The Heap

by Sean Adams

“As intellectually playful as the best of Thomas Pynchon and as sardonically warm as the best of Kurt Vonnegut, The Heap is both a hilarious send-up of life under late capitalism and a moving exploration of the peculiar loneliness of the early 21st century. A masterful and humane gem of a novel.”  —Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters

Blending the piercing humor of Alexandra Kleeman and the jagged satire of Black Mirror, an audacious, eerily prescient debut novel that chronicles the rise and fall of a massive high-rise housing complex, and the lives it affected before - and after - its demise.

Standing nearly five hundred stories tall, Los Verticalés once bustled with life and excitement. Now this marvel of modern architecture and nontraditional urban planning has collapsed into a pile of rubble known as the Heap. In exchange for digging gear, a rehabilitated bicycle, and a small living stipend, a vast community of Dig Hands removes debris, trash, and bodies from the building’s mountainous remains, which

Orville Anders burrows into the bowels of the Heap to find his brother Bernard, the beloved radio DJ of Los Verticalés, who is alive and miraculously broadcasting somewhere under the massive rubble. For months, Orville has lived in a sea of campers that surrounds the Heap, working tirelessly to free Bernard—the only known survivor of the imploded city—whom he speaks to every evening, calling into his radio show.

The brothers’ conversations are a ratings bonanza, and the station’s parent company, Sundial Media, wants to boost its profits by having Orville slyly drop brand names into his nightly talks with Bernard. When Orville refuses, his access to Bernard is suddenly cut off, but strangely, he continues to hear his own voice over the airwaves, casually shilling products as “he” converses with Bernard.

What follows is an imaginative and darkly hilarious story of conspiracy, revenge, and the strange life and death of Los Verticalés that both captures the wonderful weirdness of community and the bonds that tie us together.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Audiobook, Satire, Post Apocalyptic, Contemporary

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 7, 2020

About the author

Sean Adams is the Chair of the Undergraduate and Graduate Graphic Design Program at ArtCenter. He also serves as Executive Director of the Graphic Design Graduate Program. Adams continues his design practice with The Office of Sean Adams. He is the author of multiple books, and on-screen author for LinkedIn Learning. He is the only two-term AIGA national president in AIGA’s 100-year history. In 2014, Adams was awarded the AIGA Medal, the highest honor in the profession. He currently is on the editorial board and writes for Design Observer.

Adams is an AIGA and Aspen Design Fellow. He has been widely recognized by every major competition and publication, including a solo exhibition at SFMOMA. Adams has been cited as one of the forty most important people shaping design internationally, and one of the top ten influential designers in the United States. Previously, Adams was a founding partner of AdamsMorioka.

Reviews

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally, I loved this book. Loved it enough that I read it twice, the second time intentionally slow, because I wanted to give it a decent yet fair review.

This is a novel, that won't be for everyone across the board, and I believe most readers will either love it or hate it. Sean Adams has used satire (might I add successfully) as the basis for telling this creative character driven storyline. Satire, like sarcasm is not for everyone. I love it, however you may hate it. It doesn't make either of us wrong, it's simply a matter of taste.

However if you do enjoy satire I highly recommend this novel. It's expertly done by Sean Adams and I can't wait to see what he publishes next.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Random thoughts on The Heap, by Sean Adams:

- Los Verticales is a unique experiment in living - a city that is built up rather than out. Everyone lives in an ever-expanding high-rise that also contains workplaces (actual companies), parks, restaurants, gyms, services, etc. Basically, no one ever leaves the building because no one ever needs to do so.

- The building collapses, creating "the heap," and everyone is presumed dead. People come to work on digging out the heap and at least one survivor is identified - Bernard, the radio DJ of Los Verticales who begins broadcasting from deep within the rubble.

- The story centers around Orville, Bernard's brother, who joins the rescue team; and Lydia, a friend of Orville who comes to the site and aims to begin her political career by getting involved in the local politics of CamperTown, the city that grows up around the heap.

- Orville becomes a worldwide celebrity by calling in to Bernard's radio show every day after his digging work and talking to his brother. People as far away as South America tune in to hear their nightly conversations. An evil media company approaches Orville and asks him to start inserting ad copy into his conversations so that they can monetize his popularity.

