Reviews

• I loved the premise and would go five stars except for the slightly annoying way the tale seemed to lose momentum in the middle. A very enjoyable read nevertheless and I would recommend it to anyone

• ...you did something so totally against common sentiment that EVERYONE, including the law, came down on you? How would you SURVIVE? Would your RELATIONSHIP stand the test? Autoren aus dem anglophonen Raum haben oft ein Talent dafür, ernste Themen in skurril-komische Situationen zu verpacken, um den Leser auf einer Berg-und-Talfahrt der Ereignisse und Emotionen, in einer Geschichte voller Spannung, unterhaltsam und (fast) schmerzlos an die kleinen (und großen) Sünden der Menschheit zu erinnern. Jacob Appel ist das auch mit diesem, wohl zurecht hochgelobten, Buch gelungen, das ich jedem Leser empfehlen kann. (Und wenn Sie z. B. Tom Sharpe, P. G. Wodehouse, Kyril Bonfiglioli, mögen, wissen Sie auch schon ungefähr, worauf Sie sich einlassen.) Die Geschichte des Arnold Brinkmann, der sich aus einer Laune heraus (oder vielleicht doch mit Berechnung? - "Terrorizing his enemies was far more enjoyable than he'd ever imagined." p. 255 ) weigert, den Erwartungen seiner Mitmenschen zu entsprechen, und dafür mit Verachtung gestraft und einer Hetzkampagne der Medien und der Polizei ausgesetzt wird, bietet jede Menge Spannung und Komik, und interessante Nebenfiguren. Auch das Ende - obwohl offen bleibt, wie es dem Protagonisten letztendlich tatsächlich ergeht - kann befriedigen. (Weniger befriedigend sind wieder einmal die Rechtschreibfehler: 'peaked my curiosity ' [statt piqued!, p143], '"Here, here" [hear!], echoed Gilbert.. ', p 24. Korrekturlesen können Menschen eben doch besser als Maschinen.)

• Looking for recent Menippean satire books (see my review of Eric McLuhan’s “Cynic Satire” which describes this genre in detail), I came across sources that listed this title as a possibility. In this story, Arnold Brinkman, while with a young nephew-in law at Yankee’s game, refuses to stand during the playing of “God Bless America” and has to deal with the consequences that ensue. There are some parallels with Colin Kaepernick’s situation where he began kneeling during the national anthem (2016) to protest racial injustice and police brutality (receiving renewed attention in around the time of this writing due to the death of George Floyd, where the NFL has reversed its stance regarding such player protest in 2020). However, the book is also quite different in that its protagonist is a white man and it is written in 2012 (before Kaepernick’s situation) in the context of NYC after 9/11---reaction to terrorism and 2nd Iraq War. Given these caveats, the book presents an engaging and well written offering that could well be taken as a “Menippean satire (see the McLuhan book mentioned above, Chapter 15 – The Litmus Test, What Is and Isn’t Cynic Satire,” for those interested in examining such a possibility with more scrutiny). More specifically, the contents consist of Part I with unnamed Chapters 1-6 and Part II with unnamed Chapters 7-13, the final chapter brings the story to a conclusion. The former segment devoted to the background remain seated event immediate aftermath, the second pertains to Arnold’s leaving home to hide out, weather the storm or deal with matters in different ways. My favorite aspects of the book include background of the main character, Arnold Brinkman, botanist/gardener/author, plant nursery co-owner and his journey of self-discovery like Joyce’s “Ulysses.” As indicated along the way, “On the lecture circuit, young horticulturists frequently examined Arnold’s curriculum vitae and noted how well all the strands of his life had come together. That was because they possessed the power of hindsight, he warned. A man doesn’t list his setbacks on his résumé.” Then there are the allusions to his major book "Please Do Eat the Daylilies” recalling the 1960’s movie with David Niven and Doris Day (I have a soft spot for these flowers as we have many of them at our lake house) and other references such as to Habermas’s “The Theory of Communicative Action.” The names of other major characters also recall different images and layers of meaning as well. More particularly Arnold’s wife character Judith (brining to mind the biblical Book of Judith) emerges as do those of friends Bonnie and Gilbert Card (in the cards), a liberal news reporter Cassandra (whose moniker brings forth Greek mythology). Also coming to fore are Venezuelan business partner Willie Zambrano (aka Vargas, Hispanic foreigner), black fascist minister Spitford Spotty, the “Bare-Ass Bandit” (performance art/harassment), and Ira Taylor (neighbor, investment broker). As the text relates at different points, “Everybody’s pretty screwed up, when you get right down to it. You can live with someone your entire life and not know the first thing about him.” In terms of drawbacks, sometimes the narrative seems a bit contrived and far-fetched, but the book did keep me interested and reading until the end---an ode to a “Crusader against hypocrisy and knee-jerk patriotism, and citizen of the world.” If you can get past comparison with the Colin Kaepernick situation and keep in mind the 9/11- Iraq War aftermath to begin with, this book provides an engaging read well worth consideration as a Menippean satire candidate.

• Solange in den USA ein derart kritischer Roman erscheinen darf, gibt es Hoffnung! Excellent in eine spannende Geschichte verpackt weist der Autor auf gesellschaftliche Missstände in den USA hin- nur befürchte ich, wäre der Schluss in Wirklichkeit weniger glimpflich von statten gegangen.. Absolut lesenswert!

• Appel is a truly gifted writer, whose talent is very uncomfortable and unsatisfying. Like in The Biology of Luck, Appel creates characters who, though truly repulsive at times, are fascinating. Since reading Dickens' David Copperfield, I have rarely been so engrossed in the lives and going ons of society's oddities. Bad reviews of Appel suggest that his characters are unlikable and his plots senseless, and they are, but not in a bad way. Appel's characters are truly terrible sometimes, and so are many people, including myself. Humans can be beastly, and so many humans flock to watch shows like CSI in which these perverse characters reveal their crazy. I think, in Appel's case, readers have a problem with the fact that the "bad" guys are not necessarily easy to distinguish from the normal guys. That all of his characters are, at times, both relatable and repulsive. And that is a unique, grey, much more interesting insight than what readers are spoon fed in so many stories. Little things ruin the lives of seemingly normal people all the time. Appel reveals an innate insanity in humanity that we all have heard, may have seen first hand or second hand, on the radio, in the news, etc. And what's more is that he contrasts the insanity of an individual with the mob mentality (also a form of crazy), of those obsessed with the wrongness of another. There are so many layers to this dark comedy, and I do believe people mistake it if they do not read it as comedic, that I cannot do it justice in a review. I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon one of America's next great writers. Creeped out, disgusted and a little queasy, at times, but also thrilled. Which is what great literature can do to a reader.

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