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Back Roads: Oprah's Book Club #26

Average rating: 4/5

Based on 25 ratings

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Back Roads: Oprah's Book Club #26

by Tawni O'Dell

Viking Books | March 28, 2000 | Hardcover

"One day you're that guy who's happy he managed to survive high school and get that almighty piece of paper, and you're thinking you might try to get a job at Redi-Mix concrete where your dad's worked since the beginning of time. And at least you've got a family you can stand even if they are all sisters.One day you're that guy, and the next day you're assigned to a social worker and a therapist and given the choice of either being a LEGAL ADULT with three DEPENDENTS or an ORPHAN with NOBODY." --From Back RoadsHarley Altmyer should be in college drinking Rolling Rock and chasing girls. He should be freed from his closed-minded, stricken coal town, with its lack of jobs and no sense of humor. Instead, he's constantly reminded of just how messed up his life is.With his mother in jail for killing his abusive father, Harley is an orphan with the responsibilities of an adult and the fiery, aggressive libido of a teenager. Just nineteen years old, he's marooned in the Pennsylvania backwoods caring for his three younger sisters, whose feelings about him range from stifling dependence to loathing. And once he develops an obsession with the sexy, melancholic mother of two living down the road, those Victoria's Secret catalogs just won't do the trick anymore. He wants Callie Mercer so badly he fears he will explode. But it's the family secrets, the lies, and the unspoken truths that light the fuse and erupt into a series of staggering surprises, leaving what's left of his family in tatters. Through every ordeal, the unforgettable Harley could never know that his endearing humor, his love for his sisters, and his bumbling heroics would redeem them all.Funny and heartbreaking, Tawni O'Dell's pitch-perfect characters capture the maddening confusion of adolescence and the prickly nature of family with irony and unerring honesty. Back Roads is a riveting novel by a formidable new talent.
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Reviews

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 3/5

    Thoughtful character depth by O'Dell

    Peachy TO

    • Most Interesting

    4 years ago

    Back Roads serves as a reminder of the atrocities that can surface in innocent children when damaged by CORRUPT adults. Tragic and devastating characters make this twisted and deplorable tale so absorbing. I am haunted by the TRUTH and the realism in their stories. From beginning to end Harley is a mysterious and destructive figure whom you can't quite decipher, partly because of HIS lack of self-understanding, and partly because you can't fathom one man/boy's ability to ADJUST. Seeming to leave no stone unturned, abandonment, abuse, incest and infidelity are but a few issues Tawni O'Dell wistfully reveals.

    www.booksnakereviews.blogspot.com

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 3/5

    Good Read

    Julie McGranachan

    4 years ago

    Back Roads was a good read and definitely kept my interest. I do agree with some earlier reviews that the author definitely left many things unexplained and unfinished. All in all, still worth picking up!!

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?
    Anonymous

    Rating: 5/5

    Fabulous!

    Anonymous

    5 years ago

    If you are easily depressed or offended, maybe this book is not for you. But for those of us who insist that a book be lyrical, profound, and mesmerizing, it was a wonderful find. The vivid characterizations including the oddly sympathetic protagonist (and yes, he was quite funny sometimes) combined with the mystery and suspense of the plot made the book irresistable and hard to put down. I finished a library copy late last night and am going out to buy my own this afternoon. That is the highest compliment I can give it. I will also recommend it to friends and relatives. Next, I am going to try to find other books by this author. Bravo, Miss O'Dell!

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?
    Jamie-Lynn

    Rating: 5/5

    Extremely Captivating!

    Jamie-Lynn

    11 years ago

    From the first pages of this book you fall in love with the characters. Harley seems so hard core but really he isn't. He seems not to care about his sisters but you know that he does, you sense if from the way he cares for them, you can't help but fall in love with Jody, her innocence through the whole book is unbeleiveable, everything she's been through and she is still such a happy go lucky child. Harley in the end is the hero, as much as he disliked Misty for everything she did, in the end he took the blame for her...this is what you call a true "family man". You can't help but love this book. I read it in one day, you can't put it down...everyone should read this book!!!!

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Details

From Our Editors

Though he's just 19-years-old, Harley Altmyer already feels washed up. Dealt one of life's rotten hands, he struggles through each day in the backwaters of Pennsylvania's mining country working two jobs and fulfilling his duties as surrogate parent to his three young sisters while his mother does time in prison for killing her abusive husband. Angry and disillusioned, the only thing that's keeping him going is his fixation for his sexy neighbour, Callie Mercer - a passion that stirs up all sorts of trouble. Back Roads is a stunning, gritty debut from Tawni O'Dell that stays with you long after you've finished reading.

 

From the Publisher

"One day you're that guy who's happy he managed to survive high school and get that almighty piece of paper, and you're thinking you might try to get a job at Redi-Mix concrete where your dad's worked since the beginning of time. And at least you've got a family you can stand even if they are all sisters.One day you're that guy, and the next day you're assigned to a social worker and a therapist and given the choice of either being a LEGAL ADULT with three DEPENDENTS or an ORPHAN with NOBODY." --From Back RoadsHarley Altmyer should be in college drinking Rolling Rock and chasing girls. He should be freed from his closed-minded, stricken coal town, with its lack of jobs and no sense of humor. Instead, he's constantly reminded of just how messed up his life is.With his mother in jail for killing his abusive father, Harley is an orphan with the responsibilities of an adult and the fiery, aggressive libido of a teenager. Just nineteen years old, he's marooned in the Pennsylvania backwoods caring for his three younger sisters, whose feelings about him range from stifling dependence to loathing. And once he develops an obsession with the sexy, melancholic mother of two living down the road, those Victoria's Secret catalogs just won't do the trick anymore. He wants Callie Mercer so badly he fears he will explode. But it's the family secrets, the lies, and the unspoken truths that light the fuse and erupt into a series of staggering surprises, leaving what's left of his family in tatters. Through every ordeal, the unforgettable Harley could never know that his endearing humor, his love for his sisters, and his bumbling heroics would redeem them all.Funny and heartbreaking, Tawni O'Dell's pitch-perfect characters capture the maddening confusion of adolescence and the prickly nature of family with irony and unerring honesty. Back Roads is a riveting novel by a formidable new talent.

Hardcover

6 x 9 in

March 28, 2000

Viking Books

English


0670894184
9780670894185

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