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American Desert
Part parable, part fantasy novel, part laugh-out-loud satire, American Desert is the story of Theodore Street, a college professor on the brink of committing suicide. When the decision is taken out of his hands--he's hit by a car and his head is severed from his body--he must come to terms with himself.
At his funeral, he sits up in his own coffin with the stitches that bind his head to his body clearly visible. Everyone is horrified by this resurrection. He becomes a source of fear and embarrassment to his daughter, and an object of derision and morbid curiosity to the press and the scientific communities, and is anointed as a sort of devil by an obscure religious cult. In the process, Theodore manages to reestablish his relationship with his estranged wife and family and to rediscover the value of his life.
In this experimental, satirical, and bizarre novel, critically acclaimed author Percival Everett once again takes on the assumptions of a culture whose priorities have gone out of whack. He lampoons the press, religion, and academia while offering, ultimately, an existential meditation of what constitutes being alive.
At his funeral, he sits up in his own coffin with the stitches that bind his head to his body clearly visible. Everyone is horrified by this resurrection. He becomes a source of fear and embarrassment to his daughter, and an object of derision and morbid curiosity to the press and the scientific communities, and is anointed as a sort of devil by an obscure religious cult. In the process, Theodore manages to reestablish his relationship with his estranged wife and family and to rediscover the value of his life.
In this experimental, satirical, and bizarre novel, critically acclaimed author Percival Everett once again takes on the assumptions of a culture whose priorities have gone out of whack. He lampoons the press, religion, and academia while offering, ultimately, an existential meditation of what constitutes being alive.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2004
14 people are currently reading
1330 people want to read
About the author
Percival Everett
70 books8,778 followersPercival L. Everett (born 1956) is an American writer and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
There might not be a more fertile mind in American fiction today than Everett’s. In 22 years, he has written 19 books, including a farcical Western, a savage satire of the publishing industry, a children’s story spoofing counting books, retellings of the Greek myths of Medea and Dionysus, and a philosophical tract narrated by a four-year-old.
The Washington Post has called Everett “one of the most adventurously experimental of modern American novelists.” And according to The Boston Globe, “He’s literature’s NASCAR champion, going flat out, narrowly avoiding one seemingly inevitable crash only to steer straight for the next.”
Everett, who teaches courses in creative writing, American studies and critical theory, says he writes about what interests him, which explains his prolific output and the range of subjects he has tackled. He also describes himself as a demanding teacher who learns from his students as much as they learn from him.
Everett’s writing has earned him the PEN USA 2006 Literary Award (for his 2005 novel, Wounded), the Academy Award for Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (for his 2001 novel, Erasure), the PEN/Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature (for his 1996 story collection, Big Picture) and the New American Writing Award (for his 1990 novel, Zulus). He has served as a judge for, among others, the 1997 National Book Award for fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991.
There might not be a more fertile mind in American fiction today than Everett’s. In 22 years, he has written 19 books, including a farcical Western, a savage satire of the publishing industry, a children’s story spoofing counting books, retellings of the Greek myths of Medea and Dionysus, and a philosophical tract narrated by a four-year-old.
The Washington Post has called Everett “one of the most adventurously experimental of modern American novelists.” And according to The Boston Globe, “He’s literature’s NASCAR champion, going flat out, narrowly avoiding one seemingly inevitable crash only to steer straight for the next.”
Everett, who teaches courses in creative writing, American studies and critical theory, says he writes about what interests him, which explains his prolific output and the range of subjects he has tackled. He also describes himself as a demanding teacher who learns from his students as much as they learn from him.
Everett’s writing has earned him the PEN USA 2006 Literary Award (for his 2005 novel, Wounded), the Academy Award for Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (for his 2001 novel, Erasure), the PEN/Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature (for his 1996 story collection, Big Picture) and the New American Writing Award (for his 1990 novel, Zulus). He has served as a judge for, among others, the 1997 National Book Award for fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
July 14, 2022
Rating, 3.33 stars
While clearly not his best story, Everett uses the opportunity to jab at organized religion with a rather obtuse, quasi-fantasy approach.
Ted Street is a professor who after reviewing his life feels a failure. On his way to drowning himself, he has a fatal car accident that severs his head. After the funeral home mortician reattaches his head with somewhat primitive stitching, he's suddenly resurrected during the ceremony and arises from the casket as if nothing happened. The gathering of people that include his wife Gloria and children, Emily and Perry are startled beyond belief and soon word gets out of the strange incident.
In a matter of time, the media huddles around his home and dark humor prevails. Holed up at home to fend off the media, Ted and the family finally sneak out to the market only to see him be captured by Jesus freaks that are lead by a midget named Big Daddy. When he arrives at their distant complex hours later, its the beginning of a Twilight Zone type story filled with religious rants, offbeat characters and continual jabbing at religion.
From here the plot twists and turns while the jabs morph into society's failure to see life for what it is. Some feel Ted is the devil, other the messiah. With no pulse or blood, the fact Ted speaks, eats and functions baffles all, including himself. Comical at heart, attempts to 'kill someone that's dead' fail miserably.
At the end of the day, I felt there was something lacking having compared it to more current books he's written. Initially, the idea of a headless corpse arising was darkly funny, but the rest of it left me cold. Having read a dozen of Everett's books and knowing a writer's storytelling evolves, I feel he truly hit his stride 10 years ago. That said, the fact remains he's one of the most unique, multi-faceted authors in publishing who writes an array of genre with skill and deftness. A great sense of humor, appreciation for the human condition, he's rare if not anything else.
While clearly not his best story, Everett uses the opportunity to jab at organized religion with a rather obtuse, quasi-fantasy approach.
Ted Street is a professor who after reviewing his life feels a failure. On his way to drowning himself, he has a fatal car accident that severs his head. After the funeral home mortician reattaches his head with somewhat primitive stitching, he's suddenly resurrected during the ceremony and arises from the casket as if nothing happened. The gathering of people that include his wife Gloria and children, Emily and Perry are startled beyond belief and soon word gets out of the strange incident.
In a matter of time, the media huddles around his home and dark humor prevails. Holed up at home to fend off the media, Ted and the family finally sneak out to the market only to see him be captured by Jesus freaks that are lead by a midget named Big Daddy. When he arrives at their distant complex hours later, its the beginning of a Twilight Zone type story filled with religious rants, offbeat characters and continual jabbing at religion.
From here the plot twists and turns while the jabs morph into society's failure to see life for what it is. Some feel Ted is the devil, other the messiah. With no pulse or blood, the fact Ted speaks, eats and functions baffles all, including himself. Comical at heart, attempts to 'kill someone that's dead' fail miserably.
At the end of the day, I felt there was something lacking having compared it to more current books he's written. Initially, the idea of a headless corpse arising was darkly funny, but the rest of it left me cold. Having read a dozen of Everett's books and knowing a writer's storytelling evolves, I feel he truly hit his stride 10 years ago. That said, the fact remains he's one of the most unique, multi-faceted authors in publishing who writes an array of genre with skill and deftness. A great sense of humor, appreciation for the human condition, he's rare if not anything else.
November 12, 2017
(4.5)
"...then, as the choir ended its final amen with a harmonious hum, Theodore Street sat up in his coffin."
With this, logic and possibilities are thrown away as a bevy of loved ones encounter this comical farce.
Ted Street is a sad man. It's been a rough couple years for the guy. Firstly, he keeps coming up for tenure at the University he teaches for, but without a book to his name, he can't obtain a Ph.D, therefore making his job null and void and secondly, he has had an extra-marital affair with a student and his marriage is in turmoil and perhaps, at its last stage.
