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Tales of the Madman Underground
"The Catcher in the Rye meets On the Road"*-The Printz Honor book is a classic in the making!
September 1973: The beginning of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of "the Madman Underground"- kids forced to attend group therapy during school. Karl has decided that he is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act-and be-Normal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has two after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.
* The Horn Book
September 1973: The beginning of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of "the Madman Underground"- kids forced to attend group therapy during school. Karl has decided that he is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act-and be-Normal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has two after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.
* The Horn Book
545 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 2009
115 people are currently reading
10658 people want to read
About the author
John Barnes
258 books198 followersJohn Barnes (born 1957) is an American science fiction author, whose stories often explore questions of individual moral responsibility within a larger social context. Social criticism is woven throughout his plots. The four novels in his Thousand Cultures series pose serious questions about the effects of globalization on isolated societies. Barnes holds a doctorate in theatre and for several years taught in Colorado, where he still lives.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bar...
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bar...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 417 reviews
January 18, 2012
As seen on The Readventurer
At first, this books is hilarious, then it is sad, heartbreaking and scary and later it is inspiring. To think of it, my favorite kind of book.
Karl Shoemaker is determined to start his senior of high school being completely "normal." After spending years in mandatory group therapy with other madmen (abused, traumatized and plain crazy kids) after a disturbing rabbit killing incident, Karl for once wants to separate himself from the mad group and be a part of the "normal" school population. But can he have any claim to normality though? With 5 jobs, house full of cats and a "super super lady" mother who is constantly drunk and doped up, who brings a new boyfriend every night and steals Karl's hard-earned money to buy booze and pot? Hm, maybe not.
I'll be frank, there were a few times while reading this novel when I caught myself thinking - isn't it a bit over the top? can it really happen like this? can these things go on and no adult cares? Karl's fellow madmen are a messed-up bunch indeed - a molested cheerleader, an emotionally unstable farmboy/jock, a batshit crazy girl who talks through her toy rabbit and who attempted to blind her younger brother, a gay boy who resorts to turning tricks when things at home are rough. But. But. But. There is so much color in these character, so much vibrancy, there is so much humor in Karl's foul-mouthed, horny, profane narrative, that I found myself overlooking the soapy parts of it.
Every year Printz committee searches for new and unique voices in YA literature. Sometimes I dislike what they unearth and celebrate. But Karl Shoemaker and his Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance 1973 will stay with me for awhile.
At first, this books is hilarious, then it is sad, heartbreaking and scary and later it is inspiring. To think of it, my favorite kind of book.
Karl Shoemaker is determined to start his senior of high school being completely "normal." After spending years in mandatory group therapy with other madmen (abused, traumatized and plain crazy kids) after a disturbing rabbit killing incident, Karl for once wants to separate himself from the mad group and be a part of the "normal" school population. But can he have any claim to normality though? With 5 jobs, house full of cats and a "super super lady" mother who is constantly drunk and doped up, who brings a new boyfriend every night and steals Karl's hard-earned money to buy booze and pot? Hm, maybe not.
I'll be frank, there were a few times while reading this novel when I caught myself thinking - isn't it a bit over the top? can it really happen like this? can these things go on and no adult cares? Karl's fellow madmen are a messed-up bunch indeed - a molested cheerleader, an emotionally unstable farmboy/jock, a batshit crazy girl who talks through her toy rabbit and who attempted to blind her younger brother, a gay boy who resorts to turning tricks when things at home are rough. But. But. But. There is so much color in these character, so much vibrancy, there is so much humor in Karl's foul-mouthed, horny, profane narrative, that I found myself overlooking the soapy parts of it.
Every year Printz committee searches for new and unique voices in YA literature. Sometimes I dislike what they unearth and celebrate. But Karl Shoemaker and his Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance 1973 will stay with me for awhile.
March 30, 2012
This book is a real melting pot of emotions. It reminded me very much of another favourite of mine - Sorta Like a Rock Star - in the way it created such a detailed, sad and often amusing picture of a teenager's life and how it pretty much just sucks a lot of the time.
I like teen problem novels that know how to be funny but still make the desired emotional impact as well. Karl Shoemaker lives with his alcoholic mother who steals his hard-earned money and sometimes even locks him out of the house all night, he's had to live this life ever since his dad died. He works five different jobs, has to put up with over thirty cats that like to do their business in his bedroom, all whilst struggling to cope with his raging teenage hormones (i.e. his constant erection). Due to his screwed up life, he has to attend a therapy group for troubled kids at school, a group which the kids have affectionately named "The Madman Underground".
All the characters are different, interesting, insane, indeed there is no one who escapes insanity in John Barnes' novel. There are some rather gross, shocking and disturbing scenes, upsetting things that happen or almost happen that had me on edge - but this all just adds to the book's unique charm. Plus, even the sad and disgusting stuff tends to have some humour to balance it out.
I really enjoyed Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance 1973 and was pleased with the conclusion and the journey made by Karl's character. It's so refreshing to have such an endearingly honest and funny narrator, it made the novel the perfect combination of serious and entertaining. If only there were more books like this.
February 23, 2012
Have you ever watched the show How I Met Your Mother? The show features Ted, a hopeless romantic, as he is telling his teenage kids the story of how he met their mother. Cute, right? Only he tells his kids the entire story, starting with the moment when he realized that he was looking for a long-term relationship, marriage and kids. So we, the viewers, follow Ted's stories of dating woes, drinking with his friends and all of the fun shenanigan's which follow. Because, as Ted puts it, all of his experiences with the wrong women eventually lead him to the right woman. The thing is, I love the characters on this show, and I even like the plot line. But I can't buy the idea that twenty-some years later any person will remember or even attach so much significance to all of the various individuals they dated. Nor can I believe that a father will tell his teenage children about all of the drinking and sleeping around he and his friends did in their twenties. For years the hubby has been a fan of this show and has encouraged me to watch it, but I resisted because I just can’t get past the premise. However, once I finally gave in and started watching with him, I found that it’s actually a great show… if I don't think about it too much.
That's pretty much how I feel about Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance 1973. Set in the 1970's in small town Ohio, this book follows Karl Shoemaker into his senior year of high school. Karl lives with his delusional, alcoholic mother. As a result of his chaotic home life (and some acting out he did as a kid) he is part of the "Madman Underground" ~ a group of kids from broken homes who are forced to endure weekly group therapy sessions at school. Here is the thing, I love Karl. I love the various Madmen (and Madwomen!) and their stories. I loved the writing, and the storyline. What I didn't love or even understand is how the authorities in Karl's town and his school can recognize that these kids come from some fairly fucked up home lives and stick them in therapy, but not in foster care. Nor do I understand how these teenagers have such great coping skills. Or don't really act out other than to publically cry, or occasionally display acts of inappropriate sexuality.
On the one hand, these kids have had to endure years of group therapy, and I would like to think that is responsible for their great behavior. But... these are teenagers. We all know how the best of them behave on a bad day (sorry all you teens!) Bottom line is, even good teens behave badly. So I just can’t get around the fact that teens coming from homes with alcoholism, sexual abuse and absentee parents (to name just a few) end up so mature and responsible. Growing up I had some messed up friends from messed up homes. They weren't even half as well behaved, or self-aware as Karl and the other Madmen. They made mistakes. They acted out. They were irresponsible and messed up and affected by their home situation. Granted, some had better coping skills than others, and not all were hot messes. But in John Barnes story, all of the kids from unstable home lives are fairly stable. I am just not buying it.
I feel bad not raving over this one. Everyone else has, and really I see why. It's a funny, insightful, quirky and entertaining book. Well written, well rounded characters... just not exceptionally believable characters. Especially considering what life has thrown at them.
That's pretty much how I feel about Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance 1973. Set in the 1970's in small town Ohio, this book follows Karl Shoemaker into his senior year of high school. Karl lives with his delusional, alcoholic mother. As a result of his chaotic home life (and some acting out he did as a kid) he is part of the "Madman Underground" ~ a group of kids from broken homes who are forced to endure weekly group therapy sessions at school. Here is the thing, I love Karl. I love the various Madmen (and Madwomen!) and their stories. I loved the writing, and the storyline. What I didn't love or even understand is how the authorities in Karl's town and his school can recognize that these kids come from some fairly fucked up home lives and stick them in therapy, but not in foster care. Nor do I understand how these teenagers have such great coping skills. Or don't really act out other than to publically cry, or occasionally display acts of inappropriate sexuality.
On the one hand, these kids have had to endure years of group therapy, and I would like to think that is responsible for their great behavior. But... these are teenagers. We all know how the best of them behave on a bad day (sorry all you teens!) Bottom line is, even good teens behave badly. So I just can’t get around the fact that teens coming from homes with alcoholism, sexual abuse and absentee parents (to name just a few) end up so mature and responsible. Growing up I had some messed up friends from messed up homes. They weren't even half as well behaved, or self-aware as Karl and the other Madmen. They made mistakes. They acted out. They were irresponsible and messed up and affected by their home situation. Granted, some had better coping skills than others, and not all were hot messes. But in John Barnes story, all of the kids from unstable home lives are fairly stable. I am just not buying it.
I feel bad not raving over this one. Everyone else has, and really I see why. It's a funny, insightful, quirky and entertaining book. Well written, well rounded characters... just not exceptionally believable characters. Especially considering what life has thrown at them.
August 1, 2009
It has been three days since I finished the last chapter of Tales of the Madman Underground, and I am still thinking about Karl Shoemaker. Honest, humorous, foul-mouthed, masculine, resourceful, and wounded, Karl is definitely the kind of protagonist you want to spend 500 pages with, and whose plights you sympathize with so greatly, you honestly lose yourself in the book, and in the five days during September 1973 that is the backdrop of his story.
Karl's father, the former mayor of their hometown in Lightsburg, Ohio, died of cancer, and his mother is now an alcoholic who believes in UFOs, the age of Aquarius, and keeping cats in great abundance. Because of his family situation, Karl has been stuck in group therapy provided by his school every year since his father's death, a group which he has dubbed The Madman Underground. But despite his strong connections to the other madmen, particularly Darla, who talks to everyone through a stuffed rabbit, and his lifelong best friend, suspected homosexual, Paul, Karl wants this year to be a normal year, and he hatches a plan called Operation Be F*cking Normal.
I could say a lot about this book, but I feel like every time I try to describe it, I'm not doing it justice. The title calls it a romance, and I suppose, in part, it is one, but more importantly, it's the story of Karl Shoemaker's difficult life, the unlikely friendships he shares with the other members of the underground, and his struggle to become normal while also trying to decide if that's even what he really wants. John Barnes doesn't miss a beat in telling this story. I found myself marking line after line of quotable passages. Many YA narrators fall flat, sounding all very similar to one another. Karl Shoemaker is a character whose voice you will remember and want to keep listening to even after you turn the final page.
Amazing. I recommend it to older teens, and certainly to everyone else.
Karl's father, the former mayor of their hometown in Lightsburg, Ohio, died of cancer, and his mother is now an alcoholic who believes in UFOs, the age of Aquarius, and keeping cats in great abundance. Because of his family situation, Karl has been stuck in group therapy provided by his school every year since his father's death, a group which he has dubbed The Madman Underground. But despite his strong connections to the other madmen, particularly Darla, who talks to everyone through a stuffed rabbit, and his lifelong best friend, suspected homosexual, Paul, Karl wants this year to be a normal year, and he hatches a plan called Operation Be F*cking Normal.
I could say a lot about this book, but I feel like every time I try to describe it, I'm not doing it justice. The title calls it a romance, and I suppose, in part, it is one, but more importantly, it's the story of Karl Shoemaker's difficult life, the unlikely friendships he shares with the other members of the underground, and his struggle to become normal while also trying to decide if that's even what he really wants. John Barnes doesn't miss a beat in telling this story. I found myself marking line after line of quotable passages. Many YA narrators fall flat, sounding all very similar to one another. Karl Shoemaker is a character whose voice you will remember and want to keep listening to even after you turn the final page.
Amazing. I recommend it to older teens, and certainly to everyone else.
June 19, 2020
4.5 I could say that not a whole lot of plot happens in this book. I could say it's too long and that at times it veered toward After School Special--albeit with no language censor--territory. I could say that no teenager has ever been able to verbally express themselves like the kids do in this book. But none of that would matter in the end because any bumps in the road are completely obliterated by the sheer charismatic force of the protagonist. Karl Shoemaker won me over pretty quickly just by cracking my shit up. He has a quick wit with the cynical yet sweet humor of a good kid who has had to learn some pretty tragic lessons in everyday survival. I started off laughing but quickly became completely invested in his story. The characters in this novel are just fantastic. Karl's backbreaking struggles to help his fellow Madmen stay afloat are poignant and bittersweet, even more so when Karl seems irreversibly stuck on an island with his negligent mother.
Several times in the book the point is made that whether by choice or obliviousness, not many people are aware of what is going on in the personal lives of the people around them. In homeroom one kid's largest worry is a date for the prom while the kid sitting next to him is wondering where he'll get his next meal. "I looked at the people playing, walking, loafing, hurrying, or sauntering across the little park in front of us. How many terrible stories were there, just there in front of me, never to be spoken?" For all of the terrible lessons the Madmen have had to endure, they also have learned an extremely valuable one: while you may find yourself at times seemingly hopelessly adrift, you aren't alone on the life raft.
I loved this book.
