What do you think?
Rate this book
Evel Knievel Days
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 (and Khosi's longtime love uses Butte's annual festival, Evel Knievel Days, as a time to announce her impending marriage to someone else), Khosi takes his first daredevil like risk, and travels to Egypt to find his father -- and a connection to his heritage.
What he discovers, in Cairo, is much more startling than he'd imagined it could be. The city is a thrilling mix of contradictions -- and locating his father turns out to be the easy part. Through mistaken identity, delicious food, and near tragedy, Khosi and his parents rediscover what it means to be connected to each other, to a family, and to a culture.
The timely story of a young man searching for his roots, and along the way finding his identity, Evel Knievel Days is Khosi’s charming and funny journey to learn where he came from, and who he is.
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 (and Khosi's longtime love uses Butte's annual festival, Evel Knievel Days, as a time to announce her impending marriage to someone else), Khosi takes his first daredevil like risk, and travels to Egypt to find his father -- and a connection to his heritage.
What he discovers, in Cairo, is much more startling than he'd imagined it could be. The city is a thrilling mix of contradictions -- and locating his father turns out to be the easy part. Through mistaken identity, delicious food, and near tragedy, Khosi and his parents rediscover what it means to be connected to each other, to a family, and to a culture.
The timely story of a young man searching for his roots, and along the way finding his identity, Evel Knievel Days is Khosi’s charming and funny journey to learn where he came from, and who he is.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
9 people are currently reading
363 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
January 4, 2015
4.5 stars. I am not sure I can explain exactly why I liked this book so much. It's about a 20+ year old man, who suffers from OCD, living in Butte, Montana, working at an old mining baron museum. He is the product of a broken marriage, with an Egyptian father, who deserted his family with a crushing gambling debt. Khosi Saqr goes to Cairo to track down his father, and discovers much. It has elements of fantasy (ghosts), culture and cooking, deep familial love, regrets, physical and mental illnesses, and humor. Kudos to Toutonghi for writing such a richly rewarding book. Also, a spectacular cover -- should have been a 2012 award winner. Highly recommended.
November 4, 2013
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 words on this book: I found it to be a wonderful read and enjoyed it thoroughly. It's not often I find a book I can recommend to just about anyone but this is one I'll be raving about to many friends and patrons. It has vivid settings (Butte, Montana and Cairo, Egypt), well-drawn and sympathetic characters, and a compelling storyline, with lots of gorgeous writing. This has a lot of heart and I hope this author gets the attention he deserves.
While I was reading this, the word "quirky" came to mind and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to readers of Ann Tyler and Jonathan Tropper.
Final words on this book: I found it to be a wonderful read and enjoyed it thoroughly. It's not often I find a book I can recommend to just about anyone but this is one I'll be raving about to many friends and patrons. It has vivid settings (Butte, Montana and Cairo, Egypt), well-drawn and sympathetic characters, and a compelling storyline, with lots of gorgeous writing. This has a lot of heart and I hope this author gets the attention he deserves.
While I was reading this, the word "quirky" came to mind and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to readers of Ann Tyler and Jonathan Tropper.
August 11, 2012
[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.
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.
May 20, 2012
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 "present pernicious" tense, a phrase which my friend Rob coined!
Khosi is a young man in his early twenties living with his mom in Butte, Montana. His Egyptian father deserted them when Khosi was only three, leaving them with far more questions than answers, not to mention a staggering amount of gambling debt. One third of the way through the book, Khosi decides to go to Egypt to track down his father after learning that he'd returned briefly to Butte only to ask for divorce papers.
Luckily for him, Khosi's mother wanted him to grow up in touch with his Egyptian heritage, so he has the benefit of years of classic Arabic under his belt by the time he lands in Egypt and is able to [mostly] communicate with locals on his own. Unfortunately for the reader, it's shortly after that point that Khosi starts seeing hallucinations of the ghost of Montana copper magnate (and incidentally Khosi's distant relative), William Andrews Clark. The ghost is a bona fide deux ex machina, though his presence does get an explanation later in the book. Add to this plot a scheming liar of a father, a gregarious ready-made Egyptian family, an Evel Knievel talisman, a brush with death, and a hashish creme brulee, and you wind up with a pretty good book that occasionally misses the mark but is still worth reading.
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 "present pernicious" tense, a phrase which my friend Rob coined!
