Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance 1973

by John Barnes

Overview

"The Catcher in the Rye meets On the Road"*-The Printz Honor book is a classic in the making!

September 1973: The beginning of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of "the Madman Underground"- kids forced to attend group therapy during school. Karl has decided that he is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act-and be-Normal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has two after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.

*The Horn Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142417027
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	01/06/2011
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

This is the acclaimed novelist John Barnes's first book for teenagers.

Editorial Reviews

"Rarely will you read something so lovingly vulgar, so fiercely warmhearted, and so exuberantly expansive . . . the culmination comes off like a teenage One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." -Booklist, starred review

"His narration is so easy and engaging, so sweet and funny, so astonishingly truthful that teens will rip through these 500-plus pages and want more." -School Library Journal, starred review

"Darkly comic . . . as troubled, relevant, relatable and hilarious as J.D. Salinger." -Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher

High school senior Karl Shoemaker just wants to be normal. Since fourth grade, Karl has been unable to escape the stigma of the Madman Underground, a school therapy group for screwed-up kids (he earned the nickname "Psycho" after cutting up a classmate's rabbit in seventh grade). But with a drunken, hippie mom who believes that Nixon is in cahoots with aliens and who steals Karl's hard-earned money, a horde of pet cats that leave droppings everywhere and a claustrophobic hometown that still worships his deceased father (the former mayor), Karl's quest for normalcy seems doomed. In his YA debut, Barnes masterfully turns what should be a depressing tale about teenage misfits who are regularly abused, molested or neglected into a strangely heartwarming story about a kid who refuses to suck the lemons life keeps handing him, the bonds of friendship and the lengths a son will go to protect his mother. The language is R-rated, but with Breakfast Club-like realism, Barnes delivers scenes from which, like a car wreck, readers will be unable to look away. Ages 14-up. (June)

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Publishers Weekly

. . . rarely will you read something so lovingly vulgar, so fiercely warmhearted, and so exuberantly expansive that even its long-windedness becomes part of its rogue charm., starred review

Booklist

The real draw of this novel lies in the brilliant character study of Karl Shoemaker.

Horn Book

Gr 9 Up–Karl Shoemaker, in group therapy at school since fourth grade, turns a new leaf on the first day of senior year, 1973. His goal is to be normal and avoid therapy while still keeping his friends, who are all part of the Madman Underground. Karl’s widowed mother is an alcoholic, hippie, conspiracy-theorist slut who steals his earnings (he has five jobs) for benders. At one time or another, most Madmen are locked out of their houses by drunk or absent parents, or don’t go home to avoid getting beaten, or felt up. They depend on one another’s hospitality by way of empty basements, open windows, and unlocked cars. Barnes writes with amazing ease and clarity. He has a light, immediate feel for character, and the ensemble of Madmen, teachers, parents, and crotchety townspeople is distinct and fully formed. Dialogue between Karl and this motley crew is mostly hilarious, expletive laden, and consistently flawless. Karl’s conversations with Marti, the newest Madman, are among the most heart-melting in teen literature. Barnes’s descriptions of small-town Ohio defy the usual pitfalls of the back-when-the-author-was-a-teen setting–Lightsburg is so believably backward it seems timeless. While a moral dilemma may seem an underwhelming plot device, Karl’s psychological journey is consistently gripping. His narration is so easy and engaging, so sweet and funny, so astonishingly truthful that teens will rip through these 500-plus pages and want more.–Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library

School Library Journal

With excruciating, mind-numbing detail and a lot of swear words, 17-year-old Karl chronicles the first six days of his senior year. Karl's biggest antagonist is his mother, a crazy cat lady who drinks like a fish, acts like a teenager and talks like a second grader. Because of his mother, Karl works four jobs and squirrels away his money in jars around the house. His friends at school enjoy equally dysfunctional lives. In less than a week, Karl redefines his friendships and almost loses his virginity twice. At its high points, the story moves swiftly through witty dialogue and heartbreaking observations of parental cruelty. At its low points, which far outnumber the high ones, Karl is obnoxious, even terrifying in his antisocial behavior, and his friends are unbelievable in their ridiculousness. Due to its length and the frustration of waiting some 100 pages between the start and continuation of some story lines, only the most stubborn of readers will stay past the 37 dead cats to the tiresome, if very tidy, ending. (Historical fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews