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Title: Goats : A Novel by Mark Jude Poirier ISBN: 0-7868-8713-3 Publisher: Miramax Pub. Date: 20 March, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.72 (32 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Smart, fun book
Comment: To anyone thinking of reading Goats, I will not be able to articulate to you, how much I loved this book. It was truly one of the most brilliant, humorous, original books I have ever read. The story progressed and ended at the perfect pace. All the characters were unique, believable and consistent to themselves. It was original and page-turning, without trying too hard. When I finished this book, I felt like I was on the inside to something great, before anyone else. I can't wait for this author to write another one.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Amazing Coming of Age Novel
Comment: A few years back I stumbled over and loved Poirier's excellent short story collection, Naked Pueblo, and I'm glad to report his debut novel displays the same strong writing and sympathetically quirky offbeat characters as his short stories. Like his short stories, the book is set primarily in Tucson, although there are chapters in Pennsylvania, and a few short visits to Washington, D.C. The story centers around Ellis, a 14-year-old who is leaving his odd domestic life with his mother in Tucson for a stuffy East Coast boarding/prep school. His upbringing has been somewhat haphazardly managed by Wendy-his hippie turned New Age mother whom he addresses by her first name, of course-and a quiet pothead relic of the early '70s called "Goat Man," who raises hybrid marijuana and goats while living for free in the pool house. His father...), lives out east and hasn't played much of a role in Ellis's life, so he's mostly relied on Goat Man as his male role model. Goat Man, on the other hand, is mainly a wiser, older brother figure to him, setting him up with all the herb he needs, turning him on to Peter Tosh, and going on goat trekking trips.
Poirier sets this up odd background and proceeds to show Ellis's transformation as he enters the no less bizarre environment of his first year of boarding school. While he finds out that his father isn't as bad as he thought, and that there's more to life than pot, Goat Man engages in a low-intensity war with Wendy's smarmy new boyfriend, Bennet, who wants Goat Man gone. The narrative switches back and forth as both have little adventures, building to a climactic trip to Mexico and goat trek back across the border that highlights the changes Ellis has undergone and the cowardice behind Goat Man's laid-back persona.The story brims with authenticity throughout, from the crew team's erg sessions at prep school to the ornery goats in the desert. Poirier perfectly captures quintessential teenage boy moments like Ellis's first romantic interest and subsequent crushing disillusionment.
As with many coming of age novels, Ellis is often remarkably mature and sensible for his age, but Poirier shows us how came to be this way, living with his space cadet mother (he pays all the bills for her). Indeed, all the characters pop from the page as fully recognizable and sympathetic individuals, from Ellis's father's genuinely nice and bright new girlfriend, to Bennet's wanna-be-slacker...niece, to Ellis's priggish roommate and his booze-soaked older brother. The pace is languid but compelling, with a sort of deadpan, wry humor coursing throughout. Somehow, Poirier manages to be poignant and charming without being mawkish or sentimental. The three closest books I can think of are Jervey Tervalon's "Living For the City," Chris Fuhrman's "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys," and Tom Perrotta's "Bad Haircut."
Rating: 5
Summary: What a lovely read...
Comment: I'm no critic. Just know what I like when I read it, and this is a lovely novel. What a cool movie it could be. (Sounding like a teenager is cool, too.) I hope Poirier publishes another novel soon.
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Title: Naked Pueblo by Mark Jude Poirier ISBN: 0786885939 Publisher: Miramax Pub. Date: 07 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Unsung Heroes of American Industry: Stories by Mark Jude Poirier ISBN: 0786868279 Publisher: Miramax Pub. Date: 20 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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