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Norton's Ghost
The death of Kyle Dearmond's estranged father sheds new light on the mother Kyle never knew. But the will and testament his father left behind raises more questions than it answers and no one seems to know the whole story.
Abandoning the life of a college student to pursue new possibilities, Kyle hits the road in search of answers and to flee the guilt that follows him.
But the life of a homeless hitchhiker is fraught with peril. Interwoven between his attempts to piece together his life and his mother's history are the trials of finding food, shelter, and safety on the road. However, teachers appear in the most unlikely of places, and not all is dark within the seedy underbelly of San Francisco when Kyle finds a surrogate family he never expected.
The search will bring either answers or disaster, for the streets hold both danger and promise. As Kyle struggles to remember his purpose, his view of what drives his life begins to change--and if he can make it to the other side of his task, he might learn to treasure what he finds.
Abandoning the life of a college student to pursue new possibilities, Kyle hits the road in search of answers and to flee the guilt that follows him.
But the life of a homeless hitchhiker is fraught with peril. Interwoven between his attempts to piece together his life and his mother's history are the trials of finding food, shelter, and safety on the road. However, teachers appear in the most unlikely of places, and not all is dark within the seedy underbelly of San Francisco when Kyle finds a surrogate family he never expected.
The search will bring either answers or disaster, for the streets hold both danger and promise. As Kyle struggles to remember his purpose, his view of what drives his life begins to change--and if he can make it to the other side of his task, he might learn to treasure what he finds.
- GenresFiction
415 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 7, 2009
77 people want to read
About the author
R. Canepa
2 books16 followersR. Canepa is a writer, musician, beginning composer, and general dabbler. Never content to stay in one place, whether physically or otherwise, he moved from California to Gainesville, FL and has been an English major, pre-medicine with emphasis on neurobiology, a middle school science teacher, and a programmer.
Once upon a time, he also wanted to be a comic book artist, a chef, a stuntman, a robotics engineer, and a pilot. He still thinks those options sound pretty good.
In his spare time, R. Canepa reads, watches movies, plays video games, and takes up way more hobbies than he could possibly have time for. Visit http://rcanepa.net for the scoop on it all.
Once upon a time, he also wanted to be a comic book artist, a chef, a stuntman, a robotics engineer, and a pilot. He still thinks those options sound pretty good.
In his spare time, R. Canepa reads, watches movies, plays video games, and takes up way more hobbies than he could possibly have time for. Visit http://rcanepa.net for the scoop on it all.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 29, 2010
I was excited when I won a copy of this book in a recent giveaway. Unfortunately, the back cover tease was more interesting than what was between the covers. It's too bad because Canepa had a terrific original idea which was abandoned a quarter of the way into the book. The hero sets out on a quest to find out about his mother who he believed was dead after learning at the funeral of his estranged father that she was kidnapped when he was a small child. Sounds good right? Our hero leaves Dad's funeral (who he was estranged from for some unknown reason), leaves college and hits the road with no money and not much of a plan. I don't know too many kids that age who have no friends, would leave all their positions, and hit the road with only fifty dollars in their pocket walking away from Dad's trust fund! Not to say it couldn't happen, but we never understand why he does it. The character has no background. Canepa leaves too many loose threads hanging and the reader is left without any kind of understanding about why this kid is making these choices. Capnea loses track of the search for Mom...not even looking for her in the majority of the book. The end wraps up a bit too neatly, again without any idea how it comes about. Bright bits of writing are spread thinly throughout the book, but I was disappointed with the book as a whole.
May 21, 2010
There's no getting around the fact that this is an educational novel, clearly intended to teach you about an issue. That said, Canepa avoids lecturing. The novel isn't About Homelessness; at its core, this is an adventure story, transplanted to the modern urban landscape of freeways and gas stations and abandoned buildings. In the process, it transforms this mundane setting into an unfamiliar and often menacing place. It's a very fast-reading novel. I picked it up intending to read the first few pages, and when I put it down I was halfway through the book.
Like any adventure story, the plot is fairly straightforward and episodic, beginning with Kyle Dearmond, a college student and part-time restaurant worker, learning of his father's death. In speaking to his father's lawyer, Kyle learns that his long-dead mother may not be dead after all -- she was kidnapped when Kyle was a baby, and her body was never found. So, rather than going back to school after the funeral, Kyle sets off to find his aunt, hoping she'll help him find out more about his mother.
