What do you think?
American Weather
From Amazon UK: "Meet Jim Haskin. He's forty years old. He's worth around thirty-five million. He runs his own San Francisco ad firm, American Weather. AmWe's image is green and forward-looking: if your product is upcycled or hydro or vegan, they'll make you an ad. Behind the scenes, though, Jim supports the old captains of American industry; bleach, beer, guns. But all is not well: Jim's wife, Denise, is in a coma induced by a drug Jim helped promote. A live-in nurse and former Salvadorian gang member helps him care for her. And Jim's only child, Connor, has been sent to a boarding school three thousand miles away after assaulting another student. Orphaned at 14, Jim and his three closest friends grew up at Mr Hand's Home for Well-Behaved Boys. All have profited from the American Dream. In 2008, on the brink of the Presidential election, the quartet find themselves short on cash and look to Jim for a solution. The scheme he devises brings together a Death Row inmate, pay-per-view television, and most of America's major corporations. Everything is set for it to be his greatest achievement yet. American Weather is a remorselessly funny and savage take-down of modern America by an abundantly talented new writer."
From Foyles: "American Weather is a book for readers who want an absorbing and compellingly shocking story written in incongruously lyrical language. It's also a book for those who appreciated American Psycho's dissection of the pathological nature of late consumer capitalism but felt slightly embarrassed about reading it on the bus."
From Eleanor Henderson on The Millions: "Charles McLeod’s satirical novel American Weather is so raucous, so original, and so stridently anti-consumerism...[it]captures our country’s zeitgeist with such precision that it could and should be the handbook for Occupy Wall Street."
From Matthew Dufus on The Critical Flame: "Herein lies an example of the image-versus-reality dichotomy that McLeod revels in exposing: without Haskin’s decidedly eco-unfriendly deals, his impressively multicultural staff of 'dilettante, liberal capitalists' would not be able to afford their Priuses, four thousand dollar mountain bikes, or clothing 'handmade by a collective of Peruvian weavers and sold by white people at PC Boutique.' Haskin himself relishes this role-playing, describing his American Weather self as 'both simple and comfortable. All I must do to pass off this disguise is be spineless and nearly retarded with glee and hold no opinion that might be considered offensive to any disenfranchised person or entity.' Such an attitude, so bluntly expressed, is jarring. It is reminiscent of the greedy architects of our economic crisis, the same compartmentalization that allowed the Bernie Madoffs to bilk investors and taxpayers while presenting themselves as family-first philanthropists."
From Megan Martin on Booklore: "McLeod's America is not far from our own: it's a place where identities are created by the brands we consume, where human relationships and ethics have been destroyed by capitalism and technology, loneliness and isolation. The territory the book covers...is epic - McLeod hits the economic collapse, environmental destruction, plastic surgery, and capital punishment - and connects all of them back to centuries of corporate greed. Heavy territory; luckily, the book is funny."
"Sharp and clever." -Guardian
"A strong, original voice." -Irish Examiner
"McLeod's bursts of righteous indignation are sharp, and there's a savagery to them that can't be faked." -Herald Scotland
From Foyles: "American Weather is a book for readers who want an absorbing and compellingly shocking story written in incongruously lyrical language. It's also a book for those who appreciated American Psycho's dissection of the pathological nature of late consumer capitalism but felt slightly embarrassed about reading it on the bus."
From Eleanor Henderson on The Millions: "Charles McLeod’s satirical novel American Weather is so raucous, so original, and so stridently anti-consumerism...[it]captures our country’s zeitgeist with such precision that it could and should be the handbook for Occupy Wall Street."
From Matthew Dufus on The Critical Flame: "Herein lies an example of the image-versus-reality dichotomy that McLeod revels in exposing: without Haskin’s decidedly eco-unfriendly deals, his impressively multicultural staff of 'dilettante, liberal capitalists' would not be able to afford their Priuses, four thousand dollar mountain bikes, or clothing 'handmade by a collective of Peruvian weavers and sold by white people at PC Boutique.' Haskin himself relishes this role-playing, describing his American Weather self as 'both simple and comfortable. All I must do to pass off this disguise is be spineless and nearly retarded with glee and hold no opinion that might be considered offensive to any disenfranchised person or entity.' Such an attitude, so bluntly expressed, is jarring. It is reminiscent of the greedy architects of our economic crisis, the same compartmentalization that allowed the Bernie Madoffs to bilk investors and taxpayers while presenting themselves as family-first philanthropists."
