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Welcome to Utopia: Notes from a Small Town
Utopia, It’s either the best place on earth, or it’s no place at all.
In the twenty-first century, it’s difficult to imagine any element of American life that remains untouched by popular culture, let alone an entire community existing outside the empire of pop. But Karen Valby discovered the tiny town of Utopia tucked away in the Texas Hill Country. There are no movie theaters for sixty miles in any direction, no book or music stores. But cable television and the Internet have recently thrown wide the doors of Utopia.
Valby follows the lives of four Utopians—Ralph, the retired owner of the general store; Kathy, the waitress who waits in terror for three of her boys to return from war; Colter, the son of a cowboy with the soul of a hipster; and Kelli, an aspiring rock star and one of the only black people in town—as they reckon, on an intensely human scale, with war and race, class and culture, and the way time’s passage can change the ground beneath our feet.
Utopia is the kind of place we still think of as the “real America,” a place of cowboys and farmers and high-school sweethearts who stay together till they die. But its dramatic stories show us what happens when the old tensions of small-town life confront a new that no town, no matter how small and isolated, can escape the liberating and disruptive forces of the larger world.
Welcome to Utopia is a moving elegy for a proud American way of life and a celebration of our relentless impulse toward rebirth.
In the twenty-first century, it’s difficult to imagine any element of American life that remains untouched by popular culture, let alone an entire community existing outside the empire of pop. But Karen Valby discovered the tiny town of Utopia tucked away in the Texas Hill Country. There are no movie theaters for sixty miles in any direction, no book or music stores. But cable television and the Internet have recently thrown wide the doors of Utopia.
Valby follows the lives of four Utopians—Ralph, the retired owner of the general store; Kathy, the waitress who waits in terror for three of her boys to return from war; Colter, the son of a cowboy with the soul of a hipster; and Kelli, an aspiring rock star and one of the only black people in town—as they reckon, on an intensely human scale, with war and race, class and culture, and the way time’s passage can change the ground beneath our feet.
Utopia is the kind of place we still think of as the “real America,” a place of cowboys and farmers and high-school sweethearts who stay together till they die. But its dramatic stories show us what happens when the old tensions of small-town life confront a new that no town, no matter how small and isolated, can escape the liberating and disruptive forces of the larger world.
Welcome to Utopia is a moving elegy for a proud American way of life and a celebration of our relentless impulse toward rebirth.
238 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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858 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
November 19, 2014
Not too good, not too bad. At the beginning, Valby bemoans her New York friends & their provincial small-mindedness, as they all assume that she's going to meet nothing but pregnant teenagers, racists, and meth addicts in the small town of Utopia. Although there is not a whole lot of meth abuse to be found, there is at least one pregnant teen & a fair amount of racism. Silly racism, too, like old men talking about the smell that African Americans have even though they've not met any in their lives. Does that make this entire book provincial & small-minded, then? Her intention is to show that we city slickers have a lot of false information about small town life, but there's not a whole lot to go on. Honestly, there are going to be meth heads, pregnant teens, rasicts, and good honest joes wherever you go, and that's always going to be the case.
January 11, 2019
This touching series of interwoven narrative nonfiction stories from a small town in Texas is written by a fellow soccer parent of ours in Austin. She perfectly and beautiful captures life from a variety of characters in rural America. As if writing about anyone and anywhere, "... their stories," Valby reflects, "had value and they seemed to like being heard." From the way students in small school treat each other like family from the small town road wave ("the truly laconic lift an index finger an inch off the steering wheel"), Valby reminded me what is tough (like disproportionate military service and poverty), but also what is right and special about this way of life. "A small town, at its purest core, thrums with essential models of behavior--of intimacy and compassion and community....," she writes. "Such interconnectedness keeps us whole and human. It creates a space for the old and young, the weak and the strong. It links us to one another, and to the land we live on."
November 13, 2013
Aw heck yeah, small town America. More specifically, small town Texas. Valby's book started out as a long article for Entertainment Weekly on this little town seemingly cut-off from popular culture. I am pretty sure I had the front page of that article, with the glorious small-town sign "Welcome to Utopia" hung on my bedroom door for years and years. ANYWAYS me and this book were meant to be. It's a view of the town through the eyes of folks who are both its outliers and its insiders -- the only black girl in town, the boy who just wants to get out, the family who has sent 3 boys in the army suffering the death of their son, and the former owner of the local general store. As their stories unwind and intertwine, you really get a sense of how, in a small town, everyone is a part of things, in a both tenuously and deeply rooted way. And everyone is a weirdo. And everyone has deep unspoken sadness. Though I suppose it's true anywhere, it does feel a bit magnified in a small town microcosm. It's a weird thing, and Valby captures it well, and I think a few folks might find it a bit too sentimental, but I think it's loving, and I liked it alot.