Several times in the book the point is made that whether by choice or obliviousness, not many people are aware of what is going on in the personal lives of the people around them. In homeroom one kid's largest worry is a date for the prom while the kid sitting next to him is wondering where he'll get his next meal. "I looked at the people playing, walking, loafing, hurrying, or sauntering across the little park in front of us. How many terrible stories were there, just there in front of me, never to be spoken?" For all of the terrible lessons the Madmen have had to endure, they also have learned an extremely valuable one: while you may find yourself at times seemingly hopelessly adrift, you aren't alone on the life raft.
I loved this book.
March 1, 2012
This is Karl's story, summed up in one week that might be the turning point for him. Since his father died of cancer, his mother has turned into a paranoid alcoholic that hoards cats and steals Karl's money to buy drugs. The Madman Underground of the title is his therapy group at school, a group of kids at least as messed up as he is who make up his friends and only real support group.
This is quite a chunk of a book (530 pages in hardcover). The one thing that keeps it going is Karl's voice. He sounds exactly like a smart, troubled, very angry teenager should sound. But that does make this tough reading. It's jarring how casually Karl can talk about the terrible things that have happened to him and his friends, and enraging to realize just how little has been and will be done for them. And then there's Karl's mother, who would rather let one of her pet cats die in pain than take the poor animal to a vet.
Will things improve for Karl after the end of the book? I honestly don't know. He does finally have at least some kind of adult support system, and he's both rebuilt relationships with his friends and started to extend his social circle. But it's dependent on his mother not going back to her old ways, and my faith is lacking. But Barnes got me to care about Karl, foul-mouthed and angry though he is.
This is quite a chunk of a book (530 pages in hardcover). The one thing that keeps it going is Karl's voice. He sounds exactly like a smart, troubled, very angry teenager should sound. But that does make this tough reading. It's jarring how casually Karl can talk about the terrible things that have happened to him and his friends, and enraging to realize just how little has been and will be done for them. And then there's Karl's mother, who would rather let one of her pet cats die in pain than take the poor animal to a vet.
Will things improve for Karl after the end of the book? I honestly don't know. He does finally have at least some kind of adult support system, and he's both rebuilt relationships with his friends and started to extend his social circle. But it's dependent on his mother not going back to her old ways, and my faith is lacking. But Barnes got me to care about Karl, foul-mouthed and angry though he is.
January 10, 2015
Sometimes I pick up a book out of some misplaced sense of obligation, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. Books make their way onto my reading list because they’re being named “important,” or winning awards, or landing on Best of the Year lists. (I’m especially prone to this around the end of the year, when I realize how few of the “IT” books of the year I've read.) Usually these books don’t sound particularly appealing to me, and usually I give myself permission to try them and abandon them if I’m not interested enough to finish. I’m a big believer in not wasting time on books that I’m not enjoying.
The logical question to ask after that rambling intro is why do I even bother adding books like this to my reading list? If it doesn't sound interesting to me, is it really worth tracking down a copy and struggling through my fifty-page minimum before abandoning it? My answer is yes, and it’s because of books like this. Tales of the Madman Underground did not catch my attention when it was released. At all. And then it started getting glowing reviews, and I still wasn't interested. And then it became a Printz Honor book, and I felt like I had to pay attention. So I added it to my reading list and comforted myself with thoughts of my fifty-page rule. And then I read it. And I loved it. And it’s an amazing reminder of why I sometimes stretch myself in my reading.
This remarkable book is set in the 1970s, which is fairly unusual, especially for teen books. It follows the (dysfunctional, difficult, and sometimes disturbing) lives of a group of high schoolers connected by their therapy group. And I could tell you all about what happens, or doesn't happen, to them but I won’t because A) you can read the plot summary on your own and B) I’m not sure how much that matters. For me, this book was about the characters themselves. How they interacted with each other, how they thought, and how much I cared about what would become of them. The characters are the heart and soul of this book, and they are what kept me reading through this relatively long book. They are imperfect, fierce, vulgar and damaged, and they’re facing some very real challenges. And I don’t think I’ll soon forget them.
I’m so grateful to all of the positive reviews and to the Printz Award for forcing my hand and making me try a book I was so reluctant to read. May it serve as a reminder that it costs nearly nothing to stretch my reading, and sometimes the reward is a memorable favorite like this.
For readers who want more stories of a band of lovable misfits working to overcome challenging lives, try Sorta Like a Rock Star.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower also explores difficult realities, like depression and isolation, and has become more iconic than Tales of the Madman Underground.
And finally, for anyone looking for another book filled with the kinds of characters who never leave you, give the heartbreaking How to Say Goodbye in Robot a try.
-Meagan
The logical question to ask after that rambling intro is why do I even bother adding books like this to my reading list? If it doesn't sound interesting to me, is it really worth tracking down a copy and struggling through my fifty-page minimum before abandoning it? My answer is yes, and it’s because of books like this. Tales of the Madman Underground did not catch my attention when it was released. At all. And then it started getting glowing reviews, and I still wasn't interested. And then it became a Printz Honor book, and I felt like I had to pay attention. So I added it to my reading list and comforted myself with thoughts of my fifty-page rule. And then I read it. And I loved it. And it’s an amazing reminder of why I sometimes stretch myself in my reading.
This remarkable book is set in the 1970s, which is fairly unusual, especially for teen books. It follows the (dysfunctional, difficult, and sometimes disturbing) lives of a group of high schoolers connected by their therapy group. And I could tell you all about what happens, or doesn't happen, to them but I won’t because A) you can read the plot summary on your own and B) I’m not sure how much that matters. For me, this book was about the characters themselves. How they interacted with each other, how they thought, and how much I cared about what would become of them. The characters are the heart and soul of this book, and they are what kept me reading through this relatively long book. They are imperfect, fierce, vulgar and damaged, and they’re facing some very real challenges. And I don’t think I’ll soon forget them.
I’m so grateful to all of the positive reviews and to the Printz Award for forcing my hand and making me try a book I was so reluctant to read. May it serve as a reminder that it costs nearly nothing to stretch my reading, and sometimes the reward is a memorable favorite like this.
For readers who want more stories of a band of lovable misfits working to overcome challenging lives, try Sorta Like a Rock Star.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower also explores difficult realities, like depression and isolation, and has become more iconic than Tales of the Madman Underground.
And finally, for anyone looking for another book filled with the kinds of characters who never leave you, give the heartbreaking How to Say Goodbye in Robot a try.
-Meagan
March 14, 2018
When asked if the Madmen protect each other, Karl replies: "No. Usually we can't do a f**king thing for each other, come to admit it. We're a little group of mental-case high school students, not the f**kin' X-Men, you know? But we know each other's stories, and we do try to watch each other's backs, when we can."
I was 200 pages in before I noticed the writing was a bit shaky and at that point I couldn't care less. The narrative voice is like a magnet- it pulls hard and makes an immediate connection. The book reads as if Karl was sitting next to you, just telling his story as he sees it. This can make for some slightly awkward and less than grammatically correct sentences...but what do magnets care for repetitious phrasing?
Karl is pure, raw emotion. He literally loves Paul to the point of crying (in a totally straight Best Bros sort of way), he falls in love with every girl who can make him laugh, and his anger is seriously scary. Exhibit A: "It wasn't much of a day but I'd had worse. I figured if I took care of all my other friendships, and just did what I needed to do, I could get it down to aching about Paul maybe once every other breath."
Imagine Good Will Hunting with the focus on Southie instead of Harvard. F**ked up friends who would live and die for each other, with death not that left-field of an option, just trying to make it through the day. Exhibit B: "That was something us Madmen talked about all the time, the way kids getting raped or beaten were sitting in class next to kids whose biggest concern was what to wear for Homecoming."
Should have won the Printz.
Read it and then let's talk.
I was 200 pages in before I noticed the writing was a bit shaky and at that point I couldn't care less. The narrative voice is like a magnet- it pulls hard and makes an immediate connection. The book reads as if Karl was sitting next to you, just telling his story as he sees it. This can make for some slightly awkward and less than grammatically correct sentences...but what do magnets care for repetitious phrasing?
Karl is pure, raw emotion. He literally loves Paul to the point of crying (in a totally straight Best Bros sort of way), he falls in love with every girl who can make him laugh, and his anger is seriously scary. Exhibit A: "It wasn't much of a day but I'd had worse. I figured if I took care of all my other friendships, and just did what I needed to do, I could get it down to aching about Paul maybe once every other breath."
Imagine Good Will Hunting with the focus on Southie instead of Harvard. F**ked up friends who would live and die for each other, with death not that left-field of an option, just trying to make it through the day. Exhibit B: "That was something us Madmen talked about all the time, the way kids getting raped or beaten were sitting in class next to kids whose biggest concern was what to wear for Homecoming."
Should have won the Printz.
Read it and then let's talk.
November 5, 2012
Reviewed by Dianna Geers for TeensReadToo.com
Karl has a plan for his senior year. It's to be normal. Or at least to appear to be normal. Forever he has been known as slightly crazy and a target of harassment.
There are a ton of obstacles that will make it difficult to pull of the "normal" appearance. First of all, he has to avoid his very best friend in the world. Not to mention the fact that he has to work endless hours to help support his mother and himself. (She has been off the deep end ever since his dad died.)
And there's the cats. So many of them in his house. Karl constantly has to clean up their messes and even bury the ones that die before his mother sees him. (He never knows what is going to set her off.) He can't even keep his earnings in a bank because his mother would have access to them and she would spend it all. (And hiding his money around the house only works occasionally.)
He also has to find a way to get out of the "Madmen" class - required counseling for students identified as "troubled." How can anyone appear normal under those circumstances?
But Karl takes it one day at a time. If he can make it through the first day of school appearing normal, then he can make it through the first week. Once a week of appearing normal passes, he'll be able to begin the next week.
Even though Karl has plans to work around his known obstacles, he has several other hurdles to overcome. Is the best friend he was going to avoid actually avoiding him? And what about the new girl? The one whose mom likes to party with his?
Will Karl be able to shed his madman reputation? And how important is it to appear normal?
Read TALES OF THE MADMAN UNDERGROUND and experience six days of Karl's life in 1973. It'll be a trip.
Karl has a plan for his senior year. It's to be normal. Or at least to appear to be normal. Forever he has been known as slightly crazy and a target of harassment.
There are a ton of obstacles that will make it difficult to pull of the "normal" appearance. First of all, he has to avoid his very best friend in the world. Not to mention the fact that he has to work endless hours to help support his mother and himself. (She has been off the deep end ever since his dad died.)
And there's the cats. So many of them in his house. Karl constantly has to clean up their messes and even bury the ones that die before his mother sees him. (He never knows what is going to set her off.) He can't even keep his earnings in a bank because his mother would have access to them and she would spend it all. (And hiding his money around the house only works occasionally.)
He also has to find a way to get out of the "Madmen" class - required counseling for students identified as "troubled." How can anyone appear normal under those circumstances?
But Karl takes it one day at a time. If he can make it through the first day of school appearing normal, then he can make it through the first week. Once a week of appearing normal passes, he'll be able to begin the next week.
Even though Karl has plans to work around his known obstacles, he has several other hurdles to overcome. Is the best friend he was going to avoid actually avoiding him? And what about the new girl? The one whose mom likes to party with his?
Will Karl be able to shed his madman reputation? And how important is it to appear normal?
Read TALES OF THE MADMAN UNDERGROUND and experience six days of Karl's life in 1973. It'll be a trip.
October 8, 2010
I wasn't crazy about the end of this book, but overall I loved it. If I had been on the Printz committe, I think I would have been backing this, although it would have been a tough fight between this and Going Bovine.
Favorite passage, page 354:
She opened the waffle iron up and dumped out two perfect waffles. "How do you know when they're ready?" I asked.
She grinned. "Ancient secret, Tiger Sweetie. You get married very young. You get a waffle iron as a wedding present and you have a husband that you think the sun rises on, and very shortly after a little boy that you think it rises and sets on, and they both love waffles. Then you make about ten thousand burned waffles -- and about ten thousand half-raw ones -- while your husband gamely eats them, and your little boy doesn't care. Eventually you know what a goopity-gooey uncooked waffle looks like, and what a burned one looks like, and you stand by the waffle iron and when it's been a little bit past raw, but before it's burned, you pop it out. You just don't remember all the crunchy carbon and half-raw batter I put on your plate when you were little. It's like all the assassinations, everything looks fine as soon as none of the witnesses are talking."
"I wish I remembered those times better."
"I wish you did too. They were good times. The waffles got better later, but the times were the best they ever were."
Favorite passage, page 354:
She opened the waffle iron up and dumped out two perfect waffles. "How do you know when they're ready?" I asked.
She grinned. "Ancient secret, Tiger Sweetie. You get married very young. You get a waffle iron as a wedding present and you have a husband that you think the sun rises on, and very shortly after a little boy that you think it rises and sets on, and they both love waffles. Then you make about ten thousand burned waffles -- and about ten thousand half-raw ones -- while your husband gamely eats them, and your little boy doesn't care. Eventually you know what a goopity-gooey uncooked waffle looks like, and what a burned one looks like, and you stand by the waffle iron and when it's been a little bit past raw, but before it's burned, you pop it out. You just don't remember all the crunchy carbon and half-raw batter I put on your plate when you were little. It's like all the assassinations, everything looks fine as soon as none of the witnesses are talking."
"I wish I remembered those times better."
"I wish you did too. They were good times. The waffles got better later, but the times were the best they ever were."
June 10, 2013
This is a book that I added to my TBR list solely based on the fact that it was a Printz Honor book. It sounded interesting enough, and it gets consistently high marks on GoodReads, but for some reason I went into it giving myself an exit. Fifty pages, I said, and then I could quit. I'll have given it a shot, and that's all I can ask for.
Stupid me. I loved this book. The characters and their situations sucked me in so thoroughly that at one point I was so afraid of how I might react to a character's potential action that I put the book down for two days to avoid a personal trauma. (As a side note, if you decide to read this book you might reach a point where you're afraid something might happen. The something will be fairly obvious. I won't tell you whether or not the something happens, but I will encourage you to continue onward. I emerged trauma-free.)
Anyway, this is a character book. You get to know them and their messed up freaky lives, and you start to care what happens to them. I don't feel like I can say much without ruining the experience, but if you like books with really vivid, sympathetic, surprising characters that often defy categorization this is the perfect read. So happy I finally gave it a chance.
Stupid me. I loved this book. The characters and their situations sucked me in so thoroughly that at one point I was so afraid of how I might react to a character's potential action that I put the book down for two days to avoid a personal trauma. (As a side note, if you decide to read this book you might reach a point where you're afraid something might happen. The something will be fairly obvious. I won't tell you whether or not the something happens, but I will encourage you to continue onward. I emerged trauma-free.)
Anyway, this is a character book. You get to know them and their messed up freaky lives, and you start to care what happens to them. I don't feel like I can say much without ruining the experience, but if you like books with really vivid, sympathetic, surprising characters that often defy categorization this is the perfect read. So happy I finally gave it a chance.
October 22, 2009
Tired of his affiliation with the madmen, a group of students bound together during the school year by their shared visits to the school psychologist, Karl Shoemaker starts his senior year by deploying operation “be f***ing normal.” Yet try as he may to break from the madmen and distance himself from their shared injustices, he is just too good of a friend. He also can’t escape his own rap as possibly psychopathic, after a misunderstanding involving the death of one or more cats. Told over six days in September 1973, Tales of the Madman Underground is an insightful, poignant and funny novel led by the completely engaging, wholly original character of Karl. Popular he is not, but he is quirky, caring, and the hardest working high school senior you’ve ever met. Secondary characters, especially Karl’s alcoholic Mom, are equally well developed, and the dialog is concurrently heartbreaking and hilarious. At more than 500 pages, this young adult novel will not fly off the shelves, but any reader looking for a likeable, believable hero to root for should run, not walk, to get a copy of this book. Best for older high school to adult readers.
February 22, 2016
Wow, this book has so much packed into it. And somehow I loved all of it...? Yeah, wow.
This is the type of YA contemporary I actually like. It's gritty, raw, honest, and makes you feel every feeling the author wants you to feel. John Barnes is a magician. Enough said.
This is the type of YA contemporary I actually like. It's gritty, raw, honest, and makes you feel every feeling the author wants you to feel. John Barnes is a magician. Enough said.
June 26, 2012
Dude, this book was hilarious - but I have no idea who I'd recommend it to! It was vulgar, violently graphic, anatomically graphic (but not exactly sexually), had bigotrous characters in it and...and...shoot, I really don't know what else to categorize, haha. It was definitely a mature book for mature young adults - if that makes sense. I really don't think I'd recommend this to anyone under fifteen - eighteen. No, it could do some good to a fifteen year old. But it might encourage them to use bad language. But it might encourage them to be a good guy (let's be honest, the only female that would be reading this book would be a mom so she could answer what the heck is wrong with her kid) since everything works out for the narrator because he's loyal, responsible, mature, and makes the right decision in the face of dreadful opportunity. Karl really is a great kid. I'd be stoked to have him as a neighbor. A kid who's way more mature than his mom, and it seems like his friends. He makes manly decisions, and I really admire that. He makes decisions about self control easier and more frequently than I think any adult I've known does.
So maybe that's unrealistic. Maybe this kid is a god (a god who uses the f-bomb and doesn't mind sacrileging other god's names in a cocktail of cursewords) and the standard I hope he can set for teen male readers is too high - but it's likable. He's down to earth in that he uses high school vernacular (stated), he's in therapy (because he got caught doing something a lot of teen boys do, and with just as much regret as he has, and no it's not THAT), his parent's are drunks, he has a amalgamation of different types of friends (despite they are all in therapy with him), he knows the crazy characters in town and explains them in only the way a high schooler kid (props to Barnes for that), and he loves his mother, regardless of her self-and-filial-destructive lifestyle. I think the reader has some very good morals to pick up on from this work. Even if the reader doesn't pick up on emulating this kid, they will thoroughly enjoy the book because they can relate to it. The emotions, the energy, the desire to run-away, the complex relationships and opportunities that conflict, the generation gaps between said characters. It really is an enlightening book, and I hardly noticed it was over 500 pages long. I thought it would be a slog, but my favorite parts of my day were when I read it. I love it a lot, and I'll be very selective to who I recommend it too. Not the faint spirited.
Warnings:
Violence - *Spoiler* a small animal is killed in a malicious way. The event is engaged in without understanding that it was over the perpetrators head, and his remorse makes him more human and not a monster enough that he's not relatable.
Language - Nothing. Is. Sacred. It's not aberrational or something you'd hear in a from an absolute sociopath or something off The Exorcist, and it is quite accurate for high school talk. If you don't know that your kids talk like this - you probably SHOULD read this book.
Sex - *Spoiler* one character is a victim of incest, and another character is a male prostitute for male suitors, and come to think of it, a handful of other characters are spoken of being sexually promiscuous, but it's never clear if it's in that false-teenage-gossip way, or if it's true (except for Karl's mom, who is a trick). One of the moral points of the book *Huge Spoiler* is when a character has two opportunities to engage in sex, one less committed and romantic than the other.
So maybe that's unrealistic. Maybe this kid is a god (a god who uses the f-bomb and doesn't mind sacrileging other god's names in a cocktail of cursewords) and the standard I hope he can set for teen male readers is too high - but it's likable. He's down to earth in that he uses high school vernacular (stated), he's in therapy (because he got caught doing something a lot of teen boys do, and with just as much regret as he has, and no it's not THAT), his parent's are drunks, he has a amalgamation of different types of friends (despite they are all in therapy with him), he knows the crazy characters in town and explains them in only the way a high schooler kid (props to Barnes for that), and he loves his mother, regardless of her self-and-filial-destructive lifestyle. I think the reader has some very good morals to pick up on from this work. Even if the reader doesn't pick up on emulating this kid, they will thoroughly enjoy the book because they can relate to it. The emotions, the energy, the desire to run-away, the complex relationships and opportunities that conflict, the generation gaps between said characters. It really is an enlightening book, and I hardly noticed it was over 500 pages long. I thought it would be a slog, but my favorite parts of my day were when I read it. I love it a lot, and I'll be very selective to who I recommend it too. Not the faint spirited.
Warnings:
Violence - *Spoiler* a small animal is killed in a malicious way. The event is engaged in without understanding that it was over the perpetrators head, and his remorse makes him more human and not a monster enough that he's not relatable.
