Manhunt

by Jaime Fountaine

In Jaime Fountaine’s Manhunt, an unnamed narrator experiences a summer on the cusp of womanhood, exploring her own sexuality, the deep cuts of her teenage years, and the extreme ennui of suburban decay.

Genres: Fiction, Summer

81 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 2019

About the author

Jaime Fountaine was raised by “wolves." She is the author of the novella, Manhunt (Mason Jar Press, 2019) and the “Fountaine of Advice” column for Barrelhouse. She lives in Philadelphia, where she co-hosts the Tire Fire reading series with Mike Ingram at Tattooed Mom.

Reviews

[Bud Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as contemporary literary fiction gets. I absolutely loved this novella. Teenagers playing manhunt in Philadelphia. A flasher on the loose. What it’s like to be lonely. What it’s like to be an outcast and to be mature too young. Just a thoroughly hypnotizing work of art. Jaime Fountaine is remarkable.

[Sarah Etter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tight prose, swelters like summer, a perfect novella.

[Earle Seneres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who gave the four star review? I WANT NAMES. LOOK AT ME (Heath Ledger Joker voice): This novella evokes a feeling, a sensation, a tone. It's makes you wish you had your guard up more as a teenager.

[chiara_librofilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quando si parla di adolescenza non si può non pensare al bagaglio enorme di difficoltà che comporta nel relazionarsi, nell'accettarsi e nel farsi accettare, alla necessità di assecondare i coetanei e di fingere pur di non rimanere da soli ma soprattutto di come e di quanto possa influire il giudizio altrui ed ecco perché, spesso, si preferisce vivere nell'ombra, mimetizzarsi o peggio, nascondersi.
Insomma, quello che fa la protagonista di questo libro che in una calda estate nella più remota provincia americana, cerca di apparire a tutti i costi normale agli occhi dei suoi coetanei, nonostante il rapporto conflittuale con sua madre e i suoi strampalati fidanzati, il suo odiosissimo lavoro come babysitter e un molestatore che si aggira per il suo quartiere.
Jaime Fountaine, in poche pagine e con nostalgica e malinconica tenerezza, è abile a raccontare la solitudine, i dubbi, le crepe che si nascondono sotto la superficie e di come spesso, il vero pericolo non è quello evidente ma tutto ciò che si nasconde dietro le facciate, le apparenze e dietro quello che gli altri vorrebbero che fossimo.

[Nelliamoci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leggere Nascondersi è come guardare uno di quei corti che smuovono ogni muscolo del corpo, è come mangiare un biscotto squisito senza poterne gustare un altro subito dopo.

A scandire il tempo e i pomeriggi della protagonista è l'attesa di vivere davvero, è il tentativo di provare emozioni più forti del dolore che si muove nella pancia quando mamma non ha un compagno (oppure ne ha uno per poche settimane), quando cerca di far parte del gruppo ma si sente perennemente esclusa da tutto.

È così che nasconde i suoi pensieri mentre gioca a nascondino, a caccia all'uomo.
Si chiude a riccio dentro se stessa nell'attesa di qualcuno che pizzichi i suoi aculei.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“She’s the kind of person who adapted to a broken thing instead of figuring out how to fix it.”

Jaime Fountaine writes spare, beautiful prose. I knew this after hearing her read multiple times, and the experience of reading Manhunt was maybe even better. The words sink in, the design lets you breathe as each sentence cuts you. Manhunt is a smart snapshot of a teenager's life as she navigates puberty, friendship, and a mess of a mother.

[Christopher Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read MANHUNT in one sitting. Jaime Fountaine's writing cuts through all the bullshit; the voice here is strong, and every little moment or look or observation really comes alive. Holy hell, what a ride.

[Francy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In una periferia americana, una ragazza di 13 anni prova a sopravvivere a questa turbolenta mutazione che dal mondo dell'infanzia la introduce pian piano nel mondo degli adulti. Questo la porta a far i conti con il giudizio altrui, della madre che appare quasi gelosa del suo essere giovane e degli uomini, desiderosi di possesso. Una frase che mi ha fatto pensare si riferisce proprio a questo desiderio maschile: nel momento in cui il corpo di una bambina cambia, non le appartiene più.
Come la stessa autrice scrive alla fine del racconto, è una storia di solitudine e di invisibilità.

