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Goodnight, Nebraska
At the age of 17, Randall Hunsacker shoots his mother's boyfriend, steals a car and comes close to killing himself. His second chance lies in a small Nebraska farm town, where the landmarks include McKibben's Mobil Station, Frmka's Superette, and a sign that says The Wages of Sin is Hell. This is Goodnight, a place so ingrown and provincial that Randall calls it "Sludgeville"—until he starts thinking of it as home.
In this pitch-perfect novel, Tom McNeal explores the currents of hope, passion, and cruelty beneath the surface of the American heartland. In Randall, McNeal creates an outcast whose redemption lies in Goodnight, a strange, small, but ultimately embracing community where Randall will inspire fear and adulation, win the love of a beautiful girl and nearly throw it all away.
In this pitch-perfect novel, Tom McNeal explores the currents of hope, passion, and cruelty beneath the surface of the American heartland. In Randall, McNeal creates an outcast whose redemption lies in Goodnight, a strange, small, but ultimately embracing community where Randall will inspire fear and adulation, win the love of a beautiful girl and nearly throw it all away.
314 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Tom McNeal
12 books214 followersTom McNeal was born in Santa Ana, California, where his father and grandfather raised oranges. He spent part of every summer at the Nebraska farm where his mother was born and raised, and after earning a BA in English at UC Berkeley and an MFA in Creative Writing at UC Irvine, he taught school in the town that was the inspiration for his novel, Goodnight, Nebraska. Tom has been a Wallace Stegner Fellow and a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University, and his short stories have been widely anthologized.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
July 10, 2022
"there are some kinds of love, the ones we are all after, that are meant for open air and natural light, but there are other kinds, too, more than we'd like to think, that come our of the dark and drag us away and tear parts from out bodies..."
A debut novel written in 1999 that I picked up as I read the author's second, , To Be Sung Underwater, and have never forgotten it.
This is a coming of age type story of two young people, Marcy and Randall in a small town in Nebraska in the days before social media, cell phones--a quieter time, slower but not without a deeper drama. In the early pages Randall's father dies and the death cuts the family loose and shortly spinning off in separate directions. Randall ends up in Goodnight Nebraska just narrowly escaping juvenile detention or jail. There he meets Marcy, the town beauty, who is from a "good" family. Their relationship should not be but grows in secrecy, impossible to hide for long in a small town. They grow together and apart, not in itself a unique story and certainly not a romance in the usual sense. In the background are Marcy's parents who add much to this story with hopes and dreams unfulfilled and secrets that rise to the surface.
In its quiet way the story pulled me in and showed how people in general and this couple particularly stay true to who they are and how it rises to the surface in the end. There were points and scenes that did not flow but in all I found it an amazing debut (I am particularly drawn to debut novels--who know how long the author worked at it). In all I think I liked it even better the McNeal's 2nd and now I'm anxious to pick up his latest. So glad I picked it up at last.
P.S. Found this used paper copy at an incredible outdoor bookstore, Bart's Books. If you are ever in Ojai, California its a book lovers dream, worth the trip, don't miss it.
A debut novel written in 1999 that I picked up as I read the author's second, , To Be Sung Underwater, and have never forgotten it.
This is a coming of age type story of two young people, Marcy and Randall in a small town in Nebraska in the days before social media, cell phones--a quieter time, slower but not without a deeper drama. In the early pages Randall's father dies and the death cuts the family loose and shortly spinning off in separate directions. Randall ends up in Goodnight Nebraska just narrowly escaping juvenile detention or jail. There he meets Marcy, the town beauty, who is from a "good" family. Their relationship should not be but grows in secrecy, impossible to hide for long in a small town. They grow together and apart, not in itself a unique story and certainly not a romance in the usual sense. In the background are Marcy's parents who add much to this story with hopes and dreams unfulfilled and secrets that rise to the surface.
In its quiet way the story pulled me in and showed how people in general and this couple particularly stay true to who they are and how it rises to the surface in the end. There were points and scenes that did not flow but in all I found it an amazing debut (I am particularly drawn to debut novels--who know how long the author worked at it). In all I think I liked it even better the McNeal's 2nd and now I'm anxious to pick up his latest. So glad I picked it up at last.
P.S. Found this used paper copy at an incredible outdoor bookstore, Bart's Books. If you are ever in Ojai, California its a book lovers dream, worth the trip, don't miss it.
August 10, 2009
Stunning. I would put this book in my top 5 easily. Why Tom McNeal stopped writing is a mystery, but it's also a tragedy. A deeply moving look at the lives of simple people who are caught between needing more and wanting exactly what they have. This is a gorgeous book - in its language, in its development, in its characters which rise before the readers eye mythic in their willingness to hurt and be hurt.
October 4, 2011
Can Tom McNeal write anything that doesn’t take your breath away? I’m beginning to think not.
McNeal is reminiscent of both Faulkner and Steinbeck in that he combines accounts of terrible evil (all the more horrifying because often aleatory) with glimmering moments of glad grace, both delivered in spare but elegant prose. Yet unlike the feeling of repugnance that I get with Faulkner and Steinbeck (even while respecting their art), in the case of McNeal’s writing, I come away from the reading experience feeling elevated. I find that I care even about characters who commit morally repugnant acts, because McNeal elucidates so well and so compassionately the inexorable forces that drive these characters, and the painful regret that threatens to drown them.
Under the guidance of McNeal’s pen, Goodnight, a fictional small town in Nebraska, turns from pine-scented and crisp and burning-leaf-smokiness in the fall, to cold and grim and white in the winter, to buttery-yellow and brilliant green and full of hope in the spring. Likewise, the clear-eyed people who live there switch from wary to cruel to forgiving, often moving from one to the other in the blink of an eye. McNeal records it all with pinpoint clarity, so that by the time you finish the book, the characters feel so real to you that you are astounded that you will not be meeting them again the next day. And you find yourself - crazily - wondering how they will be getting on this day, since you know you won’t be hearing from them.
Although this book is not related to McNeal’s later book, "To Be Sung Underwater," I loved going back to this earlier one and seeing the ghostly outlines of his later characters Judith and Willy. Does it matter if you read them in or out of order? Not a bit: it just matters that you read them, because they are wonderful.
(see my full review at http://rhapsodyinbooks.wordpress.com )
McNeal is reminiscent of both Faulkner and Steinbeck in that he combines accounts of terrible evil (all the more horrifying because often aleatory) with glimmering moments of glad grace, both delivered in spare but elegant prose. Yet unlike the feeling of repugnance that I get with Faulkner and Steinbeck (even while respecting their art), in the case of McNeal’s writing, I come away from the reading experience feeling elevated. I find that I care even about characters who commit morally repugnant acts, because McNeal elucidates so well and so compassionately the inexorable forces that drive these characters, and the painful regret that threatens to drown them.
Under the guidance of McNeal’s pen, Goodnight, a fictional small town in Nebraska, turns from pine-scented and crisp and burning-leaf-smokiness in the fall, to cold and grim and white in the winter, to buttery-yellow and brilliant green and full of hope in the spring. Likewise, the clear-eyed people who live there switch from wary to cruel to forgiving, often moving from one to the other in the blink of an eye. McNeal records it all with pinpoint clarity, so that by the time you finish the book, the characters feel so real to you that you are astounded that you will not be meeting them again the next day. And you find yourself - crazily - wondering how they will be getting on this day, since you know you won’t be hearing from them.
Although this book is not related to McNeal’s later book, "To Be Sung Underwater," I loved going back to this earlier one and seeing the ghostly outlines of his later characters Judith and Willy. Does it matter if you read them in or out of order? Not a bit: it just matters that you read them, because they are wonderful.
(see my full review at http://rhapsodyinbooks.wordpress.com )
August 22, 2012
I was in sudden need of a book on a recent trip to Lawrence, Kansas, so I went into "The Dusty Bookshelf" used book store. I looked around a bit, then found "Goodnight, Nebraska." It ended up being amazing.
I won't deny that maybe part of why I loved it was that it was one of the few times that I just picked up a book without knowing anything about it or reading a bunch of reviews first. I'm kind of a review junky. I enjoyed the serendipity of this choice, and maybe that played into my feelings.
That said, I thought it was a great book, full of truths about love and life. I kept preparing to be disappointed at the next plot twist, and I never was. It had me enthralled from beginning to end. Hell, I even felt like some of the truths in there made me think about things that then made me a better person and husband. Good stuff.
I won't deny that maybe part of why I loved it was that it was one of the few times that I just picked up a book without knowing anything about it or reading a bunch of reviews first. I'm kind of a review junky. I enjoyed the serendipity of this choice, and maybe that played into my feelings.
That said, I thought it was a great book, full of truths about love and life. I kept preparing to be disappointed at the next plot twist, and I never was. It had me enthralled from beginning to end. Hell, I even felt like some of the truths in there made me think about things that then made me a better person and husband. Good stuff.
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August 8, 2011I toyed with the idea of calling my review "Good Riddance, Nebraska", but that seemed a little harsh... The story wasn't all bad, but I felt a little deceived by the summary on the back cover... From what I read, I expected a story about a boy learning to be a man, while dealing with some unusual (and sometimes overwhelming) challenges. Instead, I found a disjointed storyline that seemed to jump from one character to another. In addition, some characters and themes just dropped away, leaving me feeling as if I'd missed something... and expecting them to reappear later on.
Now, this is not to say that the book was a total waste. I liked McNeal's writing style, when he was in the midst of a sub-plot. He writes well and I felt drawn into the story for that moment. I just wished that he'd worked as hard at making the overall storyline flow. Instead, I feel as if I've just finished reading a series of short stories where none of them quite ended...
Now, this is not to say that the book was a total waste. I liked McNeal's writing style, when he was in the midst of a sub-plot. He writes well and I felt drawn into the story for that moment. I just wished that he'd worked as hard at making the overall storyline flow. Instead, I feel as if I've just finished reading a series of short stories where none of them quite ended...
August 22, 2011
About halfway through this book, McNeal describes a pivotal moment in a high school football game. His description takes a dozen pages and includes several points of view. If it were a scene in a movie, it would be in super slow motion. In many books, this would be obnoxious or trite. McNeal pulls it off. This isn't the kind of story that I would normally read, and I certainly didn't enjoy this as much as To Be Sung Underwater, but McNeal is phenomenally gifted at constructing powerful sentences and forcing his readers to feel for even some very unlikable characters.
March 12, 2015
I was introduced to Tom McNeal just a couple weeks ago by the 2013 YA title
Far Far Away
, which had one of the most absorbing first 50 pages of any novel I've read. Lofty, ambitious story-telling, gorgeous prose, all very appealing and accessible.
Winners of the Best First 50 Pages Award almost always slide downhill, though, sometimes quite dramatically, and indeed Far Far Away ultimately wins the Just a Good Book, Nothing More Award.
But it made me thirsty for more Tom McNeal. I did a little research and turned up the most favorable reactions to Goodnight Nebraska , McNeal's 1998 debut novel, intended for adult audiences.
And, yeah, I'm still new to reading novels for adults as an adult, but Goodnight Nebraska is the closest thing I've ever read to the Great American Novel. Its scope is broad, spanning 20 years or more, and we keep tabs on at least that many characters. Though occasionally tedious, McNeal's pace feels unhurried yet brisk. The detours are welcome ones, and he confidently doubles back to the novel's taut center, the character of Randall Hunsacker.
When we meet him, Randall is a boy of 10 or so, in a nuclear family of mom, dad and older sister. Normalcy is shatter soon after, and as we get to the meat of the story, Randall is 17 and starting a new life in small-town Goodnight, Nebraska. He moves into an older widow's spare bedroom, works on cars and pumps gas in town, and plays on the high school football team.
McNeal adds to the mix head cheerleader Marcy, object of much male attention, and we get to know each of her parents. Randall's friend group, over time, is culled from the nare-do-well table at the lone bar in town, and we get to know each of those guys.
By the end of it all, which is only like 319 pages, we're able to appreciate the big picture created by all the nuance. This is a wide tree trunk with branches of all sizes, and there's nothing overwhelming in McNeal's execution. The humor, the understanding and the feel of authenticity all are amazing. I loved it, and now I want to read more books like it. I'll read more Tom McNeal soon, and eventually I'll read Goodnight Nebraska again.
Winners of the Best First 50 Pages Award almost always slide downhill, though, sometimes quite dramatically, and indeed Far Far Away ultimately wins the Just a Good Book, Nothing More Award.
But it made me thirsty for more Tom McNeal. I did a little research and turned up the most favorable reactions to Goodnight Nebraska , McNeal's 1998 debut novel, intended for adult audiences.
And, yeah, I'm still new to reading novels for adults as an adult, but Goodnight Nebraska is the closest thing I've ever read to the Great American Novel. Its scope is broad, spanning 20 years or more, and we keep tabs on at least that many characters. Though occasionally tedious, McNeal's pace feels unhurried yet brisk. The detours are welcome ones, and he confidently doubles back to the novel's taut center, the character of Randall Hunsacker.
When we meet him, Randall is a boy of 10 or so, in a nuclear family of mom, dad and older sister. Normalcy is shatter soon after, and as we get to the meat of the story, Randall is 17 and starting a new life in small-town Goodnight, Nebraska. He moves into an older widow's spare bedroom, works on cars and pumps gas in town, and plays on the high school football team.
McNeal adds to the mix head cheerleader Marcy, object of much male attention, and we get to know each of her parents. Randall's friend group, over time, is culled from the nare-do-well table at the lone bar in town, and we get to know each of those guys.
By the end of it all, which is only like 319 pages, we're able to appreciate the big picture created by all the nuance. This is a wide tree trunk with branches of all sizes, and there's nothing overwhelming in McNeal's execution. The humor, the understanding and the feel of authenticity all are amazing. I loved it, and now I want to read more books like it. I'll read more Tom McNeal soon, and eventually I'll read Goodnight Nebraska again.
March 19, 2011
I'm not sure exactly what I expected from Goodnight, Nebraska, McNeal's debut novel, but it did deliver. In some ways it is another redemptive tale, this time of forgiving yourself, but in other ways it is a bleak, fatalistic novel where, really, in the end everyone has lost something. I do have a few minor quibbles with Goodnight, Nebraska, beyond the inclusion of too many parenthetic comments in the text.
First, in some ways the characters are masterfully drawn, in other ways.... not so much. McNeal examines the weak spots in his character's and that is what we see. Everyone comes across as fatally flawed. I can't help but think, even with all of our flaws, people do have strengths and often those strengths rise way above their flaws. It isn't all bad all the time. I also felt McNeal would introduce characters and then dump them, like Randall's mother and sister, like the coach and his sister, etc.
Second, I really think that a strong case could be made for this novel being closer to a set of short stories featuring many of the same characters. There was a bit too much jumping around and not all of it was beneficial to the story. While the first part of the book set in Utah held my rapt attention, then Randall moved to Nebraska and the story started to shift. The shift wasn't necessarily bad, it just wasn't quite as good as the first part. These shifts continue until the end, in which Goodnight, Nebraska found redemption, as far as my rating is concerned. Rating: 4; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
First, in some ways the characters are masterfully drawn, in other ways.... not so much. McNeal examines the weak spots in his character's and that is what we see. Everyone comes across as fatally flawed. I can't help but think, even with all of our flaws, people do have strengths and often those strengths rise way above their flaws. It isn't all bad all the time. I also felt McNeal would introduce characters and then dump them, like Randall's mother and sister, like the coach and his sister, etc.
Second, I really think that a strong case could be made for this novel being closer to a set of short stories featuring many of the same characters. There was a bit too much jumping around and not all of it was beneficial to the story. While the first part of the book set in Utah held my rapt attention, then Randall moved to Nebraska and the story started to shift. The shift wasn't necessarily bad, it just wasn't quite as good as the first part. These shifts continue until the end, in which Goodnight, Nebraska found redemption, as far as my rating is concerned. Rating: 4; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
March 26, 2012
As a rural Nebraskan myself, I am familiar with the setting of this book, and this was reason enough for me to read it. I didn't identify with the characters - as a matter of fact I disliked most of them - but the author did elicit this emotion from me that perhaps he was trying for. The only character I could identify with in my experience in small-town Nebraska was the farmer/father of the girl; he was bright, honest and happy, similar to those I worked for as a teenager. Nearly all the characters were tragic, and I was angry with them - can't they think at all? These are not the people I know!
The book itself was well-written. and the main characters were well-developed, though slowly. McNeal kept me wanting to read more, to find out if anyone ever makes a good decision. Although I don't believe this is a good representation of the rural Nebraska I know, these people do exist, so there was a sense of realism. It was depressing in much the same way as The Last Picture Show, as I recall from when I read it decades ago.
I cannot recommend this book to my neighbors or students just because it is set in Nebraska, but I did enjoy reading it; just not for the reasons I thought I would.
The book itself was well-written. and the main characters were well-developed, though slowly. McNeal kept me wanting to read more, to find out if anyone ever makes a good decision. Although I don't believe this is a good representation of the rural Nebraska I know, these people do exist, so there was a sense of realism. It was depressing in much the same way as The Last Picture Show, as I recall from when I read it decades ago.
I cannot recommend this book to my neighbors or students just because it is set in Nebraska, but I did enjoy reading it; just not for the reasons I thought I would.
November 22, 2015
I started reading Goodnight, Nebraska because I thought it was a sports novel. It turned out to be anything but. It is a story about life, forgiveness, infidelity, and love. This novel made me think about happiness. According to a minor character Dixie, we are responsible for our own happiness. One of the most interesting characters in the novel is Lewis Lockhardt, a farmer, who married a woman 20 years younger than he. He was most concerned with his farm and often ignored his wife. They had a daughter who married Randall Hunsacker who is the protagonist of the novel. He has only eight fingers on his right hand because of an accident. He makes the most astounding change in the novel, one I'm not sure is believable. This novel keeps the action moving and spans about 20 years. This is a worthy read, but keep track of details early in the novel because you will need to remember them at the novel's end.
September 30, 2014
Wow! Wow! Wow! What a book! This richly woven tale of lives young, old and middle-aged in a small Nebraska town is really the story of humanity. It is a story of love and hate and the small line that sometimes separates the two. It is a story of family and community. It is the story of good and evil. The plot is engaging and never tiring. Most important, the characters are fully-developed, three-dimensional people--so believable you wonder if you'll ever meet them should you travel to Nebraska. The scenic descriptions are so vivid, you'll not only see but also taste and feel the land, sky and weather. This is real life, which is why the book is so compelling. Highly recommended.
July 22, 2011
A strange mix of things done very well--the Nebraska setting, about 75% of the characterization--and some things that drove me nuts--primarily the clockwork appearance of melodramatic scenes, many of them telegraphed to some extent. Some odd gaps in the treatment of male/female relationships. Feels a bit like Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha written in an (appropriately) subdued midwestern voice. I'll definitely read his next (To Be Sung Underwater).
February 9, 2016
Great coming of age story. It was not mybtypica genre, I picked it up from our local library on a whim. However, I found I couldn't put the book down and I found myself rooting for Randall at every turn in the story.
Read
November 23, 2008An almost-classic about quiet desperation.
February 2, 2014
Well-written, but I doubt this one sticks in my memory. I’ve read way too many small town with interesting characters books. This one doesn’t stand out above the pack.
August 4, 2011
By: Tom McNeal pages:336
Goodnight Nebraska is a book about the life of Randall Hunsacker. This story takes place in Salt Lake city Utah where randall and his parents and younger sister Louise lived until Randall turned 13. At that point in time, Randall's father wanted to move because he wanted a change from living in Salt lake city all his life. This new area they moved to was nice and it was an easy fit for this family. After a few days of settling in, Randall began to get annoyed with the noises that were always really loud right outside of his house. These noises were cars and their engines and horns. This really bothered Randall and he wished the cars would just stop making those annoying sounds! His father told him that it was part of the experience of living in the Canyon.Randall just lived his day to day life normally and so did the rest of his family. But one unexpected day, something mysterious happens that no one can explain. Louise was home with her mother and her friends, they suddenly hear the sound of their fathers radio and Louise rushes to where the sound is coming from. She goes downstairs to discover that her father was dead. In a panic she calls her mother downstairs and she confirms that her father is dead.The death of their father was a shock to everyone and it came days after a local man was making a settlement with their father for a large sum of money. The family now wanted to know why their father had passed away so mysteriously and without warning.
This book was very odd, i thought that in the beginning the book was going to be happy and cheerful because they were moving to a new place and having a new beginning. Then when the car noises annoyed Randall the story started to get weird. Then for a while it was normal again, then Loiuse makes the most shocking discovery of her life, when she found her father lying died on the floor in the attic. I would reccommend this book to teens, because they could relate to Randall's life and some of the problems he has to deal with. I think this book has a hidden message behind it that you learn through the lives and experiences of the family.
Goodnight Nebraska is a book about the life of Randall Hunsacker. This story takes place in Salt Lake city Utah where randall and his parents and younger sister Louise lived until Randall turned 13. At that point in time, Randall's father wanted to move because he wanted a change from living in Salt lake city all his life. This new area they moved to was nice and it was an easy fit for this family. After a few days of settling in, Randall began to get annoyed with the noises that were always really loud right outside of his house. These noises were cars and their engines and horns. This really bothered Randall and he wished the cars would just stop making those annoying sounds! His father told him that it was part of the experience of living in the Canyon.Randall just lived his day to day life normally and so did the rest of his family. But one unexpected day, something mysterious happens that no one can explain. Louise was home with her mother and her friends, they suddenly hear the sound of their fathers radio and Louise rushes to where the sound is coming from. She goes downstairs to discover that her father was dead. In a panic she calls her mother downstairs and she confirms that her father is dead.The death of their father was a shock to everyone and it came days after a local man was making a settlement with their father for a large sum of money. The family now wanted to know why their father had passed away so mysteriously and without warning.