From Megan Martin on Booklore: "McLeod's America is not far from our own: it's a place where identities are created by the brands we consume, where human relationships and ethics have been destroyed by capitalism and technology, loneliness and isolation. The territory the book covers...is epic - McLeod hits the economic collapse, environmental destruction, plastic surgery, and capital punishment - and connects all of them back to centuries of corporate greed. Heavy territory; luckily, the book is funny."
"Sharp and clever." -Guardian
"A strong, original voice." -Irish Examiner
"McLeod's bursts of righteous indignation are sharp, and there's a savagery to them that can't be faked." -Herald Scotland
- GenresFiction
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 18, 2012
Trying to describe this novel is an aggravating, infuriating task. Five-plus-plus-plus stars for daring, inventive, sometimes luscious, sometimes hallucinogenic prose: virtuoso writing that is never, for a single moment, dull, and is often sit-up-and-slap-your-forehead surprising. There are numerous multi-page sections in which the author writes in lists, and pulls it off so beautifully that I was hypnotized and marked these pages for re-reading. Yet all that’s accomplished by this beautiful language is a depiction of ugliness: ugly, despicable characters, base cynicism, and, well, that’s about it.
The narrator-protagonist is a man with a damaged past, whose entire life is devoted to enriching himself, while manipulating and shaming others for the joy of it (he’ll pay an artist half a million dollars just so he can tear his paintings into shreds in front of the artist’s eyes). He suffers no consequences, displays no second thoughts, and is generally nasty as his revenge on the world. In short, a psychopath. Most people around him are also psychopaths to varying degrees. Where’s the story in that? The few cracks in his armor--his wife’s coma, his relationship with his son--are simply part of the background noise of his life. When one of those issues (I won’t spoil it here) is resolved, it kind of just happens, with no emotional impact on either the character or the reader.
The narrator runs an advertising agency whose façade is the marketing of eco-friendly ventures, but whose secret bread-and-butter involves PR for major polluters. But the side-plot regarding a bleach factory’s public relations disaster simply fades out mid-book, with new cynical money-making schemes coming to the fore.
I suppose this novel is intended to be dark satire of contemporary America. Yet I think it fails as such. In my opinion, the best satire starts by assuming the point of view of the person or institution you wish to shame, and gradually picks apart the hypocrisies in their attitudes and practices. American Weather wonderfully, elegantly, deeply and convincingly assumes the most cynical possible attitudes of contemporary American advertising and vacant consumerism, and pokes great fun at do-gooder save-the-planet vegan hipsterism. And continues on that track for 240 pages without shedding any light on such attitudes, without digging into the humanity or the hypocrisy of any of its characters, with the possible exception of the son, who simply moves from one sense of bewilderment to another. Everyone keeps doing their thing, no one suffers for their actions. If this is the point, then the whole novel feels pointless.
Yet American Weather shines on every page with eloquent passages of cynical beauty. For example:
If you want to experience daring, virtuoso contemporary writing, I strongly recommend this book. Just don’t expect to be moved by any of the characters or to discover a coherent story line.
The narrator-protagonist is a man with a damaged past, whose entire life is devoted to enriching himself, while manipulating and shaming others for the joy of it (he’ll pay an artist half a million dollars just so he can tear his paintings into shreds in front of the artist’s eyes). He suffers no consequences, displays no second thoughts, and is generally nasty as his revenge on the world. In short, a psychopath. Most people around him are also psychopaths to varying degrees. Where’s the story in that? The few cracks in his armor--his wife’s coma, his relationship with his son--are simply part of the background noise of his life. When one of those issues (I won’t spoil it here) is resolved, it kind of just happens, with no emotional impact on either the character or the reader.
The narrator runs an advertising agency whose façade is the marketing of eco-friendly ventures, but whose secret bread-and-butter involves PR for major polluters. But the side-plot regarding a bleach factory’s public relations disaster simply fades out mid-book, with new cynical money-making schemes coming to the fore.
I suppose this novel is intended to be dark satire of contemporary America. Yet I think it fails as such. In my opinion, the best satire starts by assuming the point of view of the person or institution you wish to shame, and gradually picks apart the hypocrisies in their attitudes and practices. American Weather wonderfully, elegantly, deeply and convincingly assumes the most cynical possible attitudes of contemporary American advertising and vacant consumerism, and pokes great fun at do-gooder save-the-planet vegan hipsterism. And continues on that track for 240 pages without shedding any light on such attitudes, without digging into the humanity or the hypocrisy of any of its characters, with the possible exception of the son, who simply moves from one sense of bewilderment to another. Everyone keeps doing their thing, no one suffers for their actions. If this is the point, then the whole novel feels pointless.
