Dignity [Kindle Edition]

Ken Layne (Author)

Book Description

A packet of hand-scrawled letters found in a stranger's backpack tells of self-sufficient communities growing from the ruins of California's housing collapse and the global recession. In unfinished Mojave Desert housing tracts and foreclosure ghost towns on the raw edges of the chaotic cities of the West, people have gathered to grow their own food, school their own children and learn how to live without the poisons of gossip, greed, television, mobile phones and the Internet. Encouraged by an enigmatic wanderer known only as "B," the communities thrive as more families and workers are discarded by an indifferent system. But this quiet revolution and its simple rituals cannot stay unnoticed for long, because the teachings of "B" threaten an entire structure of power and wealth dependent upon people toiling their lives away to buy things they don't need.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dignity is an epistolary novel, as if it were Paul writing the Galatians. Layne takes on our separation from the land via our vampiric computer screens. A book that starts out cynical and frightening ends with hope." -FourStory

"In Ken Layne's new novel Dignity, abandoned housing developments and forlorn desert strip malls become a creche for a new society ... as refugees from the failing American economic system try to remake their lives. Highly recommended." -KCET Los Angeles

"The release of Layne's new novel, Dignity, seems to codify his ideas--the mystical power of the deserts of the American West and a populist fatalism--perfectly." -The Rumpus

About the Author

Ken Layne is the author of the novel "Dot-Con" and the upcoming "The Left Coast," his account of walking the California coastline from the Mexican border to San Francisco during the Great Recession. He lives in the Mojave Desert.

Product Details

• File Size: 276 KB
• Print Length: 165 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0983559821
• Publisher: Elora Peak Press; 1 edition (May 7, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004ZZTDXQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #433,832 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Luddites redux June 11, 2011

By Zwoof

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Although Dignity is easily read in an afternoon, I suspect it will remain a part of my consciousness much in the same way The Whole Earth Catalog has since 1968. One might say these fictional characters are kinder, gentler Luddites; and to a certain extent this is true, but it should be understood that the Luddites of 19th century England did not revolt against progress in general, but against the economic and social harm of automated looms that resulted in the loss of jobs for many skilled textile workers.

Rather than burn the mills and factories as did the followers of Ned Lud, the mysterious "B." and his disciples withdraw from the rat race, move off the grid, and forsake the Internet (including Wonkette) as modern society collapses around them following the housing crash. This movement to a communal, agrarian lifestyle poses the same threat to the powers that be however, and the hell hounds of capitalism are set on the peaceful communities.

The storytelling mechanism, a series of letters written over several years and delivered to the clandestine communities by courier to avoid detection, sometimes lacks continuity, but allows the reader to avoid too much character development, emphasizing that the movement is the main character.

Highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So, I Kinda Felt Guilty Reading It On A Screen June 9, 2011

By KRM

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Over the years, Ken Layne's become one of my favorite authors (I would say bloggers, but I'm guessing I would be asked to leave the community). His sarcasm and acerbic wit have provided any number of laugh-out-loud moments. I still remember my favorite phrase that he ever wrote, which was, "...because it sort of sounds like these are terrible times for the Consumer -- who, by executive order, officially replaced the U.S. Citizen back in 1983."

While I love his current events-related writing, this work is nothing like any of that. Yet, still, it's excellent. Sure, you can detect commonalities between his half-decade of posting and Dignity. For example, even though he manages not to use the phrase "Anusburger" there's an obvious undercurrent of disdain for factory farming and such practices. But even those Layne-esque (you heard it here first) sentiments are just part of a larger narrative that is positive and interesting and hopeful - not to mention compelling. The novel's format itself works well for the effect he's trying to achieve and it ends up being quite a page turner. I grabbed it on a Kindle App this morning (my first ever eBook) and didn't put it down until just now. I don't want to go into detail about the world he creates, but it's fair to say that there's a lot more that could be written on the topic. It's not an entirely original concept, but his execution manages to avoid the usual post-apocalyptic cliches and focus on a more uplifting tone. Only at one point does a midget riding a giant march into the novel and take control of a community, for example.

I would be remiss if I didn't leave at least one sarcastic comment, so I'll end by saying that the best prank ever would be to camouflage copies of this novel in covers for The Turner Diaries and film the resulting confusion.

Thanks, Ken. Looking forward to more!

p.s. - We listen to Dignity all the time at a bar here in Bangkok. Excellent tune and a good choice for your title.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I felt bad about reading this book on my iPhone, May 22, 2011

By John

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

but I did enjoy this story very much. I definitely recommend it to anyone who has an hour of time to read something on their electronic device.

More About the Author

"Layne's epistolary novel is not comparable to its classic predecessors like 'Frankenstein' or 'Dracula' but far more similar to the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Like Paul the Apostle's writings to the early churches after his conversion, the author of these letters, the mysterious 'N,' spreads similar messages. The difference, of course, is in the theology, which is more akin to the writings and views of John Muir and Edward Abbey." - The Rumpus

"In style, 'Dignity' is an epistolary novel, as if it were Paul writing the Galatians. In theme, Layne takes on our separation from the land via our vampiric computer screens, and commands us back to nature. In focus are many of Layne's longtime obsessions: the housing market, the vulgarities of both rich and poor, the built environment .... A book that starts out cynical and frightening ends with hope." - FourStory.org

Ken Layne is known for his "acerbic wit and devastating missives on the state of contemporary America," written for such Internet publications as Tabloid.net, SPLOID and Wonkette. His new novel "Dignity" is a gripping denunciation of online media and the "void of the screen."

His first novel, the darkly comic thriller "Dot Con," focused on the greed of 1990s' Silicon Valley.