Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Flash Jackson: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Haley Rombauer aka Flash Jackson is a new kind of character in American literature. Both she and her story are about as far from ordinary as can be, but there is a surprisingly familiar archetypal resonance between the thinking reader and this story in which the unusual seems awfully familiar. Kowalski has managed somehow to imbue Haley with an authentic voice, guided by old wisdom and new experiences, and -- somehow -- with an ear for the thoughts in a young woman's head, words that are rarely spoken anywhere. If you go into this book expecting a light coming-of-age story, you may call yourself disappointed when you are overwhelmed by the Coming of Ages denouement. I hope that early confused expectations among Kowalski's readers and critics do not doom this treasure of a novel to obscurity, as this is a voice in the wilderness that deserves to, almost has to, be heard -- and really should be talked about, too. Highly recommended, especially to be read together by book clubs or by mothers and daughters.

After reading Eddy's bastard and it sequel I thought that there couldn't be any better. But I was pleasantly surprised at the magic and wonder of his third book. The best he has written so far.

Unlike most stories using "Book 1" and "Book 2" as an arbitrary way of dividing the story into sections, in The Adventures of Flash Jackson, Book 2 seems like almost a completely different girl and story than before.

Haley Bombauer is a feisty and lovable heroine, who has always been a tomboy and plans on staying one for life. She's sick of her mother and gossipy small town neighbours trying to get her to be more ladylike. I found her views on everything amusing and fresh.

When Haley falls off the roof of her barn and breaks her leg, she's looking at a long, boring summer. I thought this book would be about her coming to terms with her injury, her father's death, her friend Frankie's schizophrenia. It's not. This is not just a coming of age story. It morphs into something reminiscent of "Nell", where she moves into the woods with her reclusive grandmother and shuts herself off from society for almost a year. As much as some readers will probably be weirded out by the drastic changes in plot and character, I was fascinated by the stories about herbal lore and how her grandmother is actually an age old spirit inhabiting the magical woods (I will say it once again: This is not your average coming of age story! It looks like general fiction, but it becomes fantasy almost).

If you told me how it ended when I first started the book, I would have been shocked beyond belief, but by the time I got there, I was used to the changes and found it really interesting. This book is certainly different, but this reader enjoyed it immensely.

I have to admit that I did not complete this novel. The overly chatty, talk to the reader style made it apparent to me that I was not the target audience (an adult who reads obscure literature & speculative fiction) even though this was in the adult section. The excessive swearing and enthusiasim felt like sloppy and lazy writing to me. However, teenagers who normally read Charles de Lint, Holly Black and Emma Bull looking for light, escapist fiction may want to check this book out, as it deals with identity, ethnicity and spiritual issues with a light hearted touch.

I personally recommend anything by Charles de Lint or Marion Zimmer Bradley over this, if you are a more selective reader.

This book veered into a dramatic turn and took me by surprise, very different! If you feel it starts slow, please give it a chance. It was a moving coming of age story with action, romance, self-realization and best of all, magic.

I actually got to meet this author when he did a book show at my local book store. His first book Eddies Bastard ranks as one of the best novels I have ever read. This book didn't dissapoint. The book is about a girl Haney Bombauer which through me off because Eddies Bastard is about a boy growing up and after my girlfriend just broke up with me I really didn't want to hear about a girl's life. I went ahead and read it and this book is awesome. I have given it to 3 people and they all loved it. You will fall in love with Haneys personality and the charachters that pop up in the book will make you laugh.

I love adventure stories like this one. My only thing is it got a bit odd in the woods with grandma just disappearing but it may be she was a ghost all along and that is why she can just vanish. It also ends with a possible sequel. So I hope to see a new book out soon to see what happens next.

This is one of my absolute favorite books. I love the spiritual imagery and symbolism, I love how he has effortlessly threaded together the spiritual and the mundane. It made me laugh aloud... I love the character of the grandmother. She represents a beautiful archetype that our society has repressed for a long time. It is just a beautiful work. I can see how it may not be for everyone, but I will long hold it as one of my favorites.

Who is Flash Jackson? Flash is the alter ego of 16 year old Haley Bombauer, a tomboy in search of her authentic self. The self she learns was there all along. With Flash Jackson around she doesn't have to face her fears or come to terms with her losses. The Adventures of Flash Jackson is written from the perspective of a twenty something Haley. Her nickname, Flash Jackson, stemmed from a game she played with her now deceased father in which they pretended to be stuntmen.

Kowalski has written Haley's voice as educated, conversational, witty and without shame. I found myself reading her voice with a light southern twang even though the story takes place just outside the fictional town of Mannville, New York. Haley tells the reader that this is "a record of my seventeenth year," and she warns "I'm writing this for myself..." This kind of tongue in cheek candor is speckled throughout. The fact that her mouth sometimes moves faster than her thoughts is amusing despite the trouble she gets into or the hurt feelings she creates. She struggles to make the things and people around her bend to her will but once she becomes incapacitated she learns she really doesn't have the control she thinks she does.

During one of Haley's tomboy adventures she breaks her leg in three places causing her to be bed-ridden. Through her forced immobilization she begins to learn new things about the people in her life that ultimately leads to the realization of her own character and the development of the woman she is to become.

Haley is accompanied through her year of reminiscing by her slightly neurotic, lonely mother; her pot-growing, Mennonite grandmother; her schizophrenic friend Frank; her guidance counselor, neighbor Ms. Powell and a host of wildlife, domesticated and otherwise.

I was skeptical from the beginning that Kowalski could pull off a feminine character (my bias) but quickly forgot about the writer's gender as I became absorbed in Haley's life and surroundings. Especially when she went off to live with her grandmother in the forest, secluded from people and without what we know as the bare necessities: electricity, running water, and indoor toilet. While with her grandmother Haley learns many things about the natural arts and an appreciation for silence.

In the beginning Haley tries to fight the laws of nature but succumbs due to wasted effort and little success. A good example would be bathing. She fought to keep some form of cleanliness but her daily toils prevented her so she gave in and developed an awareness of her new odor.

I do not have many complaints about this book save one. The grandmother's dialogue is difficult and slowed down reading unnecessarily. "Den varom willst Du k no from ich?" I would have preferred a description of her dialect rather than trying to decipher her speech patterns.

Witchcraft has saturated the film and TV industry over the last few years. It seems have become a fad in many instances and although it appears in this story it doesn't overwhelm or take anything away from the characters. The magic in Flash Jackson is more than a belief system. It's the everyday magic right in front of our eyes.

The Adventures of Flash Jackson is a complete book but I want to know what adventures Haley Bombauer survived after her 17th year. I hope Kowalski will consider serializing Haley. I'm sure you will too.

Review Originally Posted at http://www.linearreflections.com

I had thought this was going to be a funny book about a girl growing up, but it is actually a weird story of what a man thinks it would be like to be a girl growing up. The plot is completely unbelieveable, even by magical standards. The use of profanity, which is supposed to show how Haley is a tomboy, is outdated and badly timed. The sex scene could have only been written by a man, because a 17 year old girl would have never found that first experience anything but miserable. I was really sorry the book wasn't better as it started out with promise.