Suicide, by definition, isn't funny.
Ted is going to die.
He's on his way to die.
In an instant, he's catapulted from his car through the windshield, his head swiped clean from his body.
As Ted's body is taken to the morgue, his head identified by his wife and then sewed on lazily with cheap sutures, (until the 3rd day [oh yes, that 'story'!]) he appears like any other dead person that has ever walked this Earth...
Dead.
Gone.
Deceased.
...at this point, Everett's knack for comedy commences.
As the media, religious cults, and the government (and it's secret housing for otherworldliness) hear of the widespread news, each wants to know:
The media: How did this happen?
Religious cults: Who are you really? (Satan or Jesus)
The Government: Who are you and how did this happen?
As Ted succumbs to each of these three and then conveniently escapes, he starts to realize there's much more to his situation than a resurrection; he does not breathe, rid of waste, has no pulse -- an opposite zombie of sorts, his mind and all its intricacies work, but doesn't tell the rest of his body what to do, yet his body still goes on.
A brilliant satire at the forefront with an underlying question of when does death count in the minds of us all.
"He used to think that dead was dead, but that notion had been proven wrong. He used to believe that the world was on its faithful spinning course and that was that, but now he know, things were the way they were until, simply, they changed."
During all of this, people ask who, how and what, but never listen to what Ted has to say. Amongst peers, loved ones and a reporter he sums it up quite well:
"I was dead, when my head was apart from me, I was dead. Death is not a bad thing and one ought to stay dead when death comes. If nothing else, I have learned this. I wish that I had no mouth, so that my silence would mean as much as my words. I wish that my words had no meaning. I wish that you could all feel my death, so you would cease fearing it." Ted looked at his wife and daughter and offered a silent apology. He then reached to his neck, undid a knot of his sutures and began to remove them. He slowly pulled out each and every stitch. Gloria (the wife) was standing now. Barbie Becker's (the reporter) fear had returned. The camera operators had stepped away from their machines. Ted grabbed his head between his two hands, removed it and set it in his lap, closed his eyes and stayed dead."
And with that, Ted literally took his life by his own hand(s).
"...then, as the choir ended its final amen with a harmonious hum, Theodore Street sat up in his coffin."
With this, logic and possibilities are thrown away as a bevy of loved ones encounter this comical farce.
Ted Street is a sad man. It's been a rough couple years for the guy. Firstly, he keeps coming up for tenure at the University he teaches for, but without a book to his name, he can't obtain a Ph.D, therefore making his job null and void and secondly, he has had an extra-marital affair with a student and his marriage is in turmoil and perhaps, at its last stage.
Suicide, by definition, isn't funny.
Ted is going to die.
He's on his way to die.
In an instant, he's catapulted from his car through the windshield, his head swiped clean from his body.
As Ted's body is taken to the morgue, his head identified by his wife and then sewed on lazily with cheap sutures, (until the 3rd day [oh yes, that 'story'!]) he appears like any other dead person that has ever walked this Earth...
Dead.
Gone.
Deceased.
...at this point, Everett's knack for comedy commences.
As the media, religious cults, and the government (and it's secret housing for otherworldliness) hear of the widespread news, each wants to know:
The media: How did this happen?
Religious cults: Who are you really? (Satan or Jesus)
The Government: Who are you and how did this happen?
As Ted succumbs to each of these three and then conveniently escapes, he starts to realize there's much more to his situation than a resurrection; he does not breathe, rid of waste, has no pulse -- an opposite zombie of sorts, his mind and all its intricacies work, but doesn't tell the rest of his body what to do, yet his body still goes on.
A brilliant satire at the forefront with an underlying question of when does death count in the minds of us all.
"He used to think that dead was dead, but that notion had been proven wrong. He used to believe that the world was on its faithful spinning course and that was that, but now he know, things were the way they were until, simply, they changed."
During all of this, people ask who, how and what, but never listen to what Ted has to say. Amongst peers, loved ones and a reporter he sums it up quite well:
"I was dead, when my head was apart from me, I was dead. Death is not a bad thing and one ought to stay dead when death comes. If nothing else, I have learned this. I wish that I had no mouth, so that my silence would mean as much as my words. I wish that my words had no meaning. I wish that you could all feel my death, so you would cease fearing it." Ted looked at his wife and daughter and offered a silent apology. He then reached to his neck, undid a knot of his sutures and began to remove them. He slowly pulled out each and every stitch. Gloria (the wife) was standing now. Barbie Becker's (the reporter) fear had returned. The camera operators had stepped away from their machines. Ted grabbed his head between his two hands, removed it and set it in his lap, closed his eyes and stayed dead."
And with that, Ted literally took his life by his own hand(s).
December 17, 2013
More people should be reading Everett for his humanity, wordplay, and anarchic comedy—if not this title in particular. In his novel Glyph, an infant prodigy fluent in Derridean theory is abducted by desperate scientists in what becomes an hilarious spoof of high-end lit-speak and an unsubtle poke at Evil Science People. The satire here is also of the Subtle-as-a-Boulder variety, taking on religious lunatics and immoral governments across a novel that lapses into ridiculous emotional manipulation and seems to mix its ruthless satire with melodramatic content in a way that collapses thudlike. The reincarnated protagonist is a failed suicide and father who learns to become A Better Person—too late. The religious lunatic is a cartoon tyrant who alongside beating his wife and kids has also abducted 27 kids (as if he wasn’t nefarious enough) and this children-in-peril plot is a heinous and obvious tugging on the reader’s anger—compounded by the insertion of the protagonist’s kid also in danger towards in end in a random and bizarre piece of cheap filler. These things aside, the novel was amusing in a none-too-cerebral way, but fails as satire for being too misanthropic and deploying well-written and observant family scenes in a way that couldn’t have been falser if they were wearing a sign that read This Novel Has a Heart—See!!! Three stars because I was entertained.
July 8, 2024
CRITIQUE:
SoCal (Owes the Charmer Under Me)
Theodore Street wasnot an address, but a college professor when he was alive. He taught Old English and various survey courses at the University of Southern California.
When we first meet him, he is indubitably dead. His head has been severed from his body in a car accident, ironically on the way to his planned suicide. It is neatly sewn back on by a surgeon. He sits up in his coffin at his funeral, causes a riot, and starts to talk gibberish. His wife, Gloria, suspects he's alive. His children are frightened of him. They think he's a freak. The media call him a "risen man" and his rise a resurrection. It's of no comfort to Ted. He explains to his wife: "I'm a fuck-up, Gloria. Hell, I can't even die right."
Ted has been having an affair with Inga, a student in his History of the Language seminar. He has a "desire to do something bad, something wild, something stupid." This is not his first extramarital relationship, but one of many, and Gloria has been aware of most of them.
Headless man (Blemmye)
A Race of Angels Bound With One Another
The significance of the novel's title is one of inference. I suspect that there are at least two meanings:
One is Ted's moral decline, while the other refers to a degenerate and hypocritical religious cult called the Heavenly Order of Pyromantic Worship that is camped out in the Mojave Desert. Its leader is Big Daddy, a zealot who has kidnapped 27 children and is holding them hostage.
Farewell to the Desert of the Real
Ted is trapped in his deadness. He's not wholly dead, but he's not wholly alive either. There are no signs of life, such as a pulse. It's as if he's in purgatory, awaiting redemption, which arrives when he rescues the child hostages, and, separately, when he frees Gloria to get on with the rest of her life. Ted, at last, is a decent man, albeit a dead one.
