Connecticut Shade

by Timothy Black, Alicia Karli (Editor), William Kloefkorn (Editor)

Tim Black's Connecticut Shade is a 21st Century meta-Howl. Written as an antidote for writer's block, it unleashes an interior satirical rampage through the drug-afflicted, sex-crazed American Dream gone sour. An assault on hollow materialism, it is also an attempted re-unification of the schizoid American psyche. Like William Carlos Williams' Paterson, this book is about the microcosm of the disillusioned, disassociated individual as well as the macrocosm of our fragmenting culture of vanity and greed. It is a funny and deadly serious quest for a path of unflinching honesty that can lead to deeper values. Black holds nothing back. If you're a fan of political correctness, then stop and back away from the text. otherwise, fasten your seat belts, buckle your chin straps, and get ready for a ride you'll not easily forget. --Jim Peterson, Author of Paper Crown.

Paperback

Published February 26, 2009

Reviews

[Chris - Quarter Press Editor]

I was told this book would melt my face. I had been warned. I was prepared. It still melted my face. Multiple times. Like most good things that break the norm, this one must be experienced rather than explained. Do yourself a favor, open your mind, and read this book.

[Sandra Renner]

I read this book years ago when first published and then again posthumously when the author, my friend, passed away late in 2023. We grew up together and parts of the time did his life he writes about I was there for or he shared with me. Another reviewer’s comments said you can’t help but be affected by this book and to keep an open mind. I concur and was also deeply affected by the book in his absence and the world’s loss of his words and teaching students.

[David]

This was, by far, one of the most unique works I have read in a long time. Don't think of it as a novel, poetry, stream-of-consciousness, or anything else. Labeling "Connecticut Shade" is a useless, futile exercise. Just read it.

"Connecticut Shade" is not for everyone. I don't say that because of the structure. It is true that there aren't any page numbers because it isn't meant to be read straight through (I did, but I keep flipping through it to random passages because I'm fascinated and there is still so much I'm missing). It is also true that there are all these separate voices, not necessarily characters, punctuated by little pictures (such as the tipped wine bottle for the Author, the freebase pipe for the Meth Lady, and the smoking cigar for the Racist Father). What I mean is that not everyone can handle the intensity of emotion, the rawness of the language. It's primal, brutally honest, and unrelenting. This book is powerful and the reader cannot help but be affected. Rather than describe hell, it creates it for you. The hell may have originated in the loneliness and despair of one man, but it is the hell we all inhabit to some extent but refuse to recognize. The hell of modern existence. Not everyone can handle that, but screw those people anyway.

For those that can handle it, check "Connecticut Shade" out. You may not be certain what to make of it at first, but you don't have to. Once the Mack truck of it runs you over you'll have plenty of time to sit and figure out what just happened. Read randomly by flipping around. Read it forwards, then backwards. Read only the passages denotes by the sandwich, then the ones denoted by the vote button and the knife. Just read it.

[Isabell Solomon]

You know how you always skip the foreword of a book because it’s long and you’re too excited to start reading the story? Word of advice for this book: READ THE FOREWORD. I promise it’s not boring. It’s rather enlightening and will make reading the rest of this crazy text a little easier-just a little-like the least bit. If you skip ahead and jump right into the story, you’ll beat yourself up after convincing yourself that you don’t know how to read and, eventually, consider suicide.

You should also consider reading the author’s note. He explains himself and breaks down the characters.

My absolute favorite thing about this book is that you don’t have to read it in order. You can read any paragraph you want and, somehow, it will come together. It’s sort of like one of those “You-Choose-What-Happens-Next” books. I appreciate the freedom that Black allows the reader.
As William Kloefkorn advises in the foreword, don’t think that just because the entire book is broken up into short paragraphs you can rush through the paragraph like any other book. It will be gibberish if you don’t read slowly and give it time. There are some paragraphs that I still don’t understand. I was left thinking what was he on?! I’m going to need a sample of that to help me comprehend this.