December 25, 2015
Karen Valby is an exceptionally perceptive person, a great writer, and a genuinely nice person. The residents of Utopia, Texas, are none of the above. After Valby wrote an article in “Entertainment Weekly” about the town, she returned to gather more information for a book. She was greeted in the town’s cafe with “That bitch reporter is back.” Valby took breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner there every day for 2 years. The one and same woman said the same thing every single day, “The bitch is here.” Every day. Meanwhile, the town’s old farts gathered every morning at the general store for coffee, using every racial slur ever invented, even though they have -- and never had -- contact with any racial or ethnic group. They hated sightseers who came to the area, although they did like the money they spent in town. But they wished the tourists would just drive through town without stopping while they threw their money out the windows. OK. Fine. Take Utopia, Texas, and ______ __ .
July 6, 2011
I couldn't figure out the message of this book. How some people escape small towns while others get stuck? How prejudiced people are in small towns? Overall, it just seemed gossipy, with no beginning, middle or end. I felt sorry for the people profiled, simply because the author's descriptions of them felt like an invasion of privacy. If I were still living in the small town I grew up in and had my life exposed to the extent these people did, it would make life very difficult. I can see why many Utopians did not care for her.
She likes to stereotype: the old-timers, the misfits, etc. (could we get one more description of what Colter, the misfit, is wearing, to show that it is not jeans and boots?) without ever delving into what forces shaped them into the people they are. The last little vignette seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the book. It was a disappointing read.
She likes to stereotype: the old-timers, the misfits, etc. (could we get one more description of what Colter, the misfit, is wearing, to show that it is not jeans and boots?) without ever delving into what forces shaped them into the people they are. The last little vignette seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the book. It was a disappointing read.
November 27, 2011
As a one-time visitor to Utopia (albeit briefly) during my Texas vacation, and as a confirmed Entertainment Weekly addict, I considered Valby's study to be something of a personal perfect storm. Here, I supposed, will surely be an account that delves into the life of small towns with all the curiosity I feel passing through them, exploring and exposing their inner workings with love and logic. Sadly, Valby's focus on four townspeople fails to generate a comprehensive picture of the whole, and frequently drags. Once removed from the focus of her original EW article - finding a town outside of modern pop culture - the author falters, and never really regains momentum. The result is a rather bloodless biography of a town, instead of the fleshing out of rural Americana for which I'd been hoping.
September 13, 2010
Karen Valby deserves the designation of "professional writer". In Welcome to Utopia, she deftly allows the real-life characters emerge with their own stories. Immersing herself in the less-than-life-changing culture of Utopia, TX, we gradually become witness to the three dimensions of the people who inhabit it -- the old men coffee drinkers, the restless high school students, the best friends who post-graduation are pulled apart by varied dreams and harsh realities. Valby does not pull sentimental punches, she does not overwrite or drown us in florid language. This seems to be a writer who has an innate sense of the small human story, and keenly breathes just enough life into it until it takes off on its own. A welcome read about place and personality.
May 19, 2016
Overwhelmed by this book.
This is a not to be missed non-fiction title that gives the reader unprecedented access into the small Texas town of Utopia. The author writes with elegance and empathy for her subjects but is still able to present a clear picture of what she is observing. I read some great reviews of this and decided to read it even though I am not, by nature, a non-fiction fan.
I devoured this book in a few days and could not put it down. It brought tears to my eyes and transported me back to the four years I lived in a small Texas town (not nearly as small or provincial as Utopia) but I recognized many of the unsung heroes of that glorious state in Valby's prose.
Read this book. Seriously. Read it.
This is a not to be missed non-fiction title that gives the reader unprecedented access into the small Texas town of Utopia. The author writes with elegance and empathy for her subjects but is still able to present a clear picture of what she is observing. I read some great reviews of this and decided to read it even though I am not, by nature, a non-fiction fan.
I devoured this book in a few days and could not put it down. It brought tears to my eyes and transported me back to the four years I lived in a small Texas town (not nearly as small or provincial as Utopia) but I recognized many of the unsung heroes of that glorious state in Valby's prose.
Read this book. Seriously. Read it.
September 14, 2012
I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Being a Texan with a mother and father who both come from a small town, I can definitely appreciate what is presented in this book. It is a picture of a small town untouched by many modern conveniences and even beliefs that many of us big city folk take for granted. And Valby doesn't hold back either. She shows both the good and the bad - what towns like these are still holding onto that the rest of us let go of too soon, as well as what they should have let go or gained with the rest of us. Anyone with an appreciation for the small Anywhere, USA towns will get something from this book.
December 7, 2011
I really can't tell you why I finished this book. It was there, it was easy to read in bits and pieces during lunch. I am so grateful that there was almost nothing I could identify with in this small town. This was in no way my idea of Utopia, and I'm sure they're all just fine with my keeping my distance.
January 20, 2011
It took me a while to get into this one, but by the end, I was really invested in the stories of the people of Utopia. Especially Kelli and Colton. It's a quick read, too.
