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Dissolute Kinship: A 9/11 Road Trip

by David Antrobus (Goodreads Author)

4.58 of 5 stars 4.58 · rating details · 33 ratings · 16 reviews

When David Antrobus set out on a personal, reflective solo road trip from the Pacific Coast of Canada to New York City, he picked a random date: Tuesday, September 11, 2001. This coincidence, despite the horrors of that day, proved oddly serendipitous in the sense of the author's struggle for understanding of his own relatively small trauma, which he was then only beginnin...more

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Published March 27th 2011

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Oct 16, 2012 R.C. Drake rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review is from: Dissolute Kinship: A 9/11 Road Trip (Kindle Edition)
Dissolute Kinship: A 9/11 Road Trip, takes us on a journey with the Author as our pilot. Needing to close pages of a past not easily forgotten and only rekindled by the tragedy of the bombing, leads this author to take this arduous journey. Remembering that day, while reading this book, brought a new round of thoughts to my mind. Those buildings were icons to Americans, and in the hearts and minds of those terrorists they d...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Edward Lorn rated it 5 of 5 stars

For the most part, I read to be entertained. I normally don’t enjoy nonfiction memoirs. My escapes into literature are normally just that; escapes, so when I picked up David Atrobus’s short story, “Dissolute Kinship: A 9/11 Road Trip,” I did so understanding two things: harsh memories would be dredged up and someone else’s emotions would become my own. What I did not expect to find was a sudden admiration for an author that, in my honest opinion, makes my own writing look banal in comparison.

I d...more For the most part, I read to be entertained. I normally don’t enjoy nonfiction memoirs. My escapes into literature are normally just that; escapes, so when I picked up David Atrobus’s short story, “Dissolute Kinship: A 9/11 Road Trip,” I did so understanding two things: harsh memories would be dredged up and someone else’s emotions would become my own. What I did not expect to find was a sudden admiration for an author that, in my honest opinion, makes my own writing look banal in comparison.

I do these reviews not to help sell other author’s works, but to dissect what they have done right or wrong. I am a self-trained storyteller; literature is my classroom. With David Atrobus, I have learned that there is beauty in the mundane. My favorite bit from the story has David likening a cloud of smoke to a head of a cauliflower. Simple, beautiful, striking. You see exactly what he means without him having to go into great detail. That might seem like a small thing to everyone else, but to me, it’s my life’s blood.

I enjoyed the story as much as I could, seeing as it’s not a light-hearted journey. What I saw was a man coming blindly into a terrible situation. There was no one to fight, no place-holder to attack, nothing but an overwhelming since of sadness and empathy for those around him. At that moment, David seemed to look within and without with equal curiosity. So often I read stories from only one point of view—the author describing in glorious detail what’s happening inside, inside, inside, forgetting for a moment that the real world is still going on around them. David doesn’t do this. He examines his own feelings as well as the emotions emanating from those he comes in contact with. I applaud his efforts, for he succeeds page after page.

David Atrobus has a way with syntax. You can tell he is a well-read, intelligent individual that could crush you with his vocabulary given the chance, yet he dribbles instead of spews. He brings out the big guns only when their effect is desirable and doesn’t beat you about the head with verbose meanderings. Having an extensive lexicon and knowing when to use it is a gift in my eyes. David, you, sir, are gifted.

This is the first piece from David I have read—other than his online presence—and it will not be my last. Thank you for sharing your travels. They were well received.

E.(less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Carolyn Steele rated it 5 of 5 stars

I reviewed this book prior to interviewing David for a podcast on my blog. The review is long, I reproduce it all here because David's work deserves nothing less.

I had a feeling I was going to like this book, its story resonated with me on a number of levels. It’s a road trip for a start, you may have noticed I like those. It was also born from one of those those ‘you couldn’t make it up’ coincidences that make narrative non-fiction such a vital addition to the bookshelf. You couldn’t easily fic...more I reviewed this book prior to interviewing David for a podcast on my blog. The review is long, I reproduce it all here because David's work deserves nothing less.