- An evil cartel of voice actors (more on this below), employed by the evil media company, impersonate, intimidate, and even kill in service of the evil media company. When Orville refuses to read the ad copy, a voice actor is employed to impersonate him and follow the media company's direction. Orville's access to his brother is cut off.

- For all of the nonsense above, this book's failure is that it is so incredibly boring. Nothing fucking happens, and anything that does is monotonous.

- If anything, the idea of the giant high-rise as a metaphor for the internet and social media was interesting (though that wore thin quickly). For the residents of Los Verticales, their entire lives take place within it's structure, much like some people do online. There are schools and entertainment all within the building. There is no reason for a resident to leave. Some residents take advantage of the unique structure to build their own businesses and make a good living (and like the internet, this includes making money off of sex).

- The idea of a media company trying to monetize the sincere interactions between two family members is also dead-on for social media companies. This is what Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., etc. do every day. They put ads in front of us when we are just trying to connect with our friends and family.

- A cartel of evil voice actors? Are you kidding me? I've taken lots of voice-over classes and I can tell you that, in my experience, they are the nicest people in the world. Everyone is incredibly supportive of everyone else. These are not the people who become enforcers and murderers. I have no idea where this idea came from, but even disregarding the above, why pick a group of people who are so obscure? Who relates to voice actors except other actors? Why not pick a profession that is more universal?

- For a book that seems to be about world building and character development, Adams does a poor job (in my opinion). Or let's say a surface job. The world building is not particularly vivid. There is no real sense of when this novel is taking place. It seems before the internet and cell phones, but the feel is dystopian. The characters don't develop at all (in my opinion). They miss opportunities for growth and reflection, and seem to always need to be hit on the head with a hammer (not literally) to figure out what is going on.

- I always seem to have more to write about books I dislike than those I do, which should be obvious by the length of this review.

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch)]

I was given a free ARC copy in exchange for my honest review. I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.

Did not finish at 43%. I really tried to get into this one. Really. And maybe it got better, but after almost half of the book, I no longer had any interest in finding out. Honestly the book was just boring. Nothing was really happening. The chapters that flash into the past were kinda interesting, but honestly that was it.

How I choose my rating:
1* Did not finish, or hated it but forced myself to finish.
2** Didn't really like it. Didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other then for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread again ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this again, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this books content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will definitely be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!

[Shannon Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight .

3.5*

So, this book went in a very different direction that I assumed it would. To be fair, I don't necessarily always have any decent grasp on where I think things are headed, so we won't hold that against The Heap. But I feel like it's worth mentioning, anyway. I guess I assumed, based on the technical prowess of Los Verticalés, that we were going to be in some kind of future setting (and we can blame Goodreads for labeling it as both "science fiction" and "dystopian"). And I don't actually know if it isn't, which we'll get to. But anyway, let us chat about all the things!

What I Liked: 

• The history of Los Verticalés was kind of awesome. There were chapters, written by those who had survived Los Verticalés (by not being home at the time basically), about the history of the building. Not just the physical details, but of how the people of the building pretty much formed their own society over time. It was endlessly fascinating, and I couldn't get enough!

• The characters went through a lot of quiet development. There was a lot of introspection in the book, which is why I say "inward". They each were very... reserved about sharing emotions with anyone else, so the evolution they went through was a slower one of solitary exposition. Still, that made it feel incredibly honest, and authentic to the characters the author had developed. They would not have been the type to have evolved any other way.

• There's some mystery elements at play, and some very left-field stuff that I did not see coming! I'll keep it vague, but I will say that I definitely didn't see where things were headed, like I said. It takes an incredibly different turn from "looking for survivors in rubble of bananas building" to... well, that's a thing you'll have to find out for yourself!

What I Didn't:

• When is this happening!? Honestly guys your guess is as good as mine. There's a ton of talk about a radio (as the main character's brother is a radio host), and phone lines. But no one seems to have cell phones or the internet. So... could be dystopia! But could also be alternate universe altogether, really. Also, what's shakin' with the rest of the world? No idea either! That is really my biggest gripe here: Worldbuilding was non-existent outside of Los Verticalés. And that could have been the point, which is fine, except the characters do go beyond the rubble. So it became more confusing for me to not understand the outside world at all.

Bottom Line: It's definitely a unique book with plot points I never expected. It moves at a slower pace and is definitely character driven, so expect less on Los Verticalés itself, and more on the rescuers and such.

[Brittany S · Rating 2 out of 5]

NOTE: I won this arc as part of a goodreads giveaway. It in no means influences my review.

The premise of this book, which pulled me in, was also what left me a bit disappointed. The characters' development throughout left me wanting a bit more. Orville had the most development, with the other characters, especially the secondary characters like Terrence and the boss, coming off as mere filler. My favorite parts of the book were the random chapters marked from the earlier years that gave you a glimpse into the way the community functioned before it crumbled. I felt the stories of lynda bored me a bit, though I know she was an integral piece to the story. I also was shocked about the ending with the Cartel as it seemed a bit of a stretch, but the very ending with Orville? Well that part tugged the heart strings a bit when you find out the truth. The premise though was definitely something different than what I've seen. I wish the execution had been a bit different.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was amused by this satiric, surrealistic story about an experiment in urban planning called Los Verticalés, a condominium tower which stands 500 stories tall in an unnamed desert…. until it doesn’t, having collapsed into The Heap. The only survivors are The Displaced Travellers, those residents who were not home on the day of the collapse.

The Heap has led to the Dig Effort, which attracts young idealists to come and did through the ruins, logging the dead and salvaging items to fund the enterprise. The Dig Hands are equipped with ConductionSens shovels, which prevent electrocution should they strike live wires while shoveling.

Sean Adams has a lot of fun imagining all this and the satiric freight his story carries is reasonably subtle and not programmatic—it’s not, say, an anti capitalist screed. Still there’s a lot of entertaining social conflict. The Vert, as it is known familiarly, of necessity has outer, perimeter condos with windows and balconies. They are more expensive. The inner units have no windows but are equipped with UV screens that streamed a view of the outside, providing “…92% of the window experience.” These are cheaper units. And the point is not lost that two classes will prevail however high you build. There’s also a lot of business and promotions jargon that is used to good effect.

There are main characters and a storyline. The story never lost me completely although I did think it could have been tighter and shorter by a bit. Adams writes well, is original and imaginative, and this is his first novel. I would have to say Well Done!

[Gary Schroeder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked it up based on a recommendation in the NY Times Book Review. Seemed like an interesting premise: a small community dedicated to salvaging the remains of a gargantuan housing experiment gone wrong--Los Verticales, a utopian self-contained, 200-floor society that collapsed because of poor engineering. "Seemed like" is the operative phrase. Without ruining the plot for you, it's less a book about the failed vertical city and more about a wacky plot by commercial forces to buy ad time to sell more consumer products. In this regard, it's straight out of J.G. Ballard's "Kingdom Come," another book that didn't grab me. And, like Ballard's book, none of the characters were much more than names on a page. They had no depth, no reality, and no personality; they never came to life.

The book seems to want to stand on the strength of satire...but fails. The satire's cute in places, but not terribly biting, and the eponymous Heap is a nearly superfluous plot device that was used to fill alternating chapters between those that actually advanced the plot. These "tales of Los Verticales" seem like they were meant to be amusing, but they came across as boring, kind of pointless, and could just as easily have been cut.

The cleverest and best part of the book? The squad of "black ops" vocal impersonators that serve as the main antagonists, but overall, "meh."

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Heap is a bad J.G. Ballard pastiche, with a few bare scintillas of charm.

The story is set in the ruins of Los Verticales, an experimental tower city somewhere in the high desert which collapsed. Now the rubble is picked over by diggers, scavenging valuable items from the rubble. Somewhere inside the wreckage is radio DJ Bernard, miraculously alive and giving focus to the digging effort, especially his brother Orville, who is nominally the main character.

The best bits of the story are the interludes titled "The Later Years", sociological remembrances of the vast apartment complex written in the second person plural: We used to..., exploring a divided society of outers who had a window and inners who didn't, oppressive social conformity, covert sex in garages, and the meaningless forms of democratic participation under capitalism.

These are not gems, they barely rise to broken glass, but they're at least shiny. The mass of the story is an undifferentiated 'dumb conspiracy'. When Orville refuses to include commercial endorsements in his daily calls with Bernard, he is replaced by a vocal impersonator. It turns out that there is a whole covert guild of vocal impersonators willing to murder to maintain power, and managerially ambitious digger Lydia helps Orville free himself from the grips of the conspiracy, where they find out that Bernard is also a vocal impersonator, and the real brother is long dead. But the Heap and the Dig provides some focus in a world.

I care deeply about J.G. Ballard. He even has an adjective, Ballardian, defined as resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in Ballard's novels and stories, esp dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes, and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments. Thinking about it, the thing about true Ballardian scifi is its absolute sincerity and commitment. The characters are clearly obsessive madmen, driven to the point of destruction, but their obsessions are treated as irresistible urges linked to eternal universal truths, the escaping of thanatic and erotic energy in a post-industrial post-modern space-age atomic complex. Ballard's subject is alienation, and his alienation is richly textured.

By comparison, Adams is nothing but sidelong winks at absurdity. Look at how stupid American managerialism is. Look at the pointlessness of office life, of the tiny rituals we call community, at the cleverness of the decently distanced allusions to 9/11 and Ground Zero. Aren't I clever as an author? And with all these cleverness, he cores out the strength of the Ballardian project.

I understood entirely when I got to the end and saw in the author's biography that he attended the Iowa Writer's Workshop, which I can only conclude is an entire dojo of authors trained how to write a story wrong on purpose, likely as part of some all encompassing Author's Conspiracy.

At least the book is short.

[LordTBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 8.0/10

Thanks to the publisher and author for an advance reading copy of The Heap in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this ARC did not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novel.

The Heap is a character-driven, immensely satirical, and wholly original debut that had me thumbing through pages quicker than ConductionSens shovels can alert you to live electrical currents. Adams uses a mix of present-day storytelling and pre-collapse glimpses of life in the Vert to provide a consistently entertaining romp through the life and times of Orville Anders. While most characters are given the chance to shine, Orville takes the cake when it comes to fully investing your time and attention to a protagonist and coming alongside him on his journey to find his brother.

The main characteristic of this novel that caught my attention and kept me engaged was the complete and utter ignorance of the characters. I don’t mean that in the sense that they didn’t know what was going on; more so that the things they were doing seem so foreign and outrageous to the reader. Completely normal to them in their day-to-day, but head-scratchily moronic to us. For instance, one of the opening chapters mentions the characters finding a “dead”, setting it to the side, lounging down on a leather courch, and partaking of the cold brews in the fridge. Like, what???

The humor set forth in The Heap brought me back to the early days of reading Josiah Bancroft’s The Books of Babel, especially Senlin Ascends. Yes, I get that the book only came out seven (7) years ago, but hey, I have only been reading religiously for about five (5). Maybe I should have Sean and Josiah sit down for a coffee and see who can come up with the most ridiculous scenario for a character. The sad part is, even though these characters are made up in works of fiction, we could probably point to someone in our life or an individual we have crossed paths with that would behave in such ways.

Thanks to the publisher, I had the pleasure of hosting Sean on my podcast back in December of 2019. In my opinion, being able to sit down and talk with him about writing, inspirations, etc. allowed me to engage with this novel more than had I gone into it completely blind. It also doesn’t hurt that I have read satire before, especially the likes of Tom Holt, Christopher Moore, and Douglas Adams. The list goes on, but you get the point. Dry humor isn’t for everyone, especially with a little tongue in cheek thrown in, but I eat it up.

I had a ton of fun with this novel, and it was a pretty quick read, what with short chapters and a page count around 320. If you enjoy wry humor, but character-driven stories, give The Heap a try.

[Got Twins-Need Coffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Great book that brings out almost every emotion as it goes...

[Boris Feldman · Rating 1 out of 5]

A heap of words.

[Farmer Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. It is a unique slow mover, with plenty of time for twists and digging into the characters.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sean Adams’ THE HEAP seems to be a bible or proposal for a TV series.

Its good parts are amazing, but the uninspired storylines drag my rating down to three stars.

The novel’s basic premise: A building 500 stories high (Los Verticales), really a city unto itself, collapses into a “heap” killing everyone in it, except a building radio DJ is broadcasting from somewhere in the rubble. Hundreds or thousands volunteer to dig through the rubble to find him. One of those digging is the DJ’s brother, Orville.