When his aunt refuses to help, Kyle starts hitchhiking with no real destination in mind. He soon finds himself living on the streets among the homeless of San Francisco, where he makes friends (and enemies) and learns how to survive with the contents of his backpack and the help and advice of people he meets, some helpful, some dangerous, most just trying to stay alive and sane.
Many of these people are colorful, memorable characters, most notably Gareth, the mysterious drifter who mentors Kyle; Phil, the heartbroken former lawyer; and Jackie, the adventurous Food Not Bombs volunteer, with whom Kyle has an awkward, mostly undefined relationship that rings utterly true. He also makes an enemy in Angel, a drug dealer, when he befriends Angel's abused girlfriend.
Kyle himself never quite experiences the hopelessness that many other characters do. He has a safety net, in the form of the money his father left him. Through all his trials and hardships, I never quite forgot that all he really has to do is call up his lawyer. At times it seems unbelievable that he doesn't. It would make sense if he hated his life and school and didn't ever want to go back. But his life beforehand doesn't seem that bad; Kyle himself is ambivalent about college, but he doesn't despise it enough to make me believe that living on the street is preferable. By contrast, his life on the street, though he enjoys parts of it, he seems to consider mostly scary and painful. I don't quite understand why he keeps at it so long. But his eventual decision was a pleasant surprise, both unexpected and completely fitting.
The conceit is that Kyle, after all this is over, is writing his memoir. It mostly works; Canepa's writing style achieves the feel of a personal diary... if the diarist's parents were reading over his shoulder. Kyle is a little too polite to tell this story properly. Even his deepest, darkest confessions are oddly reserved. This holding-back feels a little awkward and coy in a story where some fairly dark, gritty things happen to various characters -- suicide, domestic violence, and drug addictions feature prominently in the plot. It would work if this primness had been established as an important part of the narrator's personality, but Kyle is too much of a blank slate for it to fit him 100%.
Aside from this one issue, the writing style fits the story well; the first-person narration reminded me a bit of the young-adult writer Gary Paulsen, and in fact this could easily be considered a YA novel, with its quick pace, clear writing, and naïve young protagonist. But whether you're a teen or an adult, this is a fun read that might teach you something along the way.
Like any adventure story, the plot is fairly straightforward and episodic, beginning with Kyle Dearmond, a college student and part-time restaurant worker, learning of his father's death. In speaking to his father's lawyer, Kyle learns that his long-dead mother may not be dead after all -- she was kidnapped when Kyle was a baby, and her body was never found. So, rather than going back to school after the funeral, Kyle sets off to find his aunt, hoping she'll help him find out more about his mother.
When his aunt refuses to help, Kyle starts hitchhiking with no real destination in mind. He soon finds himself living on the streets among the homeless of San Francisco, where he makes friends (and enemies) and learns how to survive with the contents of his backpack and the help and advice of people he meets, some helpful, some dangerous, most just trying to stay alive and sane.
Many of these people are colorful, memorable characters, most notably Gareth, the mysterious drifter who mentors Kyle; Phil, the heartbroken former lawyer; and Jackie, the adventurous Food Not Bombs volunteer, with whom Kyle has an awkward, mostly undefined relationship that rings utterly true. He also makes an enemy in Angel, a drug dealer, when he befriends Angel's abused girlfriend.
Kyle himself never quite experiences the hopelessness that many other characters do. He has a safety net, in the form of the money his father left him. Through all his trials and hardships, I never quite forgot that all he really has to do is call up his lawyer. At times it seems unbelievable that he doesn't. It would make sense if he hated his life and school and didn't ever want to go back. But his life beforehand doesn't seem that bad; Kyle himself is ambivalent about college, but he doesn't despise it enough to make me believe that living on the street is preferable. By contrast, his life on the street, though he enjoys parts of it, he seems to consider mostly scary and painful. I don't quite understand why he keeps at it so long. But his eventual decision was a pleasant surprise, both unexpected and completely fitting.