Language - Nothing. Is. Sacred. It's not aberrational or something you'd hear in a from an absolute sociopath or something off The Exorcist, and it is quite accurate for high school talk. If you don't know that your kids talk like this - you probably SHOULD read this book.
Sex - *Spoiler* one character is a victim of incest, and another character is a male prostitute for male suitors, and come to think of it, a handful of other characters are spoken of being sexually promiscuous, but it's never clear if it's in that false-teenage-gossip way, or if it's true (except for Karl's mom, who is a trick). One of the moral points of the book *Huge Spoiler* is when a character has two opportunities to engage in sex, one less committed and romantic than the other.
November 6, 2014
I read
Tales of the Madman Underground
during a Printz Award alumni binge that included
Kit’s Wilderness, American Born Chinese
and
In Darkness. Madman
was possibly the wordiest YA novel I’ve read so far, but I never tired of it.
Madman
is set in small-town Ohio in 1973, and it’s the first YA I’ve read that was structured as a few sequential days in the everyday life of the protagonist, wake to sleep. Five days of home, work, school and social life at the very start of protag Karl Shoemaker's senior year in high school.
At home, Karl is the adult. His hardcore alcoholic mom is chronically unemployed and a hoarder of cats. Mom has a string of boyfriends and funds most of her adventures by stealing cash from various stashes Karl attempts to hide around the house. Author John Barnes manages to humanize the mom character just enough - with genuine affection and comic New Age pursuits - to keep her from being a cartoonish YA parent-villain.
The “work” element was the most interesting part to me. Karl has something like five jobs. He cleans the McDonald’s after close each night, he helps this middle-aged racist lech guy deliver furniture, he does odd jobs for an old lady, et al. Every one of these weaves in and out of the overall plot.
Then school, where the Madman Underground comes into play. The MU is a weekly therapy session gathering of all the school’s most troubled kids. There’s Paul, best friend and male hustler. Bonny, who also escapes into workaholism. Cheryl, popular hottie. Darla, slutty hottie. Squid, crazy jock/bully. Danny, good-ole-boy farm-kid jock. And Marti, brand new girl - wisely, Barnes allows us to absorb much of the huge chunk of expository information through the filter of it being delivered to Marti and the inevitable new therapist.
These kids all hang out together outside of school, too. Being Madmen, they’re just as familiar with substance abuse, being locked out of the house, having parents beat the shit out of them and each other, being molested, et al, as most of the other kids are with, say, their locker combinations. The characters in the book are easy to distinguish, and there aren’t too many. Really, the only flaw I noticed in depicting these kids was that some of their long, monologue-heavy conversations didn’t read very authentically.
Author John Barnes has carved out a decades-deep career writing sci-fi books for adults. Madman Underground was his first foray into YA. It seems like it probably started life as a memoir and then blew up into its current incarnation, where everydayness and major life-altering events coexist side by side. I enjoyed this immensely, and so did the author of this 2009 review in the LA Times that’s way better than the one I just wrote.
At home, Karl is the adult. His hardcore alcoholic mom is chronically unemployed and a hoarder of cats. Mom has a string of boyfriends and funds most of her adventures by stealing cash from various stashes Karl attempts to hide around the house. Author John Barnes manages to humanize the mom character just enough - with genuine affection and comic New Age pursuits - to keep her from being a cartoonish YA parent-villain.
The “work” element was the most interesting part to me. Karl has something like five jobs. He cleans the McDonald’s after close each night, he helps this middle-aged racist lech guy deliver furniture, he does odd jobs for an old lady, et al. Every one of these weaves in and out of the overall plot.
Then school, where the Madman Underground comes into play. The MU is a weekly therapy session gathering of all the school’s most troubled kids. There’s Paul, best friend and male hustler. Bonny, who also escapes into workaholism. Cheryl, popular hottie. Darla, slutty hottie. Squid, crazy jock/bully. Danny, good-ole-boy farm-kid jock. And Marti, brand new girl - wisely, Barnes allows us to absorb much of the huge chunk of expository information through the filter of it being delivered to Marti and the inevitable new therapist.
These kids all hang out together outside of school, too. Being Madmen, they’re just as familiar with substance abuse, being locked out of the house, having parents beat the shit out of them and each other, being molested, et al, as most of the other kids are with, say, their locker combinations. The characters in the book are easy to distinguish, and there aren’t too many. Really, the only flaw I noticed in depicting these kids was that some of their long, monologue-heavy conversations didn’t read very authentically.
Author John Barnes has carved out a decades-deep career writing sci-fi books for adults. Madman Underground was his first foray into YA. It seems like it probably started life as a memoir and then blew up into its current incarnation, where everydayness and major life-altering events coexist side by side. I enjoyed this immensely, and so did the author of this 2009 review in the LA Times that’s way better than the one I just wrote.
November 25, 2012
4.5
This book is everything I wanted the perks of being a wallflower to be. Now, I won't go on and make any comparisons lest I soil my good mood.
Tales of the Madman Underground is less of a book and more like a potpourri of emotions and feelings, ranging from those rare stolen moments of happiness to sweet-as-coffee-bitterness to black-hole-in-my-gut-horror and disgust. And performing the role of quintessential salt was constant sadness, even till the very end when all things finally come together for Karl Shoemaker, somewhat at least.
The characters of this novel are madmen indeed. There's a molested cheerleader who has problem saying no to sex( her own words), a sensitive jock-type who has crying jags, an artistic, attention-seeking best-friend who can't figure out his own sexual orientation, a girl who still carries her stuffed-rabbit and talks through him and threatened to blind her own lil' brother and is in a few words- completely bat-shit crazy! And then there are the rest of the madmen with their screwed-up lives as well. But they aren't all this only, these are kids who have to constantly struggle not to drown themselves but are still able to lend a hand to their friends. These are people with their own colorful personalities and their personal baggage.
And there's Karl Shoemaker, taking care of his whacked-out mother who steals from him, juggling five jobs at once and trying to follow the Dursley's motto of being perfectly normal, thank you very much.
And though I might not be entirely happy with the ending and how all things came gift-wrapped to him( 'cause that's not how it happens i real life though god know Karl deserves it) and how he never stood up to his mother, it's still a book that left a deep emotional impact on me.
I love me a book that can break my heart and at same time make me laugh till I almost pee in my pants. So, I can say without any hesitation that this novel will stay with me forever and even if( notice the if) I'm old and skinny and toothless and drooling in a home I'll remember Karl Shoemaker and his foul mouth and profane jokes and insane friends, and then I'll pee in my pants for real.
February 7, 2012
Funny, witty, brash, awkward, touching, sad, bemusing -- quite apart from having the best title ever, Tales of the Madman Underground runs rings around any preconceptions I might have had of what it was going to be. I'm all for snarky heroes, and Karl Shoemaker is probably the most authentic snark I've come across; there's nothing pretentious about him, he's refreshingly honest and probably the most chatty narrator in the world.
