Fever Chart

by Bill Cotter

Having spent most of his life medicated, electroshocked, and institutionalized, Jerome Coe finds himself homeless on the coldest night of the century — and so, with nowhere else to go, he accepts a ride out of New England from an old love's ex-girlfriend. It doesn't quite work out, but he makes it to New Orleans, and a new life — work, friends, and only the occasional psychotic break. What follows involves his last two chances to find real happiness (one's from Ecuador, one sells cigarettes), the old vicious enemies that may prevent him from obtaining it, and a cast of Crescent City denizens that makes for one of the most vivid ensembles since Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces.

Genres: Fiction, Mental Health, Humor, Novels

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Bill Cotter was born in Dallas in 1964, and has labored as an antiquarian book dealer and restorer since 2000. He presently lives in Austin with his girlfriend, the poet Annie La Ganga, and Travis, an inextinguishable roach who divides his time between the shower and the silverware drawer.

Reviews

[David Katzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a love-hate relationship with this book. At first, it charmed the pants off me. Then I experienced flashes of intense frustration and irritation with the main character. By the end, I found it so outlandish that I couldn’t decide if it was a case of authorial wish fulfillment or merely a forced attempt to create a dramatic ending.

The main character, Jerome Coe (hmmh, I’m always suspicious when someone names a character with the initial J.C….) has two unfortunate conditions: 1) a mental illness somewhere in the schizophrenia family, and 2) luck so bad you’d think he molested a leprechaun.

Here’s Jerome: he’s an orphan in his twenties; he hops in and out of mental hospitals (escaped state institutions twice); he’s apparently cute if stalker-ish; and he sometimes completely loses it by hallucinating thought bubbles (like in comic books) and by going on a delusional rampage (more self-destructive than harming others.) He’s also intelligent, awkwardly naïve, neurotic about sex and relationships, and desperately means well. It’s this last quality that often leads him to really, really mess things up. Like getting-people-dead-by-accident messed up.

The good:

• Never a dull moment in the plot.
• Written with vivid attention to detail without being pretentious or wordy.
• Has an engaging energy, teetering on cartoonish without going over.
• Witty. The first half of the book made me giggle in a this-shouldn’t-be-funny-but-it-is kind of way. Like laughing at poor old Charlie Chaplin’s ridiculous scrapes.*

The bad:

• Jerome can be so goddamn hapless, I just wanted to scream at him and knock some sense into him.
• Second half of the book has some really nasty things happen, the nastiest being something Jerome witnesses the love-of-his-life do when she thinks he isn’t watching. No spoilers, but there’s something that smacked of authorial manipulation to the extent that it made me feel uncomfortable. Sexist? Maybe not but definitely objectifying.
• Last third of the book, everything collapsed for me. I was reading fast, sometimes skimming, just to get to the end. Yes, I wanted to know how it ended, but I didn’t really care about the details anymore because Cotter had lost me by this point, the story had become too far-fetched.

I realized half-way through reading this that it was a McSweeney’s Book. I’ve avoided McSweeney’s because it has struck me as pretentious and a cult of personality. Not sure if Fever Chart is representative of other work they publish or not, but I’d be willing give another book in their catalog a go. It had enough rewarding material in it to make it a good read. 3½ stars.


*If you haven’t seen Modern Times, I highly recommend it. One of my favorite movies of all time. It’s on Netflix here: http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Mod...

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I call dibs on the movie rights - now, if I only knew the Coen brothers or someone who could make the film. This book reminded me of a cross between Confederacy of Dunces and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest with a tinge of the movie Brazil thrown in. (Especially the hole in the floor thing!) Fever Chart now sits proudly upon my favorite books shelf, cover facing outward. It's amazing that this book has so few reviews on Amazon and some not so nice reviews on Goodreads...but don't let that let fool you. If you're looking for something normal, something to recommend and read in Grandma's book group - forget it. If you're looking for something that transcends the norm - that's fun, quirky and unusual - go for it. This one I will probably reread. It really hit a nerve or brain cell with me, maybe all of them!