Yet American Weather shines on every page with eloquent passages of cynical beauty. For example:
Let us remember we’re better than beasts. Let us remember that God will sweep it up later, for were this not the case we wouldn't have brains that knew of His Love and His Wrath and the ways to synthesize plastics, and shape glass in a manner to be flat and thin, and make circuit boards smaller and fit more pixels per inch, and dream up docudramas for the eight p.m. Sunday slot on the American Broadcasting Channel. It is with God’s grace, my Lambs, that we are given culture, that next type of nature, and we must not forget all that culture provides, and for this Mankind, in the image of God, created television.
If you want to experience daring, virtuoso contemporary writing, I strongly recommend this book. Just don’t expect to be moved by any of the characters or to discover a coherent story line.
December 6, 2011
Bret Easton Ellis in the marketing world.
I'm not worthy. I'm not worth 35 million dollars.
I'm not worthy. I'm not worth 35 million dollars.
April 7, 2020
This is basically Generation X's more biting younger brother. It's anti-consumerism in the age of technology and yoga and ad agencies obsessed with being inclusive and right-on, and it's savagely hilarious but also kind of wistfully Americana. The way American Weather is written is beyond prose but before poetry and it makes me heart sing and my brain zing.
May 3, 2012
This is one of the more interesting books that I’ve read this year but the jury is still out on whether or not I’m in favour of the ending. Jim Haskins, a 40-something successful, wealthy businessman has a finger in every pie going. Literally. Not only does he run what appears to be the most successful advertising firm in the United States – American Weather, known as AmWe in the book – but he also funds, plans and executes (in more ways than one) the American Dream. An orphan, Jim and his childhood friends embark on commercial ventures that bring great fortune to themselves personally and equally catastrophic fates to those in their way. Notably, the plot is set in 2008 against the background of the presidential election and involves a ruthless attempt at ‘change’ in Jim Haskin’s own world and his attempt to realise his biggest financial venture yet.
The book begins very much in the style of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, and for this I found it lacking in originality initially. However, the inclusion of letters from the central characters son to his father make the story much more accessible than Patrick Bateman’s narration in American Psycho, where one is left unsure as to whether or not the events taking place are real or figments of Bateman’s imagination. There are moments throughout where the protagonist reveals layers to his thought processes that are as frightening as they are believable and thus, make this book very memorable. Acknowledging his own nonchalance and ruthlessness, Jim Haskins becomes a character that the reader will either have tremendous hatred or overwhelming sympathy for by the end, depending on the interpretations of his last venture in the book. In this reviewer’s opinion he is ultimately to be pitied, as his existence personifies the greed and corruption of modern, corporate America.
I’d advise people to read this before Hollywood gets its hands on it, as large sections of it sound like it was written with the specific intent of making producers chomp at the bit for rights to the work. It is well worth reading, but the ending was slightly deflating and after a few days of digesting the whole story, it ended on a lazy note that is not to my liking. If you like well-written American fiction that keeps you turning the page, this is for you. If you have no interest in the realities of corporate, commercial advertising and the effect it has on the rest of the world, this is also for you but a warning, you may not like it.
The book begins very much in the style of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, and for this I found it lacking in originality initially. However, the inclusion of letters from the central characters son to his father make the story much more accessible than Patrick Bateman’s narration in American Psycho, where one is left unsure as to whether or not the events taking place are real or figments of Bateman’s imagination. There are moments throughout where the protagonist reveals layers to his thought processes that are as frightening as they are believable and thus, make this book very memorable. Acknowledging his own nonchalance and ruthlessness, Jim Haskins becomes a character that the reader will either have tremendous hatred or overwhelming sympathy for by the end, depending on the interpretations of his last venture in the book. In this reviewer’s opinion he is ultimately to be pitied, as his existence personifies the greed and corruption of modern, corporate America.
I’d advise people to read this before Hollywood gets its hands on it, as large sections of it sound like it was written with the specific intent of making producers chomp at the bit for rights to the work. It is well worth reading, but the ending was slightly deflating and after a few days of digesting the whole story, it ended on a lazy note that is not to my liking. If you like well-written American fiction that keeps you turning the page, this is for you. If you have no interest in the realities of corporate, commercial advertising and the effect it has on the rest of the world, this is also for you but a warning, you may not like it.
January 3, 2016
Jim Harkin, the protagonist of Charles McLeod's American Weather, runs his own San Francisco-based agency, American Public, although his job mainly seems to consist of handling Etsy-related disputes among his overgrown-teenager employees while his sexy VP makes the important decisions. Jim's wife has been in a coma for months after she reacted badly to one of the antidepressants Jim's company was pimping; oh, and the insurance company won't pay up because they say propensity to this was a "pre-existing condition."
