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Awful, Ohio

by Jeff Neal (Goodreads Author)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 7 ratings · 7 reviews

Every morning the sun rises, waking Awful, Ohio, overlooking all of its residents, guiding them towards another productive and profitable working day. The economy is strong and the money is abundant, all of which are offered to whomever produces and profits the most product. The masses rejoice daily over the informed opportunity, with the exception of Troy Slushy.

Troy Slu...more

Paperback, 256 pages

Published 2011

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Jan 05, 2012 Saint Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Troy Slushy lives in the mundane, repetitive world that is Awful, Ohio. Many readers may find Troy’s every day life identical to their own. Getting up and going to work every day can slowly start to diminish the autonomous spirit running amuck in our veins. As our sun-fueled world continuously turns, every waning day becomes more routine and commonplace until one no longer questions his freedom. Our careers become our lives, our hobbies no longer exist. Troy Slushy has no hobby until one day he...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Lowtechmaster none rated it 5 of 5 stars

An amazing first novel! It is a brilliant surrealistic satire on the values of modern society, the economic system, "success," human relationships, the human body and bodily functions, human hopes/aspirations/gullibility, and language, etc. "Awful, Ohio" has a systematic and consistent intentional incongruity in its settings, plots, and characters, and in its characters' dialogues and thoughts, as well as in word choice. The book's imagery is dominated by opposites: light/dark, wet/dry, hot/cold...more

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Oct 23, 2011 C.V. Hunt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Troy Slushy wakes one day within a midlife crisis. He is miserable with how his life has turned out, and the sun shines every day to expose his failures. Troy’s ultimate correction for his over indulged life is to destroy the one thing that exposes his misery – the sun.

Troy lives in a world of overabundance. The economy is booming, unemployment is low, and everyone is spending money. We are shown the inside world of a factory where the owner is obsessed with efficiency. Your punishment for not w...more Troy Slushy wakes one day within a midlife crisis. He is miserable with how his life has turned out, and the sun shines every day to expose his failures. Troy’s ultimate correction for his over indulged life is to destroy the one thing that exposes his misery – the sun.

Troy lives in a world of overabundance. The economy is booming, unemployment is low, and everyone is spending money. We are shown the inside world of a factory where the owner is obsessed with efficiency. Your punishment for not working efficiently is humiliation, and your reward is the euphoria of gaining money to buy more stuff that you don’t need.

Jeff Neal makes it blatantly obvious that the story is based on materialism. Troy Slushy’s biggest objective is to rid himself of it one way or another, by destroying the sun that exposes it all. At first his plans are completely ludicrous and unattainable, but as the story moves on, he fashions a plan that could work, if the odds weren’t completely stacked against him. Another character’s biggest objective is to take out the materialism at its source, the efficient factory owner that pays out the cash in the form of weekly paychecks. The author’s depiction of store owners selling their products out of trash cans only hammers the basis of his story:

The judge was in bewilderment at what he was hearing. How could a human being not understand currency in exchange for prod¬uct? The judge kept listening to Samuel Amiable’s ignorance. The boy had no parents, no home, or any documents verifying his iden¬tity. Samuel Amiable had become the mold of a bum in the judge’s mind; an aimless vagabond stealing from the hard working store owners who were innocently selling items of fabricated value from their trashcans. The judge sat silently, building an image in his mind of Samuel Amiable haphazardly and deceitfully deconstructing all of Awful, Ohio’s honesty and integrity and values.
***

The strange descriptions of the characters left them looking cartoonish in my mind. Some are described as having flipper hands that are permanently wrapped around pistols, facial features that are pieced together like a drunken puzzle, and ponytails and ears that wiggle on their own, and attack other people.

I picked this book because the story seemed so outlandish that it had to fall into the ‘Madness’ category that I love, and I was right. I was reminded of something my editor told me once after only reading a few pages. Stephen King was quoted to saying: “The road to hell is paved in adverbs.” Luckily for Jeff Neal, the road is not paved with adjectives too.

Although I did find it somewhat repetitive, I didn’t mind the excessive descriptions. The author’s outrageous characters and unlikely story line create a cartoon quality to the story. The book was overstuffed with a lyrical web of depictions, and it left the story wanting to be a poem in my eyes. With a Dr. Seuss-like quality to the writing, and a Willie Wonka madness to the story, we get an idea of what living in Awful, Ohio is really like. This book takes you off a beaten path, and it may not be for everyone, but if you are looking for bizarre and different, then look no further.
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Oct 14, 2011 Richard (Bound & Determined...) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-request

I know that many reviewers are wary of self-publishers, stating that quality of the writing is poor, as well as the pervasiveness of grammatical and spelling errors. I must be on a run of good luck, because all the self-published books I have read have been really good, including Awful, Ohio.

Neal uses a writing technique that is unlike anything I’ve read thus far. There is a redundancy that propels the story along, reminding you of motives, reasoning, and the succubus-like tendencies of Awful, O...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Asheley rated it 4 of 5 stars

(a similar version of this review can be found here at Into the Hall of Books: http://www.intothehallofbooks.com/201...)

I became interested in Jeff Neal's Awful, Ohio after reading a review on another blog. The synopsis was intriguing and had such a dry humor about it--I felt like this story would fit my personality and sense of humor well.

As Awful, Ohio begins, we get to know Troy Slushy and his utter disdain for how his life has become: he hates where he lives, he hates getting up for work in...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Cassandra (The Book & Movie Dimension blogger) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, fiction

--Full, non-spoiler review courtesy at Book & Movie Dimension a Blog--

From the beginning , Awful, Ohio had the tell-tale signs it wasn't going to be just any regular old novel. And entirely proud to have the opportunity to have read this novel. Awful, Ohio is this blog's raison d' etre (reson for being) considering, Book & Movie Dimension a Blog, was made for discovering unique and or books that are just amazing. Awful, Ohio falls under both categories: a unique and amazing book!

On the w...more --Full, non-spoiler review courtesy at Book & Movie Dimension a Blog--

From the beginning , Awful, Ohio had the tell-tale signs it wasn't going to be just any regular old novel. And entirely proud to have the opportunity to have read this novel. Awful, Ohio is this blog's raison d' etre (reson for being) considering, Book & Movie Dimension a Blog, was made for discovering unique and or books that are just amazing. Awful, Ohio falls under both categories: a unique and amazing book!

On the whole believe Awful, Ohio is an impressive book not only from its story's actual make-up but also in its characters. Troy Slushy a heavily overworked man seeks to escape with his wife, Lacy Slushy, from a life of empty materialistic lives that he sees only makes them unhappy. Troy thinks the sun is his enemy when each and every day it forces him to get up to another productive day of working at Mad Ted's Uckin Hot Auce ware house where he is a worker. A worker in producing some of the town of Awful, Ohio's most sold hot sauce. Awful, Ohio a town that has grown to be a town of the highest wealth thanks to its citzens's drive to work day in and day out. People wish to work and work in exchange to later buy what they most desire. Since the citizens hae one of the most financially stable places on Earth therefore named Awful, Ohio for being so awe-inspiring. All of the citizens are satisfied with their lives except Troy. Still unbeknowst, to Troy there are quite a few others that have their own problems with how things are run in Awful, Ohio. Wilsie McHickoryboob, a nespaper journalist, who hates that Mad Ted wont share how his warehouse (Mad Ted's Uckin Hot Sauce warehouse) is so efficient in having led Awful, Ohio to great success. Wilsie's poking around only takes her in the direction of some misguided criminals: Sammy Ammo, Chuck Splatter, and Doink McTriggers who want to obtain the information she has gathered on Mad Ted in an attempt to garner Mad Ted's power. These characters go on their quests to find out the truth of Awful, Ohio's success.

A book that has an individual fascinating type of language. Tge writing deeply flows and is so exact. Ok, he is an example [below]:

Chuck Splatter was frustrated at having to listen to listen to Wilsie, and even more frustrated to rely on her for information. He felt inferior, submissively listening and following her towards the boiler room, as if the years of working with Sammy Ammo no longer held any value. The tender flesh constructing his misaligned face began to swell from the anger-induced heat, as it began to conquer all of his nerves. Chuck Splatter involutarily leaned forward, balancing on the tips of his toes, ready to lunge towards Wilsie and strangle her neck until she was permanenty incapable of ejecting words from her mouth. But before he could commit to his intentions, a gentle fly glided through the air, softly hovering above Wilsie's shoulder, ready to ease down for a smooth landing. But on high alert her pony tail launched out like the tongue of a frog, grabbing a hold of the fly before it could land. The tips of her hair quickly tied around seperate parts of the fly's body, pulling away in direction, dismembering the fly in several pieces, before engulfing each body part. Chuck Splatter prevented his assault, as he watched the pony tail devour the fly, one body part at a time, with each portion protruding from the surface of Wilsie's pony tail, like the outline of a freshly swallowed fawn entering into the evaporating bowels of a satisfied python.

While at first having never encountered writing like it felt out of element but soon jumped right in. As a reader its a new experience. On the characters, Awful, Ohio has quite an array of characters with many distinct differences. They all have good complimentary angles to the complete story. Troy Slushy is also determined but obviously misguided other times. He's searching for something beyond what he has and is. He's a definite interesting character. Then there is Wilsie McHickoryboob who is always seeking fame as a journalist in the Awful Gaette happens to have a pigtail a mind of its own. Her ponytail with whipping capabilities against objects and even a unsuspecting fly. Another character that should highlight is Chuck Splatter his name making note of his horrendous face as a splatter. Chuck is a huge devotee of Sammy Ammo who is Chuck and Doink's leader i past and present criminal activities. Mostly as a reader these are some fine characters to encounte. Entirely witty and humorous.

Awful, Ohio is a true work of literacy art. Awful, Ohio can be counted on being surprising, if given a chance. Jeff Neal truly seems to know what to do to make an impact with a novel. Awful, Ohio is sure to be a good one.
Overall: Amazing read!
Genre: Fiction
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Jan 04, 2012 Erin M rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, read-december-2011

I received a copy of this book from the author, and unfortunately, I was really disappointed with it. The biggest complaint I had - tons of errors. I really don't understand why if an author is going to go to the trouble and expense of self-publishing, they wouldn't take the extra step and hire an editor. It does not make for an enjoyable reading experience.

Truthfully, I did not make it all the way through this book - I was turned off by the errors, and did not care much for the style. I felt as...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Kevin Neal is currently reading it

Aug 16, 2012 Scott marked it as to-read

Shelves: blog-reviews

Jan 10, 2012 Denise Gabbard is currently reading it

Oct 23, 2011 Molly Wason marked it as to-read

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About Jeff Neal

Birthed in Massachusetts, thus fallen towards the lower ranks of York, Pennsylvania, where residency has been an affliction for 14 years, until, a glimmer of hope personified itself in the sparkling form of a college acceptance letter to Temple University. Philadelphia was a marvelous 5 years, walking down concrete paths, looking up the concrete walls, where they reached no higher than penchant st...more

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