chooper454's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely incredible, beautiful, soul-crushing novel. It turned up at my family cottage a few years ago on the bedside table and nobody knows how it got there. If I were at all religious I would fully believe god gave this to me.
lvivre's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
rgrayson's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Alcoholism, Sexism, Addiction, Pregnancy, Injury/injury detail, and Gun violence
femme_en_feu's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
marierossi's review against another edition
4.0
Bakopoulos seems to have taken a leaf out of JD Salinger's book....almost literally. Michael Smolji reminds me fondly of an older Holden Caufield and the the writing styles were similar. It didn't take long to fall into the easy rhythm of Bakopoulos' prose. For once, the character seemed more important than the plot and I cherished that.
its_hay's review against another edition
2.0
Talk about a dissatisfying ending.
The premise is cool enough: all the fathers in the town of Maple Rock somehow disappear at the same time. What's even more interesting is that they claim that they've gone to the moon. We don't hear much about what happens to them via the narrator save for some bits and pieces that seem to be directed at his father (who had gone to the moon). Instead of getting clarification about this incident that happened when Michael was a young boy and how he and his friends dealt with that situation, instead we get the lowdown of what is happening in "Miserable Mikey"'s life. I have to say that I couldn't help but feel that Michael was probably the poorest narrator ever. While his descriptions of familiar places in Michigan were great to read (I'm a Michigander; this is literally the only reason I'm giving this book two stars) it couldn't help with his character is a whole. If the author wanted to put across a character that was completely distant then I guess he checked that off his list. It's sad to say that the main character was not the interesting part of the story but rather: his best friend Nick, his ex lover from high school Sonya, his older lover Holly, and even his final flame Ella. There is a part in the book where Michael gets feedback on one of the stories that he writes for his community college creative writing class (he wanted to be a writer at one point) and the professor says something like: "flat female characters" and thus give him a poor grade on the assignment. That part I find funny since the common could almost be applied to the female characters in this book. Sonya is depicted in a slight negative light because she wants more than what Maple Rock has to offer her so now she comes off as shallow when she doesn't want to be in a relationship with Michael anymore. She only reappears when she becomes the love interest for his best friend and ends up being knocked up with his baby ultimately marrying Nick. Holly, the woman whose son died under Michael's watch as a lifeguard one summer, seems to completely get over her son's death very quickly and then falls into this predictable side relationship with Michael. While she chants about energies and chakras, Holly only seems to be relevant in the sense that she pushes Michael to start thinking about doing something with his life. Even then, he still whines about his predicament while making no effort to find a solution to his situation. When Holly runs off with this newfound freedom, Michael sits ungratefully in his inherited (for FREE) home like a lost puppy dog before he throws up his hands and gets a job at the new mall. Here, we meet Ella: a young, single mom who works at the mall with Michael and every Wednesday participates in a bikini model contest for quick cash. The banter between the two upon their first meeting was entertaining, and it seemed as though Ella would take advantage of Michael's infatuation with her so she could get a babysitter. While this happens, somehow in the midst of things Michael and Ella's son bond over pizza and the foundation of their first interaction (she finds Michael annoying) is cast aside with some faux inner struggle and then suddenly they're married with kids. It's unbelievable.
Then the situation sounds familiar doesn't it? Suddenly, all these Maple Rock boys are men with families now and we are presented with a full circle type of plot with them possibly pulling what their father's did and disappearing to the moon. I wish that would've happened. It would've given me a little bit of satisfaction if that was the route that the author would have taken. Instead, Nick is the only one to disappear after the boys mysteriously end up meeting in the parking lot of the bar they used to frequent. After that, Tom (another friend of Michael's) has learned of his father's reappearance and death in Illinois. Tom's father is the only one of the original disappearing moon crew who we learned of their fate. Note: not our narrator's or even his best friend's father's fate.
This could have been the coolest story ever if we learned what had happened with the original crew of fathers. I really like the idea of them just suddenly floating to the moon...if I had a proper reason as to why. It would have been even cooler to see if the sons of these men were to have reunited with them on the moon and got an explanation. Not to mention, I think there's an inconsistency with what happens with men floating to the moon seeing as in the original crew they all were in Maple Rock and disappeared. Their sons were in different cities and yet were called to look at the moon in that parking lot.
