Evel Knievel Days

Feb 13, 2013 Robin rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those books I would have never picked up as I have absolutely no interest in Evel Knievel (when spouse saw the book in my basket said "Are you reading about Evel Knievel??") and the cover doesn't exactly scream "pick me up and read me now!" so I never thought about bringing it home. However, when querying library staff for their favorite books of 2012, this was mentioned and to my delight found it is not only a wonderful book (so far) but it's authored by an Oregon writer!

Final w...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Iris rated it 5 of 5 stars

[I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. This review was originally posted at Iris on Books].

Khosi Saqr has lived in Butte, Montana all his life. He is a tour guide at the museum, and he helps his mother with her catering business by tasting her food. As a little bit of an obsessive compulsive, he likes order in his life. Every night before he leaves the museum, he makes sure all the documents and pencils are sorted. When he was a child, he sorted the colouring pencils making s...more [I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. This review was originally posted at Iris on Books].

Khosi Saqr has lived in Butte, Montana all his life. He is a tour guide at the museum, and he helps his mother with her catering business by tasting her food. As a little bit of an obsessive compulsive, he likes order in his life. Every night before he leaves the museum, he makes sure all the documents and pencils are sorted. When he was a child, he sorted the colouring pencils making sure he did not overuse one colour in favour of another. His life in Butte is comfortable, though you can locate cracks in his comfort. When his long-time friend (and love) tells him on the evening of the annual Evel Knievel Days festival that she is engaged to marry someone else, the safety of his world comes tumbling down..

Earlier that day, someone visited him in the museum, a mysterious stranger that seemed excessively interested in Khosi. Khosi was raised by his mother, his father fleeing the country and his family debts - leaving behind his three-year-old son and his wife. Khosi has always been happy with his mother, but now he feels he needs to know more about his father. Receiving the final push when he realises his long-time love may not wait for him, he decides that it is time to be a little adventurous. And so, Khosi travels to Egypt to find his father.

If I am completely honest, I was not sure if I should agree to read and review this book when I received the query in my mailbox. I felt the execution of the premise could go both ways - it could be horribly clichéd and painful to read, or it might turn out wonderfully layered and lovely. A boy growing up in a local town, with a festival, with a local museum, missing intimate knowledge of his father's side of the family, travelling to Egypt, which has all too often been portrayed in an orientalist fashion in fiction. I was hesitant. I wish I could say I was not, but I was. How do you decide if a book is for you or not? In this case, I waited a few days, contemplated the book a little. And then I saw a tweet by Bellezza, about how she was loving it. That convinced me that the best thing to see whether I would like it or not was to try reading it. And boy am I glad I did.

"See: I think that Tolstoy was wrong. Unhappy families are all alike. They're all alike in this moment - in this pause before something happens, in the pause before someone reacts. And that pause: It can last seconds or minutes or days or months or years."

Khosi Saqr is one of the main reasons that I enjoyed Evel Knievel Days so much. He is incredibly smart, but has also lived in a safety bubble created by himself his whole life. He never left home for college, he never travelled on his own, he is afraid of losing his friends who are all moving to other places for their jobs. He never mentions the fact that he might be limiting himself in his experiences, he never comes out to say he might be a little unhappy - and I'm not sure if he is, really. He doesn't wallow, he is satisfied, he is humorous, but he is also observant, and he will not hide from the painful. He never outright tells you that he is an obsessive compulsive, but you read about it, in his descriptions, his observations, and his behaviour; Khosi is caught up in a struggle to keep some form of control over his life.. It is the way in which the reader is told these things that made me unable to look away. Instead, I just had to keep on seeing Khosi, and allow him into my heart a little.

"What's it like to be the child of an immigrant? I know and I don't know, both. I have a family tree somewhere, but I don't know where, and it's probably in Arabic, or possibly French, or possibly both. The past, the history of my family, is a strange and hybrid beast. On the one side: exhaustively documented. I live and work in its midst. But on the other side: nothing. No body, no clothes, no cane, no toupee, no set of dentures, no artifacts whatsoever. Only a vocabulary that vanishes as soon as it's fashioned into language. Only the vocabulary of exile and disappearance."

Then there is the way in which Toutonghi handles the question of being a child of parents from different countries - of growing up "between two cultures". There is very little cliché about it. Instead, the pain and the beauty of it are acknowledged, and especially the prejudices of growing up with a father who may be Christian, but by being Egyptian is often easily equated with Islam and radicalism. I loved how Khosi remarks on the Western perception of Islam, of Egypt. Of how we're so selective in what is represented and remembered. As Khosi says, no one seems to know that innovation was praised by Mohammed, because we believe it to be a Western concept. In travelling between Butte and Cairo, Khosi shows us the best and the worst of both places as he perceives it - and he constantly shows us how intelligent he is. Not that he is a boasting sort of character, not at all, but his remarks are just incredibly smart and beautiful.

Was the humour always to my taste? Not always. But I feel as if I am nitpicking, trying to come up with something critical to say about this book. You see, the thing is, it might not be this year's masterpiece, and it might not turn out to be my all-year-favourite, but thinking of this book, all I can think of are the positive, all I can do is smile for fondness.

It was meeting Khosi, and seeing him grow into himself a little, that made me enjoy this book. But it was also Toutonghi's way with words, the numerous quote worthy passages, the many beautiful descriptions. And it was the warmth of the story. I do not think I can find a better word for it, warmth really is the right word to use. Warm and charming and wonderful. I am sure I will be thinking back to Khosi from time to time in the upcoming months. Especially when Egypt pops up in the news again.(less)

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Apr 02, 2013 Michelle Lancaster rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-ve-reviewed

By Pauls Toutonghi
Crown Publishers (Random House), 293 pgs
978-0-307-38215-3
Rating: 3.5

"Egyptian cooking is folk magic. Not magic in the sense of dematerializing doves or sawing beautiful ladies in half. But magic in the deeper sense of the thing - in the raw joy of what magic once was, hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago: a surprise, a shock, an astonishment. A lesson about the invisible. A lesson about belief." So begins chapter one.

Khosi Saqr has lived all of his 23 years in Butte, M...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Jenny Shank rated it 4 of 5 stars

REVIEW - From the February 18, 2013 High Country News issue

Evel Knievel Days
Pauls Toutonghi
293 pages,
hardcover: $24.
Crown, 2012.

Khosi Saqr Clark, the narrator of Pauls Toutonghi's funny and winsome second novel, Evel Knievel Days, isn't a typical native of Butte. Sure, he loves Montana and enjoys the annual Evel Knievel Days spectacle, complete with its "American Motordome Wall of Death," but his neurotic nature ("the obsessive-compulsive's worst fear: the world infinitesimally askew") and his s...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Susan Massad rated it 5 of 5 stars

Pauls Toutonghi’s book Evel Knievel days takes us into the heart of Butte, Montana where the story’s protagonist, Khosi a half Egyptian, half Russian American young man lives with his idiosyncratic single Mom Amy. She’s hardly the most stable woman around, but she’s a fabulous cook and has perfected Mediterranean cuisine so much that she’s able to make a living to support herself and her only son.
Amidst a personal crisis, Khosi embarks upon an overseas journey to find his absentee father. Thoug...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Crown Publishing Group added it

Shelves: fiction

From the critically-acclaimed author of Red Weather comes a heartwarming, witty story of immigration and belonging, false starts and new beginnings, and finding out what home truly means

Khosi Saqr has always felt a bit out of place in Butte, Montana, hometown of motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. Half-Egyptian, full of nervous habits, raised by a single mother, owner of a name that no one can pronounce -- Khosi has never quite managed to fit in. But when a mysterious stranger arrives in town (an...more

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May 31, 2012 Sarah Columnet rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a terrific book, one that astonished me with the beautiful writing and the depth of detail about Egyptian culture and even the history of the state of Montana, where I grew up. The story is simple: the main character, Khosi Saqr, was abandoned by his father when he was a little boy. The memories he has of his dad are not to be trusted. You can't even tell if they are real.

The book starts when his best friend announces some interesting news; I won't go into it, but it's pretty major. The...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Kayla Jerome rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very funny, just awesome. A great Egyptian-American novel, one that surprised me from page to page. I thought, at times, that it would be a more serious narrative. But then it would approach the same serious questions with a light tone. I can't gush enough about this book. The intricate storyline, which just made me sit there in awe of the breadth of the storytelling.

