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Back Roads Paperback – June 1, 2004

by Tawni O'Dell (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 1,060 ratings
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NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

Funny and heartbreaking, this New York Times bestselling debut perfectly captures the maddening confusion of adolescence and the prickly nature of family with irony and unerring honesty.

Harley Altmyer should be in college having the time of his life. He should be free from the backwards Pennsylvania coal town he calls home, with its lack of jobs and no sense of humor. Instead, he’s constantly reminded of just how messed up everything is...

Harley’s mother is in prison for killing his father, so he’s in charge of bringing up his younger sisters and working two jobs to pay the bills—and that doesn’t leave a lot of time for distractions. But lately, he’s getting more and more sidetracked by lusting after Callie Mercer, his middle-aged neighbor. As he struggles to keep it together, things begin to spin out of control. Soon Harley finds that as shattered as his family is, there are still more crushing surprises in store.

“In Harley, O’Dell has created a hero who’s heartbreakingly believable; like Holden Caulfield, he uses caustic humor to hide his pain. Readers will care very much about him and his future, if indeed he has one.”—St. Petersburg Times
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    June 1, 2004
  4. Dimensions
    5.31 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0451212452
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0451212450
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Back Roads
An Oprah’s Book Club Pick
A Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club

“An intense story of family, frailty and dysfunction, set in the coal-mining towns of western Pennsylvania...captivatingly told.”—Chicago Tribune

“Tense...involving...deftly captures the voice of a teenage boy who's in trouble.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A page-turner...gritty, funny, sexy.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“Poignant...achingly beautiful prose...remarkable.”—San Diego Union

“Nearly impossible to put down.”—The Denver Post
 
“Outrageously unconventional...a very funny book.”—The Baltimore Sun
 
“Do not miss this one.”—Mademoiselle

About the Author

Tawni O’Dell is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including Back Roads, which was an Oprah’s Book Club pick, a Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection, and is now a major motion picture. She is also a contributor to several anthologies, including Becoming Myself: Reflections on Growing Up Female. Her works have been published in more than forty countries.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group; Reprint edition (June 1, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0451212452
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0451212450
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 1,060 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Tawni O'Dell

    Tawni O'Dell

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Tawni O’Dell is the New York Times bestselling author of five novels including Back Roads, which was an Oprah’s Book Club pick and a Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection. Back Roads is currently in development to be made into a film by Michael Ohoven, the producer of the Academy-Award-winning, Capote. She is also a contributor to several anthologies including Becoming Myself: Reflections on Growing Up Female. Her works have been published in over 40 countries.

    Tawni was born and raised in the coal-mining region of western Pennsylvania, the territory she writes about with such striking authenticity. She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and spent many years living in the Chicago area before moving back to Pennsylvania with her two children.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Tawni O'Dell

    Tawni O'Dell

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
1,060 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

D. F. Norris
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking, disturbing and downright awesome
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2001
Verified Purchase
After reading the reviews, it would appear that this book evoked strong feelings, both positive and negative, from its readers. From that standpoint alone it is a success. Even those who hated it were profoundly affected. There was little indifference. I am in the category of those who loved it. It didn't start out that way. Oh, there was no doubt that O'Dell's writing was magnificent, almost poetic. Nor was I bothered by the disturbing subjects of incest, murder, statutory rape. One reviewer asked why we need to read about these things. Because they exist, and burying our heads in the sand is not an option. I just couldn't make a connection with the book, even though I acnkowledged the gorgeous writing, and found the characters well developed and interesting. But something happened halfway through the book. I can't really figure out what it was, but suddenly I became deeply and emotionally drawn to the story and its characters. I couldn't put the book down. Harley, the protagonist of the story, evoked such strong maternal feelings (I am the mother of a 17 year old and a 20 year old, both girls) because he was a young man in pain, with no one to turn to, and with such overwhelming responsibilities to his sisters. He seeks love with the mother of his younger sister's best friend. His father is dead and his mother is in prison for his murder. And he is only 19. For the rest of the book, I found myself alternately laughing and weeping. Some reviewers have complained that there is no humor in the book. It is subtle, and of course muted by the disturbing subject matter of the book, but it is there. I literally went from feeling the book was OK but not extraordinary, to realizing that it was one of, if not the, best book to come down the pike in a long time. Harley and his sisters, Jody, Misty, and Amber, will stay with me for a long time. Don't read this if you are uncomfortable with controversial subject matters. But if you are not, you will be depriving yourself of a most remarkable experience if you don't read it. I am far from an Oprah fan, and her endorsement had nothing to do with my decision to read this. So whether or not you like or don't like Oprah, leave her out of the equasion. This book stands on its own merits as a significant literary event. I, like some other readers, await with great anticipation, more books from this incredibly talented author.
17 people found this helpful
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Lynne M. Spreen
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2012
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One of the most amazing aspects of O'Dell's writing is that she leads you to draw one conclusion about a character, and then slowly feeds you evidence that you've misjudged. I think that's what I enjoyed most about this story, the slow reveal leading to the ultimate conclusion. And then I'm left hating the people I respected, and respecting the people I hated. Awesome writing!

