The Green and the Gold

by Bart Schaneman

The Green and the Gold is the story of a young man trying his damnedest to deal with the changing terrain of life. It's about the small town he grew up in, and the larger one he went off to for college. It is a very Midwestern book and because of that it is the most American kind of book. The Green and the Gold is a story of quiet winter days, frozen interstates, troubled love, work, fevers, sex, basement parties, horses, cattle, corn fields and soy fields, cowboys, college kids, and farm families. - From the foreword by Adam Gnade, author of Float me Away Floodwaters

194 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

Bart Schaneman lives and writes in South Korea. He has published numerous stories, essays and poems and is most recently the author of The Pot Job.

Reviews

[Houlcroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much colour in this book. Pink dawn, black clouds, yellow kayak, and the green and the gold of the rural landscape, the seasons and the promise of something new. Everything looks back to this, from the opening chapter to the last line, building upon Carrick’s grandfathers painting.
Just like that painting, the novel also sees so many meetings of opposing ideals. Sobriety and drunkenness. The ocean and the land. The expectations and the reality.
It’s a well considered piece of midwestern fiction with hints of Sal Paradise and Holden Caulfield in Schaneman’s Carrick, full of confusion and yearning and self loathing.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book felt like coming home.

[twan dujmovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I thought about all the people I knew in my life, how they all leave as soon as they come, how they all disappear and reappear, most of them forgetting about you, never telling people that they even knew you. I looked at those pictures, some of Ethan with the people from the party, and how they would all end up alone anyway, and I wondered why they even did it, why they even let themselves know each other, make those connections, but then I thought about how that was what it was, that’s why we did it. But then I thought that wasn’t why. It was that we all wanted to feel good”

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what a classic American novel should feel like. And I don't think people should compare it to the works of Kerouac or the other classics from the mid century, no. I think Bart Schaneman's style, voice and theme is closer to that of Richard Ford, which is the best thing I can say to any contemporary writer given how much I love Ford's work. I love this novel and most likely I'd be looking for other of Schaneman's work.

[Jordan McGowan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book was a random conglomeration of thoughts and experiences that didn’t align. Poorly edited and fraught with spelling and grammar mistakes, it was a difficult read based on content and presentation.

[b]

Enjoyed this book. Good writing.