First, the good stuff. Some of the building’s residents survived because they were away when the building collapsed. They are known as the Displaced Travelers. They formed their own mini-community in RVs by the Heap, but segregate themselves from the diggers. What they contribute to the novel is a series of topical remembrances of life in the Los Verticales they call “The Later Years.” These remembrances are fantastic, and easily could form the basis of a proposed TV series. (I can see it now. Three or four years of life on Los Verticales. Then when ratings drop the building could collapse in a season finale cliffhanger and the show transitions to the new Heap society (with new characters since most of the former ones other than the Displaced Travelers die in the collapse.)

“The Later Years” bits are scattered through the book. They have little to do with plot but are wonderfully creative. You must read them. Skip the rest of the book. Go to the library and read “The Later Years” parts. They are in italics so easily found. They have titles like Neighbors, Media, Time Change (truly fantastic), Base Expansion (a favorite. It seems the outer units with windows are more expensive than the inner units that have no windows, only video screens showing the outside. The outer unit residents consider themselves superior to the inner unit residents and refuse to associate with them. As the building grows higher, the developer widens the base for building support. A MAJOR consequence of this base widening is many of the formerly outside units become “innerized” causing some interesting rearranging of class structure), Parking (and how the parking decks became a sexual liaison district), Visitors, Disputes (and their resolution), Education, Rumors, Floors, Entertainment, Holidays, and Emergency Drills.

The post-collapse community is a totally different one as you can imagine. Sean Adams does a go
od job of setting it up too. Just not as focused as in The Later Years.

Another short but wonderful inclusion is the penultimate paragraph of chapter 61. I can’t describe this scene without it becoming a spoiler. It blew me away. I can imagine how excited Sean Adams must have been when he got the idea for it. Kudos, Sean.

Now the really bad. Most of the novel revolves around two very weak, uninspired storylines. One concerns Orville, the DJ’s brother. The DJ, stuck under the rubble, takes phone calls and becomes a media sensation. The highest ratings come when Orville makes his daily call to his brother. The media company wants to monetize these calls. The offer Orville money to drop the name of products into the conversations. Orville refuses. Soon he hears someone impersonating him on the radio. Next people are trying to kill him, and it becomes a ho-hum story.

The second story line features Lydia, one of the two people in Orville’s Dig group. Lydia wants to get into politics and believes she can get there faster if she is the one who gives Peter Thisbee (the mastermind behind Los Verticales) a tour of The Heap community; but, of course, she faces hurdles (and they are repetitive and not all that interesting).

There you have it: Two mediocre storylines detracting from a wonderful world (community) building.

Three stars.

P.S. I may have missed it, but somehow Orville “knows” a seemingly throwaway character is a bad guy. How does he know? You got me. I’ve searched the pages looking for the aha moment but couldn’t find it. Maybe someone will enlighten me.

[Phoebe S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was overall a decent book, but it had so much potential that went unrealized. The scenario was neat, but the first act was long and Orville, one of the main characters, just seemed kind of bland. And I'm not against bland characters, but they have to have something interesting about them, even in their blandness, that makes them an interesting person to share a literary journey with.

That being said, the weirdness was delectable. A mega-skyscraper where people live as in a city? That's got some neat potential. Yet, unlike other books I've read such as The Name of This Book is Secret and The Man in the High Castle, the whole thing felt weirdly disjointed and forced.

The last third is pretty suspenseful and provides an ending that is, in general, strong, but that just wasn't enough to make it four stars for me. I felt a lot of things that could have been explored more just weren't.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

#7/52 2020 books. Really more like 2.5 stars. The book had excellent symbolic potential, serving as a metaphor for American capitalism and the numerous faults that seem destined to lead to its collapse. The problem was, the story and the characters all felt dull and flat; the novel read like a short story that had been awkwardly expanded into something longer, with unnecessary, undeveloped characters and pointless inclusion of even the most mundane things added simply to pad the page count and make a book of it (so-and-so walked here, then turned a doorknob, then walked there, then said hello to a character who is making his only appearance just sitting on a barstool, etc.).

That's not to say all of the included details were pointless. The author clearly went to great lengths to make many things highly symbolic/metaphorical, whether it was Thisbee's puppet-master control of leadership positions, the manipulation of time zones and holiday celebrations, the bureaucratic speech style of the man shutting down the telephone bank, distraction of the masses with sexual temptations, the class warfare between the inner and outer unit dwellers, or the residents' refusal to believe emergency protocols were warranted because they couldn't believe that their way of life could possibly collapse. And I am a huge fan of symbolism, a lover of great classics that most others groan at the mere thought of reading. Quite frankly, there was at least one symbolic metaphor in each chapter that struck me as rather brilliant...but the problem was, I was so disinterested in the story that I didn't have the patience to really analyze the symbolism in greater depth or to piece it all together into a cohesive thesis. Instead, I just kept thinking, "is this over yet?"

