User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
NOW AVAILABLE!!
even though countless men, women, and children die in Motherfucking Sharks and a world is irrevocably undone by shadows in Sip, this new Brian Allen Carr book is much much sadder than either of them.
because this isn’t set in a world where sharks ride in on raindrops or where shadows can get you high. this is our world and our struggles, stripped of metaphor, where people die and people kill themselves and people get addicted to drugs and people fall in love with people who are addicted to drugs and people fade away and people are racist and people don’t communicate and the wrong people communicate too much to people who have weapons and people die.
on the one hand, this is a very small story: riggle, an orphaned seventeen-year-old boy living with his meth-head uncle in rural indiana, is suspended from school during one of his uncle’s drug-induced disappearances and spends the week looking for him or for another way of paying the $800 in rent due at the end of the week, so he and his uncle’s girlfriend peggy won't be evicted from their home. on the other hand, it’s a story as big as all america, as everything riggle thinks, observes, experiences, remembers, encounters, is a microcosm of the american experience; just an everyman ‘struggler’ in anytown, u.s.a.
Indiana history is the history of home building. Crop rotations. Outstanding winters. Their legends are of regular people—men who were strong enough to lift a wheelbarrow one-handed, women who could bake swell sugar cream pies.
…Hoosiers are some behind-the-scenes motherfuckers.
Even Larry Bird, who is their most famous athlete, is most famous for being white. He’s an American man. Famous for being white. He is Indiana.
it’s sad, ruminative, meandering, honest, and surprisingly touching, especially in riggle’s memories of his mother and the stories she told him, by way of a shadow puppet named remote, about how the days of the week got their names, used here to mark each chapter/day. the stories are both surreal and revelatory, offering some insights into the emotional depths of the grief and hopes and fears she was wrestling with before her death.
this is a sad and lovely book. it’s not a no-hope soul-gutter, but what a reader takes away from any book depends on what that reader brings to a book, and for me right now, 'boo-hoo' is my resting state, so the sad bits are gonna linger.
maybe your glass is half-full and you will experience this as a midwestern
Ferris Bueller reboot about a kid who gets to take a week off school, sees
Black Panther and makes new friends and an excellent omelet.
either way, you should check it out.
…I remember my mom after dad died, and I remember she had two modes. She was either staring off at nothing and holding her face, or she was slamming things around and cussing under her breath. And one time I told her that she was always angry, and she said that if she wasn’t supposed to be angry she wouldn’t be angry.
“When you’re thirsty it’s because your body needs a drink,” she told me. “When you’re angry it’s because your body needs something else.”
“What?” I asked her.
“You heard what I said.”
“What does your body need? When you’re angry.”
She scooped me up and held me to her. “Who knows?”
I think she was right. Sometimes you feel so terrible that all you know is that you need something, and when people feel that way, they go out looking. My uncle went out looking for drugs. My mother went out and found death. I think those shooter kids go out looking for violence. They think it will stop the ache they have, but my guess is it doesn’t…
I think, if you asked an adult, they’d say it just gives them more pain, but that’s probably not true. It probably gives them different pain.
I feel like there are two types of misery in this world. There’s not getting what you want and being angry. And there’s getting what you want and being sad.
well, then you get to check out my sweet Opioid, Indiana bag:
come to my blog!
Rating: really liked it
This might possibly be the most exactly 2.5 star book I have read. Goodreads doesn't allow for half stars, but usually I can figure out easily if I will round up or round down. With this book, that is not quite so easy.
Disclaimer before I go on. My review is 100% without a doubt influenced by the fact that, from the description in the book, I live exactly where this book takes place. I am not saying there are not some truths to how the area is described in the book, but, the author sets up suburban Indianapolis as an excessively cynical caricature of how it really is. He makes it sound like a total hell hole with nothing but misery, drugs, racism, etc. to be found on every block and every corner. I don't doubt that there may be some people around here who's view of this area is skewed that way, but overall, I don't this it is all that bad. Someone who is not familiar with the area will likely not be distracted by the descriptions. Also, it's okay for the sake of the story, but if you come visit, I hope you don't find it to be quite so awful.
Onward with the review!
First of all, my impression was that the author was trying to write like Sherman Alexie. Not a bad author to try and emulate! I cannot say for sure if this improved my experience or if I felt it did not quite achieve what Alexie has done. I just wanted to point out it was what the writing felt like to me, so if you are familiar with Alexie, you might feel the same.
The main character kind of drove me crazy with his disgruntled ramblings. And, while he is complaining about the environment and the people of Opioid, Indiana, he is making many dumb mistakes himself. I am not sure if we are supposed to sympathize with him, support his plight, or be disgusted with him.
There really is not much of a story. There are a few key settings and plot points, but it doesn't really develop much and nothing is resolved in the end. When I encounter books like this, they are often redeemed by a great resolution that ties it all together. In this case, there was nothing.
At least the book was not very long and the writing was not bad. I think if it had gone on much longer without the story improving, I would have had a tough time finishing it. To start 2020 I have read a lot of depressing stories. Unfortunately, none of them have impressed me much. Because of that, it's been a real reading downer lately.
Final note . . . I guess I will round down to two stars. I just cannot bring it up to 3 because when I try and compare it to other books I have given 3 stars, it just doesn't match up.
Rating: really liked it
4.5, rounded up-ioid
Don’t go looking for drugs!There aren’t any, even though the book title makes you think there are. (Okay, okay, yes, the uncle is a druggie, but that doesn’t really count because it’s barely mentioned.) This is an amazing book about a 17-year-old boy who spends a week talking about his life and the state of the universe, all while searching for his missing uncle in a small Midwestern town. The language is urgent, the observations are phenomenal, the tone is off-kilter. Almost pogo-stick material.
The guy telling the story is named Riggle Quick. What a cool, jazzy name—it matches the cool, jazzy tone of the book. He definitely wriggles, and quick-like. I’m always a sucker for people who are cynical and who observe the absurdity of everything, and Riggle fits the bill.
It’s Riggle’s unique outlook that grabbed me. His view of the world is off-beat, and it’s easy to get caught up in his unusual observations and ideas. For example, he compares making an omelet to picking your nose—in detail! Pretty gross and weird (hm…might put lots of readers off), but it cracked me up. I hope I don’t think of this connection the next time I’m whipping up an omelet, though, I’ll tell you that!
The blurb calls this book YA, and some reviewers say it has a YA vibe to it. I do think teens, especially boys, will love it. They just won’t be reading it in school, as “fuck” is uttered quite a bit, and there are numerous dick comments. The whole time I was reading it, I didn’t know that it was considered YA; in fact, I was surprised to later learn that it was. I hope adults don’t stay away from the book because it’s Young Adult; it’s too good to be ignored.
Barely visible Complaint Board:-The book has an extra little story going on. It’s a fable about how the days of the week were named, with hand shadows as conduits. The story is divided by days and plopped into the middle of various chapters. It is incredibly creative (I was in awe of the author’s imagination and his storytelling skills), but I thought it interrupted the main story too much. I did enjoy reading the fable sections (the author cleverly put them in italics), but I would have preferred them to be pulled out into one nice short story. I don’t understand why the author didn’t do this, actually; I don’t understand why he chose to put these “inserts” into this book. They could have been dropped into any book, it seems. Bottom line: I didn’t get all happy when I came across the italics—which tells me that the story within a story shouldn’t have been there. Still, the hand puppets weren’t pushy enough to make me knock this book down a star.
-There’s one super brief scene where Riggle does something totally out of character, and it bothered me. Because it’s such a minor event, it didn’t ruin the story for me. I’m going mum so I don’t give any spoilers.