It wasn't an easy story. Underneath the running current of self-deprecating humour, there was a sort of bleak feeling to this book, which I think was heavily influenced by the place in which it's set. It sounds like such a horrible little backwater town, grey and stagnant and hopeless; I'm grateful that John Barnes provided such a likeable and upbeat protagonist to help deflect attention from it. The rest of the Madman Underground were so real and absorbing that I ended up liking every single one of them, with the exception of Darla. Sorry, hated her. It was quite something to see that it is in fact possible to write 532 pages and still only cover a few days of a person's life; somehow it seemed so much longer, as if weeks had passed, by the time I got to the end of it.
My biggest -- and possibly only -- problem with this book is that it's so extremely American (which I'm not), and that meant that a few things went over my head and there was the odd time where I didn't have a clue what the characters were talking about. There was kind of a cultural alienation in it that made it a bit of a slog at times. But the rest of the story was so punchy and engaging that it was worth the effort. The only other thing is that I don't think setting it in 1973 helped it at all; in fact, it usually didn't feel like it, and the odd throw-in mention of Nixon or Vietnam jolted me out of the story a bit. I think it would have worked better as a contemporary story.
Despite these little gripes, Tales of the Madman Underground is a story whose characters will stay with me for quite a while, I think. I'm glad to have found it.
November 17, 2020
It's not perfect, but hell if the Madmen aren't living rent free in my mind right now. I love them so much. Even the ones I didn't really like in the beginning or who didn't have as much development as the rest, and even though most of them are kind of terrible, I love them.
What the book lacks in plot and writing, it makes up for by sheer charisma. The plot stems mostly from the characters living their lives rather than any big overarching thing, but it works very well and I never got bored reading. It's dense with wild stories and humor and action to the point where, by the end of the story, I felt like I had been stitched into this group of misfit teens in 1973 nowhere Ohio. Some moments of writing were a little cringey and monologue-y, but honestly the book is so funny and I care about the characters so much that I don't even care. Karl, the narrator, and all his friends are just the right kind of dry-witted, mentally-ill sarcastic.
Speaking of characters, have I mentioned that I'd take a bullet for each and every Madman? They're all so distinctive and realistic and I just related to them so much. They do messed-up stuff, but it all makes sense, and they're all so likeable and trying to be good people that in the end, it's forgivable. I gotta admit, I didn't really like Paul at first, but one good conversation had me in his corner right with the rest of the Madmen. As far as narrators go, Karl was fantastic. Fleshed-out, realistic, kind of an asshole but also a genuinely good guy. And it wasn't limited to just him, every Madman and their relationships to each other was well-written like this.
Tl;dr: funny in a kind of fucked up way, never drags despite its length and lack of overarching plot, and the strength of its characters and the found family trope blows everything else out of the water. In my mind, this book is up there with my favorite coming-of-ages like We Are the Ants and The Death of Jayson Porter, but while these had a stronger overall narrative, I feel more connected to the characters of Tales of the Madman Underground.
What the book lacks in plot and writing, it makes up for by sheer charisma. The plot stems mostly from the characters living their lives rather than any big overarching thing, but it works very well and I never got bored reading. It's dense with wild stories and humor and action to the point where, by the end of the story, I felt like I had been stitched into this group of misfit teens in 1973 nowhere Ohio. Some moments of writing were a little cringey and monologue-y, but honestly the book is so funny and I care about the characters so much that I don't even care. Karl, the narrator, and all his friends are just the right kind of dry-witted, mentally-ill sarcastic.
Speaking of characters, have I mentioned that I'd take a bullet for each and every Madman? They're all so distinctive and realistic and I just related to them so much. They do messed-up stuff, but it all makes sense, and they're all so likeable and trying to be good people that in the end, it's forgivable. I gotta admit, I didn't really like Paul at first, but one good conversation had me in his corner right with the rest of the Madmen. As far as narrators go, Karl was fantastic. Fleshed-out, realistic, kind of an asshole but also a genuinely good guy. And it wasn't limited to just him, every Madman and their relationships to each other was well-written like this.
Tl;dr: funny in a kind of fucked up way, never drags despite its length and lack of overarching plot, and the strength of its characters and the found family trope blows everything else out of the water. In my mind, this book is up there with my favorite coming-of-ages like We Are the Ants and The Death of Jayson Porter, but while these had a stronger overall narrative, I feel more connected to the characters of Tales of the Madman Underground.
November 11, 2009
This is a big book - figuratively and literally - and it's hard to know where to start. It's one of those books where you completely buy into the world of the story - it's character driven, and you never doubt for a moment that this is how they would act or think. But because it feels so real, it's that much more difficult to read. Each of the high schoolers is so painfully messed up, each family has so many issues. It never reads like a problem novel, partly because it's so well crafted and partly because there are so many problems that it would be hard to sum up the issues in a simple sentence. It's a book about teenage alcoholics. It's a book about abuse, neglect, alcoholic parents, trying to get out of a small town, violence, therapy, the social worlds of high school.
It's not really about romance as much as the desire for, er, romance. And when I say romance...let's just say that the book is frank about a lot of things. Substance abuse, sex, cussing, violence - it doesn't try to pretty things up. It does have a surprisingly happy ending, which at first felt a bit pat and easy. But as I thought it over, I realized that the book just happens to take place over a few days when a corner is turned in Karl's life. They start out as fairly ordinary days, the first of his senior year, but they turn out to be significant days. Mixed into all of this are the stories - the tales of the Madman Underground - that introduce the reader to the characters and their history. It's a combination that works well, and while the book is not an easy read, it moves along quickly considering the length.
This one will definitely be interesting to discuss at the Mock Printz workshop - I just hope that everyone else manages to work their way through the whole thing.
It's not really about romance as much as the desire for, er, romance. And when I say romance...let's just say that the book is frank about a lot of things. Substance abuse, sex, cussing, violence - it doesn't try to pretty things up. It does have a surprisingly happy ending, which at first felt a bit pat and easy. But as I thought it over, I realized that the book just happens to take place over a few days when a corner is turned in Karl's life. They start out as fairly ordinary days, the first of his senior year, but they turn out to be significant days. Mixed into all of this are the stories - the tales of the Madman Underground - that introduce the reader to the characters and their history. It's a combination that works well, and while the book is not an easy read, it moves along quickly considering the length.
This one will definitely be interesting to discuss at the Mock Printz workshop - I just hope that everyone else manages to work their way through the whole thing.
October 28, 2009
Karl Shoemaker has "gotten a ticket" every year since middle school--an invitation he can't refuse--to take part in a therapy group for kids who are disturbed, maltreated at home, or just plain weird. For his 1973 senior year, Karl just wants to try to be normal even though he works five jobs and has to hide his earnings all over the house so his inattentive barfly, UFO conspiracy fan, "super, super lady" mother doesn't steal yet another one. He just wants to try to be normal even though his mother doesn't believe in getting the den of cats who live with them fixed and he has to scoop cat poop off the floor as part of a long list of chores he has taken on ever since his father, once the mayor of Lightsville, OH, died of cancer some years before.