May 24, 2023
I happened upon this book in a charity shop - I was intrigued and for a dollar and thirty cents I got a heck of a lot of entertainment. What a gem. Valby tells the stories of others without centering herself in the narrative, with humility and grace for others shortcomings even when they’re notable and alarming. She clearly had a heart for these people stories seeing people in the middle of pain like Kathy and committing her words to the page, seeing people in the midst of growing up and all the struggles and awkwardness it entails and letting them be front and center in their stories.
I loved loved loved this book - I’ve read nothing like it and I will be keeping it on my shelf.
I loved loved loved this book - I’ve read nothing like it and I will be keeping it on my shelf.
May 6, 2019
Utopia, Texas, that is. Valby spent a lot of time on her assignment to get to know and write about a small town. She inserts herself into the men's morning coffee group for a regular review of the town's goings on, but also gets to know some of the high school kids, their families and their challenges. She finds generous doses of kindness, loyalty, and patriotism in Utopia. On the other hand, it's not easy to be different there and it's sobering how many of the graduating high school students have little idea of what to do next.
July 11, 2021
As a small town girl myself, I could relate to a lot of this book and see different people from my own hometown represented in it. While I enjoyed the various residents' stories that Valby told, I also enjoyed some of the observations she made throughout.
"Is is natural, sometimes even a source of appeal, to feel anonymous in a city like New York. In a town as small as Utopia, such invisibility or outright dismissal felt like a slap of rejection (104)"
"Is is natural, sometimes even a source of appeal, to feel anonymous in a city like New York. In a town as small as Utopia, such invisibility or outright dismissal felt like a slap of rejection (104)"
January 5, 2019
Rated 6.5 out of 10
August 28, 2019
I guess this girl has never been to a small town.
November 20, 2024
So that is what happened to Utopia water I thought as a read the chapter of a the new gym. Its as good as possible for a big city girl who is seemingly blind to the beauty and nuance of the land.
March 18, 2020
this white female author drops the ball completely. she recognizes the dehumanization performed by those she writes about, but consistently fails to intervene. on top if that, the story in general falls totally flat and feels completely disjointed. i could not imagine the place or the characters. overall, un-compelling. i finished it only b/c i carried it into backcountry and had nothing else to read at camp. otherwise, i would’ve tossed it over the mountainside.
February 12, 2016
Karen Valby is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly and was given the assignment to find a town that has remained untouched by today's pop culture. She found the tiny town of Utopia, Texas, nestled snugly in the Texas Hill Country about 2 hours away from San Antonio. The population is a few hundred and the town has no stoplights, one constable, six real estate offices and seven churches. There are no fast food restaurants, no movie theaters and no chain stores. These are ranching people who raise goats, cattle, deer and children who swear they cannot wait to graduate to leave the dusty Main street of Utopia behind. Many never do leave as they follow their parents into working the family ranches. Valby focused her book on four individuals from Utopia: Ralph, the retired owner of the general store; Kathy, the mother of 4 sons, 3 of whom were in the Army and serving in war zones; Colter, a 22-year-old with big dreams but zero ambition; and Kelli, a high school student with a passion for music and one of a very few black people in Utopia.
Ralph still goes to the general store every morning, although he sold it to Milton several years ago. There he meets with the "coffee drinkers" who sit around the large coffee urn and discuss the world and its problems. These old-timers are the most adamant about keeping modern culture from Utopia's city limits, voting to keep their town 'dry' and opposing the installation of sidewalks. They are redneck racists although they do see themselves as such. Kathy worries constantly about her boys in the Army and when she does get the dreaded visit from the officers in their dress greens telling her that oldest son Jeff was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, her world collapses. Wanting to keep her other three boys close to home but wanting them to have lives rich with experiences they will never have in Utopia causes Kathy enormous contradictory emotions. Colter cares nothing for ranching and spends all of his time playing video games, surfing the internet or traveling the 50 minute drive to the nearest movies theater. His best friend is thriving at Yale and Colter makes vague allusions to maybe going to college for computers but his lack of ambition keeps him in Utopia in dead-end jobs. Kelli, despite a shaky beginning when she moved to the tiny town, has become a popular student (one of only 4 senior girls) and works hard to perfect her guitar skills hoping to move to Austin and join the indie music scene.
I found this book very interesting in that any town can be so untouched by today's culture. Things have changed somewhat in Utopia - Milton changed the front of the general store from brick to wood and he sells soy milk. The coffee drinkers want to know how you milk a soybean.
Ralph still goes to the general store every morning, although he sold it to Milton several years ago. There he meets with the "coffee drinkers" who sit around the large coffee urn and discuss the world and its problems. These old-timers are the most adamant about keeping modern culture from Utopia's city limits, voting to keep their town 'dry' and opposing the installation of sidewalks. They are redneck racists although they do see themselves as such. Kathy worries constantly about her boys in the Army and when she does get the dreaded visit from the officers in their dress greens telling her that oldest son Jeff was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, her world collapses. Wanting to keep her other three boys close to home but wanting them to have lives rich with experiences they will never have in Utopia causes Kathy enormous contradictory emotions. Colter cares nothing for ranching and spends all of his time playing video games, surfing the internet or traveling the 50 minute drive to the nearest movies theater. His best friend is thriving at Yale and Colter makes vague allusions to maybe going to college for computers but his lack of ambition keeps him in Utopia in dead-end jobs. Kelli, despite a shaky beginning when she moved to the tiny town, has become a popular student (one of only 4 senior girls) and works hard to perfect her guitar skills hoping to move to Austin and join the indie music scene.
I found this book very interesting in that any town can be so untouched by today's culture. Things have changed somewhat in Utopia - Milton changed the front of the general store from brick to wood and he sells soy milk. The coffee drinkers want to know how you milk a soybean.
December 1, 2013
WELCOME TO UTOPIA is a biography of Utopia, Texas. With a population of 227 people in 2010, A small town with a population of fewer than 2000 people, it is isolated in the Texas Hill Country about 90 miles northwest of San Antonio. There are very few outlets for entertainment within a sixty mile radius. The closest movie theater is sixty miles away. There are no book stores or music stores. But the internet is beginning to have an effect.
Most of the residents are descendants of families that have lived there for generations. They know each other well and, as Karen Valby points out, “But for all the grudges people in a small town are capable of holding, rare is the public confrontation. To get byin such a cramped community, people put on civil faces and politely nod hello to one another....A town like Utopia is too small to accommodate open hostility for very long.”
The book focuses of four residents: Ralph, the owner of the general store which is a major hangout for older residents, Kathy, a waitress in the main restaurant whose sons are serving in the military, Colter, a high school senior trying to figure out what to do with his life, and Kelli, another high school senior who is part of the only black family in town.
Much if the book discusses about the futures of the children: Will they stay in Utopia or move away? Will they go to college?
One loved character suffers from seizures after being treated for cancer. The description of the petit mal flashbacks is very accurate.
The book mentions some differences in attitude between residents of Utopia and the tourists, many of them Yankees. Hunting is one of them. “The problem the men had with so many of these weekend hunters was their lack of respect. They figured a man ought to eat what he killed.” One character notes that ninety percent of the deer killed “never hit the table.”
The book ends with the election of Barack Obama as President, how some of the people deal with his race, and how they think the government should work.
The book is a gentle, portrayal of a tight community living with its past and trying to prepare for its future.
After reading WELCOME TO UTOPIA, I read some information about the town on-line. One thing that was very prominent on-line but omitted from the book was the beauty of the area. While Karen Valby does refer to tourists, it’s a shame that did not write more about that. It would have added some insight as to why some people chose to continue to live there and why other people chose to move there.
Most of the residents are descendants of families that have lived there for generations. They know each other well and, as Karen Valby points out, “But for all the grudges people in a small town are capable of holding, rare is the public confrontation. To get byin such a cramped community, people put on civil faces and politely nod hello to one another....A town like Utopia is too small to accommodate open hostility for very long.”
The book focuses of four residents: Ralph, the owner of the general store which is a major hangout for older residents, Kathy, a waitress in the main restaurant whose sons are serving in the military, Colter, a high school senior trying to figure out what to do with his life, and Kelli, another high school senior who is part of the only black family in town.
Much if the book discusses about the futures of the children: Will they stay in Utopia or move away? Will they go to college?
One loved character suffers from seizures after being treated for cancer. The description of the petit mal flashbacks is very accurate.
The book mentions some differences in attitude between residents of Utopia and the tourists, many of them Yankees. Hunting is one of them. “The problem the men had with so many of these weekend hunters was their lack of respect. They figured a man ought to eat what he killed.” One character notes that ninety percent of the deer killed “never hit the table.”
The book ends with the election of Barack Obama as President, how some of the people deal with his race, and how they think the government should work.
The book is a gentle, portrayal of a tight community living with its past and trying to prepare for its future.
After reading WELCOME TO UTOPIA, I read some information about the town on-line. One thing that was very prominent on-line but omitted from the book was the beauty of the area. While Karen Valby does refer to tourists, it’s a shame that did not write more about that. It would have added some insight as to why some people chose to continue to live there and why other people chose to move there.
April 29, 2011
I finally finished reading this. Up front, I will say I am giving it two stars not because it is bad, but because it is, well, "just ok," which is what two stars means here on GoodReads. The book did have some interesting moments. It showed some good human interest stories. However, after a while, the book does get a bit tedious and boring much like a small town can get boring after a while. It is amazing that the author got as much access as she did and that the people of Utopia were are open with her as they were.
The book does reveal the good and the bad of living in a small town. For me, the ingrained bigotry and racism, even if seen under the "it's the way things are around here," was a big turn off. It is the 21st century: learn the fact that the n-word is not an acceptable word for polite company. In many ways, the town can be seen as a time capsule from times past. That is what drove the author to write about it. But change is coming, and the residents resist with varying degrees of success.
The story of the mother with three sons who are soldiers is specially moving. The soldier boys do serve to make some members of the military seem a bit more human, but you also wonder about some of these kids who see no other options when it comes to leaving the town other than joining the military.
By the way, this is NOT Andy Griffith's Mayberry. They have their virtues and some good values, which do them credit. But there are some ugly traits in the town as well. I thought the author overall was fairly balanced in her presentation. Still, I think for many people, this book will likely persuade them to stay away from living in a small town (or any other community with a similar dynamic). After all, it is a place where, for good or bad, everyone knows everyone else's business.
Books with similar appeal for readers:
Friday Night Lights, which is much more interesting than this, and also takes places in a small Texas town.
Deer Hunting with Jesus.
The book does reveal the good and the bad of living in a small town. For me, the ingrained bigotry and racism, even if seen under the "it's the way things are around here," was a big turn off. It is the 21st century: learn the fact that the n-word is not an acceptable word for polite company. In many ways, the town can be seen as a time capsule from times past. That is what drove the author to write about it. But change is coming, and the residents resist with varying degrees of success.
The story of the mother with three sons who are soldiers is specially moving. The soldier boys do serve to make some members of the military seem a bit more human, but you also wonder about some of these kids who see no other options when it comes to leaving the town other than joining the military.
By the way, this is NOT Andy Griffith's Mayberry. They have their virtues and some good values, which do them credit. But there are some ugly traits in the town as well. I thought the author overall was fairly balanced in her presentation. Still, I think for many people, this book will likely persuade them to stay away from living in a small town (or any other community with a similar dynamic). After all, it is a place where, for good or bad, everyone knows everyone else's business.
Books with similar appeal for readers:
Friday Night Lights, which is much more interesting than this, and also takes places in a small Texas town.
Deer Hunting with Jesus.
November 3, 2011
[Welcome to Utopia: Notes from a Small Town] is Karen Valby's return to the countryside of the US, to the small town of Utopia, TX, pop. 333 (or around).
Motivated by an article she wrote for a posh magazine, Karen returns to investigate the essence of Utopian lifestyle. She focuses on the numerous members of four families in this town, among them the former owner of the general store, the American mom, the smart kid departed to an Ivy League college. Utopia is depicted as a place only marginally touched by the 21st century, of farming and one school, of ambulance operated by volunteers, of everyday gossip, of a tied community where kids grow up wanting to leave for as far as possible. However, as it turns out all is not Amish in Utopia: one of the main characters is a black hiphop wannabe, the American mom turns out to talk daily over cell phone with her kids who fight in the invasion of Iraq, the main businessman of Utopia is about to start several modern urban projects, etc. The invasion of modernity breaks down the premise of the book, that of an idyllic lost-in-time place in the middle of the Texan dries.
Valby also seems to get lost in a presentational desert, with the several lyric passages contrasting the many dry passages, and with the intertwined stories being more convoluted than exciting.
As a bit of trivia, Utopia seems to have attracted the attention of many people in arts in the past few years, also featuring in Seven Days in Utopia: Golf's Sacred Journey (2009 and 2011, both book and movie) and being referenced in No Country for Old Men (2005).
Overall, not my cup of tea.
Motivated by an article she wrote for a posh magazine, Karen returns to investigate the essence of Utopian lifestyle. She focuses on the numerous members of four families in this town, among them the former owner of the general store, the American mom, the smart kid departed to an Ivy League college. Utopia is depicted as a place only marginally touched by the 21st century, of farming and one school, of ambulance operated by volunteers, of everyday gossip, of a tied community where kids grow up wanting to leave for as far as possible. However, as it turns out all is not Amish in Utopia: one of the main characters is a black hiphop wannabe, the American mom turns out to talk daily over cell phone with her kids who fight in the invasion of Iraq, the main businessman of Utopia is about to start several modern urban projects, etc. The invasion of modernity breaks down the premise of the book, that of an idyllic lost-in-time place in the middle of the Texan dries.
Valby also seems to get lost in a presentational desert, with the several lyric passages contrasting the many dry passages, and with the intertwined stories being more convoluted than exciting.
As a bit of trivia, Utopia seems to have attracted the attention of many people in arts in the past few years, also featuring in Seven Days in Utopia: Golf's Sacred Journey (2009 and 2011, both book and movie) and being referenced in No Country for Old Men (2005).
Overall, not my cup of tea.
