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Back Roads

by Tawni O'Dell (Goodreads Author)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 11,631 ratings · 594 reviews

"One day you're that guy who's happy he managed to survive high school and get that almighty piece of paper, and you're thinking you might try to get a job at Redi-Mix concrete where your dad's worked since the beginning of time. And at least you've got a family you can stand even if they are all sisters. One day you're that guy, and the next day you're assigned to a socia...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published June 1st 2004 by NAL Trade (first published December 27th 1999)

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The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Oprah's Book Club Picks

55th out of 73 books — 967 voters

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Good Book, Bad Ending

19th out of 58 books — 63 voters

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Feb 11, 2008 Robert Beveridge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished, owned-and-gave-away

Tawni O'Dell, Back Roads (Viking, 2000)

I find the whole thing incredibly amusing.

Had a man written this book, word for word, the character of Harley Altmeyer would no doubt be blazoned on the front as "an unstoppable sociopath about to explode" (fill in the correct number of exclamation points, depending on era and author). Instead, the back cover blurb calls him "wonderfully touching." Oh, please.

Thank heaven Tawni O'Dell is a much better writer than her blurbist, because Harley Altmeyer is the...more Tawni O'Dell, Back Roads (Viking, 2000)

I find the whole thing incredibly amusing.

Had a man written this book, word for word, the character of Harley Altmeyer would no doubt be blazoned on the front as "an unstoppable sociopath about to explode" (fill in the correct number of exclamation points, depending on era and author). Instead, the back cover blurb calls him "wonderfully touching." Oh, please.

Thank heaven Tawni O'Dell is a much better writer than her blurbist, because Harley Altmeyer is the least likable hero I've run across since Michael Moorcock decided an anorexic albino with a big black sword sounded like a good idea. Note I didn't say antihero there; Harley Altmeyer is certainly the hero of this book in that, while O'Dell keeps him so unlikable he gets nauseating at times, we never stop feeling sympathy for him.

Altmeyer is on the brink of his twentieth birthday, and as we open he's sitting in the box in the local police station being grilled by three cops for killing his girlfriend-- who just happens to be the thirty-four-year-old wife of the next-door neighbor. Not terribly surprising, the cops muse, given his roots; Harley's mother was convicted of killing his father a couple years previous, and is now sitting in prison in Indiana, PA (I point this out because for the first hundred fifty pages I wondered how they could drive from Pennsylvania to Indiana in two hours-- and I spent over half my life living less than an hour from Indiana, PA. Obviously a truly memorable place). Harley spends about two hundred fifty pages spinning out his tale, and it's a doozy. After his mom iced his dad, he was dead and she was in jail, and the task of raising his three younger sisters fell squarely on his shoulders. Nineteen, saddled with all the bills, working two jobs, and having to raise three sisters, ranging in age from six to sixteen. It's not exactly a Frank Capra film. And Harley, whose love/hate relationship with all women borders on the psychotic, is in no way going to be mistaken for Jimmy Stewart (actually, I saw Giovanni Ribisi, circa his memorable X-Files appearance, playing this guy).

If you've got half a brain and have read enough books along these lines, you've probably got half of it figured before you open the front cover. But O'Dell's writing is so thoroughly disingenuous, and Harley (the very essence of the unreliable narrator!) is so straightforward and quasi-logical that he's completely believable. And so, despite the general predictability of the plot points, they still hit with a roundhouse.

The tendency, of course, is to compare this with the other novels in the Oprah stable, but it pulls me in a different direction; there's more here that invites comparison with Ian McEwan's weepingly good first novel, The Cement Garden (and not just the overall plot, either). While McEwan has turned into something of a washed-out pansy since he hit us over the head with that particular cement block, I still have high hopes for O'Dell. This is stark, simple, minimal, easy to read, compelling, with some of the strongest characterization I've come across in years, and somehow the revelations that just kind of wander through the last fifty pages (no big emotional revelatory scenes here) still manage to surprise, not to mention tug at the heartstrings.