But perhaps it's this very reaction that serves as the ultimate metaphor. Do I think the author actually intentionally set out to bore me so thoroughly in order to demonstrate how citizens of capitalist America have been so worn down by our disastrous system that we can't bring ourselves to care about others, to put the pieces together and act before our own collapse? No, I don't believe the intention was there...but who knows, perhaps this book was more brilliant than I give it credit for. Instead, however, my sense was that this book was written by someone with a talent for metaphors but virtually no gift for storytelling or dialogue, thereby significantly decreasing the impact of the desired message.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful first novel that is biting in it's satire and humanity. I read a blurb that compared Adam's writing to Pynchon's, which I initially scoffed at, but this novel is reminiscent of The Crying of Lot 49 while still retaining it's own unique voice. I'll definitely be purchasing any future work by Sean Adams.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a truly interesting and original premise. A 500 story building collapses in the desert, leaving a massive excavation site, called “the Heap” around which a society of pickers and diggers (who live in tents and campers) evolves. But what the author did was take the interesting part, the society which existed in this massive building, (with its class differences and “neighborhoods” on each floor, staggered time zones and much else) and relegate it to a few italicized pages here and there. Meanwhile an inane story about voice impersonators and snipers and a buried radio personality/estranged brother played by not one but two impostors takes place alongside the actually interesting story. I scanned ahead so I’d know how long until I got back to the italicized parts so I could get out of the annoying main storyline. I read every word of this book waiting for it to get better but instead it got worse and worse. 10 pages from the end there is even a scene where one character asks the other to explain what’s been going on and their 3 page conversation consists of a recap of the entire plot. Such a disappointment. Skip this one.

[Shawna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited when I read the premise of this book! I was still somewhat excited about a quarter way into the book. And then the ridiculousness came about with the Voice Cartel, and then I was less excited. So much less excited that it took me three weeks to finish this book.
This book is a big heap of nothingness, including the departments and items with hilariously long names. It gets a star strictly because the idea could have been so great...and of course you have to rate at least one. I won't waste my time with Sean Adams again.

[Doug Bolden · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is fitting that a book essentially about questions of identity vs community, (self-imposed) isolation, social hierarchies, the basic emptiness of modern endeavors, and actualizing thought experiments would itself embody elements of self-smug satire, confusing approaches to the human element, a blend of writing tricks that almost but do not quite work together, and ultimately even a sort of confusion about its own goals. Is this a scathing review of society? A love letter to the modern life? A book ultimately about the process of writing books (for it seems, most modern literature is literature about literature)? A modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz? All of the above? I see this as praise and damnation, which is itself a type of praise.

Has Sean Adams woven a book of often quite-shallow satire about modern life in such a way that it is really a deeper satire of shallow satires about modern life? A book that wears most of its tricks so boldly on its sleeve that you are never sure if you witnessing foreshadowing or some meta-fictional lampshade-hanging about the obviousness of modern workshop literature? Is the strange timelessness of the novel which could be "anytime" but eventually feels like a throwback middle or late-middle 20th century a reference to a time period that white-male writers writing about white-male [often writing] endeavors was ascendant?*

I do not know. The Heap at least, is mostly entertaining and has flights of fancy that make it quite memorable. Seriously. I enjoyed it. I also enjoy, as one does, taking a bit of the piss out of it.

The quick precis is that there was a large arcology type building that combines a high-rise living condominium with with shopping and workspace (though much conversation is given to the relative merits/impact of living in the outer [i.e. window-having] units and the inner [i.e. non-window-having] units, and some reference is made to things like parks and businesses and elevator traffic and the use of condo-space for things like teaching/etc, the exact aesthetic and flow is somewhat left to the imagination). It one day collapsed and now there is a large heap of rubble/trash out in the desert and a crew dedicated to cleaning up and sorting through the mess. This is motivated, in part, by a radio broadcast coming from the eponymous Heap, by a survivor trapped down in the dark. Said survivor's brother is now working the Dig Site trying to sort through the collapse to save his brother (and find himself, naturally). There are also elements of an ad hoc community around the dig site and the somewhat futile politics and societal elements that govern it. And there is a ongoing interspersed narrative about the life in the arcology before it collapsed with hints at the odd experiments and experiences. And there are other things...which I won't bring up, despite being some of the more kooky aspects of the book...since it borders on spoilers and outing the whole premise.

