Brian Allen Carr

This book is the Sharknado's idol. It's the love child of wild west movies and that shark movie with LL Cool J. This book makes the shark from Jaws pee in its shark pants. This book is also surprisingly, shockingly beautiful at times. There is actual, honest to God, prose in this book. I have never had a book buck my expectations more than this one did. Well done, Brian Allen Carr.

Quirky above all, but I grew to love the narrator, 17-yr old Riggle as he struggled to adjust to his new circumstances. Kind of a modern-day Holden Caulfield, he is sensible, but skeptical - with good reason. His parents both died - Dad of a truck-driving accident, Mom of a grieving overdose and he was propelled sub-par care at the hands of extended relatives who valued his ward-of-the-state check more than him. After spending the majority of his life in TX, he is now in a generic smallish show more town in IN at the home of his addict uncle and uncle's girlfriend, Peggy. As he adjusts to the new town, new climate, new school, he is not without a few bumps in the road; he is a good kid, not an angel. The story takes place in the space of a week, in which Riggle has been suspended from school for a vape device that wasn't his, as well as his smart-ass answers when interrogated. During this week, his uncle is MIA on a bender and he is left to his own devices. Though he doesn't want to be the "catcher in the rye", he opts for something equally unlikely: 2 local town characters: Autistic Ross and the Bicycling Confederate - neither of which are viable future career options - plus the roles are already taken. Riggle spends his week half-heartedly tracking down his uncle (no good news), hanging with his friend Bennett, and securing a job as a dishwasher at a fancy local restaurant. Riggle is astute and observant, (he reads philosophy for fun) though will likely be passed over by the 'establishment' since he is such a nonconformist. Chef at his new job believes in him, but he is lacking adult support and reminisces about his mother. Embedded in the narration are origin myths his mother told him about the names of the days of the week, featuring a shadow puppet, Remote. This character becomes obsessively crucial to him in the week's span as his link with the past and a comfort in his present. He's a kid on the edge for sure, but he will find his balance by the end. Memorable quotes: "I feel there are two types of misery in this world. There's not getting what you want and being angry. And there's getting what you want and being sad." (p. 135) "...I'm not a good student but I know about causality and I've read plenty of books....I understand relatively. I understand that time is a concept we've both invented and that exists. That it changes depending on where you are. That the present is not as simple as you'd think. That memories aren't trustworthy." (p.159) Definitely fresh. show less

Opioid, Indiana chronicles a week in the life of seventeen-year-old Riggle, an orphan living with his uncle in a nameless Indiana town he calls Opioid. He is not being ironic. He has just been suspended for a week thanks to a false accusation, though he doesn’t seem to mind. His uncle is missing and the rent is due on Friday. Peggy, his uncle’s girlfriend, tells him to look for the uncle so they don’t get evicted.

Thus begins his week of adventures that include getting a job, stealing a show more bike, and searching for his uncle all of it told with the wry wit of a natural-born storyteller. The days of the week are marked by his recounting his mother’s stories of how the days of the week. Her stories are original and unorthodox.

I loved Opioid, Indiana and didn’t want it to end. I want to hear more from Riggle. This kid has a philosophical frame of mind and likes to speculate and ponder the imponderables. He also is hilarious in describing Texas, his home state, and Indiana, his new state, one he declares is “mean” with cold. Riggle has experienced more than his share of loss, his father and mother are both dead and his former guardians shipped him off to Indiana, but he faces what is hard with equanimity and humor. Sometimes the humor is hiding the pain, but Riggle is not afraid to admit his pain. He just won’t live there.

Opioid, Indiana will be published on September 17th. I received an e-galley from the publisher through Edelweiss.

Opioid, Indiana at Soho Press
Brian Allen Carr on GoodReads
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/09/04/9781641290784/ show less

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: Bad Foundations is a comedic absurdist novel about a home foundation inspector whose own home life is falling apart.

Cook does not have an ordinary job. He spends his days inspecting people's crawl spaces, cataloging their filth and photographing the decay. At his other job, as a father, he has to learn how to bond with his teenage daughter, but that's hard to do when covered in spider webs.

High on legal weed and searching for answers to life's mysteries, show more Cook works alongside similar colorful characters trying to make money and save for the future. That is until a bad sales month spirals out into a quantum stay at a surreal Ohio hotel.

New friendships are made, old curses are dealt with, and the local police force is put to the test. Told in a stylized working-class voice, Brian Allen Carr is a true raconteur of the American Midwest.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Double entendres and in-jokes for the literarily informed; not much of a plot to keep you reading, though. It's a book I browsed through for a couple years but never lost interest enough to Pearl-Rule it forever.

I don't know if y'all're gonna resonate to the odd combo of working-class setting and slightly recherché philosophical and literary-theory concepts.

CLASH Books requests and requires delivery of $17.95 for a paperback. show less