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Unplugging Philco: A Novel
Wally Philco is a gentle, midlevel insurance industry operative living with his wife, Margie, in Brooklyn. In the years since those terrible events took place in Tupelo, Mississippi, though, the world -- and Brooklyn, too -- has become a very different place. Nobody's sure exactly what happened on the day now known as Horribleness Day, but it became pretty clear afterward that the Australians were involved somehow. Long after all the initial craziness has petered out, the Horribleness is still being used as an excuse for everything, from insomnia and lower back pain to joblessness, bank robbery, higher taxes, drunk driving, and murder. Likewise, everything from icy sidewalks to earthquakes to casino bus accidents is being cited as the work of terrorists. Now it's every Mutual Citizen's job to keep an eye on his neighbor and to report anything amiss. Wally's neighbor, Whit Chambers, has been busy practically setting a world record for turning in suspicious characters and Unmutuals to the local authorities and, in fact, Whit's had his eye and his telescope trained on Wally for some time now. When Wally finally snaps, he finds refuge with the Unpluggers, an underground movement fighting for just a few minutes of peace and quiet. With a cast of Dickensian characters, from stroller-wielding Brooklyn mothers to former Kennedy spooks and Norwegian cowboys, Jim Knipfel's Unplugging Philco is a wildly funny look at our life and times, filled with sharp cultural references and vivid, witty prose that testifies to a dangerously perceptive mind behind the madness.
- GenresFiction
374 pages, Paperback
First published March 29, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
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May 30, 2019tempted to take a mulligan here since i'm still suffering whiplash from the ending, which made perfect sense in the world of the narrative but at the same time felt kinda unearned... tough to think of a reason for bringing everything to a screeching halt like that w/ that kinda tonal shift in the middle of the rising action other than not wanting to work on the book anymore; then again, as mentioned supra, it's as interesting a twist as it is unsatisfying. beyond that, the dystopian elements have their pluses (the prescience w/r/t targeted advertising was neat to see) and minuses (the notion that ~*~p.c. culture~*~ is as destructive to society as nationalism & the rise of the surveillance state, which, lmao from the vantage point of 2k19), but i think i enjoyed this more often than not. enough to check out more k-nipz at least!
January 7, 2021
2 1/2 stars. 1984 for the 9/11 generation. The characters weren't interesting enough, and that ending came about pretty quick and left more questions than answers. I like other books by him a lot more than this one.
July 22, 2012
Though much more whimsical and humorous than its predecessors such as 1984 or Brave New World, this book is nevertheless a pretty disturbing look into the world that really isn't that far removed from the one we live in, the world where life was made "too safe" for presumably the sake of its citizens. It raises the question of just how much freedom is it ok to give up for safety or a presumption of safety as it were. In this future New York City Wally Philco cluelessly but well meaningly proceeds on a quest to find out an unplugged version of reality. And if some of the book's inventions seem a bit far fetched, just look around at the uberconnected masses glued to their smart phones, spellbound by the endless variety of apps and think again. Well written, very fast paced, great wacky characters. Dystopian fiction at its most entertaining. Recommended.
June 30, 2010
Well done but too preachy and long-winded for me. I was not surprised to see that the author played Philip Glass while working on this book; okay already, I get it, now pass the analgesics if you please.
April 4, 2019
Jim Knipfel’s third novel, Unplugging Philco takes place in the not too distant future. Or is it the present? It’s a little hard to tell.
Wally Philco, a mild-mannered claims adjuster for LifeGuard Insurance company does his best to be a “Good Citizen” and to keep a low a profile, which is difficult to do considering government surveillance cameras are everywhere (sending and receiving information), everyone’s a snitch (neighbors and coworkers “RAT” on “Unmutuals”) and GPS tracking devices are implanted under his skin.
A decade earlier when unidentified objects fell from the sky killing hundreds of people in Tupelo, Mississippi, the government seized the opportunity to prey on citizen’s fear and paranoia, controlling and manipulating them with the promise that the only way to prevent future “terrorist” acts is to vigilantly monitor every individual’s movements and thoughts. “Eleven years after the fact…Horribleness was still being used as an excuse for everything from insomnia and lower back pain to joblessness,” and, “…everything from icy sidewalks to earthquakes to casino bus accidents was being cited as the work of crafty terrorists.” Sound familiar?
Things start to unravel for Wally on Horribleness Day (an annual event to commemorate the lives lost in Tupelo) when he is arrested for raising his voice to a member of the Stroller Brigade (women with tricked out baby carriages and free-range children) and realizes that the totalitarian government protects its citizens “by taking away everything that needs protecting.” Tired of being monitored, of being force-fed commercials, of appearing to be an “Unmutual” by being childless or dressing unfashionably, he begins to disable (unplug) the many devices that monitor his every move.
Knipfel’s wry prose, satirical insights and social commentary make for an interesting read. While the book is (over) stuffed with witty acronyms (SUCKIE: “Single Universal Citizen Identification card,” SNITCH: “Supreme National Information Technology Collection,”) clever gadgets (Earwig GL-70 communitainment unit and Spyvids,) humorous names (“Our Lady of the Stereotypes Church,”) and cultural criticisms, the over abundance of these things takes away from what might have been an engaging story.
Ultimately the characters fail to engage and the plot line never really catches fire. But there is a lot to be said for the content, for the reminder that Big Brother still lurks in the Bushes. And for the need to be wary of how much we let technology, consumerism and the government control our lives. While Knipfel’s observations might lack subtlety, his message is well worth reading.
Wally Philco, a mild-mannered claims adjuster for LifeGuard Insurance company does his best to be a “Good Citizen” and to keep a low a profile, which is difficult to do considering government surveillance cameras are everywhere (sending and receiving information), everyone’s a snitch (neighbors and coworkers “RAT” on “Unmutuals”) and GPS tracking devices are implanted under his skin.
A decade earlier when unidentified objects fell from the sky killing hundreds of people in Tupelo, Mississippi, the government seized the opportunity to prey on citizen’s fear and paranoia, controlling and manipulating them with the promise that the only way to prevent future “terrorist” acts is to vigilantly monitor every individual’s movements and thoughts. “Eleven years after the fact…Horribleness was still being used as an excuse for everything from insomnia and lower back pain to joblessness,” and, “…everything from icy sidewalks to earthquakes to casino bus accidents was being cited as the work of crafty terrorists.” Sound familiar?
Things start to unravel for Wally on Horribleness Day (an annual event to commemorate the lives lost in Tupelo) when he is arrested for raising his voice to a member of the Stroller Brigade (women with tricked out baby carriages and free-range children) and realizes that the totalitarian government protects its citizens “by taking away everything that needs protecting.” Tired of being monitored, of being force-fed commercials, of appearing to be an “Unmutual” by being childless or dressing unfashionably, he begins to disable (unplug) the many devices that monitor his every move.
Knipfel’s wry prose, satirical insights and social commentary make for an interesting read. While the book is (over) stuffed with witty acronyms (SUCKIE: “Single Universal Citizen Identification card,” SNITCH: “Supreme National Information Technology Collection,”) clever gadgets (Earwig GL-70 communitainment unit and Spyvids,) humorous names (“Our Lady of the Stereotypes Church,”) and cultural criticisms, the over abundance of these things takes away from what might have been an engaging story.
Ultimately the characters fail to engage and the plot line never really catches fire. But there is a lot to be said for the content, for the reminder that Big Brother still lurks in the Bushes. And for the need to be wary of how much we let technology, consumerism and the government control our lives. While Knipfel’s observations might lack subtlety, his message is well worth reading.
April 17, 2020
Cynical corporate surveillance 1984 satire. Love that Knipfel gallows humor!
April 19, 2014
This post-9/11 satire has some charm that keeps it out of the two star 'firmly merely OK' pile, but if you're looking for anything masterful, you would be wise to keep looking. If you've got time to kill, by all means, dive in. I was thoroughly unconvinced around page 50, but it picked up for me once I got into a comfortable reading environment. It reminded me, in many ways, of what a book version of the movie Idiocracy would be, even in that I did not enjoy it as much as the premise (and in the movie's case: admiration of friends and acquaintances) might've led me to believe. Then I wonder, always: am I part of the 'them' from the dystopian satire media product? No, that can't be it. Anyway:
"As time went on, more and more citizens were finding it impossible to interact with the world without an intervening vidscreen of some kind. It made things easier, somehow. More real."
The other thing is that satire, if it isn't wildly energetic and original, is almost always more satisfying and deeply funny if it is at least somewhat nuanced. This novel is timely and not inaccurate, but there's an offputting blend of futile laziness and strident earnestness about the novel that keep it well away from must-read status. "SMEG/MA" and other fun acronyms pepper the book, making a statement about bureaucratic sprawl and domination and absurdity, while also providing a bit of humor... but nothing extraordinary or entirely remarkable. As I read I didn't ever laugh, though the pages kept turning.
The way stroller moms are portrayed will probably make you chuckle (warranting the push to three stars, IMHO), but it doesn't seem to be played strongly enough, and everyone is a sort of bland caricature... always there's a lack of sharpness and brevity which makes the proceedings witless and flaccid, and the story kind of drifts while getting tugged in some other direction when the time is right. That said, it's not inaccurate: this is exactly the kind of satire so many people (who have read their dystopia primers cover to cover) have thought of writing about contemporary society, but amusingly enough they turn out insignificant and moderately quaint compared to the real thing.
In many ways the protagonist really informed the way I perceive the author... kind of a curmudgeonly everyman whose unrefilled Zoloft prescription really got him thinking, you know, about the world and stuff and where it's all going. Possibly the most important thing to note is that my expectations of this book were met. Here's a blurb I dedicate to the author: "Really, very, exquisitely O.K." - 1.1, minor Goodreads reviewer.
"As time went on, more and more citizens were finding it impossible to interact with the world without an intervening vidscreen of some kind. It made things easier, somehow. More real."
The other thing is that satire, if it isn't wildly energetic and original, is almost always more satisfying and deeply funny if it is at least somewhat nuanced. This novel is timely and not inaccurate, but there's an offputting blend of futile laziness and strident earnestness about the novel that keep it well away from must-read status. "SMEG/MA" and other fun acronyms pepper the book, making a statement about bureaucratic sprawl and domination and absurdity, while also providing a bit of humor... but nothing extraordinary or entirely remarkable. As I read I didn't ever laugh, though the pages kept turning.
The way stroller moms are portrayed will probably make you chuckle (warranting the push to three stars, IMHO), but it doesn't seem to be played strongly enough, and everyone is a sort of bland caricature... always there's a lack of sharpness and brevity which makes the proceedings witless and flaccid, and the story kind of drifts while getting tugged in some other direction when the time is right. That said, it's not inaccurate: this is exactly the kind of satire so many people (who have read their dystopia primers cover to cover) have thought of writing about contemporary society, but amusingly enough they turn out insignificant and moderately quaint compared to the real thing.
In many ways the protagonist really informed the way I perceive the author... kind of a curmudgeonly everyman whose unrefilled Zoloft prescription really got him thinking, you know, about the world and stuff and where it's all going. Possibly the most important thing to note is that my expectations of this book were met. Here's a blurb I dedicate to the author: "Really, very, exquisitely O.K." - 1.1, minor Goodreads reviewer.
June 20, 2010
My initial reaction was enjoyment. This futuristic novel is set in New York City, where massive amounts of freedoms Americans enjoy today have voluntarily been given up due to "the Horribleness"--an incident that flattened Tupolo. This novel was clearly written to skewer the post-9/11 world we live in. However, as the story dragged on, the life Wally Philco lives left me sad. Near the middle of the book, things look like they would work out for him in some small way, but later I realized I was about two chapters away from the end and this wasn't going to end well. I put down the book for a few days, and eventually returned to find that, indeed, the ending was not what I was looking for. Not only that, I found it to be not believable. Two days later, I'm still thinking, "But wait. If the ending is true, then how did X work?" This is not a good sign for a book.
October 6, 2012
This dysphoric story set in a post 9/11 New York City reads like a sophomore short story writing assignment crammed into 370 pages (in the edition I read). It becomes clear how this is going to go to when you find out that all citizens carry a Single Universal Citizen Identification card (SUCKIE) and that the despotic government/industrial complex includes entities with names such as:
• Citizen Health Universal Collection (CHUCKLE)
• Supreme National Information Technology Collection (SNITCH)
• Federal Enforcement of Long-Term Citizen Health (FELTCH)
• Bureau of Operational Organization (BOO)
• Committee for Occupational Technology (COOTY)
• Salacious Materials Enforcement Group/Metro Area (SMEG/MA)
All this becomes quickly trite and tiring; this entire book could serve as an excellent example of the periphrasis. As the author says LWIW.
• Citizen Health Universal Collection (CHUCKLE)
• Supreme National Information Technology Collection (SNITCH)
• Federal Enforcement of Long-Term Citizen Health (FELTCH)
• Bureau of Operational Organization (BOO)
• Committee for Occupational Technology (COOTY)
• Salacious Materials Enforcement Group/Metro Area (SMEG/MA)
All this becomes quickly trite and tiring; this entire book could serve as an excellent example of the periphrasis. As the author says LWIW.
July 14, 2009
I adore Jim Knipfel. That being said, I'll try to review this with no bias. I really didn't want this book to end. Set in a dystopian, not-so-far-away NYC, Jim catapults us into a world where our every move is monitored, and "unplugging" becomes more and more difficult. His language pulls you in right away and with every clever turn of phrase you fall more in love with the protagonist, Wally Philco, a Dickensian everyman with a sneer. It sinks in that we aren't that far away from this government monitoring that Knipfel describes so well, however this isn't a repeat of other "BigBrotherIsWatchingYou-type" novels. Jim somehow keeps the story line fresh and light. Utterly hilarious. One of my new favorite books.
May 31, 2011
Another semi-dystopian, near-future, Post-9/11 satire. Needed more Terry Gilliamesque weirdness to be really very satisfying. The satire was too obvious and the world unconvincing. I get what the author was trying to show a la consumerism, paranoia, etc, but people would not act the way they do in the book; society would not evolve into what it is here. I have got to take a break from this sort of novel. Sad when the most believable novel set in the near-future that I have read recently was World War Z. Time to read some non-fiction History to clear my palate.
May 9, 2015
Knipfel does a lovely job of satirizing the Surveillance State and post 9/11 institutionalized paranoia, which makes the first half of the book both frightening and amusing. His razor-sharp parodies of official double-talk and the blatherings of "infotainment" are particularly effective.
Having brilliantly set the stage, Knipfel falters when it comes to developing a plot, and so the book loses some of its power as it goes along. It's still very much worth reading, and a remarkable improvement over Knipfel's earlier fiction.
Having brilliantly set the stage, Knipfel falters when it comes to developing a plot, and so the book loses some of its power as it goes along. It's still very much worth reading, and a remarkable improvement over Knipfel's earlier fiction.
May 4, 2009
I hadn't seen a book by Jim Knipfel in a while, but I remembered liking his more memoir-ey stuff from a few years back. This looked like interesting, slightly humorous fiction, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It turns out to be a great send-up of our paranoid, media driven safety society, centering on Wally Philco, who decided he's had enough and wants out. Little rushed at the end, but fun overall.
May 7, 2009
A fun send-up of our post-9/11, permanently "level orange" society. Knipfel has a knack for taking an idea and deftly running with it to the limits of absurdity. A good number of clever cultural references that invite readers to pat themselves on the back, but the social commentary is a club not a scalpel.
The deus ex machina ending leaves something to be desired, but overall the book was a pleasant few hours.
The deus ex machina ending leaves something to be desired, but overall the book was a pleasant few hours.
May 25, 2010
I felt like this book was great up until the last 10 pages. While the ending seems to mesh with the worldview of the novel pretty well, it was rather sudden and felt more like the author got bored and didn't want to write another half-again as much novel, although the longer ending would have been gratifying for the reader.
May 27, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed this book up until the ending. Although the outcome is probably the most likely based on the character's circumstance, it felt forced and personally left me disappointed.
With that said...the author's critique of our media driven post 9/11 society still makes this book
a very worthwhile read.
August 23, 2009
Takes a while to get going, but this book is a whole lot of fun, filled with withering barbs at the American culture of constant fear and the folks in charge who created it and just love it that way
February 10, 2010
Dark satire of US society in post-9/11 paranoia run amok.
June 7, 2015
orwellian.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews