Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb

by George Rabasa

No other obsession strikes as hard as the love that hits a teenaged boy — especially if he’s the sort of kid who is no saner than he wants to be. From the moment Adam Webb sees Francine Haggard—in the van that is supposed to return them to the Institute Loiseaux—the two young mental patients are inextricably connected. Adam will never let this girl go.

From hiding her in his bedroom to spiriting her away to Minnesota’s north woods, “Miss Entropia” becomes the focus of Adam’s every thought and of everything he does. He believes her to be a goddess, his own goddess.

But the pyromaniacal Miss Entropia will be neither worshiped nor owned. And so Adam’s possessiveness is destined to push her to the breaking point.
Theirs is an incendiary love story, an unbalanced Romeo and Juliet, that spins and arcs its way strangely toward tragedy.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Literary Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

George Rabasas collection of short stories, Glass Houses, received The Writers Voice Capricorn Award for Excellence in Fiction and the Minnesota Book Award for Short Stories. His novel, Floating Kingdom, received the Minnesota Book Award for Fiction. And his most recent novel, The Cleansing, was named a Book Sense Notable. His short fiction has appeared in various literary magazines, such as Story Quarterly, Glimmer Train, The MacGuffin, South Carolina Quarterly, Haydens Ferry, American Literary Review, and in several anthologies. Rabasa was born in Maine, raised in Mexico, and now lives in Minnesota."

Reviews

[Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) · Rating 4 out of 5]

At fourteen, Adam Webb is again sent back to Institute Loiseaux, a school-of-sorts for young mental patients, "clients" rather as the institute insists on using. Adam had already been there twice and is not surprised when he is sent there a third time - the hints have not been missed by his keenly observing mind. This time though, when Happy Harley, the van driver comes to get him, Adam convinces him to let him ride shotgun as they make their way to pick another client - a girl named Francine, who only answers to the name Miss Entropia. The girl however doesn't come easily and once Harley gets her tied at the back of the van, Adam locks all the doors from the inside so that Harley is locked out. This begins a strange kinship and a fiery love relationship between the two that starts with a one-night adventure as they camp out at a mall parking lot, manage to indulge in shoplifting, make possible Adam's first sexual experience, thus resulting in an intense bonding between them.

This story is narrated from Adam's perspective, whose mind makes for a really interesting residence for the reader. Adam is clever, intuitive and sarcastically funny. He successfully second-guesses the drift of other people's thoughts, which makes for very hilarious observations of what's normal and what's not. When Adam's not being as sane as you and me, he is obsessing over the goddess Kali or that most singular and momentous night of his life with Pia. And his obsessions slowly take him to pondering the might and power of the goddess, seeing her in his pancakes, imagining her talking to him and trying to impose his control on people and things. (I noticed the many arms in the cover only when I was writing this review. I can't insist how very apt the cover is - the goddess Kali does have many arms, and it seemed to me how Adam would have approved of it.)

I have to admit - it was very easy to forget Adam's "illness". His is a very easy person to get used to be being with. I loved how this indicated that insanity is a very gray area. The mind can rarely be classified by a black and white scale of normalcy. Besides, Adam was just another teenager pining for love. Most of the time. Pia, the object of his affections, is also highly clever, good at guessing other people's intentions, with her chief weakness being a fascination with fire. Not the harmless kind but the incendiary kind meant to damage and destroy. When her family house is burned out, she is the main suspect, except she keeps insisting that she was at school.

Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb starts out funny and at some point in between, transforms its tone, giving way to an increasingly dark and disturbing narrative. Adam and Pia do not see each other for three years following the mall parking lot camping, but when Adam does find her again, it results in an addiction in him - for Pia. This time, he wants her to stay with him. As his little secret. I found it interesting how George Rabasa demonstrates the unraveling of Adam Webb's mind. It's really not that obvious - Adam's still funny but it's clear that Pia's presence and actions are unnerving him. Our clever Adam however manages to keep her under his control - not letting her out of his sight, and yet the reader is fooled initially. The control is not what I saw first but one misfit helping the other misfit fit in to a world that really doesn't fit them.

For all the darkness in this novel, it was a very addicting read. Much as Adam disturbed me later, he was a charming person. Pia was just as endearing, even with her attraction to fire and her penchant for adventures with fire and pills. The supporting cast in this book - Adam's father, mother, brother Ted, cousin Iris, make for a motley group who all have their own eccentricities that feel stranger beside Adam's "issues". This book showed well how a normal person can still be strange and how a mentally ill person can be sane.

This was a really wonderful book. Even though Adam's family do not make such a huge impact to the storyline, I wish the book had more to add to their story. Even in spite of the disturbing elements, this is at the core a story of teenage angst and love, featuring a pair of misfits. Add in some mental illnesses, and you have a very interesting drama to read about.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adam is one of those boys people will look at and exclaim that he is too smart for his own good. After spending time in and out of a mental institution for improper behavior, he is finally home again. At eighteen, hopefully this time he will be able to adhere to the standards of those around him. Then, in an abrupt twist of fate, he meets a girl who calls herself Miss Entropia, and who is much more troubled than he is. Pia is unlike anybody Adam has ever met before, and he is instantly smitten. And when Adams goes out of his way to be with Pia, things begin to spin terribly out of control.

This book was just okay, if not a little disturbing. The writing style was very conversational, which was hard to get used to at first, but as the story picked up, it faded into the background and flowed completely. Adam's voice was raw and unapologetic, and was sometimes so gently innocent that it made for a very funny scene. The real pleasure, however, was whenever Pia entered the story. That girl was seriously crazy! It was scary and adorable to watch Adam and Pia fumble together through their adventure. Another character I really enjoyed was Adam's hyper-religious cousin Iris, though it felt as if George Rabasa wanted to do more with her story and simply could not find any excuse to include it in the book. At the end, I couldn't help but feel unsatisfied, almost as though the journey had all been for nothing.

[Norma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was both disturbing and funny at the same time. George Rabasa takes you deep into the minds of two mental patients. We get to take a look into the mind of Adam as he obsesses over Francine who calls herself “Miss Entropia”. Adam will go to whatever end is necessary in order to keep her as his own. However, Francine doesn’t agree with that. She has her own plans.

The book was written from Adam’s point of view, so we get to see more into his mind then Francine’s. This is one ride that will take you into the darkest corners of the human mind, but show them to you with a dark comedy that will sweep the gloom away.

In conjunction with the Wakela's World Disclosure Statement, I received a product in order to enable my review. No other compensation has been received. My statements are an honest account of my experience with the brand. The opinions stated here are mine alone.

[Peter Landau · Rating 4 out of 5]

The publisher’s Twitter saw I was reading one of their books and suggested I try another of their titles, Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb by George Rabasa. I read it because I’m a sucker. But I like the randomness — it fosters spontaneity. In a weird way it limits your choices while sending you down roads you’d never tread on your own volition and widens the lens of experience. Of course, sometimes it dead-ends, but I never feel the lesser for it.

[Victoria Zieger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this book was really odd and followed the idea of mental health and love in a lot of ways but it all felt surreal. But, it took an abrupt dark turn and it didn’t fit for me. The writing and characters were super interesting, but I didn’t care for what this led to in the end.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Really about 3.5 stars.)

Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb is a love story, but a love story of the type that is born of something less than sanity. It begins on the way to a mental institute, winds its possessive and fiery way through the lives of Miss Entropia and Adam, and ultimately ends in tragedy.

Adam Webb is an odd kid. In fact, it’s on the way back to the Institute Loiseaux (essentially a mental insitution, though it has its quirks) that he meets and falls for Francine Haggard, better known as Miss Entropia or Pia. Adam is immediately smitten and while their initial adventure results in Miss Entropia not being accepted at the ‘Tute (as Adam refers to it), he never forgets Pia and holds her up on a pedestal as a goddess (specifically, the Hindu goddess Kali). She occupies his thoughts constantly, and when a chance run-in leads Adam right to her again, he decides that he will do anything to possess her, to keep his goddess for himself. Pia, a pyromaniac and someone who is even less stable than Adam, will have none of Adam’s possessiveness, and refuses to be owned or worshipped. Their relationship (and Pia) is pushed to the breaking point as Adam tries to hide her from the police who are supposedly looking for her as they investigate the mysterious fire that destroyed her parents’ home; in reality, the fire and “investigation” simply allow Adam to keep Pia tied to him. As Pia grows frustrated and unhappy with her situation, things begin to spiral totally out of control and tragedy strikes.

Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb is both funny and dark, charming and and yet ultimately disturbing. The characters in general are interesting (especially Adam’s family members, who have some eccentric moments), and Pia and Adam are wonderfully well-written -- they’re funny, unbalanced, neurotic, disturbed, quirky, and most important of all, they’re believable. Their story may not be a “normal” one, but Rabasa makes their characters come to life in a way that you can imagine the events of the book actually happening. The writing is wonderful, and I found myself simply turning page after page to see what happened next to Adam and Pia.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb from Unbridled Books as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

[Korey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic situation -- a book hand-picked off a shelf on the sole basis of the cover artwork and design. Those who say you can't judge a book by it's cover probably haven't tried it before.

My boyfriend plucked this off the new fiction shelf at my library. He read the back cover before handing it to me and demanded that I read it. Why not? Awesome design MUST account for something, right?

I tend not to read book summary's to keep some of the mystery alive while reading, so I was in no way prepared for what George Rabasa had to offer with Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb. I was pleasantly surprised as the book's concept -- protagonist's death is announced in Chapter 1 by a 3rd party and presents the book as a post-mortum published diary. A psychologically unstable boy grows to a psychologically unbalanced adult holding on to the memories and feelings attached to an adventure he took with an equally mentally unstable girl years before. Seeking her out, finding her, keeping her, and the mess of their existence fill the pages of Miss Entropia.

Rabasa did a wonderful job connecting the mental illness and thoughts of Adam in a really understandable way to the reader - although at time it seemed a bit over the top. I didn't care for the ending of the book but to be honest, I'm hard to please.

When all was said and done, the cover-art of Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb definitely spoke to the bizarre nature of this book and in that regard, this choice was a success.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grabbed this book out a free bin at my local bookstore and upon finishing it I have to admit: I'm not exactly sure what to think.

The book was good but it dives into the dysfunctional mind of a teenager and follows him with his obsession with Miss Entropia. Which means that if you can fathom this sort of psychosis the book was going to end with a certain someone having their house burned down to the ground. But it didn't go that route, instead it followed a different one -- the aspect of hiding a fatal flaw. Which led to another kind of demise. It's sad and slightly twisted and I certainly don't fault the book for being twisted because you've got to remember both of characters are supposed psychologically incapable of functioning as normal.

Hence the problem. Generally while reading, I like to forecast what is coming and the book but part two was leading down a road that is usually visited in this genre. Which created a tension, sadness, slight bit of empathy all in this disturbing picture. The snippet on the back was right, this book is completely not balanced and told from Adam's perspective so you already know what you're getting yourself into by the end of part one. It was a very good look into the mind of the character and his inability to see the world and Miss Entropia for what they are.

So I guess the author actually did a fantastic job after all.

[Tiffany Hickox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this novel to be both engaging and beautiful. As I was pulled through the story by the entrancing narrative of Adam, a mentally ill and highly intelligent individual recounting his one wondrous experience with love, I felt like a passenger on a train being told an intimate story by the stranger sitting next to me, one that is part confession, part self effectuation, and entirely sincere.

I especially appreciated how mental illness, while being a large part of both the plot and the two main characters, did not overpower the story. As Adam told his tale, his mental illness as well as Miss Entropia's own disorder were little more than the way things were. He would recount his unusual actions or insane episodes so matter-of-fact that I had to mentally prod myself to classify such actions as abnormal. Insanity fits the two main characters of this story like expensive well-tailored suits.

While the ending is tragic, which is something foreshadowed in the first few pages, by the end of the story I would wish it no other way, and the last two lines bring the novel to a close so perfectly that the weight of Adam's transgressions lift themselves like a dissipating fog.

Highly recommended, especially for book clubs.

[Avanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review based on ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It has taken me altogether too long to get through it, but that has nothing to do with the book and everything to do with my crazy life. In fact, escaping my crazy life and entering Adam's was just the thing I needed.

The book starts off with a letter from the Director of Counseling Services at the institute. I thought this was a clever and well done intro to the novel. I was immediately intrigued and impressed with the author's presentation of this perspective.

The adolescent love story in this novel is compelling and entertaining, to say the least. Adam meets his love on the way back to the mental institution and from that point forward begins an unhealthy (not surprising) obsession. Of course it wouldn't be an adolescent love story if the feelings were mutual.

Without ruining any of the story, I will say that I was pleased with the author's take on obsession and very happy to have been graced with this book. It is dark and engaging. Just how I like things. ;)

Definitely recommend.

[Jerica Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover says it's like an unorthodox Romeo-and-Juliet story, and it almost is. It's just that, when you first read the book, you get really exciting because it is funny and interesting, and the characters are fun, but the end disappoints you because none of the characters are the same as they were. The ending was sad, but good. Still, the character's personality changes really upset me. You fall for Adam and 'Miss Entropia' because of how they uniquely conquer new environments and make them their own, and how they act together as a couple, but as time goes on, the actual attraction almost dies out. The same with the other members of Adam's family - they are far more fun in the first half of the book.

This is just my opinion though, and I would still recommend reading it because it is a good book.

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eccentric and weird characters are a favorite of mine and Rabasa delivers. This is essentially a coming of age love story between two anti-social misfits. One, Adam, is a frequent visitor of a high-end mental institute and the other, Miss Entropia, is headed there when she meets Adam. They hi-jack the van that was suppose to take them to the institute and Adam falls for Miss Entropia only to be separated from her when they are found. He searches for her, finds her, and then the adventure of their odd relationship plays out for the reader.

The book is well written and the story line is well plotted. The characters are well developed and each have their own unique voices that still ring true to actual people. The book dragged a little in the middle, but not so much that it was overly distracting. Overall it was a great read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the title and the cover and was thinking it would be a YA romp about two kind of screwy kids that would be full of high jinks but ultimately poignant. Maybe they would become friends, and their families would be kind, and they would have rough spots but would be okay.

Safe to say it was not what I expected. These two kid are really screwed up, really horrible for each other, and it ends badly (that is given away on the first page so don' be mad!). It was very sad, horrific in some parts, but also very well written and engaging. Overall, I have to say that I liked it but I wish it had had some sort of hopeful outcome for these two kids who never really did anything wrong except be who they were.

[H R Koelling · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really loathed the protagonist by the end of this novel. Telling you why would ruin the book. I thought this started out as a decent Holden Caulfieldesque tale of a troubled young man, only to discover he is completely selfish and unlikeable. It also reminds me of C. D. Payne's, Youth in Revolt, but the main character in this book is even more self-absorbed and mentally unstable. Feminists will really dislike this book, as will anyone with an iota of human decency. The main character's resolution to his actions is weak and vapid. But, of course, this also perfectly describes his personality. I give it two stars because it is a well written book.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazing: funny and really tragically moving. It captures a great teen voice.
Copia is giving away this book for free (as an eBook)until Monday June 6. That's where I got it. You just have to make an account and download their eReader.

http://www.thecopia.com/catalog/detai...

[Darshan Elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel straddles the 2 and 3 star divide. There are elements that charmed and elements that creeped me out. I found myself compelled to finish the novel even as I dreaded its conclusion, which the preface reveals and the narrator confirms. For folks interested in therapists, depression, violence, and drugs aimed at directing, regulating or minimizing emotions, this book might appeal.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. This reads like it was inspired by John Green, except terrible.
2. Manic Pixie Dream Girl gone so wrong.
3. I hate Adam. You don't have to like the characters to make a story good, but I didn't even like reading about Adam.
4. What the fuck was Pia's problem. Why did she go along with everything from the start? IT MAKES NO SENSE.
5. I did not like this book.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

Absolutely brilliant and I highly recommend this book. My full review may be read on my book review blog.

[Jerri H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of age tale always gets me. I love how young adult characters develop and change over time. In this book, though, the crazy relationship of Pia and Adam kept me wanting more. It was worth reading but I won't be recommending it.

[Lady Luck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book while browsing a local book store's closing down sale (TRAGIC). I didn't want to finish the book but I liked Adam the more I read on. The dysfunctional teen is in love for the first time in life... Some scenes are very disturbing but Adam meant well.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

They're all too recognizable, that goddess girl, that too-smart boy. I used to put them on pedestals they never wanted. Now I'm old, and I know they're sadder than the most beautiful things.

[Marley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pointless.tried to be confederacy of dunces for ya but ultimately fails and is annoying. Don't bother.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't quite decide how to rate this one. Definitely an interesting subject and a book that I had no trouble reading. At times somwhat funny and quirky and at others disturbing.