Khosi is a young man in his early twenties living with his mom in Butte, Montana. His Egyptian father deserted them when Khosi was only three, leaving them with far more questions than answers, not to mention a staggering amount of gambling debt. One third of the way through the book, Khosi decides to go to Egypt to track down his father after learning that he'd returned briefly to Butte only to ask for divorce papers.
Luckily for him, Khosi's mother wanted him to grow up in touch with his Egyptian heritage, so he has the benefit of years of classic Arabic under his belt by the time he lands in Egypt and is able to [mostly] communicate with locals on his own. Unfortunately for the reader, it's shortly after that point that Khosi starts seeing hallucinations of the ghost of Montana copper magnate (and incidentally Khosi's distant relative), William Andrews Clark. The ghost is a bona fide deux ex machina, though his presence does get an explanation later in the book. Add to this plot a scheming liar of a father, a gregarious ready-made Egyptian family, an Evel Knievel talisman, a brush with death, and a hashish creme brulee, and you wind up with a pretty good book that occasionally misses the mark but is still worth reading.
Read
July 16, 2012From 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 (and Khosi's longtime love uses Butte's annual festival, Evel Knievel Days, as a time to announce her impending marriage to someone else), Khosi takes his first daredevil like risk, and travels to Egypt to find his father -- and a connection to his heritage.
What he discovers, in Cairo, is much more startling than he'd imagined it could be. The city is a thrilling mix of contradictions -- and locating his father turns out to be the easy part. Through mistaken identity, delicious food, and near tragedy, Khosi and his parents rediscover what it means to be connected to each other, to a family, and to a culture.
The timely story of a young man searching for his roots, and along the way finding his identity, Evel Knievel Days is Khosi’s charming and funny journey to learn where he came from, and who he is.
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 (and Khosi's longtime love uses Butte's annual festival, Evel Knievel Days, as a time to announce her impending marriage to someone else), Khosi takes his first daredevil like risk, and travels to Egypt to find his father -- and a connection to his heritage.
What he discovers, in Cairo, is much more startling than he'd imagined it could be. The city is a thrilling mix of contradictions -- and locating his father turns out to be the easy part. Through mistaken identity, delicious food, and near tragedy, Khosi and his parents rediscover what it means to be connected to each other, to a family, and to a culture.
The timely story of a young man searching for his roots, and along the way finding his identity, Evel Knievel Days is Khosi’s charming and funny journey to learn where he came from, and who he is.
August 28, 2012
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.
November 14, 2013
Loved this book. As much as I liked the authors first book, Red Weather, I thought this book was just a marvel. Loved his settings of Butte, Montana and Cairo, Egypt.
Just filled with great characters and themes throughout. This one will definitely be in our Book Club reading list.
Just filled with great characters and themes throughout. This one will definitely be in our Book Club reading list.
August 31, 2012
Did you know that Evel Knievel was one of the FBI's most valuable anti-Communist assets during the Cold War—and also, that he was a WEREWOLF? That's the premise behind up-and-coming novelist Pauls (Red Weather, Vergebung) Toutonghi's Evel Knievel Days, a rip-roaring, red-white-and-blue adventure yarn that's equal parts James Bond and Don McLean.
Toutonghi is obviously borrowing the Seth Grahame-Smith formula of retroactively adding classic horror elements to a historical narrative, but it never comes off as outright theft. This is due in large part to the fact that the book's cover and dust jacket summary give no indication of the wild ride that the reader is in for. And Toutonghi has clearly done his research, blending fact and fiction seamlessly into a tense, gripping narrative (for example, did you know that Knievel's infamous failed Wembley jump was derailed by a Cuban sniper shooting him in the leg with a silver bullet?). I also appreciated his wry references and attention to detail, including a casual mention on page 76 of "Jeremy Dean," a little-known alias of Beatle-slayer Mark David Chapman.
Although I found the numerous, extended scenes of graphic werewolf sex to be somewhat excessive, I'm no prude, and I think that any fair-minded reader will understand that Toutonghi had to give the public what they craved in order to increase the book's mass appeal—and hopefully lead to a movie deal or HBO series... fingers crossed!