There are no clues to the colour of Ted and his family. This suggests that the novel is, for once, concerned with more universal themes than his earlier novels (which focus on racism).
Even so, the tale is conveyed with lucid, comic, well-paced prose that recalls John Barth's "Giles Goat Boy" and Don DeLillo's "White Noise".
SOUNDTRACK:
SoCal (Owes the Charmer Under Me)
Theodore Street was
When we first meet him, he is indubitably dead. His head has been severed from his body in a car accident, ironically on the way to his planned suicide. It is neatly sewn back on by a surgeon. He sits up in his coffin at his funeral, causes a riot, and starts to talk gibberish. His wife, Gloria, suspects he's alive. His children are frightened of him. They think he's a freak. The media call him a "risen man" and his rise a resurrection. It's of no comfort to Ted. He explains to his wife: "I'm a fuck-up, Gloria. Hell, I can't even die right."
Ted has been having an affair with Inga, a student in his History of the Language seminar. He has a "desire to do something bad, something wild, something stupid." This is not his first extramarital relationship, but one of many, and Gloria has been aware of most of them.
Headless man (Blemmye)
A Race of Angels Bound With One Another
The significance of the novel's title is one of inference. I suspect that there are at least two meanings:
One is Ted's moral decline, while the other refers to a degenerate and hypocritical religious cult called the Heavenly Order of Pyromantic Worship that is camped out in the Mojave Desert. Its leader is Big Daddy, a zealot who has kidnapped 27 children and is holding them hostage.
Farewell to the Desert of the Real
Ted is trapped in his deadness. He's not wholly dead, but he's not wholly alive either. There are no signs of life, such as a pulse. It's as if he's in purgatory, awaiting redemption, which arrives when he rescues the child hostages, and, separately, when he frees Gloria to get on with the rest of her life. Ted, at last, is a decent man, albeit a dead one.
There are no clues to the colour of Ted and his family. This suggests that the novel is, for once, concerned with more universal themes than his earlier novels (which focus on racism).
Even so, the tale is conveyed with lucid, comic, well-paced prose that recalls John Barth's "Giles Goat Boy" and Don DeLillo's "White Noise".
SOUNDTRACK:
June 3, 2018
This was an uneasy satire, setting it's sights on the topical targets of 2004: Evangelicals, neo-cons and the media. A despondent academic is driving to his suicide when he is unexpectedly decapitated in a traffic accident. He sits up and begins speaking three days later at his funeral. How's this possible? Journalists want an interview. Zealots want to kill him as a diabolical agent and the government wants to utilize his biochemistry to create immortal soldiers. Each of these plots surface and then wilt. American Desert failed to grab this reader.
October 25, 2011
The short version: At a sperm bank, someone mixes the joy juices of Chuck Palahnuik with those of Will Self. This book is the product of the XYXY union.
The long version:
Sometimes after I've read a book I enjoy getting a bit sidetracked in my review process by passing facetious comment on either the critics comments, the blurb or the book cover. After all a book is a neat little package and a way of conveying words to us in a tidy way which means we don't lose the pages, get something attractive to put on a table or bookshelf and show off to all our friends about how damned smart and well read we are.
This book is, according to the jacket "a meditation on what it is to be alive". Wow, that's powerful stuff right there. It is also a lot of other stuff but that was the one statement which stood out and I cannot be bothered to include them all here. It was principally the images on the book cover which caught my eye - the front cover shows a man reaching up towards a UFO (or possibly trying to catch a giant frisbee). The rear cover is bafflingly covered in images of what appear to be famed Bristolian Comedian and TV presenter, Justin Lee Collins with black eyeballs a bit like he's just finished filming as a Demon extra for TV show, Supernatural. Maybe this person is supposed to be Ted Street, the principal character? Dunno. Ted Street gets confused for Jesus in the book and Justin Lee Collins has long hair and a beard a bit like Jesus (but then he also has a bafflingly regional accent and appears to be hyper-actively auditioning for his own job a lot of the time... not like Jesus who presumably, if nothing else, could count on job security). Ahem I am digressing in a major way.
Bottom line is that the cover confused me but the contents were quite nice. Word shaped and readable.
Ted is dead. Ted Street, failed academic with a string of rubbish affairs, some small children and a nice well meaning but dull wife has gone off to commit suicide. Except death pips him to the post. Don't you hate it when that happens? Three days later Ted is resurrected much to the surprise and consternation of his loved ones, especially since his death was caused by his head being severed from his body which does not tend to be something that you can get cured of.
Undead hijinx ensue as Ted finds himself much more in demand in death than he ever was in life. The media want him, the Cults want him because they think he is God/Jesus/the Devil/ a saint/ a zombie or whatever. The FBI and CIA want him because they want an army of undead, the life insurance people want him and his wife and family would like him to come home. In a bid to make it home Ted blazes a trail across the states dodging crazies, cults, cops and black helicopters all the while using his dead time to take stock of who he was while he was alive.
Like I said, nice, readable but I'm still more entertained by the cover.
The long version:
Sometimes after I've read a book I enjoy getting a bit sidetracked in my review process by passing facetious comment on either the critics comments, the blurb or the book cover. After all a book is a neat little package and a way of conveying words to us in a tidy way which means we don't lose the pages, get something attractive to put on a table or bookshelf and show off to all our friends about how damned smart and well read we are.
This book is, according to the jacket "a meditation on what it is to be alive". Wow, that's powerful stuff right there. It is also a lot of other stuff but that was the one statement which stood out and I cannot be bothered to include them all here. It was principally the images on the book cover which caught my eye - the front cover shows a man reaching up towards a UFO (or possibly trying to catch a giant frisbee). The rear cover is bafflingly covered in images of what appear to be famed Bristolian Comedian and TV presenter, Justin Lee Collins with black eyeballs a bit like he's just finished filming as a Demon extra for TV show, Supernatural. Maybe this person is supposed to be Ted Street, the principal character? Dunno. Ted Street gets confused for Jesus in the book and Justin Lee Collins has long hair and a beard a bit like Jesus (but then he also has a bafflingly regional accent and appears to be hyper-actively auditioning for his own job a lot of the time... not like Jesus who presumably, if nothing else, could count on job security). Ahem I am digressing in a major way.
Bottom line is that the cover confused me but the contents were quite nice. Word shaped and readable.
Ted is dead. Ted Street, failed academic with a string of rubbish affairs, some small children and a nice well meaning but dull wife has gone off to commit suicide. Except death pips him to the post. Don't you hate it when that happens? Three days later Ted is resurrected much to the surprise and consternation of his loved ones, especially since his death was caused by his head being severed from his body which does not tend to be something that you can get cured of.
Undead hijinx ensue as Ted finds himself much more in demand in death than he ever was in life. The media want him, the Cults want him because they think he is God/Jesus/the Devil/ a saint/ a zombie or whatever. The FBI and CIA want him because they want an army of undead, the life insurance people want him and his wife and family would like him to come home. In a bid to make it home Ted blazes a trail across the states dodging crazies, cults, cops and black helicopters all the while using his dead time to take stock of who he was while he was alive.
Like I said, nice, readable but I'm still more entertained by the cover.
April 29, 2018
This is a story about life and death. The library labeled it science fiction because the impossible happens. (You’ll quickly find out what that is if you read the book’s description or a few pages, but I’m not going to spoil it.) But it is not science fiction. Nor is it a thriller, although there are certainly aspects of that. It’s very funny, but I would never call it a comedy.