I really liked the original concept of the book and I enjoyed the way that the writing flowed. I just could not get over how the secondary characters had a chance to be more fulfilling than our main character and then they all just faded away leaving me more confused and a little agitated once I'd finished the book.
The premise is cool enough: all the fathers in the town of Maple Rock somehow disappear at the same time. What's even more interesting is that they claim that they've gone to the moon. We don't hear much about what happens to them via the narrator save for some bits and pieces that seem to be directed at his father (who had gone to the moon). Instead of getting clarification about this incident that happened when Michael was a young boy and how he and his friends dealt with that situation, instead we get the lowdown of what is happening in "Miserable Mikey"'s life. I have to say that I couldn't help but feel that Michael was probably the poorest narrator ever. While his descriptions of familiar places in Michigan were great to read (I'm a Michigander; this is literally the only reason I'm giving this book two stars) it couldn't help with his character is a whole. If the author wanted to put across a character that was completely distant then I guess he checked that off his list. It's sad to say that the main character was not the interesting part of the story but rather: his best friend Nick, his ex lover from high school Sonya, his older lover Holly, and even his final flame Ella. There is a part in the book where Michael gets feedback on one of the stories that he writes for his community college creative writing class (he wanted to be a writer at one point) and the professor says something like: "flat female characters" and thus give him a poor grade on the assignment. That part I find funny since the common could almost be applied to the female characters in this book. Sonya is depicted in a slight negative light because she wants more than what Maple Rock has to offer her so now she comes off as shallow when she doesn't want to be in a relationship with Michael anymore. She only reappears when she becomes the love interest for his best friend and ends up being knocked up with his baby ultimately marrying Nick. Holly, the woman whose son died under Michael's watch as a lifeguard one summer, seems to completely get over her son's death very quickly and then falls into this predictable side relationship with Michael. While she chants about energies and chakras, Holly only seems to be relevant in the sense that she pushes Michael to start thinking about doing something with his life. Even then, he still whines about his predicament while making no effort to find a solution to his situation. When Holly runs off with this newfound freedom, Michael sits ungratefully in his inherited (for FREE) home like a lost puppy dog before he throws up his hands and gets a job at the new mall. Here, we meet Ella: a young, single mom who works at the mall with Michael and every Wednesday participates in a bikini model contest for quick cash. The banter between the two upon their first meeting was entertaining, and it seemed as though Ella would take advantage of Michael's infatuation with her so she could get a babysitter. While this happens, somehow in the midst of things Michael and Ella's son bond over pizza and the foundation of their first interaction (she finds Michael annoying) is cast aside with some faux inner struggle and then suddenly they're married with kids. It's unbelievable.
Then the situation sounds familiar doesn't it? Suddenly, all these Maple Rock boys are men with families now and we are presented with a full circle type of plot with them possibly pulling what their father's did and disappearing to the moon. I wish that would've happened. It would've given me a little bit of satisfaction if that was the route that the author would have taken. Instead, Nick is the only one to disappear after the boys mysteriously end up meeting in the parking lot of the bar they used to frequent. After that, Tom (another friend of Michael's) has learned of his father's reappearance and death in Illinois. Tom's father is the only one of the original disappearing moon crew who we learned of their fate. Note: not our narrator's or even his best friend's father's fate.
This could have been the coolest story ever if we learned what had happened with the original crew of fathers. I really like the idea of them just suddenly floating to the moon...if I had a proper reason as to why. It would have been even cooler to see if the sons of these men were to have reunited with them on the moon and got an explanation. Not to mention, I think there's an inconsistency with what happens with men floating to the moon seeing as in the original crew they all were in Maple Rock and disappeared. Their sons were in different cities and yet were called to look at the moon in that parking lot.