I had a feeling I was going to like this book, its story resonated with me on a number of levels. It’s a road trip for a start, you may have noticed I like those. It was also born from one of those those ‘you couldn’t make it up’ coincidences that make narrative non-fiction such a vital addition to the bookshelf. You couldn’t easily fictionalise a chap who planned to drive from Vancouver to New York, setting out on September the 11th 2001, heard the news and set off anyway.

Add to this premise that the traveller in question is a poet, a philosopher and somewhat acquainted with trauma and you have a book that transcends genres such as ‘memoir’ or ‘travelogue’ and even ‘poetry’. It is simply unique.

When I downloaded Dissolute Kinship, I had recently returned from a visit to New York and had been an early visitor to the newly opened 9/11 memorial. The effects of that unforgettable event were on my mind.

On the day the world changed, most of us were watching our TV screens, incredulous, horrified, unbelieving. The need to see the same footage over and over gripped everyone I knew, as though the repetition might help it make sense. David Antrobus however, having caught the news of the beginning of that day as he prepared for his trip, processed the events in a slightly different way. As he drove across Canada from West to East he had just the endless horizon, the daylight hours of solitude and the northern lights to accompany his thoughts.

Some us just drive
I’ve mentioned before how good the Canadian prairies are for encouraging contemplation. There’s so little to see that you are thrown totally into your own mind for diversion. While my prairie thoughts were wasted on trivia like stupid names for places and what on earth a potash interpretive center might be, David was contemplating weightier issues. Despite updates from CNN on roadside motel TVs each evening, he spent those early days without the onslaught of ‘expert opinion’ that most of us absorbed, almost unknowingly, while unable to tear ourselves away from the screens.

He approaches New York just over a week later and his thoughts change as he passes the roadsigns, banners and notices, all of which bring more questions than answers. The questions he poses are troubling and although he files them away to think about later for himself, they linger for us…confronting the reader with their obvious need to be considered.

Making sense, on hold
As the narrative takes us deep into Manhattan, the city of New York becomes a character in its own right. Someone you become part of, convulsed with unfathomable grief. The author stays with a friend and spends his time observing, meeting, speaking and listening. He encounters people handling the impossibility in ways which might normally comfort them; talking, making music, doing whatever it habitually takes to make sense. But the making sense won’t come, so the talking—the enumeration of losses, the retelling of trivial incidents which made the different between life and death—and the music making, and sometimes the silence, go on and on. Because it’s how you’d normally cope. Just like, for some of us, going on a long drive might do the trick. Worldwide, we did the same sort of things but there, in the heart of the pain, you did it while breathing the air, drowning in the grieving and seeing how the world had changed every time you lifted your eyes to the horizon.

We learn a little more about the author as the journal progresses. He tells us he’s a people-watcher but we’d already guessed that. He adds a tangential mention of his own previous PTSD to the mix, and a little more becomes clear. Now we know why he fears for the silent ones, why he seeks out people to speak with, he understands the need to talk it out. One damaged soul who comprehends the need for repetition, the importance of outing the trauma, more than most of us…gave the city the only gift he had. When he mentions a sense of shame for having been a tourist in those terrible days, we realise that his processing is not yet done. One day the author will understand that he was the right person in the right place, giving of himself for people who had no more idea than he did why he was there.

I cannot tell you that you will enjoy this book, but I can tell you that you won’t regret reading it. And that you will reread it more than once. I’m a travelogue fan, it’s why I write them, but mine are daft romps, designed to raise a wry grin and a titter. This book is a piece of poetry and a testament to what it means to be human, it just happens to include going somewhere. (less)

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Jul 10, 2012 Jeff Dawson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Three and half stars

Hm, I'm still dissecting the words so eloquently selected for this story. It is a poet's journey from a sanctuary in British Columbia to the evils of the Western World. Power, greed and embellishment.

I'm guessing I'm one of the few conservatives to offer a review concerning this disillusioned trek across the United States after its second infamous attack-Pearl Harbor being the first.

It is a very thought provoking story. The author paints the landscape of the Midwest in exce...more Three and half stars

Hm, I'm still dissecting the words so eloquently selected for this story. It is a poet's journey from a sanctuary in British Columbia to the evils of the Western World. Power, greed and embellishment.

I'm guessing I'm one of the few conservatives to offer a review concerning this disillusioned trek across the United States after its second infamous attack-Pearl Harbor being the first.

It is a very thought provoking story. The author paints the landscape of the Midwest in excellent detail as he travels this vast, diverse land. His accounts of how the normal New Yorker and American attempt to regroup and reflect on the barbarous attack of 9/11 to their beloved city is well documented. However, he deflects from the terrorist act as if we swat flys from our faces. The act (which called upon him to venture out) is an after thought. Would he have made the journey to New York if the towers weren't hit? Why now? To witness first hand the carnage or to be part of history? Our was it something deeper? A first hand glimpse at a country reeling from an aggressive act? I fear it is the later as Mr. Antrobus deliberately and without shame calls out, what did he call him, yes, "frighteningly small-minded-Texas oilman." Yep, that's were he lost me. Instead of reflecting on his memoirs and accounts, he jumped ship and called out the leader of the free world at the time. I suppose he (the president) should have lobbed a few cruise missles and called it a day.

That was appalling and unjustified! I suggest he go back and reread American history, especially WWII. Did the Republicans of that era stand on the steps of the White House and demand an explanation for Pearl Harbor? No. They accepted the call to arms and signed-up to avenge the attack. Did they write long soliloquys for praise and peace? No. They learned how to fight and took the fight to the enemy, that included Canadians. A world united against tyranny and dictatorships.

I apologize for the political rant. I felt it needed to be addressed since Mr. Antrobus addressed it.

Back on point. Who would enjoy this work? I believe this book would be a welcome addition to any collegiate library in the psychological and social studies section. It is well written and provides an excellent insight of the traveler and the multitude of feelings and emotions swirling around his mind and those he met. (less)

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Jul 02, 2012 Al rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2012, kindle

Until the day I die, I’ll remember what I did the night of September 10, 2001. I attended the Minneapolis stop of what was billed as the “Slewfoot Calvacade of Stars,” a tour of small Midwestern clubs by the top (really almost all) music acts on a tiny Ozark record label. It was a late night and I intended to sleep in the next morning. Then my girlfriend’s phone call woke me up. “I think you better turn on the TV,” was all she said. I turned on the TV to see a plane fly into a building for the f...more Until the day I die, I’ll remember what I did the night of September 10, 2001. I attended the Minneapolis stop of what was billed as the “Slewfoot Calvacade of Stars,” a tour of small Midwestern clubs by the top (really almost all) music acts on a tiny Ozark record label. It was a late night and I intended to sleep in the next morning. Then my girlfriend’s phone call woke me up. “I think you better turn on the TV,” was all she said. I turned on the TV to see a plane fly into a building for the first of several times that day. A few years later I talked to the late Duane Jarvis and Stevie Newman, frontman for the Domino Kings, both of whom had played that night. I mentioned the date and they immediately remembered where they’d been and told me about being awoken the next morning with the news that the two remaining shows on the tour were cancelled. As soon as they could, they were on the road, to Nashville and Springfield, their respective homes. Like the day Kennedy was shot, that day is cemented in the minds of all of us who lived through it.

David Antrobus remembers that morning too. He woke up in Vancouver, got in his car, and headed for New York. It was a road trip to visit friends that, as he heard and eventually saw what had happened, became much more. Recently diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), Antrobus was to see much of the same symptoms among the residents of New York. One of the ways of dealing with a stressful event is to talk about it, which he did to many New Yorkers he met, and continues doing here, telling us what he saw and felt, and how he reacted.

