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The Enthusiast

3.22 of 5 stars 3.22 · rating details · 153 ratings · 48 reviews

Henry Bay has his own America going. If there's an offbeat interest or extreme sport that's poised to sweep the nation, chances are there's a magazine for its enthusiasts, and chances are also good that Henry has worked there. He's a modern nomad, associate-editing his way from state to state, exploring the small worlds that make up modern America from Spelunk to Ice Climb...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published May 26th 2009 by Harper Perennial

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Jul 02, 2012 Zellysgrrl rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was one of the best written, wittiest books (“When your ass is your only tool, every problem looks like a couch") I've read this year (and we're talking about 130 books thus far & counting). He's a master stylist, truly original, and his material was as surprising and niche-like as the magazines his protagonist works for, jumping from kite-driving to tea-drinking, moving from one town to the next, living all over America:
“I had my own America going, a huge room lined with doors. Behind...more This was one of the best written, wittiest books (“When your ass is your only tool, every problem looks like a couch") I've read this year (and we're talking about 130 books thus far & counting). He's a master stylist, truly original, and his material was as surprising and niche-like as the magazines his protagonist works for, jumping from kite-driving to tea-drinking, moving from one town to the next, living all over America:
“I had my own America going, a huge room lined with doors. Behind each door was an enthusiasm, a noisy roomful of slang, spending, sanctioning bodies, factional intrigues, etc. Most people went through only a few of those doors in their lives, but I crashed one wild party after another and came back for more.
“There was always a reason to change jobs. … If I didn’t get along with someone I was always the one to leave. Why should an enthusiast go and a civilian stay? All those hang gliders, storm chasers, and battle reenactors had found a way to stop time that I hadn’t, but I had a vocation watching them do it.”
His metaphors ring true, as in: "One hot Saturday I washed my sheets…and hung them on the clothesline… I started to go back upstairs but then turned around to stare at them. It was their least dingy moment of the week, but that wasn’t what stopped me. They were a movie screen for the sunlight, pregnant with rest, making a sine wave out of the breeze from the river.”
And the way he writes about New York made me miss the only place I've ever felt truly at home all over again, as in here, when the protagonist arrives in Grand Central Station: “Upstairs was much grander, as if to say, ‘ You thought that was it? PUH, give us a break, something better is always coming. The ceiling up here is so far over your head we’ve painted constellations on it, and the windows are framed with ruinous man hours of bas-relief birds,, branches, globes, and ship’s wheels, because this is the compass everyone has to pass through, and the bustle of a thousand people is as calm as a mt.side because you’re finally here, your ticked punched at last, although what kind of shadowy hick existence did you get yourself into that you’ve put it off this long?”
Then, outside:
“I pushed through a door into the wet air outside and was pressed into a sidewalk army that was ass-deep in purpose. Everyone…had the most know-where-they’re-going I’d ever seen. All of them could tell you what was coming next and the five things after that, because on the most real and official of American streets that knowledge was the minimum. … Even the mumbling schizophrenics here were the best in the country at what they did.”
And he continues with:
“I wanted in. I wanted to be offhand, to lean on a bldg w/ one foot up on the wall behind me and one hand at the small of my back, having a smoke and nodding half an inch at people I knew, in a muscle shirt, with muscles. I wasn’t going to get it, though. New York put out the strongest could-I-live-here I’d ever felt, and the answer was no, not if I’d never once worked for a biz that could afford the rent.”
As well as:
“You think YOU’RE sorry about New York. I thought New York was going to come through for me. I thought New York and I were going to grow old together.” Yeah, me too. Am still pining for that city, and given the way it's still being written about, and portrayed (even in lame movies like Friends With Benefits), it hasn't changed (by which I mean, it hasn't stopped changing).
This book is filled with truisms (“Nobody should ever tell anybody to calm down. That’s the worst fucking thing you can say to someone.”) that made me shout, AMEN!
It helps that I loved the ending, too. All together, a truly satisfying read.