After you read enough of Percival Everett’s work (this is my twelfth book), you begin to recognize certain repeating character types, relationships, and plot dynamics, but still each book is a new invention and even the writing style changes. This novel combines the best aspects of So Much Blue, Glyph, and Erasure. There is a man who has not fit into regular life—in this book, for amazing reasons; there is a chase and rescue; and there is an antihero’s plea for truth.
Enough said.
Percival Everett is my hero and teacher.
After you read enough of Percival Everett’s work (this is my twelfth book), you begin to recognize certain repeating character types, relationships, and plot dynamics, but still each book is a new invention and even the writing style changes. This novel combines the best aspects of So Much Blue, Glyph, and Erasure. There is a man who has not fit into regular life—in this book, for amazing reasons; there is a chase and rescue; and there is an antihero’s plea for truth.
Enough said.
Percival Everett is my hero and teacher.
August 2, 2022
Δεύτερο βιβλίο του Πέρσιβαλ Έβερετ που διαβάζω, μετά το "Πληγωμένοι" που διάβασα το πολύ μακρινό πλέον 2010, από το οποίο δεν θυμάμαι τίποτα απολύτως, αν και για να του έχω βάλει τρία αστεράκια μάλλον δεν θα με είχε ξετρελάνει και τόσο (βέβαια, μπορεί και να το έχω αδικήσει, άλλωστε ήμουν άπειρος αναγνώστης τότε). Τέλος πάντων, το "Αμερικάνικη έρημος" μου άρεσε πολύ, ήταν όσο σατιρικό, καυστικό και "κουφό" περίμενα με βάση την περίληψη της πλοκής και τη θεματολογία του. Πρόκειται για μια κωμικοτραγική ιστορία, για μια ανελέητη σάτιρα απέναντι στις παραθρησκευτικές οργανώσεις και τον θρησκευτικό φανατισμό, τα αδηφάγα ΜΜΕ και το αμερικάνικο κράτος με τις περίεργες Υπηρεσίες του, σίγουρα ο συγγραφέας με τη δεξιοτεχνία του στην αφήγηση και με το μαύρο χιούμορ του δεν άφησε και πολλά πράγματα όρθια, ενώ έδωσε και λίγη τροφή για σκέψη. Εντάξει, ίσως και να μην το πήγε τελείως στα άκρα, πάντως με την κριτική του στην Αμερικάνικη κοινωνία έδωσε ρέστα και νομίζω ότι βρήκε στόχο, ενώ και η ιστορία αυτή καθαυτή είχε το ενδιαφέρον της και την τρέλα της από την αρχή μέχρι το τέλος. Προτείνεται.
April 11, 2020
American Resurrection in the middle of the desert
Theodore Street, mentre sta andando a suicidarsi, incorre in un incidente con un tir che gli stacca la testa dal collo, tre giorni dopo, durante la funzione in chiesa, Ted si alza dalla bara in cui era stato adagiato e con la testa riattaccata dai punti del funzionario delle pompe funebri, si mette a camminare tra i banchi cercando la famiglia e provocando una sommossa...
ovvio che, essendo in America, Ted dovrà vedersela con:
i giornalisti accampati davanti casa,
una setta di fanatici religiosi che lo crede l'Anticristo,
il governo degli Stati Uniti sezione Roswell, altrimenti nota come Area 51,
l'investigatore della compagnia di assicurazioni con cui Ted aveva stipulato la polizza vita, un'altra setta che lo crede il Salvatore e via così...
strano libro questo Deserto Americano, chiamato così perchè l'azione in effetti si svolge in gran parte nel deserto e forse anche per alludere al deserto che alberga nel cervello e nelle sinapsi sia di Ted che in quello della gran parte degli americani medi di fronte all'inesplicabile, è comunque un romanzo particolare; in primo luogo perchè oltre la nota parabola dello scoprire la vita e il suo senso solo dopo aver passato la barriera da cui solitamente non si torna, subito sotto si diceva, si nasconde un pensiero che potrebbe essere definito una sorta di placida constatazione del fatto che in realtà nessuno sa molto del perchè siamo qui, ma tutti si affannano a dare definzioni e motivazioni un po' a vento col solo fine di evitare l'ansia del vuoto che potrebbe esserci o che forse c'è...
ed ecco quindi tutta una sequenza di spiegazioni o teorie o anche usi più o meno etici dell'evento insolito e, accompagnati a queste mirabolanti prove, si trovano anche motivazioni personali e sensi non proprio lampanti che Everett regala a tutti i suoi personaggi, nessuno escluso, anche solo con l'espediente di mostrarne brani di passato che spieghino a cosa debbono quel che sono diventati
non una vera e propria esegesi del disagio americano, ma un suggerimento pacato a grattare la polvere e leggere meglio le scritte in piccolo, così senza azzardare spiegazioni, ma per il mero gusto di indicare le contraddizioni e lasciare il lettore da solo davanti alle conclusioni
Theodore Street, mentre sta andando a suicidarsi, incorre in un incidente con un tir che gli stacca la testa dal collo, tre giorni dopo, durante la funzione in chiesa, Ted si alza dalla bara in cui era stato adagiato e con la testa riattaccata dai punti del funzionario delle pompe funebri, si mette a camminare tra i banchi cercando la famiglia e provocando una sommossa...
ovvio che, essendo in America, Ted dovrà vedersela con:
i giornalisti accampati davanti casa,
una setta di fanatici religiosi che lo crede l'Anticristo,
il governo degli Stati Uniti sezione Roswell, altrimenti nota come Area 51,
l'investigatore della compagnia di assicurazioni con cui Ted aveva stipulato la polizza vita, un'altra setta che lo crede il Salvatore e via così...
strano libro questo Deserto Americano, chiamato così perchè l'azione in effetti si svolge in gran parte nel deserto e forse anche per alludere al deserto che alberga nel cervello e nelle sinapsi sia di Ted che in quello della gran parte degli americani medi di fronte all'inesplicabile, è comunque un romanzo particolare; in primo luogo perchè oltre la nota parabola dello scoprire la vita e il suo senso solo dopo aver passato la barriera da cui solitamente non si torna, subito sotto si diceva, si nasconde un pensiero che potrebbe essere definito una sorta di placida constatazione del fatto che in realtà nessuno sa molto del perchè siamo qui, ma tutti si affannano a dare definzioni e motivazioni un po' a vento col solo fine di evitare l'ansia del vuoto che potrebbe esserci o che forse c'è...
ed ecco quindi tutta una sequenza di spiegazioni o teorie o anche usi più o meno etici dell'evento insolito e, accompagnati a queste mirabolanti prove, si trovano anche motivazioni personali e sensi non proprio lampanti che Everett regala a tutti i suoi personaggi, nessuno escluso, anche solo con l'espediente di mostrarne brani di passato che spieghino a cosa debbono quel che sono diventati
non una vera e propria esegesi del disagio americano, ma un suggerimento pacato a grattare la polvere e leggere meglio le scritte in piccolo, così senza azzardare spiegazioni, ma per il mero gusto di indicare le contraddizioni e lasciare il lettore da solo davanti alle conclusioni
July 1, 2024
Follow me on this—
I have a torn rotator cuff. When it gets aggravated, typing (or much of anything) is actually painful. The guitar sits and glares, sometimes for weeks. As I’m in that predicament now, my individuation of digits seriously impaired, I’m forced to give far too short a shrift to this wondrous novel (and those over the period of recovery).