The conceit is that Kyle, after all this is over, is writing his memoir. It mostly works; Canepa's writing style achieves the feel of a personal diary... if the diarist's parents were reading over his shoulder. Kyle is a little too polite to tell this story properly. Even his deepest, darkest confessions are oddly reserved. This holding-back feels a little awkward and coy in a story where some fairly dark, gritty things happen to various characters -- suicide, domestic violence, and drug addictions feature prominently in the plot. It would work if this primness had been established as an important part of the narrator's personality, but Kyle is too much of a blank slate for it to fit him 100%.
Aside from this one issue, the writing style fits the story well; the first-person narration reminded me a bit of the young-adult writer Gary Paulsen, and in fact this could easily be considered a YA novel, with its quick pace, clear writing, and naïve young protagonist. But whether you're a teen or an adult, this is a fun read that might teach you something along the way.
March 12, 2010
I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway recently. The story follows Kyle, a college student whose father passes away. When his father's will is read, many questions are raised and Kyle is determined to learn the answers. He decides to quit school and hit the road, trying to find...something.
After the reading of the will and the story told by the family friend, I can understand why Kyle wants to find some answers. I had a hard time getting into this book in the beginning as Kyle's character and some of his choices were difficult to relate to. It seems that Mr. Canepa wrote this book into two different time periods. Around the half-way point, somewhere in the middle of the San Francisco visit, the book starts to get more interesting and Kyle seems to grow up a bit and become more relatable. This book is also a good reminder that homelessness happens too often in the United States and that most of the time, people are actually good. If you pick this up, give it some time and it will grow on you.
After the reading of the will and the story told by the family friend, I can understand why Kyle wants to find some answers. I had a hard time getting into this book in the beginning as Kyle's character and some of his choices were difficult to relate to. It seems that Mr. Canepa wrote this book into two different time periods. Around the half-way point, somewhere in the middle of the San Francisco visit, the book starts to get more interesting and Kyle seems to grow up a bit and become more relatable. This book is also a good reminder that homelessness happens too often in the United States and that most of the time, people are actually good. If you pick this up, give it some time and it will grow on you.
February 12, 2010
I loved this book! Really makes you think about homelessness. I can't really give away my first opinion about the book, because it would spoil the ending, but I think it was just wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly.
Also, seemed like waay too many nice people on the street. TV always makes it out to be a too tough and grimy place. Guess you never know until you've been there.
I love the writing style, and how the author described the settings. Enough to get a great idea, but not too much where you get bored and skip the paragraph to get started with the story again.
Overall, GREAT book! Dealt with some great issues, Homelessness, family, God, and basic humanity.
Also, seemed like waay too many nice people on the street. TV always makes it out to be a too tough and grimy place. Guess you never know until you've been there.
I love the writing style, and how the author described the settings. Enough to get a great idea, but not too much where you get bored and skip the paragraph to get started with the story again.
Overall, GREAT book! Dealt with some great issues, Homelessness, family, God, and basic humanity.
September 18, 2010
This is a story of a college student on the road after his dad dies....he wants to find out what happened to his kidnapped mother many years before. We learn much about runaways, homelessness and life on the street. However, the writing was geared more to a young adult audience and I would definitely put it in my HS library. It is slow at times, but very poignant. There was a rigid feel to the writing that would suit a high interest/low reading level teen student. But at 435 pages, I know no student in my school would look at it. Unfortunately, it would be their loss; however, I would not recommend it to adult readers.
April 21, 2010
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the beginning was a little slow, but once I got through that, I found the book difficult to put down.
The author takes on his journey to find his mother. And through his travels he lives as a homeless man and shares many of his experiences. Some are enjoyable and some were very difficult to read about. I found the book to be an excellent read and would recommend it to anyone.
The author takes on his journey to find his mother. And through his travels he lives as a homeless man and shares many of his experiences. Some are enjoyable and some were very difficult to read about. I found the book to be an excellent read and would recommend it to anyone.
February 12, 2010
This was written by a friend of mine, and it was a great read. I was very impressed. I tell everyone, I keep using the word captivating for this one and it truly is. It gives an entire new perspective on the world of the homeless and voluntary hitch hikers and road travelers. This is definitely keeping a permanent residence in my personal library.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews