Haymaker (Switchgrass Books)

Haymaker by Adam Schuitema is the first novel I've read since I officially left academia, and I'm glad I chose it.To avoid spoiling anything, I'll just say that if you are looking for a contemporary novel set in a place that you'd love to visit without fear of being invited to the annual shit-kicking, then this is the book for you. Adam does a great job of showing us this town, it's inhabitants, and the people who believe they can mold it into something that they believe is better than it already is. The book reminds me of what it's like to love a placeand at once know that that place would kill me if I hadn't left.To be clear: this is not a "delightful summer read." This is a book that deals with complicated issues, emotional and political. I guesscompared to say, Heart of Darkness" it's a beach read. But I don't guess anyone asked that question, so who knows why I answered it.Anyway: Donnie Sarver is a character who fascinates me, and even if this book had been about him alone, it would've been good. But there areplenty of characters developed in interesting ways to keep you engaged.Look forward to more of Adam's work.

I don't want to spoil this great read. Suffice to say that it offers a brutal and compelling glimpse of the tensions in a community when idealists run full-force into the human realities of place and community. The writing adds to the sense of building tension, and I am grateful that the author let the coil spring in a way that left all the characters real and relatable.I especially appreciate the female characters in this story. They have power and strength, tinged with pragmatism, that runs beneath the idealism and tension.

The idea for the book is creative, but the book didn't measure up to my expectations. Some of the characters were well-drawn; others didn't seem too realistic. Some of the turns in the plot were great; others seemed far-fetched. The map of the town was impossible to read in the Kindle version. Looking at it on my laptop didn't help much. The descriptions of the scenery and weather in the U.P. were good, as was the depiction of the economy. He is accurate in the toughness of the people. The people of the U.P. know how to supplement their incomes by living off the land: hunting, fishing, gardening, and cutting firewood. He depicts these aspects of their life well.He has people use "ain't" a lot. Actually, one almost never hears "ain't" in the U.P., no matter the educational level of the speaker. The U.P. has its distinctive speech patterns, but he doesn't do well at capturing them. Also, how does a book that covers three years in the U.P. not have one mosquito or one Finn anywhere?

I did like the book, However, seeing the author talk about his book was way more interesting then reading Haymaker. :) I do feel like it had a bunch of unneeded description of places and body language, but others might really like that about the book. just to much description for me. easy read though. will read more of Adam's work.

Interesting story in the first part of book, but plot development plodded along to the end of the book.