Knockout

by John Jodzio

The work of John Jodzio has already made waves across the literary community. Some readers noticed his nimble blending of humor with painful truths reminded them of George Saunders. His creativity and fresh voice reminded others of Wells Tower's Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned . But with his new collection, Jodzio creates a class of his own.

Knockout is the unified collection of stories that create flawless portraits of deeply flawed figures on the edge of the American Dream. A recovering drug addict gets tricked into stealing a tiger. A man buys a used sex chair from his neighbor. A woman suffering from agoraphobia raises her son completely indoors. An alcoholic runs a bed and breakfast with the son from his deceased wife's first marriage. These people will admit that their chances have passed them by. These people know they were born on the wrong side of the tracks, and their dreams will remain unreachable, but that doesn't stop them from dreaming. Yet readers won’t be fooled by the funny premises —Jodzio steers these stories into deeper places, creating a brilliant examination of those on the fringes of modern life.

With its quirky humor, compelling characters, and unexpected sincerity, Knockout by John Jodzio is poised to become his breakout book, drawing a wide readership to this provocative and talented young writer.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Book Club, Literary Fiction, Ebooks

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2016

About the author

John Jodzio's work has been featured in a variety of places including This American Life, McSweeney's, and One Story. He's the author of the short story collections, Knockout, Get In If You Want To Live and If You Lived Here You’d Already Be Home. He lives in Minneapolis. Find out more at johnjodzio.net

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jodzio once again delivers a stellar set of hilarious dark comedies and surprise twists in his latest book. Jodzio's stories are quintessentially American: fucked up, funny, a little sad, but with just enough humor and hope for his hapless characters. I'll read anything he writes.

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have twenty pages left in this collection, but I'm definitely going to finish it sometime today. And although it's an anthology, I know how it will end. Because every story ends this way: weird Americans doing a small thing like buying frozen pizza, finding a flashlight, or standing in their living room fully nude, that are symbols/summaries for their experience as a whole. A lot in this book repeats. Panties are stolen like 3 times. Dart leagues mentioned that many times too. The whole end-on-nude-standing thing twice. Anytime a weird sexy woman is introduced I'm 100% convinced they're gonna fuck the street-smart fucked-up protagonist. Honestly some of these characters are a third of a crank too wacky. The woman who hid a chicken taco in the folds of her boobies just wasn't sticking with me. The shorter pieces of flash fiction ranged in quality from stellar ("Knockout," "Ackerman is Selling His Sex Chair for Ten Bucks," "The Piss Test Place") to nothing too special ("Cannonball," "Chet," "Inside Work"). So many of these stories were great! "Duplex" was craaaazy! The entire collection showed someone on the upswing: funny, talented, smart enough to get the subtleties. But I think this'll still be 8/10. If the last two dramatically change my opinion I'll go back and work these notes.

EDIT: Yeah, everyone thinks about their ex-wives in this anthology. So. Many. Stories.

[Karima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some say that Jodzio's stories are about those living on the edge of the American Dream. I disagree. These characters are about as close to the American Dream as a refugee afloat in the Meditteranean Sea.

Here's the first line of the story titled "Chet";
My older brother Chet died after he got bit by a sick elk.

The first line of the story titled "Winnepeg":
I'm on the wrong side of history and I've got a vodka-soaked sea sponge shoved up my ass to help me forget.

One more (can't resist).
The first line of the story titled: "Someday All of This Will Probably Be Yours":
My boyfriend, Atomic, is speed dating.

On the edge of the American Dream? I don't think so. Maybe afloat on an ice floe in the Arctic Sea waving a tattered American flag.

Jodzio's stories are raw, crude, heartbreaking and often laugh-out-loud funny. If you like Sherman Alexis, I think you'll like Jodzio. It's a quick read. Short, punch-you-in-the-gut stories. About two-thirds of the way through I'd had enough of his crudeness but still couldn't put it down and glad I gnashed through to the end.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this five stars because it far surpassed my expectations. I thought I was going to breeze through some transgressive pieces. Instead, I was entrenched in some literary stories that had some thought-provoking themes tightly wound in the prose. I found the collection honest, not gimmicky. This one was a pleasant surprise.

[colleen avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

im in a serious reading slump rn but this was a great book to slowly pull me out of it 💯 hilarious and creative, not all the stories hit for me but the ones that did were really great

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant but a bit sensationalist.

[Sagar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive pacing and control of the narrative in each story. Humorous, voice-driven stories.

[Graham Catt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often hilarious, Jodzio's collection of addicts, drunks and misfits are always entertaining.