It is anything but flawless, though that potential was there through the first two-thirds. Everett, having fully come into his own distinct vision by this point in his career, seems to have just said ‘fuck it’ and had some fun. Enter zany Jesuses. The admixture of absurdity, empathy, satire, and genuine investiture in life’s profoundest priorities is accomplished with a celerity and panache only Everett (and, okay, later-Pynchon) could pull off. A unique work, and one worthy of the love it radiates.
I have a torn rotator cuff. When it gets aggravated, typing (or much of anything) is actually painful. The guitar sits and glares, sometimes for weeks. As I’m in that predicament now, my individuation of digits seriously impaired, I’m forced to give far too short a shrift to this wondrous novel (and those over the period of recovery).
It is anything but flawless, though that potential was there through the first two-thirds. Everett, having fully come into his own distinct vision by this point in his career, seems to have just said ‘fuck it’ and had some fun. Enter zany Jesuses. The admixture of absurdity, empathy, satire, and genuine investiture in life’s profoundest priorities is accomplished with a celerity and panache only Everett (and, okay, later-Pynchon) could pull off. A unique work, and one worthy of the love it radiates.
November 25, 2021
…da perderci la testa
Percival Everett è un autore assai eclettico che ama sorprendere ad ogni romanzo con paradossi, giravolte e false piste: è solito dirigere il racconto su percorsi imprevisti e trame bizzarre e talora stranianti, mutare stile all’improvviso, creare personaggi che in tale contesto non possono che risultare a loro volta alquanto strampalati.
L’ironia, da sempre un tratto distintivo nei suoi testi, in questo Deserto americano è predominante, forse troppo, virando in taluni passaggi verso un tono decisamente umoristico, tendente ad un’esagerazione che assume quasi le cadenze di una pochade. Come se l’autore avesse deciso di allestire la struttura del romanzo con una quota preponderante di improvvisazione e anarchia, impastando le situazioni e gli episodi in una miscela certamente originale ma allo stesso tempo sovrabbondante, in un corto circuito un po’ fine a sé stesso, dove capitoli esilaranti si alternano ad altri poco riusciti (vedi ad esempio la parte riguardante il personaggio di Big Daddy e la sua congregazione di fedeli).
Un altro tema ricorrente nell’ispirazione di Everett è la parodia della religione e qui ci troviamo addirittura al cospetto di ventisette cloni più o meno riusciti di Gesù… mentre il protagonista viene alternativamente tacciato di essere il Salvatore risorto, un enigma biologico o l’Inviato del Demonio, secondo le propensioni degli interlocutori.
Insomma un romanzo a ruota libera, a mio avviso piuttosto pasticciato, non privo di momenti di divertimento ma in un contesto slegato e troppo deliberatamente incoerente dove la profondità delle riflessioni sulla vita e la morte, che molti hanno voluto cogliere come valore aggiunto del libro, è soffocata da una quantità eccessiva di episodi e personaggi rinunciabili (Richard…? Gerald…? Oswald…?). Nell’ambito della cospicua bibliografia dello scrittore mi è sembrato un capitolo trascurabile e, per chi volesse cimentarsi con Everett, credo sia meglio partire da “Cancellazione” o “Ferito” dove la mano dell’autore si dimostra più salda e consapevole.
Percival Everett è un autore assai eclettico che ama sorprendere ad ogni romanzo con paradossi, giravolte e false piste: è solito dirigere il racconto su percorsi imprevisti e trame bizzarre e talora stranianti, mutare stile all’improvviso, creare personaggi che in tale contesto non possono che risultare a loro volta alquanto strampalati.
L’ironia, da sempre un tratto distintivo nei suoi testi, in questo Deserto americano è predominante, forse troppo, virando in taluni passaggi verso un tono decisamente umoristico, tendente ad un’esagerazione che assume quasi le cadenze di una pochade. Come se l’autore avesse deciso di allestire la struttura del romanzo con una quota preponderante di improvvisazione e anarchia, impastando le situazioni e gli episodi in una miscela certamente originale ma allo stesso tempo sovrabbondante, in un corto circuito un po’ fine a sé stesso, dove capitoli esilaranti si alternano ad altri poco riusciti (vedi ad esempio la parte riguardante il personaggio di Big Daddy e la sua congregazione di fedeli).
Un altro tema ricorrente nell’ispirazione di Everett è la parodia della religione e qui ci troviamo addirittura al cospetto di ventisette cloni più o meno riusciti di Gesù… mentre il protagonista viene alternativamente tacciato di essere il Salvatore risorto, un enigma biologico o l’Inviato del Demonio, secondo le propensioni degli interlocutori.
Insomma un romanzo a ruota libera, a mio avviso piuttosto pasticciato, non privo di momenti di divertimento ma in un contesto slegato e troppo deliberatamente incoerente dove la profondità delle riflessioni sulla vita e la morte, che molti hanno voluto cogliere come valore aggiunto del libro, è soffocata da una quantità eccessiva di episodi e personaggi rinunciabili (Richard…? Gerald…? Oswald…?). Nell’ambito della cospicua bibliografia dello scrittore mi è sembrato un capitolo trascurabile e, per chi volesse cimentarsi con Everett, credo sia meglio partire da “Cancellazione” o “Ferito” dove la mano dell’autore si dimostra più salda e consapevole.
February 23, 2023
Percival Everett is one of my favorite authors - I usually laugh myself silly reading his books. I did not with this book. Almost from the beginning, I knew what was going to happen. There are a few funny moments but mostly silly. I read and read and I knew what was going to happen. Only made it half way through. This book became boring and it is the first time an Everett book has been boring. I think it would be good if you had never read his work before. I just could not finish. He is funny and makes fun of life and what we humans do in life.
June 15, 2024
A completely bizarre redemption story. So weird and yet a very satisfying full-circle story; the ending is perfection.
.
This is my 13th (!!) Percival Everett. How many *living* novelists can you say you’ve read 13 books by? Everett is the GOAT.
.
This is my 13th (!!) Percival Everett. How many *living* novelists can you say you’ve read 13 books by? Everett is the GOAT.
January 27, 2023
This story is a slow motion version of life flashing before one’s eye in near death experiences. Ted Street fits that category only to the extent that his state of being is under review throughout the book. He is decapitated in an automobile accident only to rise again during his funeral service without the generally expected support of heart, brain, and other normally vital functions of sustainability. In his new state of questionable status, he has enhanced sensory abilities, telepathy of sorts, and can still think and contemplate. He has the hoped-for sense of calm, composure, and mental agility; and sensory input that would normally be disagreeable causes him no pain or discomfort. Ted’s new ability to remain outwardly dispassionate in the face of distressful situations does not carry through to his inner world. He experiences turmoil and regret as he reflects on his life and will evolve to a more enlighten “being” as the novel progresses. Science, religion, and philosophy will take regular beatings as Ted is thrust from one ridiculous experience to another. As with all his books, this is just Everett having fun.
April 23, 2025
Ο Τεντ, καθηγητής πανεπιστημίου, ενώ ετοιμάζεται να αυτοκτονήσει γιατί θεωρεί ότι δεν έχει να προσμενει κάτι άλλο από τη ζωή, συγκρούεται με φορτηγό και αποκεφαλίζεται. Τη μέρα της κηδείας του, ανακάθεται, σηκώνεται, παίρνει την οικογένεια του και φεύγει. Όλο αυτό δημιουργεί μια φρενίτιδα. Το σπίτι του περικυκλωνεται από δημοσιογράφους, πέφτει θύμα απαγωγής και καταλήγει στα άδυτα μιας μυστικής οργάνωσης.
Ο ήρωας μας είναι ένας άθεος, που επιστρέφει από τους νεκρούς, περπατά, συνομιλεί και κινείται αλλά τυπικά δεν ζει. Η οικογένεια του τον αποδέχεται αν κι η κόρη του μοιάζει σε σύγχυση.
Στην Αμερικανική Έρημο ο Everett, σατιρίζει πολύ έντονα την κοινωνία, τη θρησκεία και τη θρησκοληψία, την οικογένεια και τους ανθρώπους της επιστήμης. Κι αυτό φαίνεται αρχικά από τα ονόματα των εμπλεκομένων, που ακούγονται σαν καρικατούρες.
Θα έλεγα ότι η ιλαρότητα του αφηγήματος και το χιούμορ του συγγραφέα καταφέρνουν να κρατήσουν τον αναγνώστη ακόμη κι αν σε ορισμένα σημεία φαντάζει υπερβολικό, αλλά ο αναγνώστης που επιλέγει Everett, ξέρει τι να περιμένει!
Και θα ήταν ψέμα να μην πω ότι ανυπομονώ για την κυκλοφορία του James σε μετάφραση της αγαπητής Μυρσινης Γκανα
Ο ήρωας μας είναι ένας άθεος, που επιστρέφει από τους νεκρούς, περπατά, συνομιλεί και κινείται αλλά τυπικά δεν ζει. Η οικογένεια του τον αποδέχεται αν κι η κόρη του μοιάζει σε σύγχυση.
Στην Αμερικανική Έρημο ο Everett, σατιρίζει πολύ έντονα την κοινωνία, τη θρησκεία και τη θρησκοληψία, την οικογένεια και τους ανθρώπους της επιστήμης. Κι αυτό φαίνεται αρχικά από τα ονόματα των εμπλεκομένων, που ακούγονται σαν καρικατούρες.
Θα έλεγα ότι η ιλαρότητα του αφηγήματος και το χιούμορ του συγγραφέα καταφέρνουν να κρατήσουν τον αναγνώστη ακόμη κι αν σε ορισμένα σημεία φαντάζει υπερβολικό, αλλά ο αναγνώστης που επιλέγει Everett, ξέρει τι να περιμένει!
Και θα ήταν ψέμα να μην πω ότι ανυπομονώ για την κυκλοφορία του James σε μετάφραση της αγαπητής Μυρσινης Γκανα
June 15, 2024
3.5⭐️
It was very good. The beginning was fantastic. Literally fantastic: a man resurrected after his head was completely cut off. The ending was great too, but no spoilers here. Everything between them was easy to read, but thought-provoking. Funny and serious at the same time.
Percival Everett raised the bar high. And now I’m eager to read something else from him.
It was very good. The beginning was fantastic. Literally fantastic: a man resurrected after his head was completely cut off. The ending was great too, but no spoilers here. Everything between them was easy to read, but thought-provoking. Funny and serious at the same time.
Percival Everett raised the bar high. And now I’m eager to read something else from him.
January 24, 2020
Chi mi conosce sa bene che ho un debole per i romanzi che prendono in giro le religioni con intelligenza e con un pizzico di allegra "cazzimma".
"Deserto americano" entra di diritto in questa macro-categoria.
(Per dirne una, il suo titolo originale doveva essere "Making Jesus"...)
Ma di cosa parla questo libro?
È la storia di Theodore Street, un professore universitario fallito con un matrimonio che va rotoli, che decide di farla finita una volta per tutte.
I suoi pensieri suicidi però vengono interrotti in maniera brusca a causa di un incidente automobilistico che mette fine alla sua vita in maniera repentina staccandogli di netto la testa.
Ma è al suo funerale che parte veramente questa storia, quando con una testa attaccata in malo modo il cadavere di Theodore Street ritorna in vita generando una serie di eventi a catena uno peggio dell'altro.
L'interesse da parte dei media, una famiglia spaventata ma felice che il padre sia ancora vivo, sette religiose stranissime, l'area 51...
Una scrittura leggera che mi ha strappato più di un sorriso.
Ho apprezzato moltissimo la parte iniziale della vicenda ed il finale che seppur possa sembrare telefonato è stato coerente e a tratti poetico.
Nella parte centrale purtroppo non mi ha convinto al 100% ma con queste 4 stelle su 5 ho voluto premiare sia l'originalità che la scelta di trattare temi difficili con semplicità e sarcasmo.
"Deserto americano" entra di diritto in questa macro-categoria.
(Per dirne una, il suo titolo originale doveva essere "Making Jesus"...)
Ma di cosa parla questo libro?
È la storia di Theodore Street, un professore universitario fallito con un matrimonio che va rotoli, che decide di farla finita una volta per tutte.
I suoi pensieri suicidi però vengono interrotti in maniera brusca a causa di un incidente automobilistico che mette fine alla sua vita in maniera repentina staccandogli di netto la testa.
Ma è al suo funerale che parte veramente questa storia, quando con una testa attaccata in malo modo il cadavere di Theodore Street ritorna in vita generando una serie di eventi a catena uno peggio dell'altro.
L'interesse da parte dei media, una famiglia spaventata ma felice che il padre sia ancora vivo, sette religiose stranissime, l'area 51...
Una scrittura leggera che mi ha strappato più di un sorriso.
Ho apprezzato moltissimo la parte iniziale della vicenda ed il finale che seppur possa sembrare telefonato è stato coerente e a tratti poetico.
Nella parte centrale purtroppo non mi ha convinto al 100% ma con queste 4 stelle su 5 ho voluto premiare sia l'originalità che la scelta di trattare temi difficili con semplicità e sarcasmo.
April 1, 2017
I was elated to start reading this on the premise alone (much like Erasure, but I didn't expect to clutch it to my chest for several minutes before shedding tears when I finished.
Might say more at a later time.
Might say more at a later time.
October 2, 2024
4.75
My favorite novel since the last Percival Everett book I read, perhaps with the exception of McCarthy’s All The Pretty Horses.
🙆♂️
My favorite novel since the last Percival Everett book I read, perhaps with the exception of McCarthy’s All The Pretty Horses.
🙆♂️
December 11, 2023
Ted, an English professor, rises from the dead after being decapitated. And becomes a better man.
Everett blends genres: Social satire, SciFi, mystery, humor, conspiracy theories. In one scene Ted encounters dozens of Jesus clones. In others religious cults think Ted is either the devil or the Lord God. Everett once again succeeds at enchanting the reader, through a romp that stretches the imagination and is, at times, silly but endearing.
Everett blends genres: Social satire, SciFi, mystery, humor, conspiracy theories. In one scene Ted encounters dozens of Jesus clones. In others religious cults think Ted is either the devil or the Lord God. Everett once again succeeds at enchanting the reader, through a romp that stretches the imagination and is, at times, silly but endearing.
July 7, 2023
Ted Street is on his way to commit suicide by drowning himself in the ocean when he's in a car accident that leaves him dead by decapitation. His head is sloppily sewn back on for his funeral but midway through the ceremony he sits up in his coffin and is awake and, apparently, alive. He then goes home with his wife and two children but they are soon harassed by the press wanting to interview him about his resurrection. He soon escapes from the madness but it leads to a series of kidnappings and adventures with religious fanatics and lunatics. A great little adventure story by Everett with his subtle humor and clever twists.
December 23, 2008
The first scene in the book, where a professor who is in trouble because he can't publish a book and he's up for tenure, is probably what happened in the process of making this book. It starts out very interesting, and turns into a load of bad jokes and kooky characters, and basically, garbage entertainment.
This book starts out as a novel that questions death, and presents some interesting ideas *especially this one part where the main chr. has these dreams. About a third of the way in, it dies; it turns into some sensational wild story with religious zealots, area 51, etc. (although [spoiler alert]I did enjoy the jesus clones scene)
The author uses this weird style of skipping between flashbacks, flashforwards, the present, and it makes you question whether it is always necessary. Essentially, it turns into a sort of ripoff of the show Lost, the main character, strangely enlightened and perceptive after having a "near-death" experience sees the past of all of the nuts he meets and it basically turns into little flashback psychological explanations for them, like Lost.
The book also has a few detailed sex scenes, that although mentally really honest and realistic about possible thoughts the characters might have in said situations (as well as many other parts of the book, like [spoiler] the parts detailing emotional states of various ppl involved in an affair) are really not necessary and make the book feel like it's appealing to cheap entertainment, that and all the fat and fart jokes.
This could've been so much more :(
This book starts out as a novel that questions death, and presents some interesting ideas *especially this one part where the main chr. has these dreams. About a third of the way in, it dies; it turns into some sensational wild story with religious zealots, area 51, etc. (although [spoiler alert]I did enjoy the jesus clones scene)
The author uses this weird style of skipping between flashbacks, flashforwards, the present, and it makes you question whether it is always necessary. Essentially, it turns into a sort of ripoff of the show Lost, the main character, strangely enlightened and perceptive after having a "near-death" experience sees the past of all of the nuts he meets and it basically turns into little flashback psychological explanations for them, like Lost.
The book also has a few detailed sex scenes, that although mentally really honest and realistic about possible thoughts the characters might have in said situations (as well as many other parts of the book, like [spoiler] the parts detailing emotional states of various ppl involved in an affair) are really not necessary and make the book feel like it's appealing to cheap entertainment, that and all the fat and fart jokes.
This could've been so much more :(
November 1, 2009
If you pick up this book put on your seat belt also. Percival Everett's sense of humor and commentary is hilarious and not for the faint of heart, mind or spirit. I wish that I taught grad courses in order to include this book. AMERICAN DESERT has the flavor of Ishmael Reed's JAPANESE BY SPRING. Such great satire and academic politics that it makes you want to go and slap your department chair (ha ha ha). In this field of academia, we sometimes lose our heads, feel dead, as we walk through the desert of ignorance but in the case of the protagonist, Ted Street, his issues are a little more concrete and permanent.
January 4, 2024
AMERICAN DESERT |
"Being alive had never felt the way he was feeling and so what must he have been then? Hyper alive? Meta-alive? Sub- or super-alive? The fact was that he was not exactly alive and so, he assumed, he was indeed dead, but not gone."
Ted was driving on his way to way to commit suicide by drowning when he's accidentally killed in a car accident, but at his funeral while everyone is grieving he pops up out of the casket. Even though by all means, physically and scientifically, he shuld be done He's never felt more alive.
I really enjoyed this book. It lands between TELEPHONE and GLYPH with the tone, the adventure and the play on death and resurrection.
As you can expect there is an adventure: a cult, a secret military base, children held hostage, a detective and a diner. Somehow every Everett book always includes mention of a diner. I wonder why / what personal reason diners hold for him other than the old-timey, small town, hostile / familiar sensibility that they hold. Or maybe just everyone loves the diner.
While it was outlandish, it wasn't on the extreme of outlandish. All that being said, our main character died but is somewhere between dead and not dead, or so dead that he's been resurrected.
The play with him as a Messiah was fun, in light of the genetically produced spawns of Jesus. The various cults, Big Daddy and the abused Netunia who wanted so desperately to follow and be saved were fitting in their desire to see evil and savior in that kind of power. Everyone was looking to harness a power that he had no idea how he possessed or why it happened with with. And like any good hero story, he used his power to help those he could. His insights into people that he touched actually does indicate he may have been more messiah like than he'd like to admit. So maybe the fact that he puts down his power by falling back to death says that either way, powerful or powerless, alive or dead, he was maybe both or none at all.
"Then it has not been destroyed," the headless form said. "The new person is an imitation. The original person was gone. There is no more Ted. There is only Ted - prime." 4.25
"Being alive had never felt the way he was feeling and so what must he have been then? Hyper alive? Meta-alive? Sub- or super-alive? The fact was that he was not exactly alive and so, he assumed, he was indeed dead, but not gone."
Ted was driving on his way to way to commit suicide by drowning when he's accidentally killed in a car accident, but at his funeral while everyone is grieving he pops up out of the casket. Even though by all means, physically and scientifically, he shuld be done He's never felt more alive.
I really enjoyed this book. It lands between TELEPHONE and GLYPH with the tone, the adventure and the play on death and resurrection.
As you can expect there is an adventure: a cult, a secret military base, children held hostage, a detective and a diner. Somehow every Everett book always includes mention of a diner. I wonder why / what personal reason diners hold for him other than the old-timey, small town, hostile / familiar sensibility that they hold. Or maybe just everyone loves the diner.
While it was outlandish, it wasn't on the extreme of outlandish. All that being said, our main character died but is somewhere between dead and not dead, or so dead that he's been resurrected.
The play with him as a Messiah was fun, in light of the genetically produced spawns of Jesus. The various cults, Big Daddy and the abused Netunia who wanted so desperately to follow and be saved were fitting in their desire to see evil and savior in that kind of power. Everyone was looking to harness a power that he had no idea how he possessed or why it happened with with. And like any good hero story, he used his power to help those he could. His insights into people that he touched actually does indicate he may have been more messiah like than he'd like to admit. So maybe the fact that he puts down his power by falling back to death says that either way, powerful or powerless, alive or dead, he was maybe both or none at all.
"Then it has not been destroyed," the headless form said. "The new person is an imitation. The original person was gone. There is no more Ted. There is only Ted - prime." 4.25
February 26, 2024
American Desert wastes no time. The premise, which is something out of a campy horror film, has the protagonist killed in a car accident on the way to his own suicide. Then he comes back to life at his own funeral. So, he failed to kill himself. And he failed to die.
Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away. That's the first paragraph of the dust jacket verbiage, and it all happens in the first few pages. What follows is a madcap social satire with the Undead Ted dealing with the media hordes, religious fanatics, and secret U.S. military scientists.
It also, though, includes Ted dealing with the very real issues in his marriage and with his children that keeps this story from going off the rails.
Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away. That's the first paragraph of the dust jacket verbiage, and it all happens in the first few pages. What follows is a madcap social satire with the Undead Ted dealing with the media hordes, religious fanatics, and secret U.S. military scientists.
It also, though, includes Ted dealing with the very real issues in his marriage and with his children that keeps this story from going off the rails.
July 10, 2024
Not very indicative of who Everett is as an author, but a very fun ride nonetheless. The first half is pretty great but it begins to buckle under the weight of its own chaos in the final stretch, and doesn’t quite stick the landing although it ends up in a good place. I’d recommend it for fans, not newcomers.
December 14, 2025
4.5 stars.
Everyone’s so creative!! I don’t know how Mr Everett came up with such a story, but I am quite in shock of it. Bizarre, interesting, and such a fast read. Mr. Everett’s writing style is stellar and I honestly can’t wait to read more.
Everyone’s so creative!! I don’t know how Mr Everett came up with such a story, but I am quite in shock of it. Bizarre, interesting, and such a fast read. Mr. Everett’s writing style is stellar and I honestly can’t wait to read more.
December 13, 2025
starts of hilarious and novel devolves after the denouement into a jumble of unnecessary ramblings. could have been more than it ends up being.
November 13, 2023
‘’AΜΕΡΙΚΑΝΙΚΗ ΕΡΗΜΟΣ ‘’ ΤΟΥ PERCIVAL EVERETT
Ο Θίοντορ Στρητ είναι καθηγητής πανεπιστήμιου και πολύ απογοητευμένος από την ζωή του, έτσι στα σαράντα του αποφασίζει να αυτοκτονήσει .Μπαίνει στο αυτοκίνητο του για να πάει να πνιγεί (κυριολεκτικά),στο δρόμο όμως συγκρούεται μετωπικά με ένα φορτηγό και πετάγεται μέσα από το παρμπρίζ του αυτοκίνητου με αποτέλεσμα να βρεθεί στο οδόστρωμα με το κεφάλι του εντελώς αποκομμένο από το σώμα. Εν μέρει έχει το αποτέλεσμα που ζητούσε. Τρεις μέρες αργότερα όμως,την ώρα της κηδείας του ο δηλωμένος άθεος Τέντ Στρητ, ανασταίνεται. Σηκώνεται από το φέρετρο με το κεφάλι του πρόχειρα ραμμένο από το γραφείο τελετών και γυμνός από την μέση και κάτω ,επειδή του έχουν κλέψει το παντελόνι του, παίρνει την σοκαρισμένη και τρομοκρατημένη οικογένεια του και φεύγει . Από εκεί και πέρα παρακολουθούμε έναν δεξιοτέχνη γραφιά (τον Percival Everett) να παρουσιάζει πως αντιμετωπίζει το θέμα της ανάστασης ,η οικογένεια του, ο τύπος και τα μέσα μαζικής ενημέρωσης , οι σατανιστές , οι άθεοι ,οι θρησκόληπτοι και η ίδια η επιστήμη. Πρόκειται για ένα υπέροχα αλλόκοτο δημιούργημα μαγικού ρεαλισμού ,που το διαβάζεις και χαμογελάς συνεχώς γιατί πρόκειται για μια απίθανα εμπνευσμένη και έξυπνη σάτιρα για την σύγχρονη κοινωνία ,ενώ ταυτόχρονα σου δίνει πρόσφορο έδαφος να σκεφτείς σχετικά με το τι σημαίνει τελικά το να είσαι ζωντανός. Πραγματεύεται θέματα όπως οι οικογενειακοί δεσμοί ,ο τρόπος που αντιμετωπίζουν τα μέσα ενημέρωσης την κάθε είδηση, την έλλειψη σεβασμού προς την προσωπική και ιδιωτική ζωή των πολιτών, την ανήθικη τρέλα τους για το κυνηγητό της είδησης. Αλλά και θέματα σχετικά με το πόσο ηθικά είναι τα πειράματα της επιστήμης και μέχρι ποιο σημείο πρέπει τελικά να φτάσει η επιστήμη και η εξουσία ; Και που πρέπει να μπει μια οριακή γραμμή και ένα φρένο στα πειράματα ; Γενικά σου δίνει άπειρη τροφή για σκέψη και προβληματισμό ,ενώ ο ήρωας μας το μόνο που μπορεί να πει με σιγουριά είναι ότι ‘’Το μυαλό του ήταν εξαιρετικά ζωντανό και το σώμα του εξαιρετικά πεθαμένο.’’
Τον Everett δεν έχει πολύ καιρό που τον γνώρισα με ’’ το σβήσιμο ’’,που ήταν εξαιρετικό ,το συγκεκριμένο είναι μεν εντελώς διαφορετικό σαν στυλ και θεματολογία ,αλλά η γραφή του είναι μοναδική !Είναι ότι πιο αλλόκοτο ,διασκεδαστικό και ενδιαφέρον έχω διαβάσει.
Ο Θίοντορ Στρητ είναι καθηγητής πανεπιστήμιου και πολύ απογοητευμένος από την ζωή του, έτσι στα σαράντα του αποφασίζει να αυτοκτονήσει .Μπαίνει στο αυτοκίνητο του για να πάει να πνιγεί (κυριολεκτικά),στο δρόμο όμως συγκρούεται μετωπικά με ένα φορτηγό και πετάγεται μέσα από το παρμπρίζ του αυτοκίνητου με αποτέλεσμα να βρεθεί στο οδόστρωμα με το κεφάλι του εντελώς αποκομμένο από το σώμα. Εν μέρει έχει το αποτέλεσμα που ζητούσε. Τρεις μέρες αργότερα όμως,την ώρα της κηδείας του ο δηλωμένος άθεος Τέντ Στρητ, ανασταίνεται. Σηκώνεται από το φέρετρο με το κεφάλι του πρόχειρα ραμμένο από το γραφείο τελετών και γυμνός από την μέση και κάτω ,επειδή του έχουν κλέψει το παντελόνι του, παίρνει την σοκαρισμένη και τρομοκρατημένη οικογένεια του και φεύγει . Από εκεί και πέρα παρακολουθούμε έναν δεξιοτέχνη γραφιά (τον Percival Everett) να παρουσιάζει πως αντιμετωπίζει το θέμα της ανάστασης ,η οικογένεια του, ο τύπος και τα μέσα μαζικής ενημέρωσης , οι σατανιστές , οι άθεοι ,οι θρησκόληπτοι και η ίδια η επιστήμη. Πρόκειται για ένα υπέροχα αλλόκοτο δημιούργημα μαγικού ρεαλισμού ,που το διαβάζεις και χαμογελάς συνεχώς γιατί πρόκειται για μια απίθανα εμπνευσμένη και έξυπνη σάτιρα για την σύγχρονη κοινωνία ,ενώ ταυτόχρονα σου δίνει πρόσφορο έδαφος να σκεφτείς σχετικά με το τι σημαίνει τελικά το να είσαι ζωντανός. Πραγματεύεται θέματα όπως οι οικογενειακοί δεσμοί ,ο τρόπος που αντιμετωπίζουν τα μέσα ενημέρωσης την κάθε είδηση, την έλλειψη σεβασμού προς την προσωπική και ιδιωτική ζωή των πολιτών, την ανήθικη τρέλα τους για το κυνηγητό της είδησης. Αλλά και θέματα σχετικά με το πόσο ηθικά είναι τα πειράματα της επιστήμης και μέχρι ποιο σημείο πρέπει τελικά να φτάσει η επιστήμη και η εξουσία ; Και που πρέπει να μπει μια οριακή γραμμή και ένα φρένο στα πειράματα ; Γενικά σου δίνει άπειρη τροφή για σκέψη και προβληματισμό ,ενώ ο ήρωας μας το μόνο που μπορεί να πει με σιγουριά είναι ότι ‘’Το μυαλό του ήταν εξαιρετικά ζωντανό και το σώμα του εξαιρετικά πεθαμένο.’’
Τον Everett δεν έχει πολύ καιρό που τον γνώρισα με ’’ το σβήσιμο ’’,που ήταν εξαιρετικό ,το συγκεκριμένο είναι μεν εντελώς διαφορετικό σαν στυλ και θεματολογία ,αλλά η γραφή του είναι μοναδική !Είναι ότι πιο αλλόκοτο ,διασκεδαστικό και ενδιαφέρον έχω διαβάσει.
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