I can't stop thinking about the story, or the author. She actually grew up in Indiana PA, where this novel is based. As a writer who grew up in a gritty place, I've wondered how to write about the amazing stories I accumulated there. O'Dell has done it, and she's writing another one. I respect her for that.

I gave Back Roads 4 stars because of VERY strong 3-dimensional characters, dramatic tension and suspense, a hero I could root for - although anti-hero might be the better term - and a satisfying conclusion. I respected the way the author was able to show Harley, the main character, falling apart under the strain. His internal dialogue revealed such incredibly violent tendencies (which he never acted out - another major victory for this pathetically heroic young man), and those tendencies were backstory! He didn't get that way from the inciting incident. He and his sisters grew up in this situation, and they all reacted to it in different ways.

I always like to hunt for themes in a story I enjoy, and in this one I saw the theme of responsibility accepted and shirked. Too much or too little taken on, and the results of that decision. Another theme was the question of Stockholm Syndrome - did Harley have it or not? Did his mom? Who was the tormentor, and who the tormented, in Callie's marriage?

All in all, an amazing book. I highly recommend it.
10 people found this helpful
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Dez Noir
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly recommend!
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2016
Verified Purchase
The author has an excellent writing style, descript without being pretentiously verbose. Reading some of the other reviews and seeing other interpretations of this story made me realize how some things may have been overlooked. (Like how I overlooked the fact that this was an Oprah book club recommendation, otherwise chances of me reading it would have been nil)

The protagonist, protected and festering in his father’s camouflaged jacket, does a great job of expressing a strong sense of entitlement. The kind most of us are too ashamed to admit we harbor. He is quite vocal about his desire to run from his situation but never does. Not due to guilt or a sense of duty but for the love he has for his siblings. A love that ultimately leads him to do something he knows is immoral, but does it regardless hoping it would eventually help his sister overcome her misguided desires.

Some may say he is a product of an abusive and dysfunctional family, however his emotional and mental instability are not a symptom of that. Harley is very much insane, but this is easily acceptable to the reader because he is the narrator and lets you into his thought process.

The characters were well developed, with the exception of Callie. I never understood why she did what she did. Which is fine, as she was just a means for the main character to get his “release”. The sisters were intriguing. Innocent yet ruined at the same time. Even Church, with his objections to stocking bananas in the cereal isle (he wasn’t kidding. It wasn’t right). The author had a nice way of adding thought provoking ideals in such a simple way. And I have to admit to a guilty fascination with the depraved day dreams Harley created. Not necessarily just the blood and gore ones, but his association with sexuality and the Virgin Mary.

I didn’t think the epilogue was needed. I would have been happy with Harley trotting off to prison worried about Elvis and still thinking of ways to cover up that hole from the satellite dish. But I am glad the author stuck by her not-so-happily-ever-after ending. We knew Harley was destined to fail from the intro, and the story did not disappoint.
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Top reviews from other countries

andrew alan walton
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2019
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another to add to the list
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FSJ Book Fan
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss this one, either, Tawni O'Dell's first book.
Reviewed in Canada on September 12, 2017
Verified Purchase
This is Tawni O'Dell's first book, I think. The first one I ever read, anyway. This is "hit you in the face with a two-by-four" intense, with some dark, important themes.
And, somehow, she seems to be able to write in the voice of a teenage boy and sound authentic. (Although I wouldn't have any basis of comparison.)
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arihant dudhodia
4.0 out of 5 stars High quality thriller !
Reviewed in India on October 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
Took this up primarily as this was earlier being adapted by Adrian Lyne as a movie .Now,the movie is coming out with a different crew but the story remains quite original and gripping.One of the better Greek tragedy themed books out there.
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Scholastica
4.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful and sensitive novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book has been on my wish list for a while. I'd chosen it because I like writers who give insight into communities and lives that are vastly different from my own experience. It's my way of 'travelling the world'.

Tawni O'Dell's stamping ground is rural Pennsylvania and it's grim - a backwater with a legacy of coal mining, poverty, hunting and domestic violence. The central character is Hartley, 18 years old, who is desperately trying to keep his family together after the worst of events: his mother shot his father in the family home. With his mother now in prison, Hartley has become both breadwinner and parent to his three sisters. The story focusses on his worries, his cares and the way that he vacillates between extreme maturity and extreme immaturity: it's a confusing and harsh world for a boy who is barely a man, a boy who has next to no adult support.

I'm very glad that I finally got around to reading this book. Through Harley, O'Dell offers an exploration of the way in which environment and expectations have as much ability to destroy a person as to make a person. A very thoughtful and sensitive piece of writing.
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Amanda Rawlings
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible
Reviewed in Canada on November 10, 2016
Verified Purchase
This book makes you uncomfortable. You can't put it down. The lives are tragic but somehow relatable, not in a 'I know how that feels way' but in a human way. It's sexy and provokes anger and lust and disgust. Very well written and gripping.
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