[Rupert · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a mess. Occasionally a glorious mess. ONce again a modern novel where the first 50 to 100 pages are incredible and insightful and then when they try to develop a plot it spirals out to the great shitcan in the sky. There is great descriptive writing in here and some of the characters are well drawn and hilarious. The early part where he is purely writing about the narrator's experiences in the mental health system are great. But when folks start dying at a fairly rapid clip and we're supposed to care about ridiculous crushes as the basis of the last half of the book I started to yawn. Would give the next book by him another chance, though, because I think there's a lot of potential in his writing.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing. I loved the characters, the story (even the nasty parts, of which there were many), the heartbreak...all of it. There were a few rough spots, but only enough to ding the book by one star. I may have to re-read this one, and as a general rule I don't read books more than once.

[Drea · Rating 2 out of 5]

with shame, i am giving up on this book. at page 192, i just can't make myself care anymore. it is written well, and i can certainly see its merit, but i feel there is a lot of wasted potential here to talk about larger issues--our mental health system being one of many--but it's squandered on a long-winded story full of unnatural dialogue, unnecessary descriptions, and cringeworthy, desperate infatuations with the opposite sex.

i did not find the protagonist endearing. i didn't love to hate him, either.
this book came off like it was trying too hard to be quirky in the details, just to veil a tired, trope-heavy "plot."

....ugh.

[Leo Portugal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fever Chart follows Jerome Coe, a well-meaning and mild-mannered man, happy to go about his life, fawning over girls, and doing menial work; his most notable job is being a world-champion grilled-cheese sandwich crafter. Coe, however, is also prone to the occasional mental breakdown, where he sees comic book-style word bubbles appear over peoples’ heads before descending into madness. This is the wonderful debut novel of author Bill Cotter, who had spent years in mental hospitals himself, and after having many bad experiences, he decided to take some real stabs at the psychiatric system in the United States. Thanks for writing what you know and doing it well, Bill.

This isn’t a novel solely about total insanity, however, as most of the characters inhabiting this world are only mildly crazy. And these are “characters” in every sense of the word. While they are not necessarily totally realistic, they’re interesting and loveable, and this is fiction and they make me happy so leave me alone, alright?

Much like the characters, most of the story is pretty crazy, but in an absolutely fun way. It’s part kooky adventure, part love story, all hilarious and witty. The book opens with a bang (there’s an explosion pretty early on), and Cotter moves Coe’s story at a fast clip, moving from place to place and event to event in a way that had me thoroughly enthralled. The only thing that kept me from reading nonstop were Cotter’s often brilliant turns of phrase that would smack me in the face and leave me awestruck, forcing me to reread a particularly interesting description or a subtly hilarious joke. Cotter is a talented wordsmith, and I just couldn’t wait to see what was next. I was always pleased by what I saw, even upon a second reading.

The opening pages of Fever Chart can be found at McSweeney's Internet Tendency. These pages feature a hilarious tongue-in-cheek discussion of the main character possibly committing suicide and are a good example of what you can expect from Fever Chart. If you find that short sample enjoyable, be happy with the knowledge that the whole of Fever Chart is out there waiting for you, you lucky duck.

The Bottom Line: One part real and one part surreal, Fever Chart is the hilarious and witty story of one man's journey through the psychiatric system and New Orleans. Just beware dark turns that may make some readers uncomfortable.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book began with me intrigued by the book itself. A quirky half-mast jacket cover and a lemon imprinted inside cover. Once I began reading the book I found myself immersed in the offbeat romp of life of a one Jerome Coe - mental patient in the Northeast that finds his way down to New Orleans. From what I could tell, shenanigans should be Jerome's middle name. He has a way with girls, in a kinda happenstance way, and makes a mean grilled cheese. He does not shy away from violence, maybe that's the mental patient part talking, and goes off the rails with aplomb.

About halfway through the book the threads start to unravel. What happens mid-book is all shades of gray and I barely remember it. All of which is very unfortunate because the start was wacky fun.

Towards the end of the book things start to become cohesive again, at least more cohesive than previous the previous pages. I did enjoy the book a lot and even when it lost its way, the way was never boring.

[Meara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've ever read that made me sick to my stomach. Sick to the point that I had to put it down for a second and take a deep breath, which was hard to do what with the less than pleasant odors that make the air thick on my commute on public transportation. But I think that's one of the reasons why I liked this book so much, because it was so gross. Nonetheless, it was very unpredictable and kept me wanting more with my eyes glued to the pages and my butt at the edge of my seat. This book is not for the weak!

[mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

a-mazing. almost perfect in a way that books are perfect to me. everything was so wromg, but the way that it was written made it so right.the only reason it took me so long to finish it is the fact that i have too many tv shows, movies, and video games that i am subscribing to. if you're a fan of Geek Love or Confederacy of Dunces, buy this book right now.

[Ilana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be oddly charming. The protagonist is neurotic (or I guess psychotic) as all get out, but so earnest and pathetic it's hard not to love him. The whole thing just killed me with its weird sweetness. When I finished this I instantly wanted to read it again, knowing how it ended.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty read, but couldn't put it down.

[Luis Correa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of fun. Cartoony, a bit plotless, but really imaginative and funny. Jerome Coe, although crazy, had a charming and orignal voice.

[MarkB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern day picaresque, Laugh Out Loud funny in (many) parts. Highly recommended to those so inclined, though not for the prudish.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still recovering.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fricken amazing. I want to live in Bill Cotter's head for awhile.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

more great fiction, and by someone under 40. a god send considering all the crap out there these days.

[Andrew Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The funniest book I’ve read in ten years. Intimidatingly brilliant – Max Wall channelling David Foster Wallace and Charles Bukowski. Read it.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I effing loved this book. I hope they make a movie of it.

[David Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most *vivid* novel I have ever read -- images and scenes remain in my mind years later, for better or worse. Like its "godparent" novel, "A Confederacy of Dunces," there is some clear homophobia lurking in its portrayals -- perhaps less forgivable today than when Confederacy was written -- and the more that will bother you, the more hesitant I am about recommending the novel. But it's probably unreplaceable as a portrayal of life within schizophrenia from someone who's been there. And if you don't mind having some emotionally mortifiying or physically grisly scenes staying with you forever, it's an incredible experience.

[Smera Dhal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me over a year to finish.

It was a long, grueling year.
Many points of this book had me backtracking, double-checking, pulling my eyes out of my head and wiping them off on my shirt.

It really picked up towards the end (positive)
My boy Bill really caught his stride. Once Jerome met Julie I was on the edge of my seat till the end.

I loved living in this world, with fantastic fleshed-out flawed characters and graphic details fluttering between reality and mental illness.

Really vibrant and, eventually, gripping picture painted by this book. I finished it weeks ago and still think about it often, how much I loved the world inside it.

Jerome Coe I’ll love you forever!

[Paul Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept wanting it to end. Okay writing and some interesting characters, but lightly edited and a very thin plot. It’s like Cotter just wrote a bunch of stuff down that he thought was funny and threw it into a book. A lot of teenage boy humor. And the bleeding hand metaphor? WTF! There are so many other satirical humor writers that are better and put in more effort.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit I love Bill Cotter’s writing. I love the flawed, complex, humorous, and finely drawn characters. I haven’t seen characters as fully realized and drawn with such inventive, economic precision since Confederacy of Dunces. I stayed up till 3 in the morning on a work night to finish.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird as hell, totally original, twisted, memorable, funny, dark.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was well-written but not really to my taste. A pretty good portrayal of fringe-dwelling mentally ill freaks I guess.

[Ernest Hilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic mind-bending picaresque adventures of a down-and-out everyman, touching and alive to the possibilities of the language, surprising and engaging at every turn.

[Fredrick Pomplemousee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read!!

[meg (the.hidden.colophon) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fever Chart was a 5 star read for me up until the last 15 pages or so.

4.5.

[Eric Jennings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this stylistically but had some issues with the last chunk of the narrative, solid read overall though, could make a good movie!

