South Shore Readers discussion

Our October selection is the novel American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett.

We will be meeting in person to discuss the book over lunch/brunch at Trident in Hingham. You can RSVP for the event here: https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...

Whether you can join us at the meeting or not, feel free to post your thoughts on the book here.

I just picked the book up from the library. Did we know it is 650 pgs when we picked it? Asking for a friend.

Whaaaat?!? I guess we weren't paying attention to page count for this one. Oops.

Two chapters in. I feel like I'm watching LOST again :)

Adobe houses are actually pretty dope
https://www.redfin.com/city/18007/NM/...
not sure why they chose a stock image of a plain house for the cover

We definitely did NOT know the page count. I think this was from the list I saw at the library that said "If you loved 'Stranger Things' you should read..."

Eric-I hope the "Lost" comparison is a good thing!

Joanie wrote: "

Eric-I hope the "Lost" comparison is a good thing!"

It is! and the openings and cliffhangers of each chapter are kinda tv-show-like.
I think it's a good book choice for the Halloween, just hope I can finish it before that.

I love LOST so I am really looking forward to this one. But first, I need to finish This Is How It Always Is (which I am LOVING!!)

That's good to hear Eric! I loved Lost (most of the time) too so I'm excited. I'm picking up my copy from the library today.

Jess-I loved "This Is How It Always Is" so good!

I received my doorstop, errrrrm book, in the mail yesterday and started reading it this morning. I am only about 10 pages in but it has definitely caught my attention so far.

The "room" described by the men in the first chapter is making this book give me House of Leaves vibes. (I know I am only barely into the book :) )

And Joanie, I LOVED "This is How it Always Is" too.

I finally got to sit and read a few chapters yesterday. I agree about the House of Leaves comparison! I'm only about 70 pages in but it does go fast. I feel like I need to set myself up with a schedule though or this month and this book will have totally gotten away from me!

I finished last night, and I absolutely loved it! I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that the ending was totally satisfying for me. I'm also really impressed that the author was able to maintain the pace for 650 pages, integrating multiple character perspectives, etc. There are a few spots in the book which could be considered "interviews," and after The Night Film, I was a bit concerned the first time. But this book handled each interview in such clever and unique ways that there was no dip in momentum. Awesome.

I'm around 400 pages in and I like it but I don't know if I really care what happens. I guess I'm just not really invested in it as much as it's interesting enough. I keep picturing the rabbit from Donnie Darko when they talk about the rabbit mask "guy"

Imagine being a god-like existence yet still annoyed by dirty carpet in your living room.

Though i haven't read the book it was based on, the general weirdness of the town of Wink reminds me of Wayward Pines.

Pines

I am about 1/3 of the way through American Elsewhere at this point and I am still liking it.

I have mixed feelings about the WINK in the book. (MINOR SPOILER)
On one hand, it's a very intriguing world setting, there is a chapter in the latter part of the book depicting several (very) different families there, which is sad and beautiful in a weird poetic way.
On the other hand, the author seems to have left out a lot of details that sustain these settings, like, if nobody gets in, nobody gets out, who put the groceries in the shop? If the lab is the sole reason the town exists, then what's its economic drive after the lab gone? We saw people going to work in the morning but where exactly do they go?

I only watched a few episodes of Wayward Pines but I had the same thought. I also kept thinking of A Wrinkle in Time-not just with the explanation of time itself but one of the scenes when Mona first arrives made me think of the part in the book where all the moms open the doors at the same time and call the kids in. Also, the "what's beyond Wink" also reminded me of Pleasantville.

Eric, I agree-there are some big flaws there.

So, I am about 2/3 of the way through the book at this point. Didn't read MINOR SPOILER above in case it was about something I haven't gotten to yet. I am still chugging along and am enjoying reading it.

I will only be able to stay at the meeting on Sunday until about 1:45. AND I will have my lovely 7 year old son with me. So, I would like to move the book selection for the November (and January??) book to the beginning of the meeting. :)

I didn't have a problem with Wink, not that I thought about it that much. However, the "nobody gets in or out" thing is clearly not literal, as at least two of Bolan's employees live in Wink and leave to go the Roadhouse for work every day, where trucks have been magically rerouted to create a bustling business. Perhaps one of these trucks occasionally dips down into Wink to make deliveries. Where does everyone else work? No idea, but I didn't really find it that important to know. I mean, frankly I wonder that every time I drive through a small town in the middle of nowhere.

The author kinda made some attempt to give a rational explanation about the logistic issues, Minor spoiler again the "pushing boundary" theory as well as how they made the drug (ew, btw). So I guess we can let that flaw pass if we add some imagination here.
What really seems like a missed opportunity to me is that the human in WINK did not get enough coverage to make it feel like a real town emotionally. When I read the chapters about Carmen (the cocktail lady) and Gracie's boyfriend, I was excited because it is not a ghost town, after all, there are real people with emotions living there! The trio of Borland, Zimmerman, and Mal seems like an interesting team (team Human!) that I can root for, yet their exits from the story are, shall I say, hasty?
When it comes to sci-fi, I'm all for Avengers-style alien punch out. so I actually enjoyed the climax of the story. My nit-picking opinion is that this story (and its ending) will become more powerful if the human in WINK feels more relatable.

I finished the book yesterday evening. Overall, I quite enjoyed it. It seems to me that the town is in part sustained by the excreted-drug business, though the humans may not be aware of that. I imagined, though it wasn't covered, that the "others" controlled what goods made it in to town, since the town was seemingly (though falsely) suspended in a time no later than the 80s. So that means no new magazines, books etc. making it in.

Among all those dazzling super powers, the only one I would like to have was that "little cop brain"