Here's the concept. An OCD sufferer, Khosi Saqr, a kid with a very unbalanced mother living in Butte, Montana suddenly realizes t...more

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May 20, 2012 Emily Crowe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Though I had a few minor issues, I overall enjoyed this book quite a bit. The author makes generous use of literary allusions throughout the text, which I appreciated and had fun with, and also made me wonder how many of them I was missing.

I'm not a huge fan of first person narratives. When they're done extremely well, the point of view does fade away to the point where I don't notice it any more, but it wasn't always the case with this book. Still, the book at least wasn't written in the "pres...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Rick Gingrich rated it 4 of 5 stars

4 Stars (Originally 3.5 - Now 4 after I caught myself thinking about the story and recommending it to a friend :) )

I debated between giving this 3 or 4 stars. I liked the story quite a bit, the interesting character development, and the themes it explored. The story explores a period in the life of Koshi Saqr, an American, who is also half Egyptian, and on the verge of adulthood. It is an interesting story of his search for a connection to his father and his Egyptian heritage. The story moves qu...more

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Pauls Thanks, Rick! It's funny, though -- I think the epilogue situates the book, somehow, in the present moment. I wonder what the broader Goodreads commun...more
Feb 03, 2012 02:47pm

Rick Gingrich I appreciate you responding!

I was actually planning on coming in and editing my review, now that I've had some time to think about the ending.

It see...more
Feb 03, 2012 04:23pm

Pauls Makes sense, Rick!
All things considered, it's awesome that you read it.
It's surreal to have the book go out into the world.
Feb 03, 2012 04:34pm

Aug 22, 2012 Ericafoferica rated it 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads Giveaway section.

I must admit that it did take me a few chapters to actually enjoy the story. The author uses a lot of detail, which I certainly can appreciate. The main character Khosi is witty, charming, and struggling with the mystery of his father's leaving. I really enjoyed the many references to Khosi's Egyptian background, which in itself was quite educational. It was entertaining to read about Khosi's trip to Egypt and the many struggl...more

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May 11, 2013 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

"I couldn't stop blushing. I could feel the heat of it rising through me. I could feel it filling my cheeks with a steady burn. Embarrassment tumbled through my body, and my senses all felt alive and sharp, despite the lack of air coming into my lungs, and I could hear the clatter of forks and knives and, a few feet away, the single elderly man who slurped at his cup of sweetened tea. Behind the wall, Farid's sous chef stood poised over a large-mouthed cauldron of soup...beyond that, beyond the...more "I couldn't stop blushing. I could feel the heat of it rising through me. I could feel it filling my cheeks with a steady burn. Embarrassment tumbled through my body, and my senses all felt alive and sharp, despite the lack of air coming into my lungs, and I could hear the clatter of forks and knives and, a few feet away, the single elderly man who slurped at his cup of sweetened tea. Behind the wall, Farid's sous chef stood poised over a large-mouthed cauldron of soup...beyond that, beyond the exterior wall of this building, and the exterior wall of the next building, was another room with another set of lives, an insurance agency, or a sporting goods store. And there, sitting at a desk and looking at an actuarial table, or standing in the aisle looking at a price tag or talking softly with someone abbot things I could never imagine, were strangers, complete strangers, strangers who lived their lives so close to mine, so close but utterly separate, and distant, and irredeemably lost to me. If you followed along from house to house, working your way through downtown, knocking through walls and rendering them invisible, disappearing and reappearing, smoke-floating like a wayward spirit, looking in on people from the city of Butte, and then the country of America, and then outward in an ever expanding geometric intimacy, spanning the whole globe, the entirety of our world, you'd find only a few people who knew me, a handful of people whose recognition of my face would trigger a burst of light in their minds, a brief, happy synaptic impulse deep within their memories, a bit of lightning...what a miracle they are, these pictures of us, these evidences of our bodies, carried around in the minds of human beings, human beings who, in my case, were thousand of lonely miles from here- who were encased in the darkness of night even as I sat here and ate lunch by myself on a sunlit summer day. There was an ache in me for them , an ache that was low and dark and alluvial and undid the sheltering sky."

I have never been a young, OCD, biracial (white and Arab) man working at a tiny museum in Butte, Montana, but he seemed real to me, and his story was sweet, and unexpectedly mesmerizing. He travels to Egypt to find his father and experiences the usual trials and tribulations of such a quest, but the tenderness and sweetness and humor set it apart from other similar stories. (less)

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Jul 16, 2012 Fox rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, fiction, 2012

I won this book through the first-reads program.

What first drew my attention to Evel Knievel Days was that it took place (partially) in Butte, Montana. Butte drew my attention. I lived in Montana for a while, Bozeman to be exact, and went to Butte several times. I had a good time reading Pauls Toutonghi's descriptions of Butte, and the general point of view that people in Montana tend to hold of the world. It made me miss Bozeman a ton, let me say.

Evel Knievel Days was about a lot more than just...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Nancy Oakes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-fiction, favorite

In a word: amazing. You'll find a long review here; below is a much abridged version.

Khosi Saqr is the half-Egyptian son of Akram and Amy. Amy comes from the family of Butte's "copper king" William Andrews Clark. Copper was the basis of the family money, but also the root of the family's ongoing curse. His mom suffers from Wilson's disease, a genetic disorder that makes it impossible for her to absorb copper. She's on a number of medications which she sometimes forgets to take, making her son fe...more In a word: amazing. You'll find a long review here; below is a much abridged version.

Khosi Saqr is the half-Egyptian son of Akram and Amy. Amy comes from the family of Butte's "copper king" William Andrews Clark. Copper was the basis of the family money, but also the root of the family's ongoing curse. His mom suffers from Wilson's disease, a genetic disorder that makes it impossible for her to absorb copper. She's on a number of medications which she sometimes forgets to take, making her son feel unable to leave her alone, and her emotional life is for Khosi one of life's great mysteries. His dad left when Khosi was very young, leaving Amy with gambling debts, a three year old boy "copper as a penny," and "his country's food" which he'd taught Amy to cook. Amy and Khosi live in a house he lovingly names "Loving Shambles," so called because it leans to one side, threatening to fall in. All of the turmoil and disorder in Khosi's life has led him to develop a case of OCD, which manifests itself in various ways, including the way he orders his books, having to arrange the bed covers at certain angles, and opening his bedroom door twice waiting to leave the room before his mental "all clear" signal goes off. Khosi works at the Copper King Mansion, now a museum, formerly the home of his great-great grandfather; it's a place that offers him an outlet for his "legendary" need for order. It's also a "part of his psyche," and a large part of who he is.

It isn't long until Khosi's well-ordered life moves into chaos and crisis; after giving it some thought Khosi decides that it's time that he reconnects with himself, part of which is his long-absent father.
Like Evel Knievel, Khosi becomes a daredevil, taking a monumental jump in deciding to fly to Cairo. His trip will bring with it many surprises and discoveries, including a ghost who finds him in a confessional of a Coptic Christian church (there is an explanation for this later), being accused of antiquities theft, a run in with some shady characters, and a family he never knew he had. For someone whose life revolves around order, Cairo proves to be something way beyond challenging.

Evel Knievel Days not only charts Khosi's course in his efforts at reconnection; a long stream of history flows through this book as well as a crash course in different elements of Egyptian culture, none the least of which has to do with food, which serves as a "bridge to the past," but even more so to one's traditional roots. Food is family, family is love and food and family have the power to heal.

Evel Knievel Days is one of the coolest books I've read this year and the more I think about it, the more I realize just how very much I enjoyed it. It's funny in a touching sort of way; the characters are outstanding and I am in total awe at the author's ability to create such colorful yet realistic people. And I'm not just talking about the primary characters, either. Every character has a purpose; every character has a life. And as much as I loved the story and the array of people in this book, it's really Mr. Toutonghi's writing style that brings this book alive. He does extremely clever things in this book that I loved, unique touches that add life to Khosi's story and make it pop off the page.

There was only one spot I felt was kind of slow going in the book, and that is toward the end and takes place in a hospital room, but otherwise, Evel Knievel Days just sings. I highly, highly recommend this novel -- I normally shy away from family stories but this one is outstanding.
(less)

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Oct 18, 2012 Robyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like the meals his mother cooks, khosi's story of his life is an odd mix of his obsessive compulsive insular life in small town Butte, 'Montana, which he leaves impulsively for Cairo, Egypt, to search for and confront his Egyptian father who deserted him and his mom years go...culture clash, family clash, old life vs new, it all mixes in an exotic pot flavored with khosi's wry and sly asides......full of well depicted colorful characters, esoteric bits of history, beautifully created settings an...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Lu Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars

Many know of Evil Knievel but most do not know of Butte Montana so the Title is slightly 'tricky'.
I was going to give this two stars but the delightful dry humor of the author had to make it at least three stars.
The book was lacking a smooth 'flow'. It felt similar to reading a rough draft.
There was quite a lot of Profanity and a sexual situation that could had easily been eliminated without distracting from the story.
This a tale of a compulsive/obsessive, dysfunctional individual with emotional...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Eve rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was received for free through Goodreads First Reads.

I will admit that the tie-in to Evel Knievel was not a positive for me, but this was absolutely not a book that revolved around Evel Knievel. It is the story of Khosi, an endearing if somewhat neurotic young man raised in Montana by a single mother. In his early-20s, Khosi becomes interested in his biological father, and sets out to learn more about his Egyptian roots.

The story is engaging, well written, and heartwarming. I would not...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Deon Stonehouse rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: great-writing-general-fiction, books-in-montana-wyoming-colorado, books-set-in-the-middle-east

It is always a pleasure to read a novel by an author willing to take risks, see the world a different way, and share the joy. This book has such life and humanity, the characters are delightfully quirky, well meaning, but flawed and striving.

Koshi Saqr descended on his mother’s side from the Copper Kings, his great-great-grandfather the rapacious William Andrews Clark, was a man who knew a thing or two about pulling wealth out of the ground of Butte Montana. Koshi’s Dad deserted the family, ret...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

My review, published in the Missoula Independent:

On the dust jacket of Pauls Toutonghi's Evel Knievel Days, the viewer is faced with a visual conundrum: two pyramids and a palm tree, beneath which is reflected two Montana peaks and a pine tree. It is an impeccable metaphor for the book's many multiculturally symbolic tropes. The author's second novel is a trip through Montana history, Middle Eastern cuisine and the crises of growing up in exile from your heritage. "This is what it feels like to...more My review, published in the Missoula Independent:

On the dust jacket of Pauls Toutonghi's Evel Knievel Days, the viewer is faced with a visual conundrum: two pyramids and a palm tree, beneath which is reflected two Montana peaks and a pine tree. It is an impeccable metaphor for the book's many multiculturally symbolic tropes. The author's second novel is a trip through Montana history, Middle Eastern cuisine and the crises of growing up in exile from your heritage. "This is what it feels like to be half of something," he writes. "You're never truly anything."

Beginning with the lead-up to Butte's annual Evel Knievel Days (a marathon of motorcycle stuntsmanship) and ending with the fall of Hosni Mubarak, the book is narrated by Khosi Saqr, a museum guide at Butte's Copper King Mansion (his great-great grandfather was copper baron William Andrews Clark), where he is driven by OCD proclivities. Khosi happens to be in love with his engaged friend, Natasha, while caring for his Wilson's disease-suffering mother, Amy, and contemplating where his twenty-something life is headed. When a stranger who might be his absent Egyptian father starts loitering around Khosi's workplace and then disappears, Khosi's ordered life quickly unwinds, and he journeys to Cairo in search of his disappearing parent and, ultimately, his identity.

Toutonghi keeps Evel Knievel Days light and chatty, employing some Eggers-esque tangents to great effect: a recipe for hashish-infused crème brûlée, the diagram of the spot where Khosi's father touches his hand. Precious without being maudlin, the novel tackles the themes of romantic love, familial love and love of food with deftness and humor. From Amy's strident devotion to her son to the ambivalent likability of Khosi's father—a gambling addict involved in shady deals—every character here is an exercise in writing authentic people.

Once in Egypt, Khosi finds a world of mishap and hurtful falsehood: his father is engaged to a younger woman, his relatives believe that he and his mother are dead and he finds himself drawn into a run-in with the Egyptian underworld on his father's behalf. And if that weren't enough, he then contracts yellow fever. The book drags somewhat in the last chapters, as Khosi's parents reconnect around his hallucinatory suffering. But Toutonghi's main characters are so vivid that this lapse into a typical climax is entirely excusable.