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

McSweeney's certainly makes a point of publishing what most publishers deem un-publishable. The reasons others might shy away from these works are as varied as the novels themselves. But Fever Chart isn't especially unique, it isn't especially groundbreaking, and though this might be the perfect pill for some it was a bit hard to swallow for myself.
Cotter has given us Jerome Coe, a character whose morose insights, macabre hysteria, and oddball adventures make him both a misfit and a magnet to the same. To say that he is psychotic makes his visions seem far more interesting than they are. The book moves at a quick pace, but nothing much happens, and the reader isn't persuaded to have much hope for Jerome or his pitiful cohorts. He bounces in an out of institutions and asylums, where his experiences range from uncomfortable (after going sockless for months his feet smell as though they are rotting) to absolutely abusive (in one facility he is repeatedly molested by a doctor).
In between these stints he makes renowned grilled cheeses for the citizens of New Orleans, some of whom are helpful company, some of whom enable his neuroses, and some of whom physically attack him. Through it all, the reader is left to wonder exactly what value lies in following these meandering exploits.
The novel does not read as a particularly accurate or stirring portrayal of mental illness, and it doesn't feel as if its really even meant to be. Instead, these issues are written as a matter-of-fact component of Jerome's myriad problems coping with reality, which, taken together, are substituted for "plot" - if an over-thought rundown of the particular spiritual, physical, and mental defects of a singular character can be thought of as such. Much of what's written seems like base shock value. Are we meant to be moved each time we find ourselves saying "How disgusting! How vulgar! How sad!"? Because without any real conclusions, growth, or meaning behind this character's struggle, I felt nothing.
Usually I am drawn to an awkward and unstable narrator, but it has to feel genuine. I saw Cotter read a portion of this novel at Housing Works and I will say that in certain ways, HE is genuinely awkward, but I don't feel as if there's anything genuine at all about Jerome Coe. There are sections of the novel in which he is slightly endearing, but mostly he's merely exasperated by his breakdowns and his bad luck without any real depth or development. He fails to react, he fails to be proactive, and yet, in the end, everything somehow turns out okay! And this was the real deal-breaker for me in terms of what I ended up feeling about a novel I found mediocre most of the way through. Things cycle from bad to worse over and over again during the course of the book, and then... we have a happy ending? And a trite, dubious one at that?
This review is not meant to be scathing; I didn't even come close to hating this novel. But that this is Cotter's first attempt is glaringly obvious in some pretty painful ways. Cotter's writing style, rife with dark, dry humor, is finely attuned and becomes the saving grace of the book. But I'd recommend skipping this novel altogether and heading straight for his seven-part essay series on declaring bankruptcy written for the McSweeney's website. While I appreciated Cotter's dedication to his narrator, his future efforts would do well with more focus and quite a bit more vision. Instead he's relied here on what is supposed to be interesting about maladjusted narrators and adapted in a way that loses most of its heart and meaning.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Fever Chart tells the story of Jerome Coe, who has spend his life in and out of mental institutions. Easily enamored of women, prone to occasional psychotic breaks, and expert grilled-cheese maker, Joe is the perfect anti-hero; completely and utterly insane, but lovable nonetheless. We meet Jerome on a freezing cold Boston day, and follow him to the wild world of New Orleans and a city completely populated with other crazies. There's his ex-obsession's nutjob ex-girlfriend, who elicits his help, then threatens to kill him. His coin collector/mother figure boss at the department store lunch counter who helps him reach minor celebrity for his perfect grilled cheese. There's his hostel worker best friend whose life he may have accidentally ruined, and of course a love interest who may turn out to be even crazier than he is. There are even some characters that Jerome has never actually met or even seen but obsesses over anyway, and somehow they still manage to feel like three dimensional characters.

By the end of the book I was actually crying, and wasn't sure if I should throw the book across the room or clutch it to my chest and never let go. I'd never heard of this book before, found it on Goodread, and then had a hell of a time finding a copy. (It's not available at the LA library, and there isn't a kindle addition...) But it was all worth it. Highly recommend for anyone with a little crazy in them.