Toutonghi is obviously borrowing the Seth Grahame-Smith formula of retroactively adding classic horror elements to a historical narrative, but it never comes off as outright theft. This is due in large part to the fact that the book's cover and dust jacket summary give no indication of the wild ride that the reader is in for. And Toutonghi has clearly done his research, blending fact and fiction seamlessly into a tense, gripping narrative (for example, did you know that Knievel's infamous failed Wembley jump was derailed by a Cuban sniper shooting him in the leg with a silver bullet?). I also appreciated his wry references and attention to detail, including a casual mention on page 76 of "Jeremy Dean," a little-known alias of Beatle-slayer Mark David Chapman.
Although I found the numerous, extended scenes of graphic werewolf sex to be somewhat excessive, I'm no prude, and I think that any fair-minded reader will understand that Toutonghi had to give the public what they craved in order to increase the book's mass appeal—and hopefully lead to a movie deal or HBO series... fingers crossed!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2012
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 quickly, and most of the time, it flows naturally. It starts off strong, but towards the end, the story feels a little unpolished, with some contrived scenes and abrupt transitions (though I am reading an advance copy). At first, the ending really threw me off. The epilogue felt like it was tacked on to the book to make it more relevant to current day Egypt, but doesn't really connect to the characters. After some thought, I realized that it did connect to the character, and with the setting of Cairo, it would be difficult to not bring the story in to the current day. I do wish that the epilogue was longer, or more tightly integrated into the story, but I've made my peace with it.
Overall though, definitely worth a read.
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 quickly, and most of the time, it flows naturally. It starts off strong, but towards the end, the story feels a little unpolished, with some contrived scenes and abrupt transitions (though I am reading an advance copy). At first, the ending really threw me off. The epilogue felt like it was tacked on to the book to make it more relevant to current day Egypt, but doesn't really connect to the characters. After some thought, I realized that it did connect to the character, and with the setting of Cairo, it would be difficult to not bring the story in to the current day. I do wish that the epilogue was longer, or more tightly integrated into the story, but I've made my peace with it.
Overall though, definitely worth a read.
September 24, 2012
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. Though he’s got some eccentricities of his own, his clever wit and dry humor see him through some pretty challenging life-altering events. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page of this book and could especially relate to the competitiveness between Khosi’s Mom who is a caterer, and a local Lebanese restaurateur. Much of what unfolds in this story and Khosi’s coming of age journey is bittersweet. I highly recommend this book, which will have the reader both laughing and crying but in the end, rejoicing for Khosi.
Amidst a personal crisis, Khosi embarks upon an overseas journey to find his absentee father. Though he’s got some eccentricities of his own, his clever wit and dry humor see him through some pretty challenging life-altering events. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page of this book and could especially relate to the competitiveness between Khosi’s Mom who is a caterer, and a local Lebanese restaurateur. Much of what unfolds in this story and Khosi’s coming of age journey is bittersweet. I highly recommend this book, which will have the reader both laughing and crying but in the end, rejoicing for Khosi.
August 23, 2012
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 struggles he faced in trying to figure out the person his father really is. In the end, I'm glad Khosi's father realized his mistakes and his faults at keeping so many secrets from his family in Egypt. It was nice to see how the family could come together as one for this first time, including Khosi's mother. This novel has a powerful message about family and the many struggles we all go through in life in order to figure out our identity in the world.
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 struggles he faced in trying to figure out the person his father really is. In the end, I'm glad Khosi's father realized his mistakes and his faults at keeping so many secrets from his family in Egypt. It was nice to see how the family could come together as one for this first time, including Khosi's mother. This novel has a powerful message about family and the many struggles we all go through in life in order to figure out our identity in the world.
August 27, 2012
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 be surprised to see this book land on “top” lists of 2012.
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 be surprised to see this book land on “top” lists of 2012.
June 15, 2012
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?
September 10, 2012
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.
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.
November 4, 2012
A smart, multicultural comedy of errors. The relationship between the narrator, the young Montana-raised guy, Khosi, and his estranged Egyptian father is a funny love/hate roller coaster throughout this lighthearted novel.
August 26, 2012
I loved this book.
September 9, 2012
Kind of snuck up on me there at the end--a crescendo that served to elevate the entire story.
March 16, 2013
Excellent writing, but some of the plot elements were a stretch for me.
wishlist
August 10, 2012I found out about this from Powell's "Daily Dose." It's about Butte, how could they go wrong?