I highlighted a lot; always a good sign. I just loved Riggle’s voice. Here are some lines I liked:
“Walking after you get off a bicycle seems slow as fuck.”
“Ain’t that funny how you never really know why you like what you like.”
“The whole place seemed to gag. Like the universe was puking.”
“It’s weird when you look at a tub of forks and realize that every single one of those is going to go into a different person’s mouth.”
“And we were strugglers together doing the dance of a million dishwashers before us, drenching our bodies and busting our fingers. Puckering our hands out and grinding away at the filth.”
“We were animals of water and soap. Emperors of spray nozzles. Masters of disasters. Scrubbers of the scum.”The blurbs talk about how current the story is, and how that enhances it. Yes, the story is current: Trump, texting, drugs, mass shootings. But the bottom line is this: I didn’t care that it was a coming-of-age story, I didn’t care that it was current, I didn’t care that the main character was a teenager. None of that mattered. It was just Riggle’s voice that seduced me. I would have loved Riggle no matter what decade he lived in.
If you had told me I’d be charmed and obsessed by a 17-year-old boy philosophizing about stuff, I would have said, yeah, right. But here I was, fast to pick up the book and slow to put it down. A friend told me about this secret gem, and now I want more people to join the fan club. Check this book out! It’s short, so maybe you can squeeze it into your queue.
Rating: really liked it
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Riggle had to move in with his uncle at the local trailer park after losing his over-the-road trucker dad in an automobile accident followed by his mom succumbing to her grief and committing suicide. This is the story of a week in Riggle’s life when he not only receives a 5-day suspension from school for supposedly having a vape pen full of THC, but also the week when his uncle goes missing.
Unlike yesterday’s review, this is a book that is being marketed as it should be – Young Adult. Again, kids aren’t stupid. Hell, they probably know more about dealing with real-life issues than many adults who either live in a comfort bubble or who have grown complacent. There’s no reason to hide them from the darker side of life and with a title like this you flat out know . . . .
However, since it is YA it does retain a little bit of hope – unlike most grit lit selections I pick up.
I’ve never read this author before (but I did buy a copy of
Motherfucking Sharks because - DUH). As the placeholder “review” below indicates, whenever there’s a trailer park on a cover or even a
hint that some bad shit might go down due to drug dealing or usage, I’m pretty much like . . . .
This was everything I hoped it would be.
Many thanks to NetGalley for one of the quickest approvals I’ve ever received. It’s like you’re starting to understand me ; )ORIGINAL "REVIEW:"
The cover is a god-danged trailer park and it straight up has "Opioid" in the title . . . .
Seriously. This is pretty much guaranteed to be 5 Stars from Mitchell. Also, it's by the guy who wrote Motherfucking Sharks so if things go well I might have to invite him over to
the dungeon my spare room while he writes his next book.
Rating: really liked it
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What a strange book. OPIOID, INDIANA paints a rather desolate portrait of Middle America under the Trump presidency. Riggle is a transplant from Texas, and in every comparison to the Lone Star State, Indiana ends up falling short. Orphaned, Riggle lives with his drug addict uncle and his uncle's girlfriend, in a town infamous for drug use and abuse, and a host of characters who are all backwards and dysfunctional in their own way.
When his guidance counselor frames him for drug use and gets him suspended as a result, Riggle has a week to himself. As he looks for his missing uncle to have him pay the rent and does some job hunting and soul-searching, Riggle is haunted by memoirs of his late mother and the stories she used to tell him, accompanied by shadow puppets, about her own rather bizarre take on mythology, including how the days of the week were named.
OPIOID, INDIANA is one of the few books I've read that really gets the edgy voice of a young adult right. Riggle is a dysfunctional teen, and you believe it, 100%. At times, it reminded me of a less elegantly written WHITE OLEANDER because of how successfully it portrayed people living on the fringe. I do think it gets a little too weird, though, especially at the end. OPIOID, INDIANA is not a book for everyone, but its raw takes on racism, the toxic cultures of small towns, politics, grief, and injustice are pretty well done, and the odd mythology elements were reminiscent of Tanith Lee's
Flat Earth mythos.
If you're looking for something different that will grab teens' attention and not let go, I do think that this book has the ability to appeal to reluctant readers looking for characters they see themselves in.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!3.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
"In the principal's office, they told me I'd be suspended the next Monday through Friday. I thought: How the **** is that supposed to teach me a lesson? I'm getting a vacation . . .
What follows is the story of that week." -- Riggle, our protagonist, on page 12
Opiod, Indiana has a lot of great parts, plus a few lackluster bits (the long-winded sections with the hand shadow explaining how the days of the week received their names - don't ask), so that it adds up to an entertaining but not quite outstanding novel that straddles the line between YA and adult.
Riggle is a seventeen year-old orphan (trucker dad died in an accident, despondent mom a suicide) hailing from a Texas border town. Given his suddenly parent-less situation he's shipped out to the next-in-line relative, mom's 28 year-old brother Joe from a blighted suburban town in Indiana. Joe is a drug addict, but takes Riggle both out of family obligation and the government money he'll receive.
During the aforementioned week, which is set squarely in the bleak Midwestern winter of February 2018, we follow Riggle - suddenly with
a lot free time on his schedule due to his new out-of-school suspension - as he narrates his activities, introduces the people in his social circle, and describes his adopted hometown. One of the book's strengths was the supporting cast: his amusing best friend-classmate Bennet, the uncle's girlfriend Peggy, the local eccentrics 'Autistic Ross' and the 'Bicycling Confederate' and also the sharp-tongued 'Chef,' an otherwise-nameless boss at Riggle's first real job.
Another notable aspect was I believed this was a fairly intelligent or street-savvy seventeen year-old narrating the story. There were a few particularly well-written and perfectly plausible paragraphs late in the book where he simply realizes a certain sexual attraction to both his uncle's girlfriend (she is only six years older than Riggle) and to the female 'Chef' - who is likely in her early 30's - because
"They had power over me, they had control . . . They could also teach me. They knew things I didn't know. And I'm not sure that's what men are supposed to like, but you can't help what you're into." He is correct.
While I'm making
Opiod, Indiana sound a little like a teen comedy it is actually more of a dramatic work but with well-timed / humorous asides. Riggle gets sidetracked in minor ways throughout but his main purpose during the week is to find his missing uncle. How that plot thread is resolved, and the relatively open-ended conclusion, worked in the book's favor with some cold realism.
Rating: really liked it
There's tons of imagination on display here, while still painting a relateable coming-of-age narrative, equal parts funny, truthful, and sad. This is the kind of book that high schools should make their students read, a modern-day heir to Catcher in the Rye. It hit me hard. Really powerful stuff.
Rating: really liked it
What a mixed experience! I enjoyed young Riggle's voice and the book works best when we're getting a tour of his town (nicknamed Opioid, Indiana for its opiate-addicted populace) and its people. Unfortunately, there's these obnoxious fable-y sci-fi sections that make for a terrible diversion from the main story. I liked Riggle's job at the restaurant and the characters he met there, maybe more of that and less of the sci-fi bits would have made it a bit tighter. All the same, I laughed at some funny turns of phrase and irreverent humour.
The book, unfortunately, feels like too disjointed an experience to gain my stamp of approval, but a more focused effort from Carr might draw me in somewhere down the line. For now, I recommend a pass.
[2.5 Stars]
Rating: really liked it
A coming of age story with a likeable and totally relatable seventeen year old at its core. Riggle is an orphan who has been through the system and currently lives with his drug addicted uncle and his uncle's girlfriend. After getting expelled from school following a misunderstanding, Riggle interacts with different and unique residents of his small town, which he has nicknamed Opioid for obvious reasons. Through the memorable teachings of his deceased mother and a chance of purpose received from a new acquaintance, Riggle is able to deal with the hardships and challenges of his dead end environment. The author draws a clear picture of a sleepy town at the edge of resignation and brings it to life with some oddly surprising and colorful characters. I know that Riggle is out there somewhere, animating his dreams and bringing definition to the shadows.
Rating: really liked it
ho.ly.shit. This book is amazing: funny, smart, weird, sad, and tender as hell.
Rating: really liked it
Opioid, Indiana by Brian Allen Carr details the hardscrabble life of seventeen-year-old Riggle in an unnamed, small town in modern-day Indiana.
Riggle lives with his uncle and aunt, after being taken in after the deaths of his parents. Money is tight, times harsh and Riggle's uncle has turned up missing with the rent due in just a few days.
Riggle is a teen facing the typical woes of working-class teens, but even more hampered by living on the outside looking in, along with being attracted to his aunt who encourages him to find his drug-addicted uncle before the rent is due.
At first glance, by the title of the book, one may believe this short novel is a tale focused on opiates and those addicted to them, and while that subject is present, the novel is more than that.
Carr introduces interesting and amusing characters along the way and has a wonderful descriptive manner when telling the story and describing the life and struggles of Riggles, as well as the environment of an Indiana winter.
Rating: really liked it
This book’s description severely over-sells it. The book itself feels like the rambling of a teenager with no real point.
Rating: really liked it
Unforgettable is the first word that comes to mind when trying to describe this book. The characters, place, and story are all unforgettable. And current. Riggle’s circumstances and days and decisions are all happening right now out there in the world. Which fucking scares and saddens the hell out of me.
Riggle is a 17 year old suspended high school student living in Indiana. Both his parents are dead and his uncle is currently missing, so readers ride shotgun as Riggle wanders around looking for his uncle/guardian. Along the way, we meet his town, the town characters, his old hometown in Texas, new and old friends, and…Remote. *shakes head* Riggle’s connection to Remote is brutally heart wrenching. His mother used to tell him stories with a shadow puppet named Remote. So now when he’s missing his mom or feeling alone, Riggle brings Remote out to tell him a story or keep him company and apparently to break my frigging heart wide open. The emotion in this book is so stark and real. It’s almost painful to hear and watch. But I hope you do.
Mr. Carr tells Riggle’s story with equal parts humor and honesty. The lines and language are simple, but hard hitting. I find myself returning again and again to re-read parts of Riggle's week. I liked Riggle but, he’s the type of kid you want to slap upside the head and then hug. I want to tell him to hang on and keep trying and thinking. You might think he’s rambling, but listen to where his words go and what he says. Really take it in and listen! Some of his ponderings made me smirk; others made laugh; and most made me think. Riggle has a heart. It's broken and lonely, but you'll see it in action. The question is...for how much longer?
Read this one! It will get you talking and thinking for sure.
Rating: really liked it
I believe that YA with a male protagonist written by a male author is quite different than a female author writing about a female protagonist. Everything seems a bit less sugar coated—ruder and rougher, maybe.
The “naming of days” stories were a curious addition to the story of a young man trying to find himself after the deaths of both his parents.
Rating: really liked it
OPIOID, INDIANA picks you up by the collar. There's no putting it down until the last page. I had both laughed and cried by page 24. The plot is compelling, but there's so much more going on in this book about the nuances and complexities in people....the kind of truth that polarized news cycles just can't quite reach. This novel blurs all of the lines in the best way by getting in proximity with people and by storytelling with empathy. There are no throw-away people in this novel. The protagonist, Riggle, is a 17-year-old with no filter who bumps into controversial topics in the most open-eyed way. He also moves through grief in a way that is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Without giving any spoilers, it should be said that the novel is constructed in an original and suspenseful way, too. Few writers can capture the balance of the light and dark of being human quite like Brian Allen Carr.
Tiffany Phillips
Owner
Wild Geese Bookshop