Meanwhile, his lonely teenage son Connor has been shipped off to boarding school and writes letters to his father, which we read every other chapter or so. He expresses vague and just-about-caring sentiments about his family from time to time but it feels like he's much more concerned about getting a hot tennis star to pimp a particular product at a gala, or making sure he has the latest eco-friendly gadgets. Some of Jim's childhood friends him up with a demand for money and he comes up with the genius idea of televising death row executions, paying the criminals (well, ensuring the money goes to their favourite family member/friend) and tattooing them with the brands of the sponsors before they get the lethal injection.
Jim is definitely Patrick Bateman with some Don Draper thrown in--he isn't exactly unlikable but he is definitely sociopathic and as with Bateman in American Psycho, we are privy to Jim's every last meticulous, detached thought. He name drops, he brand drops, he's a control freak and just doesn't seem to be able to relate to people. Yet everyone thinks he's a success--a star. American Weather isn't violent like American Psycho but it is just as dark. It's also very funny. My favourite scene was probably when Jim decides to hire a call girl, makes her show up to an expensive hotel room, asks how much it will take for her to work all night, rather than going to her next "appointment" after two hours. Just when she's starting to get scared that he's going to do something really kinky or even dangerous, he sits her down at a computer and asks her to type every single thing she has ever wanted (material, immaterial, general, specific) into a document. Focus groups? Who needs a stinkin' focus group?
Meanwhile, his lonely teenage son Connor has been shipped off to boarding school and writes letters to his father, which we read every other chapter or so. He expresses vague and just-about-caring sentiments about his family from time to time but it feels like he's much more concerned about getting a hot tennis star to pimp a particular product at a gala, or making sure he has the latest eco-friendly gadgets. Some of Jim's childhood friends him up with a demand for money and he comes up with the genius idea of televising death row executions, paying the criminals (well, ensuring the money goes to their favourite family member/friend) and tattooing them with the brands of the sponsors before they get the lethal injection.
Jim is definitely Patrick Bateman with some Don Draper thrown in--he isn't exactly unlikable but he is definitely sociopathic and as with Bateman in American Psycho, we are privy to Jim's every last meticulous, detached thought. He name drops, he brand drops, he's a control freak and just doesn't seem to be able to relate to people. Yet everyone thinks he's a success--a star. American Weather isn't violent like American Psycho but it is just as dark. It's also very funny. My favourite scene was probably when Jim decides to hire a call girl, makes her show up to an expensive hotel room, asks how much it will take for her to work all night, rather than going to her next "appointment" after two hours. Just when she's starting to get scared that he's going to do something really kinky or even dangerous, he sits her down at a computer and asks her to type every single thing she has ever wanted (material, immaterial, general, specific) into a document. Focus groups? Who needs a stinkin' focus group?
June 14, 2011
A while ago an article went round at work about how to spot a psychopath in your office and that they were often very successful in business. Jim Haskin reminds me of that. His job is to sell you a lifestyle and he doesn't care who he walks over to get there. Supposedly “green”, his public image is drastically different to the world inside his head.
The tone is very cynical and I find it hard to work out if McLeod is anti-green or anti-consumerism or just anti-America. Haskin's wife is in a coma and he blames his own marketing world to some extent. His relationship with her and the circumstances behind her coma are glossed over and I personally would have preferred a bit more insight to how he became such a dislikeable man. It's OK to hate characters, but there needs to be something for me to empathise with.
Haskin's first person narrative is interspersed with letters from his son who is at university in England. In some ways he takes after his father but I think there's still hope for him.
It's a book of the times; recession, Prop 8, hybrid vehicles, gadgets, Morgellon's disease and a world of constant marketing. Unfortunately plot is playing second fiddle to the social commentary and it just didn't grab me. There's just too much packed in for any one topic to really latch on. I think the presence of Morgellon's gives it an extra half star from me, though it's not a huge part of the story, it's a fascinating condition, driven by the suggestive nature of the internet. But I digress!
The tone is very cynical and I find it hard to work out if McLeod is anti-green or anti-consumerism or just anti-America. Haskin's wife is in a coma and he blames his own marketing world to some extent. His relationship with her and the circumstances behind her coma are glossed over and I personally would have preferred a bit more insight to how he became such a dislikeable man. It's OK to hate characters, but there needs to be something for me to empathise with.
Haskin's first person narrative is interspersed with letters from his son who is at university in England. In some ways he takes after his father but I think there's still hope for him.