The tagline at the top of its Goodreads description and central blurb of the back jacket's blurb stack cites Pynchon and Vonnegut** being in this book's literary DNA (more or less). This is...somewhat false. One of the aforementioned other things (the big "other thing" as it were) is definitely resonant of a Thomas Pynchon plot point. And I can see where one might see Vonnegut (one of the characters is physically much like Vonnegut, though maybe accidentally). However, it is not quite that flow. That is ok. Some aspects are things that are more interesting for it.

By the end, there were several times where the smug satire made me sigh quite hard (a chapter discussing the election cycle in the arcology, where the "common people" did not want a proper election but just wanted a literal song-and-dance show, just fell flatly like an echo of a tired "wake up sheeple" discourse). Then there were times where the satire made me chuckle (rarely, if ever, out loud). Likewise, sometimes the plot felt plodding and padded, and other times I was wanting more. In fact, though I am glad to see a conclusion, I still feel like I could stand to read more, considerably more.

This paradox of "too much" and "just right" drives this book forward. It was a good trip somewhat hindered by its own "type" of literature by both breaking new ground and, paradoxically, considering the themes of the book, being maybe too grounded in the past. By doing so, it becomes a question of itself, and I suppose that is fun.

At any rate, I look forward to what Sean Adams writes next. He at least has my attention.

====

* Doug snarkiness aside, and excluding the possibility that this is some strange internet-less, cellphone-less universe simply to set up some of the more contrived plot points (which is a real and quite likely possibility), there is I suppose a real-world consideration that setting a book about the impact of collapsing buildings and rebuilding-from-rubble any time post-2001 would require references to the September 11 attacks [as well as the concept of more modern definitions of fame, which rarely involve "radio personalities"].

** I was entirely unsurprised to find that the person who made this claim is another graduate from the same MFA workshop.

[Joelle Egan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Heap by Sean Adams is recalls the type of winking political and societal satire presented in works by Vonnegut and Pyncheon, or in the film “Brazil” by Terry Gilliam. Adam’s novel wittily reflects the mindlessness and vapidity of our modern age within an alternative universe controlled by a corrupt bureaucracy that takes advantage of people’s worst tendencies. The story is simple but unusual- Orville is a man searching for his brother among the ruins of a collapsed building. “Los Verticalés” was originally designed as a type of utopian community, an enormous ever-expanding tower meant to provide everything people would need for existence within one self-contained structure. The Heap takes place after the building’s inevitable collapse, becoming a tale of the stalled rescue of the lone survivor of the tragedy, Bernard. Orville’s brother is still within the rubble, broadcasting continuously from his radio station and taking calls from the outside. The building’s original architects have enlisted people to conduct the search as they also unearth and sell off salvageable items. A whole community has sprung up around the effort, including: the diggers and an administrative support system; small businesses to provide amenities; and a band of people who once lived in the tower, having escaped the tragedy by not being home when the collapse occurred. These are the “displaced,” who write about what life was like in Los Verticalés, providing the reader some vital background information about the social experiment. Most of The Heap consists of Adams describing how the evolved community has established its own routines and fallen into a state of passive ennui over time. Lydia, one of Orville’s dig partners, is the only character who possesses political ambitions and is therefore consistently frustrated by the reluctance of others to change or put forth extra effort. Other secondary characters become allegories for human adaptation to loss and the drive toward comfort even if freedom must be sacrificed. It takes a bit too long, but eventually events occur that shake up the plodding existence of the Heap and its inhabitants- challenging them to stand up to the menacing corporate cabal that wants them to continue succumbing to their stupor. Orville, with his uniquely emotional connection to the place, is responsible for rebelling against the underlying power structure. His reluctant awareness and subsequent actions result in some unexpected and humorous ripple effects. Strange and sometimes slow-paced, The Heap is an interesting experiment in storytelling. Though probably not universally appealing, readers who are searching for something unique, smile-provoking and subtly pointed would do well to give this new novel a try.

