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Bongwater Kindle Edition
Set against the backdrop of the grunge era, and ranging from the Pacific Northwest to a pre-gentrified East Village and Brooklyn, Bongwater is a novel of the much-misunderstood nineties generation.
Following aspiring filmmaker David, his ex-girlfriend Courtney, a stripper named Mary, and other characters, author Michael Hornburg creates, in precise, startlingly original prose, a neo-Beat classic that was the basis for the film starring Luke Wilson and Alicia Witt.
“Ridiculously well-written.” —NME
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Young, rebellious, and vulnerable, Michael Hornburg's unforgettable characters trace the subtle outlines of a misunderstood generation. Moving from Portland to New York City and back again, and written in precise, startlingly original prose, Bongwater is in the tradition of the Beat classics The Subterraneans and The Dharma Bums.
From the Back Cover
About the Author
"Michael Hornburg's Bongwater is a swift, exhilarating read, and beneath all its interesting surface decadence is a surprisingly sweet-natured love story." -Madison Smartt Bell
"An empathetic tour of lives on the edge. Michael Hornburg's evident affection for the strung-out makes Bongwater an unlikely but successful fusion of cynicism and good-heartedness. An esthetic appreciation, unexpectedly charming."-Ted Conover
"Hornburg rewinds back through the wreckage of the 90s grungeoisie to spin this smart, wistful tale of small town indie redemption."-ID Magazine (UK)
"No one writing today walks the line between glamour and pathos better than Michael Homburg. Being young and lost in America has never looked so good, or so terrifying. Bongwater is at once gorgeous, witty and sad." -Karen Karbo
"Ridiculously well written, a roller coaster ride through slacker sleaze and druggy romance, which is never less than riveting. Touching poetic stuff." -New Musical Express (UK)
"Michael Hornburg's first novel is more exciting and heartfelt than the preachy and clumsy work of some youthful contemporaries. Fast, funny, bold, and very well-written."-Portland Tonic
"This is no grunge bodice-ripper, it sticks close to the theory that life is never simple and people always suck. Bongwater is written from first-hand experience, simple prose touched with just enough writerly embroidery to seize the imagination. The music is peripheral, the real sound is a silent scream." -SeattIe Weekly
"Ministers of Disco in search of Ambassadors of Love, the 'heavy drapery' of Portland, Oregon, the mannerisms and malaise of the flippantly hip-in Bongwater, Michael Hornburg nails it with wit, verve, and a comic timing as tight as a Bootsy Collins bass line." -Michael Parker
"A fast, trippy bounce. Looking for shortcuts to American nirvana, Michael Hornburg's friendly Oregonians find everything but." -Michael Drinkard
"Michael Hornburg writes with a straightforward style that is at once graceful and hard-edged. No innocence here; Bongwater is street life writ large by someone who obviously knows his stuff." -Kim Wozencraft
Product details
- ASIN : B005012GSS
- Publisher : Grove Press (December 1, 2007)
- Publication date : December 1, 2007
- Language : English
- File size : 4.4 MB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 187 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,560,033 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,264 in Friendship Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #5,537 in Friendship Fiction (Books)
- #12,713 in Contemporary Literary Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2016This is the first best and most intriguing book on Courtney Love and her early psychopathic exploits. It is written as a book of fiction, but I assure you it is truly non-fiction. I should know.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2016I can easily see this being translated into an entertaining play. I would definitely love to see that. I'm kind of glad I watched the movie before the book.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2018Bought as a gift.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2002Not only is this book fun, it's very well written. It flows. I almost read it in one night. The key is, it's very realistic about young people's lives and relationships. The sex, the longing for intimacy, the drugs, the ambling through early adulthood.
Read it, you won't be disappointed.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2006This book is absolutely horrible. Amazon recomended it to me so I bought it and wasted my money dont buy it it sucks.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2012the entire book seemed like it should have only been one chapter of a longer book. i saw no point or any sort of conclusion to the story.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2005I thought this book was horrifically bad and pointless when I first read it. Not particularly drug-centric. Not particularly angsty. Not particularly anything.
Almost a year later, while bored senseless and completely apathetic, I picked it up again simply so I would have something to do. It came as a shock to me how beautifully written and profound it is. Perhaps the feelings expressed aren't quite as apparent as they are in most books of this ilk, they are, however, very much an intrinsic part of the story.
Its romantic in a way that is honest and realistic. Not in the high-flown over-emoted style that most people write in. The ending, for example, is so tender and sweet that it justifies the rest of the novel.
It may be titled bongwater but pot had little to do with it. The characters (esp. courtney and david) are so well thought out that I, at least, could easily relate to them.
Its a great book, but certainly not for everyone. If you're looking for cheap thrills and stoned laughs I suggest you look elsewhere.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 1998I am uncomfortable giving any book a number rating, but this form requires it. Is Bongwater a Great Book? No, but it is a good read and is certainly better than any of the novels I have written (zero). I lived in Portland in the 80's and am very familiar with the scene described in the book. I felt like I knew a lot of the characters and the characterizations were not as gonzo as you might want to believe. I actually purchased this book because I knew the author when he was living in Portland in '86 and was afraid the Lisa character might be me. Having read it, I am pretty sure it's not, but it's possible Michael remembers me less fondly than I remember him.