Un libro breve, una novella cupa e ansiogena. L'autrice rivela gli ingredienti di questo racconto sin da subito, dalle prime pagine e nonostante questo è in grado di imprigionare il lettore in uno stato d'allerta. La scrittura è semplice e scorre tutto a grande velocità.

[James Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok so I’m late to the party. This has sat on my shelf for way too long and finally this evening I gave it the attention it deserves. All I can say is WOW. This is a stunning little novella about trauma and growing up too fast, that immediately transported me back to my youth. I couldn’t put it down. The dialog and insights are so spot on, the book just draws you right into its world, and while the book ruminates on loneliness it somehow makes you feel connected. I’m genuinely looking forward to what’s next from Jamie. If you get a chance to read this, do it. I’ll even loan you my copy.

[Dave Terruso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jaime is a great writer. Period.

Her novella is a masterclass in observational storytelling. In just 81 pages she made me feel like I had lived with her main character for a summer. I knew her well, and I knew all of the characters that populated her little world. She’s able to give you the heart of a character in a sentence or two. Her characterizations are razor sharp, heartbreaking, hilarious, and the result of a life lived thoughtfully, as opposed to the result of reading other books.

I really love her style of short punchy paragraphs composed of short punchy sentences. There’s a sarcastic earnestness that consumes the story, and the style delivers that perfectly.

When I started reading it, it just seemed like a series of non sequiturs, and I was like “is this what the whole book is, just a random collection of a little girl’s thoughts?” I’m into genre fiction, so this isn’t my wheelhouse, and I didn’t think I was going to get absorbed in this. But after a dozen pages or so, what seemed like non sequiturs revealed itself as a clear depiction of this little girl’s life. Her entire world was her manhunting mom who treated her like a pet, her two girl friends, the boy she’s sorta dating, the kids she babysits, and an older perverted boy who is preying on her.

Jaime tells the tragic tale of a little girl made invisible by the careless people in her life, and how her desperate need to be seen leads her toward a dangerous path. I want to complain that there isn’t a single man in the story who isn’t a creep (it’s possible one meaning of the title is this little girl searching for a male who actually behaves like an honorable man), and as a guy reading it that was very noticeable, but the female characters aren’t painted in a positive light either. It’s this girl’s reality. It’s a harsh one. And it’s also funny in a lot of places, and that’s needed in an otherwise bleak portrait of loneliness and depression.

I like that the story doesn’t turn to melodrama. Usually I don’t like an ambiguous ending, but here it makes for a poignant end note because we don’t know what will happen to the little girl and we’re worried for her. We care about her. Jaime gets us to see and care for this little girl in the way the little girl wishes the people close to her would.

[Daniel DiFranco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book is as powerful as it is short. My favorite kind of book! Fountaine manages to tell a deeply profound and evocative coming of age tale that hit me right in the sad childhood feels. This book is stirring. It’s minimalist approach and matter-of-fact narrator belie the emotional resonance this book will eventually leave you with. This one’s best to be consumed in one or two sittings (and at 80 pages, wholly doable)—it’s such a melancholic treat to be under its spell.

[Daniel Eastman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this on a Saturday afternoon. It’s a terse novella about girlhood, friendship, and the loneliness of adolescence. The protagonist navigates secret trysts with boys, her mother’s shitty boyfriends, and a flasher driving around showing girls his dick. All of this happens through within and without games of Manhunt through the nights of a single summer’s end. Jaime’s prose is minimal but every short paragraph is a punch to the belly. She writes with an honesty and vulnerability that drags the empathy out of you. It’s an appropriate read for the end of our own loathsome sweltering summer.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

2/2/20: Had to re-read this to remember how good it is. Yep, still very very good.

Bought this book after reading Bud Smith's review of it. I agree with everything he said. I can relate so much to pretty much all the different kinds of loneliness, esp. just being around, not really on anyone's radar. It's truly a brilliant little book.

My favorite line: “She’s the type of person who adapts to a broken thing instead of figuring out how to fix it.” (P. 14)

[Downward · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book about a girl and her friends and the boy she's hooking up with playing manhunt in philadelphia while a flasher exposes himself to kids. what's remarkable about this novella is that it continually takes you to the edge of something really dramatic happening and then pulls back, letting the tension of young adulthood linger while the microdramas of minor parental disappointments and creepy people round off the novel's edges with hardcore realism and teenage emotion.

[Alanna Kennedy-gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jaime Fountaine’s Manhunt is hauntingly beautiful and impossible to put down. The evocative language cuts like a hot knife; you feel everything her narrator lives through each day of the seemingly mundane summer as events unfold. I have already reread Manhunt several times and it is just as powerful each time I read it.

[Josh Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the kids are in control, the world makes a lot more sense. The body, too, desires to be in control at all points of this novella. Sexes collide in the most familiar ways that also feel foreign. The taboo becomes normal in this page-turning novel concludes in a point I honestly wasn’t expecting to end up. A good read through and through

[Justin Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jaime Fountaine writes with so much heart and style and honesty. This book felt like listening to a good friend sit with me outside and tell me about the parts of their life that made me laugh and then cry and then cry laughing. Excellent book from an exceptional author.

[Michael B Tager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, it's amazing. I published this, so of course I think so, but it's still true.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down. Read it cover-to-cover and absolutely loved the voice and feel of it. Didn't even get up from the chair to pour a new cup of tea! Seriously. So good.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

😭❤️

[Hayley Fountaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t like it. I loved it. Congratulations Jaime!

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast-paced rip through a dismal summer. I read this in one sitting and I recommend you do the same.

[AnnaLee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: https://atticusreview.org/a-thematic-...

[Dave K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book rules. Being a teenager sucks, and this book captures the reasons for that perfectly, while still being funny and tender as needed.

[Erin]

This novella's going to stay with me for a long time because of how it slowly generates dread, and especially because it happens completely outside of horror/thriller/shock value parameters.

[Mighty Aphrodite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caccia all’uomo è un gioco che si può fare solo di notte: ci si nasconde per il quartiere, dietro i cespugli, sugli alberi, nelle verande polverose delle case, mentre chi è sotto conta e poi ti viene a cercare.

Ben presto chi ti cerca è diventato uno sciame di bambini urlanti e tu trattieni il fiato, ti rannicchi fin quasi a scomparire, a diventare parte integrante del buio; finché chi conta si arrende e tu hai vinto oppure chi conta si dimentica che tu stia giocando e nascondersi diventa quasi di dolorosamente vicino al non esistere.

La protagonista di Jaime Fountaine continua a nascondersi anche quando il gioco finisce, anche quando la luce del sole illumina ogni cosa, anche il suo tentativo disperato di integrarsi tra i propri coetanei in un’estate calda e polverosa. Come tempo sospeso, l’estate cancella i legami scolastici, le regole e i limiti che la società ci impone e – per un momento – ci si può illudere di essere amici di chi – normalmente – non ci degnerebbe di un secondo sguardo.

Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...

[Steven Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why I waited until my third read to drop a lil note about this wonderful book, but here I am: I moved through this book like I moved through childhood summers--simultaneously carefree and careful, with soft edges and promise, BUT the reality of other lives that are responsible for yours are still present, so you gotta be one navigating muthafucka. And that's what we do, right, move through it the best we can. I love Jamie Fountaine and Manhunt for acknowledging and exploring all of that complicated mess.

[Giulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se dovessi trovare una parola per descrivere questo libro, sarebbe immobilità. C’è solo l’impressione di un movimento, ma in realtà è tutto fermo, apatico e congelato. Nella periferia, nella povertà, nella condizione femminile, nell’adolescenza - tutto manca di speranza, e non c’è modo per scappare, spesso nemmeno volontà. Credo che sia un fedele ritratto di uno spaccato di vita, e che turbi chi lo legge al punto giusto, mostrando come la via d’uscita a volte semplicemente non esiste.

[Sean Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. Told in clean prose and authentic voice, Manhunt wonderfully evokes the giddy mix of desire, loneliness, and melancholy of kids navigating adolescence. Fountaine writes with refreshing honesty on a subject that too often comes off as cloying nostalgia. There's pain here, but also a vitality and energy unique to youth. It's a subject I hope she returns to in a longer work. Bravo.

[Eliana Calamiello · Rating 4 out of 5]

<Camminare non è così. A metà strada attraversi una linea invisibile, e allora tutto ciò che fai è più rumoroso, più sospetto. La gente ti spia da dietro le tende>>.

Un flusso di coscienza di un'adolescente necessario e drammatico.