Alternative Atlanta

by Marshall Boswell

In a funny, poignant, wonderfully original debut novel, the author of the acclaimed short-story collection Trouble with Girls weaves a beguiling tale of fathers and sons, sons and lovers…and one unforgettable summer in a young man’s life–somewhere between a past he doesn’t understand and a future he’s not ready to live….

ALTERNATIVE ATLANTA

For thirty-year-old Gerald Brinkman, life in Atlanta in the year 1996–the summer of the Olympics–doesn’t feel half bad. Writing reviews of basement rock bands for an alternative paper, Gerald has carefully avoided getting a real job, while watching his old friends from grad school start careers, marriages, and affairs–often with each other. But in this one life-changing summer, something is about to happen that will shake Gerald out of his complacency forever.

Gerald’s father, his brilliant, vagabond, and utterly unhelpful father, wants to come and stay with him “for a while.” Ever since childhood, Gerald has tried to bury his relationship with his father under a life of carefully crafted wrong turns. And now Paul Brinkman has shown up with trash bags full of belongings, a medical crisis, and an unbearable confession to make. But Gerald knows one thing for He doesn’t want to hear it. Try as he might to stop it, the future is bearing down on him. A job is being dangled in New York. A secret from his past is waiting to be revealed. An ex-girlfriend is suddenly sending mixed signals. And in one moment in one summer in the city of Atlanta, everything is about to change forever. When it does, Gerald is going to have a whole new vision of who he is, who his father and friends are, and what he must do next.

An exhilarating and touching novel about family and flirtations, growing up and letting go, Alternative Atlanta brilliantly captures a time of life when everything seems possible and impossible at the same time. It is a work of dazzling storytelling from a writer of immense gifts.


From the Hardcover edition.

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Marshall Boswell is the T. K. Young Professor of English at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, where he has taught since 1996. A scholar of contemporary American literature and a fiction writer, he is the author of Trouble with Girls, a short story collection, and the novel Alternative Atlanta. His scholarly work includes Understanding David Foster Wallace and John Updike’s Rabbit Tetralogy, as well as The Wallace Effect. His fiction has appeared in Playboy, Shenandoah, The Missouri Review, and New Stories from the South. Boswell has received the Clarence Day Awards for both teaching and research at Rhodes. He earned degrees from Washington & Lee, Washington University in St. Louis, and Emory University, and has taught at several institutions including the University of Miami. He also served as editor and contributor to the final volume of the Encyclopedia of American Literature. A musician in his spare time, Boswell once opened for Uncle Tupelo and Alex Chilton.

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I love books about my city. If you are adamant about geography and city details, don't read this book. Not a very interesting story..way too sappy. The author doesn't get geographic details correct, and I'm a stickler for that, especially when it comes to books set in my city. I was around during the centennial park bombing and it was one of the most horrifying nights of my life. I'm not sure that Boswell imparts the same emotion.

[Kimberly Westrope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sort of belated coming of age tale. I love Gerald’s bewildered state as he tries to manage his father’s unplanned visit, his ex-girlfriend’s wedding, and his growing lack of interest in his job. The poor guy encounters problem after problem as he is trying to figure out what he intends to do with his life. I liked the characters and the story well enough, but what really clinched this one for me was all the musical references. As an audiophile myself, I loved that Gerald was, too.

While this a mostly lighthearted read, it deals with some serious, real-life issues that many of us must deal with as a part of adulthood - damaged relationships, aging parents, job-searching, etc.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Marshall at the Southern KY Book Festival in 04. Had a great time with him and brought him to Montgomery to read to some classes that May. He's a very charming guy, funny and self-deprecating, all of which works well on an audience. Alternative Atlanta is the kind of book those of us born between 64 and, say, 75 can identify with: a character struggling to discover the meaning of maturity, a love of music, parental alienation, pining for the girl who got away. Plus guilt over all of the above. There was talk when the book came out that it was an example of "lad lit," that unfortunately titled counterpart of "chick lit." I like to think of it more as generational fiction---it speaks to a common experience many of us, male and female, have faced while trying to reach this thing called adulthood.

[Greg]

I learned of Boswell because he published the first book on David Foster Wallace. That led me to his fiction, which I enjoy even more. His fiction (this book and Trouble with Girls) is absorbing and delightful and intense, and I cannot wait for the next one.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminiscent of High Fidelity, only not as laugh-out-loud funny.