Walls

by Andrew Duncan Worthington

"This is the debut of a major new talent. Straightforwardly brilliant writing. This book is so honest, so American, so true to what it is like to be young in America today. At moments, Worthington reminds me of Fitzgerald, at other times of Salinger, and then, at other times, of Beckett. One more big name: If Knut Hamsun were a young American writing Hunger today, this is the book he would write. The subjectivity of the contemporary experience of our crazy, drug, text and PlayStation-fueled culture is perfectly described. If Worthington can continue to write as well as he does in this novel, he will be one of the greats of the start of the twenty-first century." --Clancy Martin, author of How to Sell

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published July 2, 2014

Reviews

[Brandon Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mid-twenties guy gets picked up in the airport by his parents. He's taking a trip home to Ohio, from where he now lives, New York City. The book begins as slowly, unassuming, and understated as this, but if you give it a chance, before long you just might be entranced like I was. And it might be hard to put your finger on why, for a while. The guy's parents drive by their old house and he thinks about trying to not think about that. He goes to Applebees with his old friend who's not really a friend anymore, although not from some dramatic falling-out, from just not really caring much about each other anymore, not really having anything to talk about. Maybe the guy doesn't really care about anything, you start to think. But, no, it doesn't seem that easy. Then the next day, he goes to Taco Bell with the same friend. (And it's kind of alluring. In the writing there is a devotion to the minutia, yet somehow at the same time a glossing over of specifics.) So it's feeling like he's going through what people who move away from their small-towns and then go back to visit go through -- and he is, but there's something else going on, too. Late at night the guy flips out on this girl he used to work with on facebook. Then it turns out he was in a mental hospital for a bit.

I don't want to say more. This is just the kind of book to dive in to.

It reminded me why I love indie publishing. I look forward to more of Worthington's work.

[Jason Kane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine a diary from which many of the raw confessions and hopes and fears and desires have been blacked-out or excised. A post 9/11 take on Less Than Zero. This book spoke to me about as often as it refused to speak to me, which is just about the perfect ratio.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the juxtaposition and muddle of numbness and feeling. Everything is all jumbled up in the face of adult life. It ebbs and flows, depending on which of the parts you're talking about, but it never completely resolves. Nor did I feel it should. Even with so much disassociation, I connected strongly with the book. I felt things, even when I wasn't sure if the narrator did (it sometimes wasn't simple to say). Liked it quite a bit.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll remember:

browns
smile mechanical
I don't know
scriptures
stunted expectations
hollow erections
sliced turkey
whatever

The title cut anchors this collection of ennui and hurt. I definitely look forward to Worthington's next work.

[Jennie · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this guy is the new voice of our generation, we might be in trouble.

[Marzi Margo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review at Banango Lit: http://banangolit.com/post/1041691019...

[Andrew Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: This is my book. (Bias)