This book was very odd, i thought that in the beginning the book was going to be happy and cheerful because they were moving to a new place and having a new beginning. Then when the car noises annoyed Randall the story started to get weird. Then for a while it was normal again, then Loiuse makes the most shocking discovery of her life, when she found her father lying died on the floor in the attic. I would reccommend this book to teens, because they could relate to Randall's life and some of the problems he has to deal with. I think this book has a hidden message behind it that you learn through the lives and experiences of the family.
November 18, 2011
Well, I feel bad that I didn't like this as much as other people did. Maybe if you are from a small town, it resonates more with you? I felt like some of the details didn't mean anything to the story but were there just for the sake of detail. I wanted this to have a big finish, that all the background I was reading up to that point would come together in some way as to mean something extraordinary. I am giving this 3 and 3/4 stars, I did really love Marcy's parents and their story, even though it ended so tragically. I was turned off by the kind of person Randy began to be and that he would be friends with the guys who hung out at The Eleventh Man bar. Based on his escaping such a dreadful life in Utah, I thought Randy was destined for a better life than that. I was just left with the feeling that living in a small town, you are doomed to live a dreadful life, which I don't think is true. I think the movie Tully, which is based on Tom McNeal's short story, does a much better job of helping you see the beauty of small town living. Having my brother in the movie helps, too (grin).
November 20, 2012
This book was about a typical teenager, Randall Hunsacker, who is very troublesome and just bad as a person. He was sent to a small Nebraskan Farm town where he had called "Sludgeville" and had hopes of being a better person. In this town, his first efforts was getting a job and helping the community. He then meets a girl in high school that enhances his efforts of becoming a better person. As the relationship becomes a downfall, he turns back into this troublesome teenager again. He then, had only yet to realize that he had to change it back again or else everything would be a miss fortune for him. This book was really connecting to our lives as a typical teenager. It shows us how troublesome we are sometimes and how immature we are. The fact that the protagonist moves to a new environment really tells us that we are influenced a lot in our lives and it our jobs, as teenagers, to realize what the right thing is and what the wrong thing is.
April 14, 2013
From Amazon review:
At the age of 17, Randall Hunsacker shoots his mother's boyfriend, steals a car and comes close to killing himself. His second chance lies in a small Nebraska farm town, where the landmarks include McKibben's Mobil Station, Frmka's Superette, and a sign that says The Wages of Sin is Hell. This is Goodnight, a place so ingrown and provincial that Randall calls it "Sludgeville"-until he starts thinking of it as home.
In this pitch-perfect novel, Tom McNeal explores the currents of hope, passion, and cruelty beneath the surface of the American heartland. In Randall, McNeal creates an outcast whose redemption lies in Goodnight, a strange, small, but ultimately embracing community where Randall will inspire fear and adulation, win the love of a beautiful girl and nearly throw it all away.
I read this a while ago and remember really enjoying it but didn't put it in goodreads at the time so now my memory is fuzzy.
At the age of 17, Randall Hunsacker shoots his mother's boyfriend, steals a car and comes close to killing himself. His second chance lies in a small Nebraska farm town, where the landmarks include McKibben's Mobil Station, Frmka's Superette, and a sign that says The Wages of Sin is Hell. This is Goodnight, a place so ingrown and provincial that Randall calls it "Sludgeville"-until he starts thinking of it as home.
In this pitch-perfect novel, Tom McNeal explores the currents of hope, passion, and cruelty beneath the surface of the American heartland. In Randall, McNeal creates an outcast whose redemption lies in Goodnight, a strange, small, but ultimately embracing community where Randall will inspire fear and adulation, win the love of a beautiful girl and nearly throw it all away.
I read this a while ago and remember really enjoying it but didn't put it in goodreads at the time so now my memory is fuzzy.
