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America Fantastica
America Fantastica | Tim O'Brien
3 posts | 5 read | 5 to read
An American Master returns: The author of The Things They Carried delivers his first new novel in two decades, a brilliant and rollicking odyssey, in which a bank robbery by a disgraced journalist sparks a cross-country chase through a nation corroded by shameless delusion and deceit. At 11:34 a.m. one Saturday in August 2019, Boyd Halverson strode into Community National Bank in northern California. How much is on hand, would you say? he asked the teller. Ill want it all. Youre robbing me? Not you, Boyd replied, revealing a Temptation .38 Special. Angie Bing, the teller, scraped together $81,000. Boyd stuffed the cash into a paper grocery bag. Im sorry about this, he said, but Ill have to ask you to take a ride with me. So begins the adventure of Boyd Halversonstar journalist turned notorious online disinformation troll turned JC Penny managerand his irrepressible hostage, Angie Bing. Haunted by his past and weary of his present, Boyd has one goal before the authorities catch up with him: settle a score with the man who destroyed his life. By Monday Boyd and Angie reach Mexico; by winter, they are in a lakefront mansion in Minnesota. On their trail are hitmen, jealous lovers, ex-cons, an heiress, a billionaire shipping tycoon, a three-tour veteran of Iraq, and the ghosts of Boyds past. Everyone, it seems, except the police. America Fantastica marks the triumphant return of an essential voice in American letters. Just as OBriens modern classic, The Things They Carried, so brilliantly reflected the unromantic truth of war, America Fantastica puts a mirror to a nation and a time that has become dangerously unmoored from truth and greedy for delusion.
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Hooked_on_books
America Fantastica | Tim O'Brien
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I‘m glad the #tob24 longlist got me to read this one, because it‘s a wild, hilarious, madcap caper starting with a bank robbery and carrying unending ridiculousness forward. There‘s lots of skewering of the political right and conspiracy theorists, which I enjoyed. I‘ll definitely be looking for this author again.

Deblovestoread Sounds fun! Stacked 11mo
BarbaraBB I loved earlier works by him but this one sounds completely different. That‘s why I‘ve been holding it off. Your reviews sounds good though. 11mo
Hooked_on_books @BarbaraBB That‘s really interesting to hear. I‘ve never read him before and thought other books might be similar. But of course that‘s not necessarily the case with any author. I like wacky books, so this one was fun for me. 11mo
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BarbaraBB He wrote about the Vietnam war, so I guess much more serious. I loved 11mo
BarbaraBB I remember now that he wrote a funny book too but I didn‘t like ghat much. 11mo
Hooked_on_books @BarbaraBB Wow, those all seem wildly different from this book! If you do give it a try, I‘ll be curious to see what you think of it. 11mo
JenP I did like his book about Vietnam and the aftermath/toll the war had on those who served. I work with Veterans (I‘m a psychologist) and that book was brilliant in how it really captured “the things they carried”. This sounds very different 11mo
Hooked_on_books @JenP My husband has PTSD from Afghanistan, so I definitely need to read that one. 11mo
47 likes3 stack adds9 comments
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Suet624
America Fantastica | Tim O'Brien
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Pickpick

This is a crazy-character-driven story of robberies, occasionally underplayed murders, & a search for meaning. It feels like a Fargo movie. It‘s about mythomania, the contagion that has spread across America in which the citizenry lie and create untruths. The book is a societal review and it‘s spot on but the story is a bit too long. Audio would be tough I think. I‘m glad #TOB24 has it on the long list but I can‘t imagine it will move on.

Suet624 I would love to tag the other TOB readers but it‘s not working despite my best efforts. 13mo
squirrelbrain Great review! This has only just been published in the UK and is still expensive - I may wait to see if it makes the shortlist. 13mo
Suet624 @squirrelbrain once again the TOB nudges me to read a book I otherwise would not pick up. I think of O‘Brien as a writer of war stories. I suppose this is an updated version of a war story - the war against truth. 13mo
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Suet624
America Fantastica | Tim O'Brien
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BarbaraBB Super curious about this one! 13mo
Suet624 @BarbaraBB hmm…my comment about the book seems to have disappeared. 13mo
Suet624 This is what I wrote but it doesn't seem to show up on my iphone version: “I had no idea this was going to be so funny. And intermittently so sobering. Two humorous books in a row from the #Tob24 list? Unheard of!“
13mo
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BarbaraBB Really? It‘s humorous? That is unheard of indeed but does sound attractive! 13mo
Megabooks I tried this on audio but it didn‘t work for me. I‘ll try in print if it makes the shortlist. I‘m interested to read your final thoughts! 13mo
Suet624 @Megabooks I think the charm of it for me is it's so very different from what I was expecting from an O'Brien book. So I was unexpectedly surprised to read these characters and their antics - even as he talks about the contagion spreading across the globe - the contagion of lying. 13mo
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