It's a book of the times; recession, Prop 8, hybrid vehicles, gadgets, Morgellon's disease and a world of constant marketing. Unfortunately plot is playing second fiddle to the social commentary and it just didn't grab me. There's just too much packed in for any one topic to really latch on. I think the presence of Morgellon's gives it an extra half star from me, though it's not a huge part of the story, it's a fascinating condition, driven by the suggestive nature of the internet. But I digress!
November 24, 2012
Let me start by saying I struggled between 4 and 5 on my rating. I reserve a rating of 5 for a book that either makes me cry or moves me in some kind of emotional way or I just can't get it out of my head. American Weather was not that kind of a read, however it was an important book.
My disclaimer also extends to the fact that I am not an English major. With that said, I began this novel thinking it was a satire of American consumerism, capitalism, and religion. In the end, I decided it wasn't that big of a stretch and maybe satire was not an accurate descriptor. Maybe irony? I don't know, but nothing got tossed out to the reader to make you like anyone in this book.
I know nothing I have said tells you what this novel is about or makes you want to read it. I discovered American Weather from a book review on the The Million. The reviewer stated that U.S. publishers passed on this novel but luckily European publishers picked it up. The reviewer strongly recommended it...of course I tried to find it.
My library did not own it, so I bought an electronic copy (my first) and read it on my brand new Kindle. Charles McLeod might find it amusing that instead of admiring the book cover every time I picked up his book to read, I had to swipe away the advertisement for a clean shave.
I recommend this book for 2 reasons: you just might think twice before you buy something you don't really need or want and seriously, how can you buy some of the crap our politicians say? Think about it!!
My disclaimer also extends to the fact that I am not an English major. With that said, I began this novel thinking it was a satire of American consumerism, capitalism, and religion. In the end, I decided it wasn't that big of a stretch and maybe satire was not an accurate descriptor. Maybe irony? I don't know, but nothing got tossed out to the reader to make you like anyone in this book.
I know nothing I have said tells you what this novel is about or makes you want to read it. I discovered American Weather from a book review on the The Million. The reviewer stated that U.S. publishers passed on this novel but luckily European publishers picked it up. The reviewer strongly recommended it...of course I tried to find it.
My library did not own it, so I bought an electronic copy (my first) and read it on my brand new Kindle. Charles McLeod might find it amusing that instead of admiring the book cover every time I picked up his book to read, I had to swipe away the advertisement for a clean shave.
I recommend this book for 2 reasons: you just might think twice before you buy something you don't really need or want and seriously, how can you buy some of the crap our politicians say? Think about it!!
February 9, 2012
I created a new shelf, "strange," for this book. I give it four stars because it sticks with me and I found it very hard to put down, even though while I was reading it I kept thinking "this is just weird, and his writing is really weird too." I saw another review that mentioned Bret Easton Ellis, and I can understand that - but I couldn't finish anything by Bret Easton Ellis and I couldn't put this down, so go figure.
Jim Haskin is a very rich image-maker, ostensibly promoting all things that make the world greener and people more blissful, while behind the scenes doing precisely the opposite. The book gives us front-row seats over the course of a year or so as he and his teenage son spiral into increasing decompensation while trying harder and harder to control their weird and awful personal lives. Not, perhaps, for the faint of heart, nor for those who like to like their protagonists. But fascinating in its own way.
Jim Haskin is a very rich image-maker, ostensibly promoting all things that make the world greener and people more blissful, while behind the scenes doing precisely the opposite. The book gives us front-row seats over the course of a year or so as he and his teenage son spiral into increasing decompensation while trying harder and harder to control their weird and awful personal lives. Not, perhaps, for the faint of heart, nor for those who like to like their protagonists. But fascinating in its own way.
June 29, 2011
Jim Haskin is, in Richard Fairina's words, a hard loving loser. He's in advertising, selling pretty images to the American Public. Yet although he looks great his life is a mess; his wife Denise is in a coma and son Connor shipped off to boarding school. And there's the stock market crash looming, making Jim do things that aren't so pretty. A violent beautiful debut.
August 2, 2011
best read in a very long time
November 9, 2011
A spectacularly original book.
October 30, 2012
Did not finish, no interest.
June 27, 2014
Awfully like Ellis. Really, it just struck me as a short story that got out of control.
June 6, 2016
Couldn't get into it - slick, glib, heartless is what I felt on getting 50 pages in, and didn't feel like investing the time for another 50
August 21, 2012
A bit weird but definitely thought provoking, and had some really biting satire. Worthwhile.
June 17, 2013
I love the dark ones. This one is jet black.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews