American Desert

By Percival Everett

Book Overview

Part parable, part fantasy novel, part laugh-out-loud satire, American Desert is the story of Theodore Street, a college professor on the brink of committing suicide. When the decision is taken out of his hands--he's hit by a car and his head is severed from his body--he must come to terms with himself. At his funeral, he sits up in his own coffin with the stitches that bind his head to his body clearly visible. Everyone is horrified by this resurrection. He becomes a source of fear and embarrassment to his daughter, and an object of derision and morbid curiosity to the press and the scientific communities, and is anointed as a sort of devil by an obscure religious cult. In the process, Theodore manages to reestablish his relationship with his estranged wife and family and to rediscover the value of his life. In this experimental, satirical, and bizarre novel, critically acclaimed author Percival Everett once again takes on the assumptions of a culture whose priorities have gone out of whack. He lampoons the press, religion, and academia while offering, ultimately, an existential meditation of what constitutes being alive.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786869178
• ISBN13: 9780786869176
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 291 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 17 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 12 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Bravo!

What's fantastic about this book: you can learn from Ted Street to be a decent person, hopefully long before you're dead. I love the satire, Jesus 19, and the fact that I always wanted to know what would happen next. Well done, Mr. Everett!

a brilliant satire

Percival Everett's "American Desert" has one of the best first chapters ever written and it sets the tone for what's to come: a clever, and at times very funny, satire on contemporary American society and also a reflection on what it means to be alive. After the protagonist's botched suicide attempt, he is endowed with special powers that allow him to "see" behind the facades that people put up to hide the things they don't like about themselves. "I used to be just like you and I guess that's how it is that I see so much of you. I didn't intend to be cruel, only truthful. This truth thing is new to me." As Ted reflects on his life and as the outside world creates a phenomenon around his "return to life", Everett gives us wonderful insights on society, relationships and ultimately on the meaning of life. A brilliant story, which introduced me to an exceptional writer. Other titles I would recommend by him are "Erasure", "Glyph", "Damned If I Do" (a collection of short stories, with a 5-star for "The Appropriation of Cultures") and "Wounded".

Keep your head up....

Percival Everett startled me with this book. The first few pages jump out and grab you and haul you into what seems like what will be a sad story. A man on his way to committ suicide is accidently involved in a traffic collision with a truck and decapitated. All presume he is dead until he sits up at his funeral with his head crudely attached on to his shoulders by what seems almost like fishing line. American Desert is more than just a modern day "Frankenstein" story. It is about a man who thought life was dead, only to find life in death. It is a novel about second chances and how our relationships can be anything we want them to be. In this book, we see the hurt that a family can go through because of choices a member of that family may make. Ultimately, we see that life is more than just the mundane everyday existence we know. We see that sometimes the purpose of our life can only be found when we see that we think we have no purpose. Don't let the name fool you. American Desert is a well in the dry land of everyday reading. A good book from start to finish and an almost draw dropping ending make this book a solid form of entertainment.