October 21, 2014
I wanted to like Goodnight, Nebraska. There are qualities about it that evoke Earnest Hemingway and William Faulkner. Yet,the moments I enjoyed this book were spaced too far apart. It uses all the negative stereotypes of small towns and the Midwest and magnifies them. For those who like The Road this may be a book for you. Personally, I found it disappointing. He does do a good job of creating a couple of sinister characters, Frank Mears and the young nephew.
February 18, 2011
You know that type of book where the author looks unflinchingly at things we're 'supposed' to find appalling like violence and questionable morality--but in kind of a roundabout way where he acts like he's not passing judgment because he's relying on the situation itself to tug at you and because he wants to be 'real' and 'authentic' and 'raw' and he deliberately downplays everything and refuses to take a stand on whether what's happening is all right or not because it's 'real'?
This is totally one of those books. Which is fine, and he's doing it well (kudos) but I'm really never interested in reading that kind of thing. I just couldn't get into this one, and didn't finish.
This is totally one of those books. Which is fine, and he's doing it well (kudos) but I'm really never interested in reading that kind of thing. I just couldn't get into this one, and didn't finish.
May 12, 2016
Randall Hunsacker can't seem to get a break in life. His dad died when the house fell on him. His mom doesn't seem to care about him and moves a stepfather into the house who starts sneaking around with his sister. Randall misinterprets and shoots him, ending up in jail and fracturing the family.
The court sends him to Goodnight, Nebraska, what he considers a hick town, where he works as a mechanic, attends high school and plays football and finds a life.
The novel is well written with good characters. My only criticism would be that there were a lot of loose ends that were never tied up. But, I guess that's the way life is.
The court sends him to Goodnight, Nebraska, what he considers a hick town, where he works as a mechanic, attends high school and plays football and finds a life.
The novel is well written with good characters. My only criticism would be that there were a lot of loose ends that were never tied up. But, I guess that's the way life is.
August 13, 2012
The protagonist, Randall Hunsacker, is a total rebel at the age of seventeen. First he shoots his mother's boyfriend, then he steals a car and later he almost killed himself. This brings him into a small Nebraska farm town and hopes to start his life over there. Things got better for him there. He got a job, a spot on the high school football team and dates one of the cheerleaders. As time progress, everything started going bad for him again. This novel was an interesting read. At times, I was able to feel the emotions the protagonist was feeling. The characters were well developed my McNeal and I would recommend this novel to teenagers.
November 29, 2012
This setting for this book is the fictional town Goodnight, Nebraska. Having grown up in rural Nebraska I was immediately drawn to this story. McNeal makes sure he includes enough of the four A's so prevalent in towns like Goodnight (alcohol, adultery, abuse, and assholes) to make the novel believable. At times, however, he tries too hard to sound authentic. Sure, some of his colloquialisms are exactly what you would hear in a small town tavern, "old enough to bleed..." his pheasant hunting scene, however, is not quite right-kind of like the guy with brand new boots at a branding. It was a quick read, and though it was a little "gossipy" I have to admit I enjoyed it.
June 17, 2019
This book is somewhat episodic and not as good as McNeal’s later novel To Be Sung Underwater (which I recommend wholeheartedly to everyone), but I still enjoyed my time with it very much. The story starts in the early 90’s when Randall Hunsacker is a high school student, and his life after he arrives in a small town in rural Nebraska reminds me of my own high school days. I think part of the reason I read books like this is to bring back all the things, both good and bad, that I left behind me in North Dakota.
November 8, 2014
I feel like this book might have been marketed wrong? Blurbs on back seem to indicate it's a down home story about a troubled kid making do in a small Nebraska town, when really I feel like this novel is nuanced and experimental in ways that (thankfully) undermine that description. McNeal seems to plant the seeds of suggestion throughout the book so that the entire plot turns on an almost subconscious level. So good.
March 19, 2016
I'm a sucker for well-written characters, and this book hits the jackpot. I was introduced to this book in our library's "Blind Date with a Book" program. I picked a paper-wrapped book off the shelf with no idea if I would find it interesting or not. But I did. A lot happens and nothing happens. People make good choices and bad choices. Kind of like life.
April 15, 2015
First book read by Tom McNeal and I would try another. A decent roaming book of snapshots as life revolves in a small Nebraska town and things change but don't change. Not a memorable book, but entertaining.
February 10, 2014
I was drawn into the characters of this book and their struggles - particularly the women who felt like they settled for less than they deserved/wanted.
November 28, 2014
Love how he writes and especially how he develops his characters. Not as good as, To Be Sung Underwater, but still really enjoyed.
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