Thanks to the author, William Morrow and Library Thing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Dree · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a good 50-100 pages to get into this book, and then I didn't want to put it down. It's a post-apocalyptic novel, but of a different kind.

Los Verticalés was a condo complex in the desert (presumably in the US, but it isn't really clear). This wasn't your usual complex though. It was a 500+ story building, with inner (windowless) and outer (windowed) units and the class divisions associated with them, parks, any kind of business you can imagine, schools, an underground parking garage. To combat the crowded hallways, the tower had multiple time zones. The world and culture building Adams creates within this tower is fascinating (and sometimes funny).

And then the tower collapsed.

This novel takes place post-collapse. Camper Town is where the diggers live--they are digging in the heap, looking for survivors and items that can be sold to finance the search. One of the diggers is Orville, whose brother Bernard is still broadcasting from a Los Verticalés radio station. Orville calls in to the show daily, and the brothers have become national stars. The Displaced Travelers community is adjacent to Camper Town--these are residents of the tower who happened to be away at the time of the collapse. They are in mourning and just can't make themselves leave.

But is it all really this simple? Of course not. Sundial Media--the parent company of the radio station--has hired the Voice Cartel to assist. Peter Thisbee, the founder of the tower also is in on the recovery--is this just another venture to him? What is really going on, and who is behind it all?

There are a few not-quite-explained plot points (what's with the casino? How did Terrance become such a key figure?), but this book is a fun ride.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. An intriguing, compelling dystopian novel.

A building 500 stories high, a city unto itself, collapses into a heap killing everyone in it except a building radio DJ broadcasting from somewhere in the rubble. Hundreds of volunteers dig through the rubble to find the DJ. Bernard is the DJ. Orville, his brother, carries on a nightly conversation with Bernard. Orville’s companions include Hans, a photographer, and Lydia, who is intent on becoming a major political figure in the community. Other characters include Hal Cornish, a radio station representative who wants Orville to converse with his trapped brother, including advertisements in talking to Bernard. Peter Thisbee, who built the 500 story building, whilst seemingly trying to redeem himself, is also working to profit from his fallen monolith.

There is good plot momentum with some surprising plot twists.

This book was first published in 2020.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️. “He walked back to the living room, got another beer out of the fridge, and told Hans and Lydia, ‘Get on the two-way with boss. Tell him to bring the doctor. We got a dead.’”

A strange little mystery/thriller that manages to create a convincing feeling of dystopia without falling back on the main overused tropes and without an apocalypse. Interesting concept, compelling twists with just the right amount of breadcrumbs, and I love the history world building sections almost as much (or more than) the primary story itself. Only felt a few of the secondary characters needed some more fleshing out. But a fun and quick one.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Heap certainly was a trip with an unique plot. Some moments I saw coming....others not so much. I liked Orville immediately, a protag who self reflects and not afraid to get his hands dirty, others grew on me as the story continued. Though I do wish Hans played a bigger part.

Learning about Los Verticalés and the residents was interesting. I almost want to visit a place like that and it does seem appealing but at the end of the day, NO I could never live in a place like that. Probably slowly drive me mad. Never feeling wind, the sun's rays, seeing/smelling the ocean.

I enjoyed reading this but I can see how it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cleverl premise about a whole city housed within a single structure and the various social, political, and economic dynamics that arise. The characters are somewhat colorful, but not vibrant. And the plot heads in a direction that I didn't expect, mostly because the villains turn out to feel somewhat random and disconnected from the original premise.

[Scott - Book Invasion · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. A very intriguing and roller coaster of a book! I did love the premise, a few twists, as well as the 'organization' of villains which was really cool. It was solid throughout and I don't have anything negative to say, really. I would recommend you check it out if you really wanted something a little different, light-hearted, and a bit comedic at times.

Check the logs.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stuff about Los Verticales was great; the actual story was less great (inconsistent).

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Delightfully weird but way too convoluted. And I kept waiting for one of the characters from Wayside School to show up.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can*]

I won this via goodreads giveaways in exchange for an honest review. All my opinions are my own.
--

Another one that isn't my cup of tea unfortunately:(

[David Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Billed as a dystopian novel it really could be anytime and it’s a good read and gets you thinking. I recommend it