being a person, it is the place of rule, agency, and that your refusal of the gift is recognition and acknowledgement of the enormity of the gift and all its consequences and responsibilities and the weight of those, and that what people fear most is their own insignificance in the world, their fear of being another shadow in the world, a memory dimmed by time,"

Whew! This book deals with a dark subject and might not be for everyone. The writing style was difficult for me. Again, this was not my type of book. Some passages were quite beautiful, and the Author is very talented but mainly this left me scratching my head.

I received a copy of this book from Cloud Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions are my own.

[B. Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dusk and Ember, by Robert Jacoby

Jacoby’s latest novel is a deep dive into the tumultuous and incandescent mind of nineteen-year-old Richard Issych. Though set in Cleveland in 1980 and 1981, Richard could be any young man today, spat out from the ugly and boring, but known, world of high school into a baffling world of choices he’s not prepared to make.

At his mother’s suggestion, he drives around to factories and fills out applications. Eventually he gets hired to work third shift at a tool and die factory. It is there that he meets and comes to know the men who fill this story, a heterogeneous collection of men drawn to work through the night. Some are cocky and brash, while others are damaged or careful, yet all are independent, the way you can be in the darkness.

As the story opens, Richard is about to go to the funeral of Melvin, the man he worked with most closely, shot by Dale, another co-worker. His mind is in turmoil as he struggles to grasp the reality of the death, of his role in it, and the motives of the two men he thought he knew. So much of our lives is hidden from each other, something Richard is well aware of.

We have many stories of the plight of young men of color who see few opportunities before them, armed only with the shreds of a poor education, surrounded by drugs and the crime they bring, burying their young friends. Recently, though, in the wake of school shootings, we have begun to probe the minds of young white men, often working class like Richard, with even fewer opportunities than he had in 1980, now that most of the factories have closed or automated or moved overseas.

In the memoir Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance rails against some of his contemporaries for being violent and unwilling to work, and instead embracing welfare dependency and drug addiction. The young men in this book—Melvin is only 26 when killed—do show up for work, but most rely on drugs of one kind or another to make it through the night. With his job, Richard has stepped into another world, one where he envies the self-assurance of his new friends, but is disgusted and scared by the violence of their lives and the shabbiness of their relationships.

While there are lyrical moments, sometimes the stream-of-consciousness of Richard’s fractured and repetitive thoughts is hard to read and allows the tension that keeps us reading to leak away. I enjoyed most the scenes that make up the bulk of the book, either Richard alone or with others. The characters are well-drawn, and there is just enough of the settings—the factory, Richard’s bedroom, party houses, etc.—to create effective atmospheres.

I met the author years ago at a writing conference and have followed his career ever since. Here, he has done what writers are encouraged to do: “to peel our own layers back until we reach that tender, raw, voiceless place” where the strongest stories come from. This powerful story of a young man wrestling with the most essential and existential questions will touch anyone who remembers that terrible time when the world opens up in front of you and—paralyzed—you have no idea what to do.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

My three-word description of Dusk and Ember by Robert Jacoby is complex, powerful and dark.

Book synopsis:
Can a life come apart and be rebuilt in one night? 19-year-old Richard Issych is about to find out. One friend is dead—murdered by another friend—and all Richard wants to do is get to the wake, come home, and start a new life. But for one life to begin another must end.

Since graduating high school the year before and not knowing how to live, or even if he wants to live, Richard has wandered into the graveyard shift at a local foundry, a hellish world of molten metal, rote work, and no prospects. Drawn into a downward spiral of motorcycle gangs and easy drugs, he finds himself on the cusp of a decision that will change his world forever.

Part road trip, part boomerang into past and back, part wrestling with the forces that make us and break us, Dusk and Ember is a hard truth coming-of-age tale in dark Americana. This night, Richard grabs hold and hangs on for the strangest car ride of his life with his oddball friends on their way to the wake.

Dusk and Ember is a prequel to There Are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes, which Kirkus Reviews called “a confident, strongly voiced portrait of despair and the flickering light at the end of the tunnel.”