Dissolute Kinship packs a big emotional punch in a small number of words. I loved Antrobus’ writing style, which to me felt almost literary, but it was in the conclusions he drew where I found the biggest payoff. What do the events of 9/11 say about the world and our place in it? In Dissolute Kinship you’ll find one Canadian’s opinion and, agree or disagree, realize that the most important thing is to keep the conversation going.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **(less)

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May 22, 2011 Tess Harding rated it 5 of 5 stars

I bought Dissolute Kinship after hearing about it through the Amazon Kindle forums, not particularly expecting to enjoy it, but curious. As a resident of the U.K. 9/11 does not carry the same resonance for us as it does the citizens of America. However, David Antrobus is also not an American, but Canadian, and the book is not really about 9/11 itself but rather the aftermath and David’s reaction to it.

Starting a trip to visit friends in New York, the writer wakes one morning in the middle of Ame...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Linda Rae rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a work I knew would be great, knew I would regret if I didn't read, knew would be painful to read--so, what did I do? I put it off, kept it neatly tucked away in my Kindle To Be Reads where it haunted me like a personal ghost. Well, I was yanked from my frozen state into action when someone else's review crossed by screen.

"Coward," I called myself and reached for my Kindle. Half an hour later, with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, a knot in my stomach, I knew I was right to rea...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Ed Drury rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have read many accounts of 9/11 from different perspectives. I found this work to be perhaps the most compelling look at 9/11 for two reasons. One, it comes from the perspective of a visitor to America during that terrible week. One who traveled it's breadth meeting and talking with people, observing the nation as a visitor to it. It is told with a kind of compassionate warmth of someone who cares about people. Someone who cares without any political agenda, but rather the very human capacity...more

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May 22, 2012 Kat Yares rated it 5 of 5 stars

Any time a person's memoir can bring me to tears before I've even finished the first chapter, then the author has succeeded. Dissolute Kinship: A 9/11 Road Trip evoked memories and emotions that I haven't experienced since that fateful day when the Twin Towers ceased to exist. Unlike the author of this story, I've never been to New York City and his words walked me thru the tragedy that happened there, just as if he was holding my hand and guiding me down the streets.

The memoir is short, only to...more

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Jun 04, 2011 Melinda Clayton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Antrobus' writing is phenomenal. I ran across this writer on several writers' sites and was immediately intrigued by his story. I'm glad I was.

As an American, 9/11 will always occupy a tender spot in my heart. Who among us doesn't remember exactly what we were doing when the planes hit? It was particularly interesting to see that day from the outside. Antrobus is a Canadian who, on his own journey of healing, decided to visit New York on that fateful day. His descriptions bring back painful mem...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Patricia Awapara rated it 5 of 5 stars

From the moment I picked up the book, I was moved by David Antrobus' words.

Beautifully written, this short story starts moments after the world goes into shock about the 9/11 tragedy. The author takes a road trip, from Canada to New York. He describes the city's emotional state and his reaction to this horrific event with much insight and warmth. His words took me back in time. I felt as though I was there with him, with all those people. I felt their hurt and despair. It made me cried, but his...more

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May 07, 2012 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

David Antrobus captures the essence of community and perspective in this vivid account of 9-11. The pages come alive, not with destruction and tragedy, but with hope and meaning. The author opens his mind and feelings, leading us through the process from an outsiders point of view. In the end, he helps us understand by painting a masterpiece with words. He shares with us everything, from the guilt felt while viewing ground zero to the greater understanding how human lives are interconnected. Gre...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Rich Meyer rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the single best book I've read all year, and the best new book I've read in many a moon. The premise is simple: Mr. Antrobus writes about his feelings and observations on a rather-Kerouacian road trip from Canada to New York in the days immediately following 9/11. I don't often give a book five-stars, but this one deserves the rating. Highly recommended!

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Feb 08, 2013 J.M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs, e-books, nonfiction

Very interesting look at 9/11 through a Canadian tourist's eyes. Reading the author's memories of that fateful day brought it all back vividly for me. Well-written. I'll definitely look for more by this author.

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May 10, 2012 A.B. Shepherd rated it 4 of 5 stars

You can read my review here: http://abshepherdsreinventedreader.bl...

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Jan 27, 2013 Janeandjerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

THIS WAS A SHORT FREE KINDLE BOOK FROM AMAZON.

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