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American Purgatorio
A Novel
by John Haskell


8.6

based on 18 reviews
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based on 6 votes
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Haskell's debut novel follows a man on a drive across the country in search of both meaning in his life and his missing wife, who mysteriously vanishes outside of a gas station at the story's beginning.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 248 pages
01/04/2005
$23.00

ISBN: 0374104328

Fiction
General Literature & Fiction

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

San Francisco Chronicle Stephen Lyons

A literary affirmation of fiction's potential to go beyond mere scene description and plot line and tap into the deepest roots of human motive.

The Nation Benjamin Kunkel

The most Buddhist English-language novel I have read... A triumphant American picaresque, a thrilling quest poem in the indigenous form of a road novel.

Daily Telegraph John Haskell

A dazzling metaphysical high-wire act - compelling, deeply moving, mordantly funny and disquieting in equal measure, an existential trip that, at times, seems to rearrange the molecules in the air around you as you read it, demanding that you think of the world and your relationship to it in a wholly new way.

The Independent Nicholas Royle

If you don't like it, you may not really be alive to the pleasures of reading.

The Independent David Isaacson

This is an abstract meditation on the nature of consciousness. Sad, funny and elegiac, American Purgatorio is a powerful portrayal of alienation in the 21st century.

The Spectator Rosalind Porter

Whats most striking about this depiction of existential alienation is the incredible insight our hero is able to offer us, even in the face of his own mental breakdown.

Houston Chronicle Martha Liebrum

The novel has been called a mystery story and a road-trip tale. It is both and also a compelling study of misery.

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Lee Henderson

So if it's not for his poignant and unmatched blend of pop culture and literary intelligence, then the reason Haskell is the United States' most significant new voice is because of sentences like this one: "As I watched her walk I told myself, This is what I have to do, meaning, This is what I feel, meaning, This is who I think I have to be."

Los Angeles Times Susan Salter Reynolds

Haskell, whose short story collection "I Am Not Jackson Pollock" promised the raw wit of thirtysomething passive-aggressive lit, now proves that he can keep it going for the novel, adding mystery and kindness to his palette. [9 Jan 2005, p.R11]

LA Weekly Joy Press

A hypnotic and sometimes maddening novel, heady yet grounded in straightforward prose. And it's nearly impossible to summarize in a review without detracting from the impact of the gradually unraveling structure.

Washington Post Carolyn See

The ending here took me by surprise. It's what every writer strives for -- an event both surprising and inevitable. American Purgatorio is a serious, admirable novel, well worth reading.

The New York Times Book Review Taylor Antrim

Turn the last page, and you'll realize that this strange, moving book has done just what a first novel should: it has left an impression.

Booklist Michael Spinella

Haskell's short story collection I Am Not Jackson Pollack (2003) received praise, and his first novel is equally laudable. [15 Nov 2004, p.553]

Library Journal David A. Berona

Characters like the homeless beggar Polino and the complex and sometimes comical plot keep the reader glued to every page until the astonishing ending. [1 Dec 2004, p.100]

Publishers Weekly

The cool, intentionally deadened prose can make for difficult reading.

Kirkus Reviews

Overwrought, obvious, self-conscious: likely to be a big disappointment for fans of Haskell's often-brilliant stories.

Boston Globe Barbara Fisher

In the end, memory, loss, desire, all merge and dissolve into nothingness. Unfortunately, the novel tends to fade in the same way, leaving the reader puzzled, frustrated, and empty. [9 Jan 2005, p.F7]

TLS: The Times Literary Supplement Patrick Ness

Though the final sections provide answers to all persistent questions, by that point many readers may have given up in exasperation.

The average user rating for this book is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

frank d gave it a9:
It's much like a Pollock painting - take what you want from it - and superb for that. For me it's a descent into and ascent out of one's Self. Beautiful minimilist prose.

Craigan U gave it a9:
Emotional and puzzling, the ending of this well-crafted novel seamlessly disintegrates such that you're never really sure when Haskell pressed the "self-destruct" button. A splendid read.

Jorn H gave it a5:
A interesting journey. I thought I was in for a classic 3/4 in...but what a hugely disappointing ending. Not since 'Scapegoat' have I felt robbed of a great story...

barbara f gave it a10:
a beautifully crafted tale with a stunning ending

hart b gave it a10:
a profound novel, full of insight and depth.

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American Purgatorio A Novel by John Haskell

American Purgatorio
A Novel
by John Haskell