July 24, 2012
The immediate draw of Karen Valby's book is the title. As it happens, Utopia is the name of the small Texas town that features as the setting of its residents' narratives as told by Valby. A journalist seeking a story about an 'untouched' place, she settles in the town and, after some apparent neutrality and even resentment from many residents skeptical of her New York City sensibilities, she tells her tales. What Valby uncovers is a town that is neither untouched nor particularly different from most of America.
One of Valby's achievements is her vivid portrayals of characters and settings. She describes details that bring the reader into the scene, like the diner where the reader can almost smell breakfast frying while the overwhelmed waitress maintains a generous smile for patrons. Some pages later we are taken into the hideous pain of this waitress who discovers her son has died in Afghanistan, and sense her anxiety as she stays up through the night vacuuming the house. Similarly, we almost sit within the daily circle of men in their jeans and boots sipping coffee in the backroom of the general store. We get to know each one and their sense of humor and conversational propensities, learning what ticks each of them off (from men's shorts to evangelical zealotry). Valby seems to immerse just as easily with teenagers as she does grandparents. She succeeds in this, I believe, because of her honesty and forwardness about her role as an author. She never removes herself from her own writing.
Yet her successful telling of normal life in a normal - if very small - American town is in some ways the book's weakness. For eventually the mundane and daily occurrences become repetitive. The reader understands the portrait so well that sympathy and familiarity verge into boredom. The same handful of characters continue to reappear, and it does not take long before we are ready to bid them farewell and move on to another book.
One of Valby's achievements is her vivid portrayals of characters and settings. She describes details that bring the reader into the scene, like the diner where the reader can almost smell breakfast frying while the overwhelmed waitress maintains a generous smile for patrons. Some pages later we are taken into the hideous pain of this waitress who discovers her son has died in Afghanistan, and sense her anxiety as she stays up through the night vacuuming the house. Similarly, we almost sit within the daily circle of men in their jeans and boots sipping coffee in the backroom of the general store. We get to know each one and their sense of humor and conversational propensities, learning what ticks each of them off (from men's shorts to evangelical zealotry). Valby seems to immerse just as easily with teenagers as she does grandparents. She succeeds in this, I believe, because of her honesty and forwardness about her role as an author. She never removes herself from her own writing.
Yet her successful telling of normal life in a normal - if very small - American town is in some ways the book's weakness. For eventually the mundane and daily occurrences become repetitive. The reader understands the portrait so well that sympathy and familiarity verge into boredom. The same handful of characters continue to reappear, and it does not take long before we are ready to bid them farewell and move on to another book.
June 2, 2013
I heard this author speak at my library.She told us this was really a love letter to the people of Utopia Some of the townspeople did not see it that way and were upset that she did not portray the town in a better light. Not sure how I would feel if someone were writing about me and my home town. However I felt the the author was honest and sincere in her writing. Totally enjoyed the book and the townspeople.. All of us have flaws and all towns/cities have flaws. That is what makes us human and what makes life interesting.
Upon reading this book I started to become attached to the four main characters and to the town itself. The Iraqi and Afghanistan wars play a role in the book especially for the young men and women graduating from high school in Utopia. The valedictorian speech given by Kelli is worth the price of the book. Interspersed between the chapters are a couple of pages regarding other townspeople that the author interviewed. These were beautiful snapshots and just added to the flow of the book.
I think Utopia could be any town or city across America..people trying to cope with life's ups and downs,good times and bad times,joys and sorrows.
Couldn't help but wonder how many small towns across America are disappearing. In Texas there are so many ghost towns and yet once upon a time people lived and breathed in those towns
Hats off to the author Karen Valby..this did read like a love letter to Utopia..This is a non fiction book otherwise I would compare it to the fiction book The Last Picture Show.(one of my favorites)
It truly is a great read.Hopefully some day I will be in that area of Texas and visit Utopia.
Upon reading this book I started to become attached to the four main characters and to the town itself. The Iraqi and Afghanistan wars play a role in the book especially for the young men and women graduating from high school in Utopia. The valedictorian speech given by Kelli is worth the price of the book. Interspersed between the chapters are a couple of pages regarding other townspeople that the author interviewed. These were beautiful snapshots and just added to the flow of the book.
I think Utopia could be any town or city across America..people trying to cope with life's ups and downs,good times and bad times,joys and sorrows.
Couldn't help but wonder how many small towns across America are disappearing. In Texas there are so many ghost towns and yet once upon a time people lived and breathed in those towns
Hats off to the author Karen Valby..this did read like a love letter to Utopia..This is a non fiction book otherwise I would compare it to the fiction book The Last Picture Show.(one of my favorites)
It truly is a great read.Hopefully some day I will be in that area of Texas and visit Utopia.
October 29, 2010
It would be easy to reduce this book to a story about one small town in Texas when it's really a statement on the lifestyles and thinking that exist in much of America. As I was reading I kept thinking every person who has never ventured farther West than Pennsylvania or East than Neveda really should read this book for a clearer understanding about how the rest of this country functions. However, after reading the reviews I realize that far too many of them would miss the point entirely. No, there isn't a lot of culture. The people, by and large, are too busy making a living to travel and "see the world". History and community and family and church and school functions are what drive people in small-town, middle America. It's not perfect, but it is the reality of the majority of Americans and well worth being aware of.
I personally do not feel that Valby sentimentalized life in a small town. She was at times cynical, but then the subject (small town living) lends itself well to cynicism; everyone knows everyone else's business is true of every small hamlet in the world I suspect.
The one thing I found incredibly disturbing were the number of young people who were so aimless and driftless (Colter and his girlfriend, Morris's son, the youngest Weikamp boy). This is not strictly a small town phenomenon so I don't believe it can be reduced to reluctance to leave behind the "comfort" of living in a place where everyone knows you. I fear that it is one that does not bode well for our nation as a whole.
I personally do not feel that Valby sentimentalized life in a small town. She was at times cynical, but then the subject (small town living) lends itself well to cynicism; everyone knows everyone else's business is true of every small hamlet in the world I suspect.
The one thing I found incredibly disturbing were the number of young people who were so aimless and driftless (Colter and his girlfriend, Morris's son, the youngest Weikamp boy). This is not strictly a small town phenomenon so I don't believe it can be reduced to reluctance to leave behind the "comfort" of living in a place where everyone knows you. I fear that it is one that does not bode well for our nation as a whole.
September 26, 2012
Utopia, Texas seems like a town forgotten by time. It lacks many modern amenities, and that doesn’t seem to much bother its older inhabitants. Popular culture has only recently begun to seep in through the cracks of this town’s carefully maintained facade, but it’s definitely catching on amongst the younger generations.
Valby’s informal ethnography of Utopia documents how these changes are affecting various members of the community. She follows an old-timer with a strong influence on local politics and culture; a young Black teenager faced with sometimes subtle and other times overt racism in a largely White town; another teenager with cowboy roots and emo proclivities; and an Army mom coping with the challenges that come with having loved ones far away at war. Though seemingly at odds, their stories all demonstrate the struggle of living in an insular community, as well as a larger, globalized world.
For me, this book was of particular interest because Utopia is only a little over an hour away from where I currently reside. We pass a sign for it whenever we drive to San Antonio, and I recognize a lot of the towns that are mentioned in the book. I’m also familiar with the small town mentality in which outsiders and outside thought are held in suspicion. Despite the very different circumstances, I could really identify with some of the sentiments expressed in this book about wanting something that those around you can’t understand. It also helped me understand the feeling of security that many gain in a local culture that changes at the pace of dripping molasses.
Valby’s informal ethnography of Utopia documents how these changes are affecting various members of the community. She follows an old-timer with a strong influence on local politics and culture; a young Black teenager faced with sometimes subtle and other times overt racism in a largely White town; another teenager with cowboy roots and emo proclivities; and an Army mom coping with the challenges that come with having loved ones far away at war. Though seemingly at odds, their stories all demonstrate the struggle of living in an insular community, as well as a larger, globalized world.
For me, this book was of particular interest because Utopia is only a little over an hour away from where I currently reside. We pass a sign for it whenever we drive to San Antonio, and I recognize a lot of the towns that are mentioned in the book. I’m also familiar with the small town mentality in which outsiders and outside thought are held in suspicion. Despite the very different circumstances, I could really identify with some of the sentiments expressed in this book about wanting something that those around you can’t understand. It also helped me understand the feeling of security that many gain in a local culture that changes at the pace of dripping molasses.
July 18, 2014
I've finally had enough time to set aside my frustration at this book to write a review. First of all, the concept of this book is amazing. I was so excited to read about a town in America that I can't relate to since they apparently don't have pop culture or technology. That is what this book is advertised as. Quote from the book description on Goodreads: "In the twenty-first century, it’s difficult to imagine any element of American life that remains untouched by popular culture, let alone an entire community existing outside the empire of pop." I refuse to cover this by spoilers, but this is NOT what this book is about.
This town is a small town - think Fargo or Pleasantville or any other small town depicted in a movie or tv show - its not the same as a big city, but that alone does not make it interesting! We get to read about the old men who drink coffee every morning, the family who had a few sons in the army, the African Americans who live in the town of mostly white people. Think about these things and think of the stereotypical view of these things - do you have that imagined clearly in your mind? - that is exactly what this book is. Not one thing was new or poignant. The entire book was boring, poorly written, and a waste of an interesting topic. I just wish Karen Valby took the time to ask herself why does this matter? at the end of each paragraph she wrote, and then pushed herself to take the story further.
I wanted to like this book, but I ended up hating it.
This town is a small town - think Fargo or Pleasantville or any other small town depicted in a movie or tv show - its not the same as a big city, but that alone does not make it interesting! We get to read about the old men who drink coffee every morning, the family who had a few sons in the army, the African Americans who live in the town of mostly white people. Think about these things and think of the stereotypical view of these things - do you have that imagined clearly in your mind? - that is exactly what this book is. Not one thing was new or poignant. The entire book was boring, poorly written, and a waste of an interesting topic. I just wish Karen Valby took the time to ask herself why does this matter? at the end of each paragraph she wrote, and then pushed herself to take the story further.
I wanted to like this book, but I ended up hating it.
July 25, 2011
Eye-opening masterpiece of narrative nonfiction that reminds readers that people view the world, goals, and accomplishments with a different lens based on their environment and setting. In this novel, the setting, is a small town in Texas called Utopia. This town may not see eye to eye on issues involving presidents of the United States or if the city should be allowed to build sidewalks; but when tragedies hit or a family is suffering from financial problems, a person cannot witness a more perfect example of unity than what this town displays in times of crisis. Outsiders are not wanted and old-timers are regarded as the unspoken leaders of the town. As a reader you get thrown into these people whom live in a town where they are outside of the presence of the modern world of televisions and outside influences and you feel their grief and triumphs throughout the book. So many of the younger generations have the aspirations of leaving Utopia and seeing the world, but then once they get the opportunity and get out, its like they cannot get back to Utopia quick enough.....at least most of them. Could you live in this town? Most likely you will never know, because it takes four generations of living in Utopia before you are accepted, but one thing is for sure, I am sure you will accept this book for its exquisite writing of a town that is unique and could entertain the masses. Highly recommended!!!!!!!"
June 22, 2010
Years ago, author Karen Valby, senior writer for Entertainment Weekly, travels to Utopia, Texas -- a ranchers' town with no stoplights, no fast-food chains, no DVD rental stores -- on assignment for her magazine. She is searching for the one place in the country that has yet to be swallowed by globalization and cable TV.
Fascinated with this small community and the multifaceted lives of the people she encounters (including the waitress with four sons in the army, the only African American teenager in the local high-school, the first town kid to ever attend an Ivy League university, the alternative local boy who says he hates small town living and wants to leave and yet never goes anywhere...), Valby decides to return to Utopia on her own, and stays for months.
This book is the result of that extended stay, in fact there were multiple ones, and the story of the people of Utopia -- how could a town have a more perfect name? -- and their struggle to embrace the future without being poisoned by that part of modernity they don't want.
It's a delicate and insightful look into small town America, and a few characters truly stand out. At times though the book becomes a bit too sentimental, borderline cheesy, about all things small town, and too politically correct, not wanting to hurt anybody's feelings...
Fascinated with this small community and the multifaceted lives of the people she encounters (including the waitress with four sons in the army, the only African American teenager in the local high-school, the first town kid to ever attend an Ivy League university, the alternative local boy who says he hates small town living and wants to leave and yet never goes anywhere...), Valby decides to return to Utopia on her own, and stays for months.
This book is the result of that extended stay, in fact there were multiple ones, and the story of the people of Utopia -- how could a town have a more perfect name? -- and their struggle to embrace the future without being poisoned by that part of modernity they don't want.
It's a delicate and insightful look into small town America, and a few characters truly stand out. At times though the book becomes a bit too sentimental, borderline cheesy, about all things small town, and too politically correct, not wanting to hurt anybody's feelings...
August 13, 2014
This book Welcome To Utopia: Notes From A Small Town is a good read. The perspective surprised me, a native Texan, because I grew up in that small town atmosphere. This account comes from a New York City girl, Karen Valby, who moves to Utopia, Texas for the purpose of writing this book. She follows some regulars at the Utopia General Store “The coffee drinkers” branching out to all the people who intersect them in life.
It wasn’t an earth-shattering, life-changing book, just a good read for someone who has been there. I’m not one of the “Coffee Drinkers” in life but my father was so I guess I’m one of those whose life was impacted by that little Texas ritual. My father always found time to sit and drink coffee and chat about anything and everything. Wherever he was or whoever he met, it was the next question after his greeting…”Do you have time for a cup of coffee?”
The dictionary says that Utopia is an imaginary place described as perfect or ideal in all aspects. Karen Valby points out that Utopia is definitely not perfect. Most of its young folk want to leave but many find themselves pulled back into what they know to be familiar and then learning to like it.
It wasn’t an earth-shattering, life-changing book, just a good read for someone who has been there. I’m not one of the “Coffee Drinkers” in life but my father was so I guess I’m one of those whose life was impacted by that little Texas ritual. My father always found time to sit and drink coffee and chat about anything and everything. Wherever he was or whoever he met, it was the next question after his greeting…”Do you have time for a cup of coffee?”
The dictionary says that Utopia is an imaginary place described as perfect or ideal in all aspects. Karen Valby points out that Utopia is definitely not perfect. Most of its young folk want to leave but many find themselves pulled back into what they know to be familiar and then learning to like it.
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