Oprah found a good'un here, that's for sure. Let's just hope O'Dell doesn't end up a washed-out pansy who moves to England for the sole purpose of getting short-listed for the Booker Prize. *** 1/2 (less)

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Mar 04, 2008 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Mature people lol j.k, anyone who likes to read

I have to admit that the blurb is decieving this time. From the blurb, you wouldnt be able to tell how great the book is without at least reading the first chapter, it just pulls you in and you'll wanna find out more. Back Roads is about a 19 year old boy named Harley Altmyer who has to take care of his three younger sisters after their caring mom has been sent to jail for killing their abusive father. The book is not about how he's survivng in life though, but about love as well, as a key point...more

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Nov 23, 2008 Bev rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm having a hard time rating this book. It's incredibly dark and morose, but the author does an excellent job taking us into the head of a 19-year-old small town boy who has been dealt an extremely tough hand--taking care of three sisters after his mother has murdered his father. I really felt for Harley, whose family life was so compromised that his attempts to rise above it were doomed from the start. Nevertheless, I had hopes that Harley could somehow survive, perhaps get away and start a ne...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Sammy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: b-the-good

Let's just say one thing: this is one fucked up family. If you decide to read this book, brace yourself, seriously, the Altmyer's are fucked up. But for some reason, you still like them.

There's so much that happens in this story that keeps you reading I can't say much without giving it away. For a first novel O'Dell does an extremely good job. Her writing is raw and real which helps add to the mood and characters of the book.

One thing I liked about O'Dell's style was that instead of constantly d...more

8 likes · like · see review

Aug 15, 2012 Suzanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I don't usually comment on my books, or give a review, but this book was great. Finished it in 2 days because I could not put it down. It's been a while since I was that into what I was reading. It's rough, raw, compelling, heartbreaking and you can't help connecting with the characters. This story will stay with me for some time.

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May 20, 2008 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is my take on Oprah books: really bad things happen to people who are already suffering from other bad things and the end is never a happy one. In fact, they're often icky endings.

Woody loaned me Back Roads and I read through it in one sick day last week. The story is told from the point of view of Harley, a 19 year old boy, whose Mother is in prison for killing his Father. Harley's left with raising his three younger sisters.

There's abuse, murder, incest, adultery, mental illness...yep, a...more

7 likes · like · see review

Feb 03, 2008 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

dark. darkdarkdarkdarkdark. it's the kind of book that...when you read it...you can hear the dripdrop of a lonely limestained faucet in the background. you won't love the protagonist...but you can't hate him, either. i can't explain exactly why I am giving this book 4 stars...other than to say that it was good enough to make me remember the protagonist...make me think about him after I turned the last page. I can't ask for much more...why isn't it a 5 star'er? well, I'm just an amateur. regardle...more

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Mar 17, 2008 Dennis rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: virtually no one

After reading so many women comment about men writing in women's voices, it's now time to admit that women writing as men can completely miss the boat. Harley didn't sound like any guy I knew, nor grew up nor WAS in my life. His sentiments rang completely hollow for me; rather he sounded more like how a woman would like a teenage boy to be. The most interesting character, Misty, went almost completely voiceless and the ending was laughable, as was most of the book. easily the worst of Oprah's Bo...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Dez rated it 4 of 5 stars

The author has an excellent writing style, descript without being pretentiously verbose. Reading some of the other reviews and seeing other interpretations of this story made me realize how some things may have been overlooked. (Like how I overlooked the fact that this was an Oprah book club recommendation, otherwise chances of me reading it would have been nil)

The protagonist, protected and festering in his father’s camouflaged jacket, does a great job of expressing a strong sense of entitleme...more The author has an excellent writing style, descript without being pretentiously verbose. Reading some of the other reviews and seeing other interpretations of this story made me realize how some things may have been overlooked. (Like how I overlooked the fact that this was an Oprah book club recommendation, otherwise chances of me reading it would have been nil)

The protagonist, protected and festering in his father’s camouflaged jacket, does a great job of expressing a strong sense of entitlement. The kind most of us are too ashamed to admit we harbor. He is quite vocal about his desire to run from his situation but never does. Not due to guilt or a sense of duty but for the love he has for his siblings. A love that ultimately leads him to do something he knows is immoral, but does it regardless hoping it would eventually help his sister overcome her misguided desires.

Some may say he is a product of an abusive and dysfunctional family, however his emotional and mental instability are not a symptom of that. Harley is very much insane, but this is easily acceptable to the reader because he is the narrator and lets you into his thought process.

The characters were well developed, with the exception of Callie. I never understood why she did what she did. Which is fine, as she was just a means for the main character to get his “release”. The sisters were intriguing. Innocent yet ruined at the same time. Even Church, with his objections to stocking bananas in the cereal isle (he wasn’t kidding. It wasn’t right). The author had a nice way of adding thought provoking ideals in such a simple way. And I have to admit to a guilty fascination with the depraved day dreams Harley created. Not necessarily just the blood and gore ones, but his association with sexuality and the Virgin Mary.

I didn’t think the epilogue was needed. I would have been happy with Harley trotting off to prison worried about Elvis and still thinking of ways to cover up that hole from the satellite dish. But I am glad the author stuck by her not-so-happily-ever-after ending. We knew Harley was destined to fail from the intro, and the story did not disappoint.
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Oct 27, 2012 Lynne Spreen rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the most amazing aspects of O'Dell's writing is that she leads you to draw one conclusion about a character, and then slowly feeds you evidence that you've misjudged. I think that's what I enjoyed most about this story, the slow reveal leading to the ultimate conclusion. And then I'm left hating the people I respected, and respecting the people I hated. Awesome writing!

I'm done with the book but can't stop thinking about it, or the author. She actually grew up in Indiana PA, where this no...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Patricia rated it 5 of 5 stars

I bought Back Roads while I was on vacation in Florida. I bought the hard cover from the clearance shelf at Barnes & Noble for $5! I started reading it and couldn't put it down! I hadn't read a good book like that in a long time! Tawni O'Dell reminded me why I loved to read! I actually felt guilty that I only paid $5 for a hard cover version of such an amazing book! I loved it so much that I wrote to Tawni and asked her if she would sign it for me if I sent it to her with return postage paid...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book had it all. Heartache, heartbreak, humor, and horror. So much has been written about Harley, the main character of the book, things that make him out to be a horrible guy but the thing I found most evident about him was pretty simple. He missed his mom and longed for her presence in his life. Maybe not even his mom but "a" mom, any mom. When he asked the neighbor to meet him at the mining office he asked her to bring the stuff to make smores. Earlier in the book his little sister was t...more

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Aug 26, 2011 bobbygw rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers who enjoy an adolescent viewpoint, dysfunctional families, literary novels

Shelves: american-fiction, fiction, adolescence

My eldest sister recommended this to me, and I was grabbed by her reference to The Catcher in the Rye, as she felt that Harley Altmyer, the 19-year-old who narrates the story in Back Roads, reminded her a lot of 17-year-old Holden Caulfield's in Salinger's novel. Having now read Back Roads, I could understand why she, and others, have made this connection: after all, both characters share a sense of being cut-off, feeling awkward, self-conscious and isolated; both feel frustration and a deep-fel...more My eldest sister recommended this to me, and I was grabbed by her reference to The Catcher in the Rye, as she felt that Harley Altmyer, the 19-year-old who narrates the story in Back Roads, reminded her a lot of 17-year-old Holden Caulfield's in Salinger's novel. Having now read Back Roads, I could understand why she, and others, have made this connection: after all, both characters share a sense of being cut-off, feeling awkward, self-conscious and isolated; both feel frustration and a deep-felt pain, anger and anguish about their lives and circumstances; both are trapped and feel unable to escape; both, too, interestingly, tell their stories in the present tense, while in fact they are reflecting back on their lives from within the enclosure of an institution.

It is, without a doubt, an accomplished first novel: O'Dell has created, understood and convincingly portrayed the personality of a vulnerable, angry male adolescent in Harley (along with Amber, as a female psychological mirror to Harley's own pain and anguish). The themes are gritty, the family situation heartbreaking, the pace is gentle while the story is troubling and, if at times predictable, none the less the characters still remain with you long after closing the last page, so it is definitely worth reading. (And if you haven't read Salinger's novel, please, please do - it is a genuine modern classic of fiction that is beautifully written, sad and touching.)

But the qualitative difference between Back Roads and Catcher in the Rye, and the character Harley and Holden respectively, and generally in the novels themselves, is in the language the characters use to narrate, as well as, of course, the respective author's difference in the quality of their individual styles of writing. On this basis, it would be unfair in this regard to compare this, Tawni O'Dell's first novel, with J. D. Salinger's first, Catcher in the Rye, because the comparison sadly would mean failure for O'Dell. Stylistically Salinger's is without doubt far more accomplished; O'Dell, too, sometimes tries too hard with Harley's own use of language with certain uses of metaphors and similies that don't convince because they seem overly poetic and contrived set against the rest of his easy-going, natural voice; also, while Jody, the youngest (six years old) of one Harley's three sisters, is cute and charming, and does come across as a convincing child of that age, there are too many of what struck me as "cutsey" notes written by her with the always poor-spelling (the poor spelling, presumably, meaning to reinforce the reader's sense of her being so sweet, young and innocent, etc).

None the less, the two other sisters, Amber and Misty, are more compellingly drawn (probably because they are older and more troubled). On the plus side, too, structurally, O'Dell's novel is strong, and well-thought through, and just as good as Salinger's in this regard. And while one of the key plot outcomes - a trauma in the family separate from the murder, which I won't be explicit about in order not to spoil for new readers - struck me as predictable, the other major plotline, the actual circumstances of the killing of Harley's father, as it gradually built and became realised, was very well done. (less)

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Jul 30, 2011 Jeffrey Taylor rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm conflicted. The book was a page turner. Tawni O'Dell has a fine writing style, great sense of plot development and character construction, for the most part. She does a great job of creating the mental world of a troubled, young adult and his experience of sexuality. Has an interviewer ever asked her how she developed this skill? Were it not for some serious flaws I would have given it a five star review. I like the metaphor of Callie Mercer stripping his father' coat off of Harley before on...more

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May 05, 2011 Chip rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had a hard time believing that Harley would continue to go to see the therapist while working two jobs and not having a dime to spare... not that the therapy was costing anything except time, but it didn't add up other than as a plot device to explain that he was nuts (in case it escaped the reader's attention).

The real story should have been told from Amber's point of view. There were complex issues between Amber, Misty and their mother that Harley would never understand, and that complexity...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

I kind of feel like this book should have a big R rating on the front or some kind of a warning about the subject matter. I will not be recommending this book to my mother since I don't want to imagine her reading all those more often than not weird sex scenes. I'm still horrified by the time she suggested we go and watch the Sex & the City movie together.

Having said that, my faith in Oprah Book Club picks has been restored! I used to love her book club picks and then she has a string there...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Sarah Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow, this book was a doozy. There's a little bit of everything in here: murder, adultery, child abuse, incest. Back Roads follows the sad life of Harley Altmeyer, a 19 year old who is forced to work 2 jobs to help take care of his three younger sisters after his mother supposedly shoots and kills his father. Harley's life starts to get really complicated when he starts sleeping with a wife and mother who lives down the road.

