Interstate: A Novel [Paperback]

Stephen Dixon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1997

National Book Award Finalist, 1996

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dixon's 1991 novel, Frog, earned him NBA and PEN/Faulkner nominations. His latest, Interstate, is equally distinctive and imaginative in portraying human peculiarities and the search for order in the seemingly irrational and meaningless contemporary American universe. The novel brilliantly explores the alterations of memory, trauma and guilt in parents whose children have been casualties of violence. Like all of Dixon's work, it is a demanding read; the edgy, insistent, run-on dialogue, in particular, requires focused attention. The story is told eight times. While the inciting incident remains the same, with each retelling, new dimensions are added to or subtracted from the plot and characters. The question Dixon raises is what really haunts us: What would you do if the unthinkable happened? The critical event is this: a father is driving home on the highway with his little girls in the back seat; some men in a minivan drive up alongside and shoot through the window, killing one of the girls. In offering different scenarios from this point on, Dixon challenges the reader to leap imaginatively into the experience. One father risks his marriage, his relationship with his remaining child and his freedom to find the killer. Another makes his dead child's memory into a religion, praying the hospital will tell him "she's saved," although he knows she's dead. With each variation Dixon implicitly asks: How can you be sure the incident happened the way you remember, or the way you've been told? Reading Interstate is like being a passenger in a car speeding along the highway of the mind, swerving in and out of what is real and imagined, on the edge of losing control yet not losing it, because the driver knows what he's doing. With characteristic directness, Dixon's crisis-mode narrative runs together in one seemingly jumbled, breathless rush, with evocative thoughts causing memories to surface not just in the minds of the narrators but in the reader's mind as well. Jarringly perceptive and darkly compelling, this novel will confirm Dixon as a writer of stature. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Now here's a novel idea: a work in which each of eight chapters consists entirely of a single long paragraph. But there's a method to Dixon's seeming stylistic madness, and this follow-up to his acclaimed Frog (a finalist for both the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner award; reviewed in LJ 1/92) is in fact a case of form following function. The eight narratives are alternative replays of a terrible, defining moment that transpires in the book's opening pages: an act of random violence in which a man and his two daughters are shot at by punks in a passing van, and one of the girls is killed. Dixon's dense, plain-spoken prose perfectly mirrors the chaotic workings of a mind riddled with rage and guilt, where every thought and utterance is second-guessed. A timely, disturbing work that belongs in every fiction collection.
-?David Sowd, formerly with Stark Cty. District Lib. Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (February 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805050280
• ISBN-13: 978-0805050288
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,629,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Dixon is the author of twenty-seven works of fiction including, most recently, Phone Rings and Old Friends (both published by Melville House). His novels Interstate and Frog were both finalists for the National Book Award. Frog was also a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. His work has received the O. Henry Award, the Best American Short Stories award, the Pushcart Prize, The American Academy Institute of Arts and Letters Prize for Fiction, and he has been a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable. A great one., August 2, 2009

By 

Daniel J. Weber - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Interstate: A Novel (Paperback)

I was recently asked to list 15 books that made an impact on
me. This is the one book most of my friends had never heard
of. After 20 years it still haunts. This is any parents nightmare,
but I think more importantly a genuine reflection on how the human
mind can handle/adjust/rewrite a personal tragedy on its worst level.
I think one of the unusual pleasures is that I picked this book up
not knowing the captivating structure, so if possible I would advise
anyone buying this to just dive right in without reading
any more reviews. Truly an undiscovered gem that has only gotten
more powerful and relevant over time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love Him or Hate Him, May 12, 2000

By 

Chiang Hai Tat (Jupiter) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Interstate: A Novel (Paperback)

dixon is a one-in-a-kind writer. a friend pointed out to me: he's either doing something radical or just doing something no other writer wants to do. so love him or hate him, he's the type who doesn't give a damn. this book, like most of his other novels, could be quite torturous to read, but the reader will find it rewarding upon finish reading it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Long, Strange Trip Indeed, September 1, 2000

By 

T. Sims "Nomi54" (Detroit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interstate: A Novel (Paperback)

Dixon's INTERSTATE is an intersting read...a novel that held my interest even though I didn't think it could. Confusing at first, but soon finds it's own rhythm, and begins to work on a complete unique path of logic. The first work of Dixon's I've read, I will probably attempt to read the masive FROG, based on the weird strength and twisted characterization found in INTERSTATE.