Heaping Stones [Paperback]

Rob Woodard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2005

Wandering half drunk through his shattered life in his native Long Beach, California, an all-but-failed writer searches for no less than redemption through his relationships with three women and ultimately his on-going battle with himself. Pushed to the edge of his sanity by both the sorrow and beauty of his life, he finally rips his world up by the roots and examines the truth behind his pain. Alternately tender and angry, this book takes off where John Fante and Charles Bukowski left off and set the new standard for the L.A. Novel.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Heaping Stones is an unrelenting, blunt and sexual novel. --Ottawa Xpress

A dizzying onslaught of drunken philosophizing, frenzied sex, and literary discussion ... a unique and brilliantly exciting book. --Scarecrow

... a breath of fresh air amongst the vast lily fields of pretenders and wannabes. --Dan Fante

From the Publisher

Heaping Stones takes off where Charles Bukowski and John Fante left off and sets the new standard for the L.A. novel.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Burning Shore Press (December 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976885905
• ISBN-13: 978-0976885900
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,903,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Emotional Ride, March 3, 2006

By 

R. Roe (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heaping Stones (Paperback)

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this debut novel by Rob Woodard except that it was supposed to be in the Charles Bukowski camp of putting the raw facts of life right on the page. It was that, but much more. The book's simple opening line ("It was a stupid boring night.") perfectly sets the tone for this story of a thirty something writer's journey from a state of depression and anger to a new attitude of hope and vision.

Several themes run through this book. Most obviously, at first, it's a story of a man obsessed with sex, love, and women, struggling to overcome the loss of an ex-girlfriend. But the reason this novel really works is that Woodard experly weaves in the concurrent tale of an artist's fight to find his own voice, as well as a new direction in, and attitude towards, life.

The opening chapters of Heaping Stones are written in a very simple prose (see the opening line above), and I must admit that I wasn't sure whether I liked it at first. But as I read on I found the prose to become more interesting and complex, morphing at times into long lines of stream of conscious thought. More importantly, Woodard subtly brings the reader with him on his journey from basic anger and depression to compex emotional heights and depths. I found that when I least expected it I suddenly realized that I was hooked on the book and couldn't put it down. This I think is Woodard's greatest strength. He has a way of really digging into human emotion and developing it on more and more levels as his story goes on.

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to his next novel.

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointment, October 4, 2011

By 

Doug - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Heaping Stones (Paperback)

This book was quite a disappointment. Given that Woodard's stablemates are Dan Fante and Tony O'Neill, both of whom I quite like, this book fell a little flat. For one, there's very little dialogue. Not until 40 some pages in do we find two people talking. There's some internal discussion, quite a lot in fact, but that just ain't the same. In the end, the book reads a bit too much like a journal, and a whining one at that. There's inconsistency of style as well, with one chapter being simply one long sentence, possibly a homage to Kerouac, but overdone, disjointed. Still, there's the cry from the pit at the bottom of this and I'm open to read another by Woodard.

4.0 out of 5 stars certain passages easily surpass both Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac at their best..., December 1, 2008

By 

Kirk Alex - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heaping Stones (Paperback)

Slams into your brain like a freight train moving at eighty miles per. You have a choice: either get the hell
out of the way, or jump on board. I say do the latter--and hang on for a reading experience you'll soon not forget.

Easy to relate to--because that's exactly what it's about: trying to exist in this chaotic, unpredictable, screwed-up, mixed-up, fu*ked-out and fu*ked-up and, at times, pretty damn amazing world we are all a part of.

A bang-up job. Brutally honest. Look forward to more great things from this fresh, new voice.