I thought it was a really interesting choice on the part of O'Dell to w...more

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Aug 08, 2010 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: icky-sex, littry-fiction

i have developed a real taste for literature from this region lately. and that might be the problem; why i didn't love this book the way danaaaaa does. all of the other books i have read (and i am using the term "region" pretty loosely to encompass mostly appalachia, but blurring around the edges of appalachia-proper a little) have followed a pretty consistent speech pattern and tone that this one strays from. am i being sexist to point out that this is the only woman i have read writing this ki...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Patricia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Back Roads, the first book she wrote after returning to Indiana County was picked up by Oprah as her selection in 2000. She told the amusing story of the call from Oprah which she believed to be a prank set up by her cousin Kenny. Being selected by Oprah is the dream of every writer. She said that Mary Higgins Clark kept her from the number one position on the New York Times Fiction Charts. Prior to the Oprah call, the only brush with fame in the family was that Kenny had talked with Joe Paterno...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Peg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Here is a fast-paced novel set in the hills of Western Pennsylvania. The protagonist is Harley who narrates the story. He's a 19-year-old who is trying to raise his three younger sisters. My heart went out to him since he was abused by his father while growing up. After his mother went to prison for killing his father, Harley became the man of the house. The mother in me kept thinking that if Harley would only take care of himself by eating decent food, taking showers, getting some sleep, wearin...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Sherrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: already-read, 2011-reading-challenge

I really liked reading this book. But it ended totally different than what I was expecting. Actually the ending was a shocker. But I can't tell about that, it would ruin the surprise. Harley is the typical teenager, except he's not in a typical setting. Instead of girls, hanging out and thinking about college, Harley is working 2 jobs and taking care of his 3 sisters. His one big hang up is he's still a virgin at 19. He's made several attempts to loose his virginity. But something always goes wr...more

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Jun 25, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklit

An Oprah book club pick! Yes, even books down here advert that fact. I quite enjoyed this book until the end. I like good books about siblings that kind of hate each other, but underneath, get a long. Until the end, in this book. The overview, is a family with 4 kids, the mother is in jail for shooting her husband because he beats the kids. It is told from the point of view of the oldest child, a son. He was written very well, very real and I always appreciate that. He is now raising his younger...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Book Concierge rated it 3 of 5 stars

Hurley Altmyer is a 19-year-old who has taken on the responsibility for his three younger sisters after their mother has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for shooting their father. He is hanging on by his fingernails – working two low-paying jobs in an effort to keep their house and the family together. But he is clearly at the breaking point, totally unable to cope or even to face the truth of what has happened and is happening.

This is a dark psychological story of a family caugh...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Jackie Thalman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-5-star-shelf

I really really enjoyed this book. For the first quarters of this book I would have given it 5 stars. The humor & outlook of this book is laugh out loud funny for such a tragic situation. I really enjoyed the voice of the main character, a 19 year old teenager going through the motions of family tragedy & continuing dysfunction. This book will not be for everyone because, yes, there are heavy topics of murder & abuse-- but if you can see past that, the outlook of Harley is mostly lau...more

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Jan 23, 2011 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was my first time reading an Oprah selection and I was disappointed. While it is a story that moved easily along, integrating me into the lives of the characters, I felt repulsed by the description of certain events in the book. To call it "gritty" doesn't quite capture how gross certain scene descriptions can be. And in those moments, I could no longer believe in the characters or the events in their lives. I was intrigued by the psychology of Harley, and the unfortunate circumstances of t...more

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Feb 18, 2010 Aimee rated it 5 of 5 stars

I particularly like this book. It's that story of this teenage boy left to care for his 3 sisters after the tragic death of his father and his mother arrested for the crime. He could have entrusted them to the care of social welfare however he wanted to prove to himself he could provide for them. He juggled two jobs and caring for the sisters in between including amber who was so impossible to deal with. Then harbored a secret passion to his neighbor, a married woman with a child. Then at the en...more

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May 17, 2009 Robin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, reviewed

What I want most to say about this book is that is not only a page-turner but transcendent. I can't say that - it is a page turner, and very good. But it is not transcendent. I can say that I highly recommend it. The characters will break your heart, and ultimately the protagonist Harley does the best he can with really crappy circumstances and a truly bad hand. The humor is wonderful, but will not be for everyone - O'Dell must be complimented in finding laugh aloud moments in mental illness, fa...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Shay Caroline rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was bound to go there eventually, and I did. I read an Oprah's Book Club book.

Tawni O'Dell's "Back Roads" is a very difficult book for me to rate. It is absorbing from the very start, and O'Dell is a skillful writer with a keen eye for the telling detail. But the main character is sometimes hard to like, and the story is dark, dark, dark.

Nineteen year old Harley Altmyer's mother has gone to prison for shooting his abusive father to death, leaving Harley to work two jobs to support his three y...more I was bound to go there eventually, and I did. I read an Oprah's Book Club book.

Tawni O'Dell's "Back Roads" is a very difficult book for me to rate. It is absorbing from the very start, and O'Dell is a skillful writer with a keen eye for the telling detail. But the main character is sometimes hard to like, and the story is dark, dark, dark.

Nineteen year old Harley Altmyer's mother has gone to prison for shooting his abusive father to death, leaving Harley to work two jobs to support his three younger sisters. The book's blurbs say how funny this book is; while it made me laugh on a number of occasions, the humor is dark, and sporadic. This is not a funny novel. It is filled with flashbacks of Harley's father's physical abuse of his family, the narrator himself often has violent fantasies that seemed to me to be extreme and strange and at odds with his natural kindness, and the whole feel of the dying coal mining area of western Pennsylvania where the story takes place is oppressive and bleak. Add to all of this another murder and suggestions of incest, and one starts to wish for something to feel good about.

There *are* some nice touches. Harley's youngest sister, Jody, is the cutest little girl going. She likes to make to-do lists which include praying for people's "sowls", and carries a stuffed dinosaur called Sparkle Three Horn every place she goes.

The character I liked best (okay, I adored her), is a thirty-three year old woman named Callie Mercer, who is the married mother of one of Jody's friends. She likes art and is surprised when Harley turns out to know about a painter she likes. Here is a woman with a big itch that nobody is scratching. She's sexy, she's complicated, and her heart is in the right place, even if her ass isn't. She's Harley's first, and their lovemaking is hot, but I'm not so sure that's even the real reason why motherless Harley loves her. In one scene, she gives Harley a (sexual) birthday "gift", and he's thinking that he considers everything she's ever done for him a gift.

The writing is crisp and sharp, but in a couple of places, it shows that this is a woman writing in the first person as a teenage boy. For example, in one scene, he speculates what store and department a woman got her clothes from. I don't think he would know or care.

Anyway, even though I got wrapped up in the story, O'dell veers off into violence, cruelty and hopelessness too much for my taste. She doesn't leave any kind of light on for her reader in the end, and so I cannot recommend this book. (less)

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May 17, 2011 Jessi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sex-that-gets-weird

I have said it before and I will say it again "damn these first time bitches!" Tawni O'Dell wrote one hell of a story as her first novel,way to go!

I would recommend this to anyone, which normally with a story this dark I would be reluctant or would warn about the subject matter,but this is so well done.
Harley is a 19 year old boy, who has to take care of his three younger sisters,Amber,Misty and Jody, after their mother has been sent to jail for killing their abusive father. Harley works 2 jobs...more

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Mar 26, 2010 Shyla rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a book about Harley, a 19 year old guy who has fallen on some hard times. Well, that might be an understatement he's barley making it, emotionally or financially. With his dad dead and his mom in prison for the murder it's up to him to keep his family together and take care of his three little sisters. Working two jobs and dealing with three girls leaves him wiht no life and little pleasure, until he meets an older woman whose relationship with him changes the course of his life for bett...more

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About Tawni O'Dell

Tawni O'Dell is the New York Times bestselling author of Fragile Beasts, Sister Mine, Coal Run, and Back Roads, which was an Oprah's Book Club pick and a Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection. Tawni's screen adaptation of Back Roads is currently in development to be made into a film with Adrian Lyne set to direct. Her work has been translated into 15 languages and been published in over 30 countri...more

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Quotes from Back Roads

“She hated her job the same way I hated my jobs because she knew she was worth more, but she also hated herself so there wasn't much point in trying to do better.” — 9 people liked it

“I wanted to end it now, like a bad TV show turned off in the middle.” — 8 people liked it

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