Evel Knievel Days is a multifaceted testament to disparate cultures. It's the foraging for selfhood in the messy roots of the past. Khosi Saqr is a memorably flawed character, crafted with wit and intelligence. He's a gentle Holden Caulfield with more focus on family than on frustration. Filling out his narrative with musings on philosophy and society, Toutonghi has composed an understated fictional autobiography that is both introspective and absorbing. Except for one or two inconsiderable annoyances (the frequent appearance of the ghost of William Andrews Clark to give Khosi vital information is one of them), it is nonetheless a quiet evocation of displacement and belonging, America and the Middle East, walking onions and the mythical complexities of making baklava. It's an affectingly simple and simply effective comedic melodrama in nearly every way.(less)

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Feb 26, 2013 Meg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sent-for-review, read-in-2013, literary-fiction

Evel Knievel Days is both a unique and familiar story. Equal parts coming-of-age story and exploration of heritage, Toutonghi’s novel is unlike anything I’ve read before — and even successfully managed to weave an element of magical realism into an otherwise grounded tale. Though very specific to Khosi’s divided existence, the novel still holds universal appeal. I read it quickly and eagerly, admiring the author’s ability to assemble such a diverse but memorable cast.

Here we have Khosi, a funny...more Evel Knievel Days is both a unique and familiar story. Equal parts coming-of-age story and exploration of heritage, Toutonghi’s novel is unlike anything I’ve read before — and even successfully managed to weave an element of magical realism into an otherwise grounded tale. Though very specific to Khosi’s divided existence, the novel still holds universal appeal. I read it quickly and eagerly, admiring the author’s ability to assemble such a diverse but memorable cast.

Here we have Khosi, a funny and erudite young man who spends a whole lotta time with his complicated mother, and he’s this slightly awkward, awesome narrator you can’t help but love. His (mostly) unrequited crush on his childhood best friend, Natasha, shows us he’s more than capable of love — but his tenuous connection to his father and the Egyptian culture makes him feel quite “in between.” Toutonghi allows Khosi to be known to readers without slamming us with too many details — and I appreciated the way we’re given just enough information about what our main man is thinking.

So where does Evel Knievel come into all this? Khosi is an obsessive-compulsive who must find it in himself to take the largest plunge of his life: running off to finally come face-to-face with his ne’er-do-well father. Making that trip is the biggest, scariest leap of his life — and like Butte’s favorite son, Khosi must stare into the chasm, face his fear . . . and do it anyway. Khosi’s connection to the famous daredevil felt authentic and well-explored, and I liked that Toutonghi had just enough references to Knievel to tie it together but kept it from getting schlocky.

Though I was a little stumped by the introduction of a ghost/hallucination in the middle of the narrative, it’s obvious that Khosi’s divided heritage is central to the plot. Well-paced and thought-provoking, Evel Knievel Days raised some interesting questions about family, love and connection, and I’d heartily recommend it to fans of literary and contemporary fiction. Plus? Totally allows for some awesome armchair traveling!(less)

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Nov 04, 2012 Brett Boerner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: giveaways, reviewed

I received this book from a Goodreads Firstread giveaway.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but the title itself was something that pulled me in. Khosi, our main character, travels to meet his Egyptian father in Cairo. This may not sound like such a big leap, but Khosi has a mother that needs constant vigilence in taking her medication for a condition she has. Also, Khosi most definitely has OCD, and has hardly ever left his hometown of Butte, Montana.

The basic story is one of self-dis...more I received this book from a Goodreads Firstread giveaway.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but the title itself was something that pulled me in. Khosi, our main character, travels to meet his Egyptian father in Cairo. This may not sound like such a big leap, but Khosi has a mother that needs constant vigilence in taking her medication for a condition she has. Also, Khosi most definitely has OCD, and has hardly ever left his hometown of Butte, Montana.

The basic story is one of self-discovery and the ability to break through one's shortcomings. Khosi manages to overcome many difficulties on his trip and does seem to grow stronger and more confident.

Some of the best parts of the book are the interactions with Khosi and his Iranian relatives, especially his father. There quite a few moments of dialogue that made me smile and even laugh. There are also some pretty good descriptions of Khosi's obsessive behaviors from his point of view that seem convincing and maybe give us an insight into the mind of someone with OCD.

However, those moments of clarity regarding his OCD are only widely interspersed into a larger story that quite often seems like it ignores what a person with OCD might actually do in a certain situation. Having said that, I could be completely wrong and only someone with a similar condition would be able to say for sure.

One theme that the author tries mostly successfully (at least in my view) to interweave into the story is food and cooking. Khosi's mother is a caterer and ran a restaurant with his father when they were married. Khosi's aunts are also often depicted in the kitchen cooking or just discussing food. We also have a couple of recipes given to us during the course of the book, which manage to be connected to the story, but seem a bit out of place. Food and cooking end up being directly connected with how the story ends, and the connection is a strong one and quite meaningful. My problem is that the idea of food could maybe have been more subtly interwoven into the narrative without being thrown into our faces as much it is done.

Now, back to the title of the book. I don't want to give anything away, but the beginning and end of the story are also connected to Evel Knievel. I think the ending is much more elegantly tied to Evel and his stunt-devil ways, but the beginning is also strong.

I enjoyed this book overall, but felt there could have been more done with the themes and characters presented to us. That is why I rated this a 3, rather than a 4.(less)

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Aug 31, 2012 Bryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 10, 2012 Bellezza rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don’t even think I can come close to describing how powerful this novel is, how very much I love it. I feel like I know Khosi. He is painted him so perfectly, and he is so winsome, that I’m glad I was able to spend a few days with him in my living room. The dialogue is fresh, and witty, yet at the same time it touches the reader’s soul. Because ultimately? I think we all search for understanding of our past. I think we all love our parents No Matter What. Thank you, Pauls, for this very speci...more

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Nov 22, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a great combination for a novel: obsessive-compulsive son (Khosi) of an Egyptian father and Irish-American mother, a rare genetic disorder (one of the symptoms of which is hallucinations - thus the ghost of Khosi's grandfather), Evel Knievel festival, and a journey to Egypt to find a long-lost father!
So many threads come together for a very creative and well-written novel. One of the best in a long time. The author is a professor at Lewis and Clark college in Portland.

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Aug 28, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-fiction

Couldn't put it down! "Western Montana's most famous half-Egyptian shut-in." I bought this after reading the Ron Charles review in the Washington Post. I've never bought based on a review before but that description of the protagonist, Khosi Saqr, caught my interest. I have little knowledge of Cairo, or Butte, or even Evel Knievel, so I can't say if they are well-represented. But the relationships are. A dysfunctional family, and a search for roots that turn out to be something else.

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Apr 02, 2013 Annie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: africa, middle-east, around-the-world-read, read-2013, recent

For my Around the World challenge (Egypt).

A very entertaining novel about an obsessive-compulsive young man who leaves his orderly but predictable life in Butte, Montana, to look for his wayward Egyptian father. In Cairo, he discovers a chaotic city, crazy relatives, a ghost, mobsters, a revolution, as well as a new understanding of himself, his family and a culture he never really knew.

A fast-paced, quirky and fun book - highly recommended!

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Jun 15, 2012 Read It Forward rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

We were charmed by Pauls Toutonghi and his first novel, Red Weather, one of our favorites of 2006 and a terrific coming-of-age story. Pauls writes with that rare combination of wit and heart. His writing is brilliant but warm, his characters original but knowable, and the story he tells in Evel Knievel Days is unlike anything we've read before. And what a title, right?

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Oct 17, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is fiction but reads like a well written memoir. Surprisingly it includes receipes & poems. The hero is very likable & the reader wants him to get what he wants (if he can figure that out). The first 2/3rds of the book seemed stronger than the last 1/3. Many surprises & plot twist keep the pace quick & unanswered questions are only minimally annoying.

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Sep 10, 2012 Adrienne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I may be a little bit biased because I spent my childhood summers in Montana, my uncle was good friends with Evel Knievel and I recently visited Cairo--so this book is right up my alley. Also, I tend to love quirky books.

Even if those things are not true of you, you should give this charming book a try. It's going to be a little different from most other stuff you read.

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Dec 17, 2012 Marcy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Half American half Egyptian living in Butte Montana, the protagonist tells his story of the search for his father in Egypt and what he finds and learns along the way. Written in a light humorous tone with colorful characters, the city of Cairo being part of the cast. Probably more 3 1/2, but went to 4 since it kept me interested and entertained.

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