[Ümit Mutlu · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Jodzio’nun öyküleri kısa ve akılda kalıcı. Dili ise oldukça yalın, söz oyunlarına, süslü betimlemelere ya da iddialı fikirlere girişmeden, karakterlerini ve onların başına gelenleri sakince anlatıyor. Okuması kolay olduğu kadar eğlenceli de. Karakterleri de sıradan kişiler değil, ya alkolik, ya bağımlılar; adi suçlular ya da engelliler. Hep kaybedenler, başarısız olanlar. Bu da onları daha enteresan kılıyor. Bu enteresanlıkları da sade bir dille bütünleştirince Jodzio, ortaya etkili kısa öyküler çıkarmayı başarmış.

Yeraltı edebiyatına dahil edilebilecek bu öykülerde, açıkçası yeraltı edebiyatı yazarlarının ukalalığı ve benhayatıçözdümcülüğü yok. Öyküler naif ve iddiasız, bu da onları daha samimi ve inandırıcı kılmış. Bu yönünü bir hayli sevdim. İddiasız olarak iddialı olmak: Gerçek coolluk budur!

Bazı öyküler durum, bazıları olay öyküsü. Bazı öykülerde hiçbir şey olmuyor ama hissettirdikleri çok iyi. Bazı öykülerde ise durumlar bir hayli sıradışı.

I hadn’t thought about it much before, but it really made me start to wonder—was she was happier with Chet than she was with me? Was Chet a better husband? A better lover? It’s hard to compete with a dead man because all of the jackass things he did that have been washed away by time and all the jackass things I do keep on happening every day.

[Linda]

These stories are each a tiny little prism of hard-scrabble existence. The ranch cowboy who has to work weddings now. The mother with the indoor baby, who doesn't even see the grocery delivery boy. The sisters who try to get by with not much else besides each other. The speed date con.
There are many stories here, many characters, and oh my gosh, every one of them rings true. You may think that some of this is fantasy - but no. These little worlds exist out there, somewhere, for some people. And even though these are little fictions, I would bet a dollar to a donut that they are built on little truths. And the world is often much more seedy, much more messed up, than you think it is.
These characters only get a few pages, but they are as real as anything you'll ever read. Don't expect anything, don't try to predict what will happen - Jodzio will surprise you.
This took me a long time to read, but only because each of these stories is so full. You can't gulp it. You have to sip it.
Anyone who is looking forward to Roxane Gay's new collection would do well to pick this up. Jodzio has been compared to George Saunders and others, but really, he is incomparable.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories are never my favorite read because if written well they always leave me wanting more. I've also read good stories about deeply flawed individuals on the cusp of achieving the American Dream and although these are Jodzio stories as well (ie. a recovering drug addict who gets tricked into stealing a tiger, a man buys a used sex chair from his neighbor, a new mother suffering from agoraphobia who is raising her son completely indoors.etc.) the difference is Jodzio is able to drive these stories into deeper places.
It doesn't matter that some stories are borderline absurd, but what matters that the reader is engrossed in each story and feels that however on the fringe these characters are, they become real and we are rooting for them.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Jodzio's 16 contemporary short fictions are populated by my kind of people: broken souls and beautiful losers who seek solace in drugs, violence and the vagaries of chance. The stories start in places that seem just barely plausible and then they get delightfully stranger. These are people for whom stealing tigers or ingesting unlabeled aphrodisiacs seems like a good idea. Wildly imaginative, the stories are propelled by quirky premises and the protagonists's willingness to go along with them, and they don't resolve so much as crash land. Great fun from start to finish.

[Keith Rosson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really dug this one. Daaaark stories with some grim, wonderful gallows humor going on. Some of the stories are pretty straightforward literary affairs, but others have a hilarious magical realism bent that works terrifically. It's when Jodzio's pulling these rabbits out of his hat - Canadian war-tortured suffering through an American occupation, a recovering addict who can pinch tigers into submission, a kid embittered at the corporate opium den across the street - that he's most successful. This dude can write. Really enjoyed this collection.

[Chris Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Forget Nero and ready up the fiddles, I am burning.

Kick it down in echo sound, fast-forward motion, lamp posts, girls, back streets, where the night cheats, neon illuminates the color kings, don't need back-up, bust the crime boys and rack-up, number one, the only one, always, the last man standing.

Been there.
Done that.
Read it before.
But not...
Anymore.

Chris Roberts

[Michelle Clement · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome collection of stories, and felt like if Fight Club and anything Palahniuk had been thoughtfully condensed down into little nuggets, each with it's own flawed and intruguing characters. So good!