I really liked the original concept of the book and I enjoyed the way that the writing flowed. I just could not get over how the secondary characters had a chance to be more fulfilling than our main character and then they all just faded away leaving me more confused and a little agitated once I'd finished the book.
jostolin's review against another edition
5.0
THERE IS A SPOILER IN THIS REVIEW ALSO SORRY I'M USING GOODREADS AS A JOURNAL IT IS LATE AND I HAVE FEELINGS AND THIS PLATFORM FEELS KIND OF SAFE IN SOME WAY
According to U-M English Department lore, Dean Bakopoulos's subcon thesis was entitled "Please Don't Come Back From the Moon."
Therein lies my only complaint about this book: It prevented me from working on my own goddamn thesis for days. Because the fucking protagonist is so fucking flawed and earnest it actually hurts and I loved him and rooted for him and was devastated for him and I haven't read a book in SO LONG that managed to inject so much dang humanity into a character.
Also someone please let me know why the New York Times called this magical realism?? That's actually crazy to me like sure there's some dream imagery but let's not get carried away and start calling every wacky thing we read 'magical realism' --
Anyways. I'm sad. I'm sad this book is over and that there aren't more books like it and I'm sad for Michael, the protagonist. I'm sad for all of the men in this story who thought their dads were on the moon, because 'went to the moon' is more palatable than 'moved to Illinois,' and every reader knows that. I'm sad for the dads who left because, by some work of ACTUAL magic -- or just pure genius -- Bakopoulos made me feel that, too.
According to U-M English Department lore, Dean Bakopoulos's subcon thesis was entitled "Please Don't Come Back From the Moon."
Therein lies my only complaint about this book: It prevented me from working on my own goddamn thesis for days. Because the fucking protagonist is so fucking flawed and earnest it actually hurts and I loved him and rooted for him and was devastated for him and I haven't read a book in SO LONG that managed to inject so much dang humanity into a character.
Also someone please let me know why the New York Times called this magical realism?? That's actually crazy to me like sure there's some dream imagery but let's not get carried away and start calling every wacky thing we read 'magical realism' --
Anyways. I'm sad. I'm sad this book is over and that there aren't more books like it and I'm sad for Michael, the protagonist. I'm sad for all of the men in this story who thought their dads were on the moon, because 'went to the moon' is more palatable than 'moved to Illinois,' and every reader knows that. I'm sad for the dads who left because, by some work of ACTUAL magic -- or just pure genius -- Bakopoulos made me feel that, too.
melanie_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes fiction hits a little too close to home. A heartfelt tale of the working life in post-industrial Michigan along the 94 corridor after the factory jobs disappeared. When your only hope is making it to Ann Arbor.
Bakopoulos captures the sadness and despair of fathers gone missing in more ways than one. The early 90s were bad here for sure, but I'd love his take on the current state. At least his boys still had the mall.
Bakopoulos captures the sadness and despair of fathers gone missing in more ways than one. The early 90s were bad here for sure, but I'd love his take on the current state. At least his boys still had the mall.
mcallima's review against another edition
4.0
I was torn between 3 and 4 stars. This books definitely gets points in my opinion for originality and uniqueness. I've definitely never read anything like this. This was a coming-of-age story in which the young men of a Michigan town struggle after their father's vanish or "go to the moon." There is a sense of mystery about the "moon" if the fathers are really on the moon, or where they could be. But there is a very realistic, disturbing pull these young men feel as they have their own families of abandoning everything for the "moon." It was haunting, sad, and interesting and very beautifully written. The book also touches on the economic struggles of the recent past with which we are all familiar and a desire for change. I think this book is how these young men learn to deal with the internal struggles of adulthood and responsibility, and the desire to walk away from it all and unburden themselves. It was definitely interesting. I liked Bakopoulos's writing style- very simple and elegant. I think many readers could definitely find the characters, and their struggles very realistic, even set among the mystery of the moon.
chloecaprice's review against another edition
3.0
This is the story of a factory-dependent suburb of Detroit where the jobless adult males begin disappearing one by one until they've all left. The remaining women and children refer to the men as having gone to the moon and learn to reorder their lives without husbands and fathers. The desertions have a devastating affect on the male youth who must become men much too quickly and without examples of any kind. I found the book depressingly accurate in its portrayal of the Michigan economy, yet too unstructured to really be captivating.