My musings:
I found this a remarkable story, though it did contain some depressing elements. Essentially a hard-hitting, coming-of-age tale of confusion, alienation and life choices, it's extremely well-written.

Robert Jacoby delivers a seemingly strong character in Richard Issych, but Issych's fractured and repetitive thoughts are not terribly easy to read, and the tension that Robert Jacoby has lyrically and successfully built, just ebbs away. The novel is gritty, but I struggled a little to find a connection with Issych. His character was somewhat self-destructive, his mind in turmoil, made worse by his inability to decide on his life choices. The storylines move seamlessly between timelines charting different periods and memories of early childhood, and are skilfully executed, leaving no margin for any confusion. Although gripping and edgy, Dusk and Ember was an uncomfortable read in places as it touched on topics such as violence, envy, confusion, lack of belonging, and social awkwardness.

Verdict:
Although with its good writing and descriptive passages, as well as a general realistic feel, I suspect that Dusk and Ember will not be everyone's cup of tea. Recommended for those looking for a powerful, slightly disturbing, deep read.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Cloud Books via NetGalley at my request, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

[solitaryfossil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa. This one cut close to the bone; I’ll have to give it some thought and review soon.
ok...
Nineteen-year-old Richard Issych, just out of high school, is emotionally adrift and socially awkward. Richard is completely unready for adult life, the plot shifts from different periods and memories of early childhood and its own confusion about how the world works, how to fit in, how to understand what is going on in his little world - moving to his dead end job at a foundry. He doesn’t enjoy the job there, but is slowly befriended by his co-workers. Unfortunately, the new friends come with an introduction to hard drugs: drugs to stay awake (Black Beauties and Crank), drugs to sleep (quaaludes). Still living in his parents’ house, life is miserable, and Richard doesn't feel he belongs or fits in with his family. And violence explodes among his small circle of friends, leaving one dead and another arrested for the murder.

Now about the writing. I thought it was brilliant, and call it what you will (postmodern? post-postmodern? don’t know, don’t care), Robert Jacoby just got into Richard Issych’s head as well as my own as a 19-year-old. I remember how I felt in Richard’s position, with uncertainty and post-high school mental confusion. I identified with Richard and his thoughts/questions/confusion. Gorgeous writing, great descriptive passages, and a realistic feel all around. This book is probably not for everyone, but I recommend it strongly. I loved it, and because this is a prequel, I'll be reading its companion book as well. I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.
#DuskAndEmber #NetGalley

[Corrine Cassels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming of age stories are my absolute favorites to read so I was excited for this one. I knew it was a prequel and I haven't read the other one, but I figured it was a good place to start.

This book is beautifully written, Jacoby certainly has a way with words and every scene, every thought, is so descriptive and poignant. It is also very intense. One of those books that take a while to get out of once you're finished. It's a tad hard to follow, if you have a little one at home constantly interrupting you like me, you may have to read back a few pages every now and then, but overall I really enjoyed this book. I'm excited to read more from Jacoby.

[Tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark. Poignant. Thought-provoking. Captivating and suspenseful Easily kept me engaged throughout.

#DuskAndEmber #NetGalley

[Eli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Robert Jacoby explores important themes and issues in Dusk and Ember. The story deals with the main character's suicidal thoughts, hopelessness, helplessness, struggles with drugs and his transition from childhood to adulthood. We follow Richard through two journeys in the novel: one of the past, revisiting his senior year of high school, and one of the present, where he navigates what should be a straightforward trip to his murdered coworker's wake.

Throughout the story, the thing that kept me reading was the hope that the story's potential would be realized. Jacoby has interesting characters, but the story fails to present them in a way that allows the reader to fully connect. Richard has very little dialogue, and much of the story is narration and exposition. While both those elements are necessary, it felt like Jacoby used them to skip over parts where there could have been a conversation or a scene to show us what was happening instead of just telling us. There are parts that read like Jacoby couldn't think of what to make the characters do or say, so he summarized it in a much less effective way.

While Jacoby sets us up for a deep, emotional story, the execution falls flat. There are emotional points in the story, but most of them feel muted and lacking. This may be due to the writing style - you can tell Jacoby is a poet, and it seems at times that the priority is creating flowery prose rather than evoking emotion or telling a coherent story.

There isn't much differentiation between characters, and without the dialogue tags, I wouldn't have known who was speaking. It doesn't feel like the plot or characters were fully developed either. Plus, the few women in the story didn't seem to have any purpose beyond objectification. The only parts of them described are their bodies, and at one point, the narration refers to a heavier girl adjusting her jeans by the belt loops as "a disturbing sight." None of the women (and few of the men) have any personality unless they're rude or otherwise unpleasant, and the lack of personality in any of the characters detracted from the story.

Nevertheless, Richard is easy to relate to. He's different from his peers, often considered strange or abnormal while he tries to fit in. There are points where Jacoby's poetic style and the difficulty in understanding the writing or sequence of events works well for the story. When Richard takes the drugs, the writing puts the reader in his head, and it helps in understanding the impairment of his thoughts and actions. Jacoby's characters and plot have so much promise, and I wish they had realized their potential. The story was good enough that I read to the end, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Mariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a way, Dusk and Ember is no different from many other novels about drugs, sex, and life in a small town. The underlying plot of a young man trying to find his place in the world is a well-worn path. However, this didn’t stop the book from being both moving and gripping.

It took some work to get there though. Robert Jacoby posts a high cost of entry, asking readers to wade through a series of stream of consciousness, surreal images that rise up from the depths of lost Richard’s thoughts. While this section was confusing and a bit difficult to navigate, in its own way it was an apt opening, effectively setting the tone. But it was a lot to ask of a reader with little promise that the voice would become more clear. I don’t think I could have read a book entirely written in this style.

Once I had adjusted to the rhythm, and the voice pulled back somewhat, the book was genuine and honest. Richard’s teenage desperation felt relatable. The dynamics of his family could be a bit extreme but not unreasonable for the time. Both inside and outside of this structure dialogue was strong and each character was distinct.

When the prose was more coherent it was beautiful and descriptive, with numerous strong lines I found myself returning to re-read. Jacoby understood exactly which scenes and images he needed to portray and how to pace them to build a richly layered and heavy novel. I wasn’t particularly attached to the characters but I felt locked in while reading, captivated by the potential outcomes.

At the novel’s close, the voice returned to its place of origin. The surreal imagist style had some advantages — certainly it clued us in to where Richard was “coming from” as it were. But it did obscure the actual ending of plot threads. As such, I’m not entirely sure what happened, even if I can feel and intuit what Richard became. I’m satisfied but not content.

I will say, too, that at times it felt the story could be a bit too “edgy” or stuck in the same three instigators of sex, drugs, and violence. Personally, I found more pleasure in the quieter moments of softer imagery and tension. This, along with some repetition of wording around the book’s central theme took away some depth.

If I could pluck the middle section of this novel out and brush up the opening and ending to match its voice and style the book would lose its biggest flaws. The introduction to the story is such that it may turn readers away before they start, and the ending is such that it might leave readers with a sour taste in their mouth, tainting the entire book. But for those interested in a gritty, honest, emotional depiction of small-town life and youth, push through the beginning. The middle has real gems buried in the embers.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I requested Dusk and Ember on a whim, despite having several other books already on the go. The description sounded great, the cover was intriguing, and it was different from most of my recent reads.

Richard is a recent high school graduate working in the local foundry while he figures out what he wants to do with his life. He's also a steady user of Quaaludes. As his acquaintance group refers to him, he's their "pill man". Richard doesn't have friends, doesn't like his parents (often referring to them as "the father" or "the man", and "the woman"), and regularly shows his annoyance with his younger brother Alan.
Richard's already confusing world is further complicated when one of his coworkers - Melvin - is murdered by another - Dale. Richard knows drugs were involved, but it isn't clear to the reader the circumstances of the night it happened. Oftentimes it seems as though Richard was there the night Melvin was murdered.

Dusk and Ember is divided into four parts - after the murder happened, before it happened (written as if a flashback - I think), on the way to the visitation, and after the visitation. Richard is a character who is easily influenced by others, as it's clear he never fit in while growing up. His coworkers are the ones who introduce him to the world of drugs, and who encourage his addiction. The way the parts are written though is extremely confusing, as one flashback suddenly becomes the present, then we suddenly jump somewhere else. There are parts that the writing randomly turns to poetry form that simply seems out of place. The changes in form made the book hard to read, in addition to the lack of clarity.

After finishing the book, I still didn't understand what had happened, or where Richard was heading going forward. The book ended very abruptly, and unfortunately just wasn't my cup of tea. I was fairly disappointed.

Dusk and Ember started extremely slow, but the tempo of the story did pick up near the middle. It was a struggle for me to get through this one though. I really did want to like it. While I felt that Dusk and Ember left a lot to be desired, the description was well done. Everything was described in excess detail, which I did enjoy. Maybe the writing went over my head, but this is not a book I will be recommending.

[Joe Vigliotti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Issych has been out of high school for a year when the novel begins after the murder of a friend and fellow factory worker by another friend and factory worker. Most of the book occurs over the course of a day, as Richard and others prepare for their dead friend’s wake. As prominent as the murder and the wake are early in the novel, they become a mere backstory to Richard and his friends, mostly in their twenties. They work, do drugs, and don’t really do much more.

As such, this is isn’t exactly a coming-of-age story, at least not in the traditional sense. Richard and his friends aren’t caught between boyhood and manhood -they’re overgrown children wanting to be men but without the responsibilities, mostly because they resist it or are unprepared to handle it. In one scene, Richard and his friends drive a car into a ditch, and stand around helplessly while it is Richard’s father who appears, takes charge, and works to get the situation resolved. Rather than really getting involved, they watch and go along.

The work Richard and his friends do at the factory is tough, but the opportunities are there. Instead of grasping at those opportunities, they grasp at childhood – parties, drugs, and doing nothing of any importance. Richard reveals at one point that he hated high school but misses it to the extent it gave him purpose -which is a sound reflection of his life at present.

In narration that by turns is both told in abbreviated form and stream-of-consciousness, Robert Jacoby’s Dusk and Ember is a fictional character portrait more so than a character-driven novel with a plot. While the writing can at times be poetic, and the atmosphere sufficiently dark given the portrait, it cannot soften the fact that there is a lack of direction -which may be intentional given the nature of Richard. Whatever symbolism there may be in this, though, the effect is wanting.

[BookwormishMe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dusk and Ember tells the story of Richard Issych. A recent high school graduate who has no idea what he wants to do with his life. He is not one of the popular kids, or the jocks, or even the nerds. He is a kid who seems to live on the fringes. Richard’s belief is that he likely wouldn’t even be missed. He is also the middle child. So maybe, there’s a little bit of that middle child thing going on as well.

Beautifully written, this novel tells Richard’s story of leaving high school and going to work in a foundry on the night shift. In the foundry he becomes a different Richard. He starts using drugs, some to keep him awake and some to help him sleep during the day. He hangs out with his coworkers, some who deal drugs and some who just take them. He loses himself in this world until something drastic happens to his coworker Melvin. That seems to snap Richard back to reality and the burning question of what next.

Robert Jacoby has crafted a beautifully written story. His descriptive skills are amazing and are what kept me reading. Mostly I believe it is the structure of the book, which flickers between the one night and all the events leading up to it. Also, Richard’s drug fueled imagination leaves the reader wondering what’s real and what isn’t. I reread the epilogue three times, and still am not sure how it ended.

Perhaps it just wasn’t my kind of book, but this book left me confused. Or perhaps it is because this book is a prequel to another of Robert Jacoby’s works. No matter what, I finished this book more confused than I was in the middle. Yet, this novel is a beautiful display of writing, if not a bit too long.


This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com close to publication date.

[Susan Alpert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dusk and Ember by Robert Jacoby is an ambitious stream of consciousness novel set in a Cleveland suburb during the early 1980’s. It is about teenager Richard Issych, who is a drug-addicted and sometimes suicidal foundry worker. He travels with co-workers to attend the wake for one of their colleagues, who was murdered by another employee.

Mr. Jacoby is effective at creating a dead-end and hopeless milieu. The foundry descriptions exploring both the tedium and danger of the job are the best scenes in the novel. As awful as the foundry sounds, it seems like one of those manufacturing plants that would soon disappear from the face of the U.S., making future survival even worse for its former employees. Richard is a bit of an outlier compared to his colleagues because he plans, with the support of his emotionally battered mother, to quit his job and attend the local community college. That’s an aspiration that none of his co-workers can imagine for themselves.

The novel’s tone is somber. That’s why it was shocking, disjointed, and highly disappointing to read a few pages that mock the appearance and dialect of the one minority character, who is a female employment agency worker.

However, overall the novel is affected by another problem. It does a successful job showing aimless, self-destructive characters, but it does so in a meandering style. The book is eighty-two chapters, with lots of thoughts on death and religion. Yet the ending seems abrupt and needing more.

That may be because this book is a prequel to Mr. Jacoby’s novel, There Are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes, also about teenaged Richard Issych.

[Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

Between the cover that subtly suggests something sinister and the intriguing blurb, I was drawn to Dusk and Ember. Unfortunately, those things turned out to be the best of it for me. The story is at times convoluted and at other times just plain confusing. We often get our main character's thoughts, and whether it's due to the drugs Richard uses or its done that way for other reasons, it feels disjointed and makes it hard to stay in the story. I did push through to the rather abrupt ending, and maybe this one just went over my head or I wasn't in the right frame of mind for it, but I really never got it. The whole thing just left me confused as to where it was supposed to be going. It is a prequel, so maybe I should've read that original story for some of the answers, but Dusk and Ember just proved too easy to set aside and too hard to pick back up, which doesn't give me a strong desire to go further.

[Sheri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Convoluted Nonsense

I could never really get into this book. First you think it's about a graduate from high school and the bleak future that awaits him. Seeming to be the only option open to him is to go to work at the aluminum factory in town. He signs on for the night shift 11:00 pm to 7 am the next morning. Drugs get introduced to him, one to go to sleep after the shift then one to wake him up the next day. Then all of a sudden one of his friends get shot by another friend and it's the first wake the group of boys has ever attended. Things get goofier and convoluted as the story ends. The ending of the book is what made me give this book a rating of one. I won this ebook in a Good Reads giveaway.

[Clazzzer C · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book was good and interested me immediately. My heart went out to Richard. He was nineteen and going nowhere in life. He was working in a dead end job and associating with many undesirables. Drugs were too easily obtained and his prospects were little to none. The books synopsis asks can a life come apart and be built again in one night and here we see Richard attempt just that. It's a dark book and doesn't make for easy reading throughout. It provided plenty for me to get my teeth stuck into, which I like and a lot to think about. I found it to be very thought provoking and it will stay with me for quite a while to come although I'm not sure it will be everybody's cup of tea.

[Ileana Renfroe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dusk and Ember - Can a life come apart and be rebuilt in one night? 19-year-old Richard Issych is about to find out. One friend is dead—murdered by another friend—and all Richard wants to do is get to the wake, come home, and start a new life. But for one life to begin another must end.

I had to include part of the synopsis so that you would understand how those words are captivating. The story does not fall short. It's well written and kept me intrigued. I enjoyed the characters and overall highly recommend this book.

[Jacqueline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. I found it hard to follow, and so very, very dark. I did appreciate the attempt at getting in the head of a lost and struggling 19 yr old boy, and there were some tidbits to chew on as the mother of sons, but in the end, I really just slogged through this, hoping something would happen that would redeem it for me. Thank you NetGalley and Publishers for providing a digital copy for my review.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say this book is not good, it is just not my style of reading, the writing is good but I am just not into the story line. I won this book from Goodreads. Robert Jacoby is a good writer and very descriptive.

[Kaz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not a fan of this and did not even finish it despite reading over 50%. It was a book that centers around disjointed thoughts and drugs and I just couldn't get into the groove of it. I didn't have any reason to care about any of the characters at all.

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

i did not finish this book, was not my kind of read