[Becky Loader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. I really don't need to read about so much angst.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, there are still original, funny voices out there. Yes, you can be a fantastic literary writer while also being absurd.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, humorous stories about the underdogs, the low lifes, those living in the shadows. You'll remember every single story. I loved it.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange, funny, and dark. I'm trying not to read too many books by white men this year but this book was worth breaking that rule

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written but each story ends rather flatly and some of the authors issues with women are creeping through.

[Suzanne Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A master class in short story writing

Weird. Vivid. Insightful. Tight.

Jodzio's tales are not only fabulous reading, they're worthy of study by practitioners of the form.

Bravo.

[Ryan Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many pieces of media promise the profound combination of funny and heartbreaking. When it comes to Jon Jodzio's Knockout delivering on that promise, it's neither fish nor fowl: not absurd enough to pull off the abstract non-narratives of a post-Leyner bizarro scene and not enough emotional depth to to land those literary moments. It's humorous, sure, and touching enough, I guess.

Nonetheless, it's quite the achievement that this book full of morally peckish, totally bummed-out characters didn't wear on me. For as shitty as everyone was, they felt familiar and their problems (or at least my viewing of their problems) felt welcome. Jodzio's protagonists create their own drama while still inviting empathy.

(Unfortunately, Jodzio is out of his depth on the stories where he assumes the role of a woman narrator. Accurate or not, I can't say and it doesn't matter. Let women tell their own stories even if you think an agoraphobic new mother is a great idea you've got a right to.)

As I go through the process of getting rid of books that have been untouched on my shelf for years, I don't think I'll hang onto Knockout. It's a fun, quick read with some real high points -- the story "Duplex" being the highest of them -- but it's not enough. I have Hempel and Moore and Hannah for this already, even if Jodzio's delightfully tacky variation on literary debauchery is appealing to me in theory.

[Haley Bibbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love an anthology to break up full stories that I am typically reading. Some are definitely better than others, but they each hold their right to be there. I would recommend this to someone that can handle some darker topics. I wouldn't hand this off to someone who prefers, for example, romance or fantasy. At one point a small dog gets whisked away by an eagle, shortly followed by two eagles trying to whisk away a baby. Later, you're met with a child who either has premonitions of, or causes, people's death, then ends up playing with his deceased(for 5 years) father's bones, so.

Only downside to this read is that my copy from the library reeks of vinegar even though it's only from 2016??

Only pulled one paired section because it had me cracking up:
"'You just swam in my tears,' I blurt out.
I can tell she's probably used to men blurting out strange things in her presence. She stares at me for a bit, gathers herself, her face slowly tightening into a smile.
'Sometimes I come here to rinse off the drunken stares of hundreds of horny men.'" (pg135-6)

"'Here for your morning cry?'
'You here to wash off your men?'
'If you come to see me dance, then the next morning you could swim in both your tears and your glances.'" (pg138)

[Dori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very engaging and fun to read (read the whole thing in about 3 hrs). However, by the third of fourth story I became a little annoyed with his negative portrayal of women, usually as sluts and and/or cheaters. I was waiting for a strong female character but even the female protagonists come off as weak and obsessed with men. Then again, the men are bitter and equally obsessed with women, but equal treatment doesn’t quite excuse the over sexualized female characterization. Still, great writing and creativity, just lacking in some character diversity.

[Morgan Hensley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of excellent examples of comedic writing. Many of the endings suffered from an overabundance of wit: they were tidy, clever, clean, predictable. Understated in ways good and not-so-good. "Duplex" was the highlight of the collection, a 5-star story no doubt. "Winnipeg" was a close runner up. Will be returning to this Jodzio's work as it's difficult to find a truly funny "literary" writer, even though I found the collection inconsistent.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this short story collection randomly at a used bookshop in Bangkok, a good find. The stories are fun and fresh. Though after a while they started to feel a little bit same-y even when the settings were wildly different, I became somewhat weary of the eccentricity which grew a bit thin or tiresome. Still, there's an undeniable charm and uniqueness to these stories. Overall I had a good time. The Bed and Breakfast story was fantastic. Also really liked the title story and Duplex.

[Kanan Choquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could give this 3.5 stars, I would. Jodzio writes beautifully and the stories flow by. I just found that a lot of them not as meaningful as I assume the author intended.

[Robert Morgan Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I'm gonna have to read everything by this guy. One of the few short story writers these days that just GOES FOR IT, yet retains the whiff of plausibility. An important new voice. Read him.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite book of stories. Insanely fucked up and sad and somehow still funny and light sometimes? Would recommend!!