The only problem: normal seems to mean that he has to choose asshole teachers like his English teacher Gratz over the other Madmen. Gratz is willing to write him a letter to get out of therapy with yet another wet-behind-the-ears therapist, but will Karl lose too much of himself if he accepts? Follow Karl in less than a week of his small town early 70s existence. You'll be horrified, amused, and ultimately charmed by Karl and his quirky Madman crew.
The only problem: normal seems to mean that he has to choose asshole teachers like his English teacher Gratz over the other Madmen. Gratz is willing to write him a letter to get out of therapy with yet another wet-behind-the-ears therapist, but will Karl lose too much of himself if he accepts? Follow Karl in less than a week of his small town early 70s existence. You'll be horrified, amused, and ultimately charmed by Karl and his quirky Madman crew.
May 14, 2019
What can I say? Something about teenage problem stories just gets to me. I generally enjoy this type of narrative tone which is just very blunt and honest and appropriate for teenagers. Tales of the Madmen Underground delivers this tone with just the right kind and amount of humour which just made it more intriguing and relatable. I liked how the book was set in Ohio in the 70s because it felt like a rather unusual setting for such a story but only the story only benefitted from it.
However, I do have to say that some elements in the story were just a tiny bit over the top and I thought that it was unnecessary since the gravity and tone of the story was already delivered. I also thought that it was sometimes a bit irritating in its handling of minority groups. Of course the gay kid is being bullied and called slurs for being gay in Ohio in the 70s but it was sometimes weird when his friends called him insulting names as well. I just didn't really see the reason for it and it felt kind of out of place.
I think I would have probably appreciated the book more if I had read it when I was still a teenager but it is probably a great read for the target audience.
However, I do have to say that some elements in the story were just a tiny bit over the top and I thought that it was unnecessary since the gravity and tone of the story was already delivered. I also thought that it was sometimes a bit irritating in its handling of minority groups. Of course the gay kid is being bullied and called slurs for being gay in Ohio in the 70s but it was sometimes weird when his friends called him insulting names as well. I just didn't really see the reason for it and it felt kind of out of place.
I think I would have probably appreciated the book more if I had read it when I was still a teenager but it is probably a great read for the target audience.
Read
July 30, 2015I continue to vacillate between appreciating this book as pure genius and as part insanity. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why it was a ALA Printz Honor Book. At times I wanted to throw the book against the wall and at other times I absolutely couldn't put it down. We have heard the phrase that 'the truth is stranger than fiction,' but in this case I am left wondering how much truth was in the fiction. I am certain that these circumstances had to have taken place in some way to someone at some time. There is true humanity in this book, a sense of compassion, understanding, friendship, and a strong dose of nightmarish circumstances (abuse of all kinds) in the lives of these teens. It may have been set in 1973, but there's a modern reality to the experiences of these teen characters and the adults who teach/parent/work with/council them. I have a feeling that this is a book that will stay with me for a long, long time.
January 28, 2011
I don't even know where to start with this one.
Apparently the book got a lot of comparison with Catcher in the Rye which is at once wholly inaccurate and a perfect comparison. Firstly, the comparison with Catcher is largely because both books deal with a mostly crazy delinquent teen - the difference is that Karl Shoemaker is actually a narrator that you not only like, but also understand.
Secondly, the book is funny. Really, really funny. Laugh out loud funny. The humor, however, never quite detracts from the fact that the subject matter (alcoholism, incest, homosexuality, child-beatings, you know all that) is incredibly dark and poignant.
The most I can say about this book? Get it, read it, enjoy it, laugh and find yourself relating to it in spite of every attempt not to. The book was incredible.
Apparently the book got a lot of comparison with Catcher in the Rye which is at once wholly inaccurate and a perfect comparison. Firstly, the comparison with Catcher is largely because both books deal with a mostly crazy delinquent teen - the difference is that Karl Shoemaker is actually a narrator that you not only like, but also understand.
Secondly, the book is funny. Really, really funny. Laugh out loud funny. The humor, however, never quite detracts from the fact that the subject matter (alcoholism, incest, homosexuality, child-beatings, you know all that) is incredibly dark and poignant.
The most I can say about this book? Get it, read it, enjoy it, laugh and find yourself relating to it in spite of every attempt not to. The book was incredible.
February 3, 2010
ugh. i couldn't handle the tone of this book. it was all "awww shucks" cheese-o-riffic and full of dopey jokes and gratuitous cursing. (you wouldn't think the two would mesh well, right? right. they don't.) the characters were always saying corny things to each other that i can't imagine coming out of *any* teen's mouth, 1970s or not. i couldn't keep any of the characters straight, in fact, because they all talked EXACTLY THE SAME.
moreover, it was pompously, ludicrously, ridiculously, egotistically LONG. i feel strangely proud of myself for finishing something so awful, but now i have no idea who i would recommend it to.
moreover, it was pompously, ludicrously, ridiculously, egotistically LONG. i feel strangely proud of myself for finishing something so awful, but now i have no idea who i would recommend it to.
June 16, 2009
This is a truly great guy book, and what King Dork strove to be. But it succeeds. And, I can say this despite the fact that multiple cats die. It's truly funny, truly male, and not made irrelevant by its 1970s setting. It also reads faster than it looks. Plenty of sex and bad language if you're squeamish, but, well it's coming from the brain of a 17 year old boy. Delightful!
As long as I'm causing trouble, maybe I should also say it's the book that Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes tried to be? With the therapeutic bonding?
As long as I'm causing trouble, maybe I should also say it's the book that Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes tried to be? With the therapeutic bonding?
May 17, 2010
I love Huck Finn. I love Catcher in the Rye. I understand the inspiration. However, both those novels are amazingly slim and yet pack enormous punch. They move at lightning speed, no wasted words. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for this bloated, derivative novel in which nothing really happens and characters spew more pointless and expository dialogue than would be permitted in a college writing workshop. Maybe even a high school writing workshop.
Two stars because it was occasionally funny.
Two stars because it was occasionally funny.
December 3, 2012
This is one of those books that it's really hard to describe because you don't even know how to summarize it, which is why I loved it so much. You should definitely read it. Very entertaining and extremely funny. I promise there is nothing cliche about this book which is what makes it good- and really random at times. I'm pretty sure you have never read something like this before.
January 4, 2015
This book was strange in a good way. I was strangely attached to the characters and I felt emotions I haven't felt since high school. It's a book that you wish it was longer or part of a larger book series because while the story feels complete you want to know what happens next for the characters.
July 20, 2012
I wasn't really into the book with the first few chapters, but eventually I really began to like Karl, and his life is just so terrible its amusing
May 3, 2012
I think my cat read this b/c after I finished it she threw up on my bed. Charming.
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