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Jun 14, 2009 Will Byrnes rated it 2 of 5 stars

In essence this is a road book, and our narrator, Henry Bay, travels across the USA searching, for himself of course. His road consists of serial assistant editor jobs at specialist, enthusiast magazines. He covers a pretty wide range of interests, from kite-buggying to tea, from guns to crocheting. He tries out all the enthusiasms about which he writes, broadening his experience of life and meeting a wide range of interesting people. He forms and breaks relationships, meets quirky people and en...more In essence this is a road book, and our narrator, Henry Bay, travels across the USA searching, for himself of course. His road consists of serial assistant editor jobs at specialist, enthusiast magazines. He covers a pretty wide range of interests, from kite-buggying to tea, from guns to crocheting. He tries out all the enthusiasms about which he writes, broadening his experience of life and meeting a wide range of interesting people. He forms and breaks relationships, meets quirky people and encounters a real life terrorist. His enthusiasm, it appears, lies in appreciating the enthusiasms of others. Eventually he finds value in more personal connections.

In the America Charlie Haas shows us, one in which he has himself written for a wide variety of magazines, a relentless diversity of experience is all. Is he really making fun of the specialization and extremity of our collective interests, or does he think this is way cool? Is he merely describing a piece of our culture or taking a position?

One of the dangers of taking a distanced, (well, it felt distanced to me) sociological look at life is that it becomes tough to relate to the characters. That was my primary difficulty with The Enthusiast. I did not care about any of the characters. Although some rose to a level of piquing interest, they were quickly replaced by the next set of characters in Henry’s travels. This places a hefty burden on the other aspects of a novel. Is there a sense of humor, wit? Yes, but not enough to stand out. There was no laughing out loud for me here. Is there beautiful, insightful writing. Yes, some, but not enough to make it sing more than an occasional tune.

I guess I could say that although there were parts of the book I liked, overall, I was unable to summon much enthusiasm for it.

P 73
I had my own America going, a huge room lined with doors. Behind each door was an enthusiasm, a noisy roomful of slang, spending, sanctioning bodies, factional intrigues, and Freddy Pasco-like stars who walked like gods in that room and like toner salesmen everywhere else. Most people went through only a few of those doors in their lives, but I crashed one wild party after another and came back for more.

There was always a reason to change jobs. The paychecks bounced or were so small they cleared, or the magazines merged, my career keeping pace with the golden age of cutbacks. Why should an enthusiast go and a civilian stay? All those hang gliders, storm chasers, and battle re-enactors had found a way to stop time that I hadn’t, but I had the vocation of watching them do it.

P 85
“How’s New York?” I said when he left.
“Well. You’ve been there, right:” Gerald said. I shook my head. “Wow. Well you owe it to yourself. And they’re ready for you. I moved there the day after I graduated. I gave them no lead time at all, and they were ready for me anyway. By my third day of walking to work I had my coffee guy, my bakery guy, and my fruit guy. The whole city runs on guys. It’s like polytheism with immediate rewards.

“You know how your big cities are supposed to diminish people? You’re supposed to feel small in the face of it? That’s bullshit. You walk down the street in New York, you see all these sagas going on, you smell thirty smells a block, and you snowball. These things are added unto you. If you want people to feel small, you have to put them in the suburbs. They drive those cars that look like dump trucks to make up for it. They put on weight so they won’t blow away.”

P 196
They told me to go to some park where I could fool around without getting hurt, but I drove six miles up a mountain road instead. I start skiing down this narrow, winding road; the descents are like ten degrees, and there’s a sheer drop with no guardrail.

“It was so fast, Henry. And so cold. I was using ninety-eight percent of my brain to steer, and all that was left was the lizard brain, so I was thinking ‘cold too cold why cold cold?’ you know? There certainly wasn’t room to think about the things I was dealing with at home. Which there were a lot of.”
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Oct 31, 2009 Ruthmgon rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a whim, from the new books section at the Library. It is a good little chronological yarn about brothers, the voice is from the younger brother, who discovers magazine work as an assistant editor and despite his low self esteem seems to set off on a career path of temping at small independent niche sport magazines. He travels the country and learns a little bit about everything. Strange twists happen. He grows up and A "tragic" event leads to him learning to trust himself and be thankfu...more

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Aug 05, 2009 Amber rated it 3 of 5 stars

Henry can't find his own enthusiasm. So he piggybacks off others hobbies and interests by working for enthusiast magazines to fill that void.

To start out with, Henry is going to college. He picks his major, law, so that he can be involved with a lawsuit against his father's former company who took his livelihood and his pension. Henry finds out after a semester that law school isn't all he thought it was. Through an internship with the law firm who is organizing the lawsuit against his father's...more

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Jun 29, 2009 Julie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-book

I was really hoping to like this book, but it was just ok. Every now and then there was a disconnect in the language so that I didn't know what the narrator was talking about. It probably would work fine as an audiobook, because it seemed like it was written in a very "this is the way I talk" language, which didn't translate on the written page all the time, because you're missing the verbal cues. Also, I just didn't quite get the point. There's some thrown in stuff at the end which is basically...more

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Jun 19, 2009 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a charming and funny book chock full of delightfully eccentric characters. The main character, Henry Bay, drifts through life until he lands a job at a small esoteric magazine and discovers the world of enthusiasts. He continues to drift through life never discovering his own enthusiasm until he falls in love with small town America.

There are also subplots about the way people are able to deal with the challenges life throws at you. His father becomes a motivational speaker after he is...more

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Jun 29, 2009 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a fun, and yet substantive, read! The plot synopsis had me at hello: Henry Bay works his way around the country, associate editing for a string of hobby magazines, like 'Ice Climbing,' 'Cozy: The Magazine of Tea,' and 'Crochet Life.'

The book is about Henry's own search for an enthusiasm of his own, but it's also a wonderful portrait of the hardcore love we develop for those pastimes that help us lose track of time. And it's about how our enthusiasms save us in difficult times. And it's abo...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Scotchneat rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: esoterica, family-fiction

Interesting premise - young man stumbles onto a writing gig about kite-driving, and ends up criss-crossing the country for every niche magazine you can think of--including knitting and tea. Anywhere there are enthusiasts.

Along the way, he makes and loses friends and family, learns about business and esoterica, and has observations about what makes life life.

Another good "first novel" finds.

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Aug 15, 2009 Bonnie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This author writes some lines that are among the best I have read in current fiction. Haas' voice vibrates with contemporary energy as his main character races from one special interest zine to the next, inhabiting the essence of each before the crumbling economy catches up with him. Simultaneously he must keep track of each of his unique family members. To read this book is to taste a bit of the culture of today before it too is gone.

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Dec 04, 2012 Jo rated it 1 of 5 stars

I found this book so grammatically troubling, I could not get beyond the second chapter... "Got to Clayton at midday, and stepped out into a world that felt I'd been born missing it.... The air off the river had twice the ply of what I'd grown up breathing." Huh? Had there been more meat to the story, I could have overlooked it. Overall, I found the story superficial and juvenile.

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Oct 30, 2009 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Young man leaves cookie-cutter city in California to follow a career writing for enthusiast magazines like Kite Buggy and Crochet Today. I think the minor characters make this book better than average-wish he had developed them more. When I first started reading, I didn't know if it was 1950 or 2009. There is one mention of Sept. 11, so I figured it out. It has a timeless feel.

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Sep 29, 2009 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Oh read it

Recommended to Nick by: Library shelf

Henry drops out of college and over a decade works at dozens of small magazines devoted to various hobby enthusiasts from rock climbng to skate boarding to crocheting. His brother Barney is a brilliant scientist who remains unimpressed by Henry's career. Henry's journeys take us all over America, seen through his eyes as a land of lost souls needing to lose themselves even further into bizarre hobbies and sometimes dangerous minor sports. His brother Barney, a scientist involved in stem cell rel...more

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May 07, 2010 michelle added it

Shelves: 2010, books-i-own

adam savage raved about this book on twitter, so i bought it. henry, the narrator, has a series of jobs working at enthusiast magazines -- "crochet life," "kite buggy," rock climbing, wilderness exploring, etc etc. overall i think the book is just all right, but this enthusiast stuff is right up my alley. i mean, crazy people who are excited about things! yes, please.

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Mar 17, 2010 Larryh rated it 1 of 5 stars

I did not enjoy this book. There are plenty of books that lack a plot, you just join the main character for a brief journey. Usually along the way the guy learns something or does something.

The protagonist in this book drifted through life pretty much learning nothing along the way. Then the book ended.

I'd ignore this unless pointless word-meandering is your thing.

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Feb 12, 2010 Renee rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Enthusiast is a very enjoyable coming of age story, and at the same time shows the weirder side of the magazine industry.I was caught off guard at times by the sly use of humor in Haas' first novel, and at times saw shadows of Holden Caulfield in the Henry Bay, the lead character. If there were half stars, I would give this book 3.5 for sure!

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Apr 12, 2011 Lisa Dickinson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Started off slowly but half way through it started grabbing my attention. The book took you through some extreme sport experiences and was thrilling at times. The relationship between the brothers deepened and it made me look at life (and life experiences) differently. I would recommend reading this book.

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Apr 23, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Charlie Hass wrote this witty novel about a writer who has a sort of migrant literary lifestyle, pursuing the small magazines that cater to offbeat interest in extreme sports to tea fanatics. A very smart book, with an ending that was not at all predictable. A fun read.

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Jun 28, 2010 Heather rated it 2 of 5 stars

Haven't made it through this one yet, as I paused for some MCBA reading. The protagonist bops from one "enthusiast" magazine to another (e.g. magazines about tea, kite buggies, crocheting), but hasn't found his own passion yet. Funny, light, and easy to pick up and put down.

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Mar 18, 2010 Mundi rated it 3 of 5 stars

My rating is more like 3-1/2 stars as this was an enjoyable, at times laugh-out-loud funny read which offered some interesting insights into human behaviour (the section about Market Research was hysterical - and a bit scary!)

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Aug 17, 2009 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this up at an airport bookstore, not expecting anything much, and really liked it. It's not particularly plot-driven, but has good characters and an interesting perspective on US culture.

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Sep 22, 2009 Alison rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, adult, book-club

We meet Henry Bay as an idealistic kid who wants to become a public-interest lawyer because of his dad, who got laid off when his company's management took all the money and ran. Fun! But he gets to college and starts working for a public-interest lawyer and simply isn't happy, so he takes an offer to come work for Kite Buggy, a magazine he once wrote an article for.
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Nov 15, 2009 Ellie Revert rated it 1 of 5 stars

Could not keep going with this book. Pleasant enough story about a young man moving from job to job to job------and I wish him well, but I could follow for only so long.

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Jul 09, 2009 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very funny, scathing look at "enthusiasts" about a young man who writes for their magazines. Had me laughing out loud. Acute comment on our society, etc. Haas sure can write!

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Jul 03, 2009 Nancy McClure rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book, in the way I like Tom Robbins' works, but I hadn't really gained anything from it. It was pure distraction, which is what fiction should be I suppose...

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Jan 25, 2013 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kind of a slow start, but I really got into it towards the end. Except then the last few pages were such a cheesy letdown. Yet again I really wish I could do half stars because 3 seems too low, but 4 is a bit too high.

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Jun 19, 2012 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

There's not much of a plot (and it gets a little strained), but he is a funny writer. There are a lot of great throw-away lines I wish I'd written down.

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Jul 30, 2009 Julie added it

Any magazine freaks will get a laugh out of hero of this book who makes his living editing "enthusiast" magazines for a living, covering topics from tea to waveboarding. You will get sucked into the flip, clever tone of this book. When the ending comes and your heart is aching, it will come as a surprise. The goodness of this book sneaks up on you!

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Jun 06, 2009 Fritz Brantley rated it 4 of 5 stars

I saw this in PW, and knew from concept alone that I was at least going to enjoy reading this during my commute. I enjoyed it much more than that!

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Jun 23, 2009 Jjanovyak rated it 4 of 5 stars

As funny and sweet as it is clever and cool. Not too many authors can maintain that combination. I enjoyed this thoroughly.

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Jul 06, 2009 Margee rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've never giggled so much in solitary as when reading this book, and I'm only 60 pages in. I hate to finish it, but must keep reading at every opportunity. College student Henry Bay becomes a renaissance man, thanks to his string of editorial jobs at 'enthusiast' publications such as Spelunk, Crochet World, Kitebuggy, and Cozy: the Magazine of Tea. Luckily, he's a 'people' person who isn't hampered by a few kinks among the human resources, as he searches for his true vocation. But what will hap...more

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