May 11, 2017
This is an enjoyable story about a young man born and raised in Butte, Montana, whose Egyptian-born father abandoned him and his mother when he was three. He leaves Butte in his twenties and goes to Cairo in search of his father. The novel is written in a simple, conversational style and has a basic plot, but Khosi Saqr’s quirks of character provide a fascination as he reacts to people and society in Butte and Cairo.
The story is told almost completely in simple, staccato sentences, the way we often talk to each other:
“I hated leaving Butte. Butte was home. Butte was comfort. Butte was order.”
“One fact. One instructive, inelegant fact. My mother’s husband, my father, my unknown and distant father, my mockery of that word father … deserted us when I was three.”
As in conversation when we want to be dramatic, parallel structure is prominent:
“I had books on biology, chemistry, calculus, engineering. I had encyclopedias and Bibles. I had the Great Books, the classics of world religious thinking, of philosophy and poetry and fiction. I also had ….”
This style keeps up the impression that we are not so much reading a book as listening to somebody talk to us. Admittedly, after a while the style can be reminiscent of what George Orwell mocked in his 1940 essay “Boys’ Weeklies.” A sample that Orwell gives:
Groan!
“Shutup, Bunter!”
Groan!
Shutting up was not really in Billy Bunter’s line. He seldom shut up, though often requested to do so. On the present awful occasion the fat Owl of Greyfriars was less inclined than ever to shut up. And he did not shut up! He groaned, and groaned, and went on groaning.
The plotline is basically whether Khosi will find his father or not and how they will react to each other if he does. There are numerous chances for twists, turns, or surprises, but the reader who is hoping for these will be disappointed. The story is completely straightforward. What holds our interest is the vivid description and the appreciative depiction of the Egyptian people.
The story is told almost completely in simple, staccato sentences, the way we often talk to each other:
“I hated leaving Butte. Butte was home. Butte was comfort. Butte was order.”
“One fact. One instructive, inelegant fact. My mother’s husband, my father, my unknown and distant father, my mockery of that word father … deserted us when I was three.”
As in conversation when we want to be dramatic, parallel structure is prominent:
“I had books on biology, chemistry, calculus, engineering. I had encyclopedias and Bibles. I had the Great Books, the classics of world religious thinking, of philosophy and poetry and fiction. I also had ….”
This style keeps up the impression that we are not so much reading a book as listening to somebody talk to us. Admittedly, after a while the style can be reminiscent of what George Orwell mocked in his 1940 essay “Boys’ Weeklies.” A sample that Orwell gives:
Groan!
“Shutup, Bunter!”
Groan!
Shutting up was not really in Billy Bunter’s line. He seldom shut up, though often requested to do so. On the present awful occasion the fat Owl of Greyfriars was less inclined than ever to shut up. And he did not shut up! He groaned, and groaned, and went on groaning.
The plotline is basically whether Khosi will find his father or not and how they will react to each other if he does. There are numerous chances for twists, turns, or surprises, but the reader who is hoping for these will be disappointed. The story is completely straightforward. What holds our interest is the vivid description and the appreciative depiction of the Egyptian people.
December 7, 2017
Not sure why it took me so long to read this but once I started found it hard to put down. The plot was a classic story of the person who doesn’t quite fit in and goes on a journey to find themselves. The characters really drew me in, and the setting was interesting and unique. Throw in a rare genetic disease, a ghost and absolutely delicious descriptions of food, and its a winner! I will be searching for Egyptian restaurants in my area soon!
December 12, 2017
Not bad.
April 1, 2018
Enjoyable, witty, humourous, original, I was very pleasantly surprised.
June 8, 2019
Odd combination of butte montana and Cairo, it marginally works
February 13, 2020
Delightful and very unique.
August 12, 2022
Sweet story, funny.
July 16, 2023
I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did, but it was absolutely delightful, quirky, and completely charmed me.
September 5, 2023
A heartwarming story about an Egyptian-American from Montana who travels to Cairo to meet his estranged father.
I loved the dark humor and the beautiful writing.
I loved the dark humor and the beautiful writing.
April 22, 2024
An unexpected pleasure
This book appeared on my library feed, and the title was too strange to pass up. None of it was expected. A great read.
This book appeared on my library feed, and the title was too strange to pass up. None of it was expected. A great read.
August 8, 2012
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.
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.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews