Customer Reviews

Lord of the Barnyard: Killing the Fatted Calf and Arming the Aware in the Corn Belt

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

.......I just read that Tristan Egolf, the author, shot himself to death a few days ago. I loved this book for its manic energy and its attention to the details of the assembly line killing and processing of domesticated animals. I can't even imagine standing knee deep in turkey blood slicing off heads all day long for a living. In an odd way this book celebrates individual capitalism and old fashioned gumption like no other. The protagonist studies, tries and fails, tries and succeeds, learns, becomes hopelessly isolated, and gets caught at the wrong end of the paranoia stick more than once. The parallel story track details the assembly line killing of the human spirit which occurs when despair and emotional fragility combine with the quest for the almighty dollar in odd ways in a person's thought process. I enjoyed the energy and the constant seeking for knowledge of the title character. This was truly a fascinating work and I am quite saddened that such an original, twisted, seeking voice has been lost to us all. RIP Tristan.

Surely not the most polished novel that you are likely to read this year, and literary purist will frown at Egolf's overblown style and dialogue-free prose. Egolf is often ham-fisted and can be sloppy with the details (upon reading the climax you'll wonder if Egolf has ever even *seen* a basketball game).

But those flaws notwithstanding, Egolf has written an audacious jet-fueled debut which is somehow all the more compelling for it's absurdity. Those reviewers who have criticized the novel have said little which I would directly contradict (no, there is no dialogue; yes, the characters are one dimensional) but somehow the sheer energy and inventiveness of the novel kept me glued throughout its four hundred pages.

Lord of the Barnyard is an Appalachian Confederacy of the Dunces on crack cocaine. Egolf uses sheer creativity and his raw intelligence to muscle his way though a rollercoaster plot that takes us on a whirlwind tour of John Kaltenbrunner's backwoods heroism and larger than life exploits.

And the novel is funny! It made me laugh!

Egolf is a smart writer with talent. Hats off to him for this gutsy first novel, flaws and all; I look forward to reading his future work.

A great read that, in this day and age of copy-cat fiction and stamped-out thrillers, Lord of the Barnyard is unique and very entertaining. It's style isn't for everyone, but if you consider yourself a die-hard book lover and fiction fan, this book will be one of your ten best.

This book was my favorite novel of 1998. Before it hits the american market, the book is already out in dutch translation.

Lord of the Barnyard is hard to describe. It is a demolition derby of the soul, a guided tour of hell (no giftshop) and immensely sensitive at that.

As every good writer, Egolf has the power to infect you with his worldview. Makes it unescapable. After putting the novel away the world looks like a desolate place. Egolf writes like Marquez on bad acid, or Hunter S. Thompson going cold turkey. Long, weird sentences, summing up years of misery in a couple of strange images. The plot is fascinating albeit incidental, its not the point of this novel. This novel is about the power of writing, about taking the world by its balls and yanking them until it vomits. Dirty, beautiful and unforgettable. Hard to believe this is the first work of a young writer.

Buy it, and be amazed. Think the novel as an artform is dead? Think again.

This was just such an unusual and strange book. I liked how Egolf expects the reader to be intelligent and I loved how dark his comedy could get. This book was so enjoyable to me because I got to see John Kaltenbrunner dish out revenge on all of those who put him down throughout his life. It was cathartic. One of the best books I've read in my lifetime, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

I discovered this tome during a rather miserable trip to tropical, sunny Cairns (Australia). It was about the only thing that stopped me from running accross the road in the middle of the night, setting free all the poultry farm chickens, then running back to peel all the lizards off the exterior wall and drowning them in the pool.

In Lord of the Barnyard, Egolf weaves a tale of misfortune, destruction, putrification and assertion so involving, intense, and breathless (as much from the narrative as trying to read the free-flowing, pin-wheeling, and exceedingly wordy sentences aloud to my sister) that you can't help but be drawn in. I don't see it as highly likely that even, or especially, John Kaltenbrunner's early exploits would ever be possible, but somehow, it just seems perfecly reasonable.

Explaining this book is as impossible as any of John's deeds. I suppose it's fitting that it has yet to be released in the country in which it's set.

A book for thinking people who relish the self-mocking edge of post-modernism. But if you're into the surprise twist at the ending thing, or you need to be able to identify with the book's main character/hero, look elsewhere. You have been warned...

'Lord' is one of those books that you wish would go on forever. Egolf's unique writing style brings this twisted tale to life with color and wit. His storytelling hurdles you into the eccentric, white-trash, Middle American town, named Baker, that you will come to love and dispise at the same time. With a hilarious and ingenious plot, wonderfully crafted characters, and amazing metaphors and imagery, Tristan's rollercoaster of a debut book is a force in the literary world to be reckoned with. This IS storytelling at its best!

Wow! Wow is about all I can say to give you an impact on how awsome this book is. Even the way it is presented is different from most types of fiction. The story of John Kaltenbrunner basically centers around his incredibly bad luck and his unique way of solving it.

First off, the way it is written is as if someone is telling you the story. There aren't any direct quotes in the book.

Second, as you read through the book, watch for certain sections and stories that are told such as John's evaluation and the "unfortunate deckhand".

Third, always keep note of how blatently outrageous the story is as that is part of the entertainment factor.

All in all, a great read and well worth getting a hardcover as you'll find yourself refering to it and showing friends your favorite parts. So you'll need the extra staying power with the binding.

This first novel starts strong and full of promise and begins to come apart at about the 219 page mark before finally descending into a seemingly amphetamine fueled script treatment for the Dukes of Hazzard. Before that point there are a troll's share of delightful passages and laugh out loud moments. The book goes several pages at a time painting stunningly evocative portraits with the English language as the narrative follows the misadventures of John Kaltenbrunner from pre-birth to the very end. Having worked as a rancher, roughneck, asbestos remover and chicken slaughterer, I have shared all three shifts with every form of dire, grubby human flotsam imaginable and Egolf renders these wage-slave lifers with an accuracy that makes me feel I'm in the trenches shoveling dung and slaughtering hens again. The author has written essentially two novellas in two different voices - had he stopped after the triumphant defeat of the hero at the hands (and body) of a particularly heinous Methodist crone, he would've had a short tragicomedy worthy of high recommendation. As it is, he outstays his welcome, the plot begins to catch wheels in the bog, and I found myself resisting the urge to skim the last 40 pages.

As I live 350 miles from the nearest decent bookstore, the buzz and hype surrounding this book escaped me, although it's hard to miss the gushing blurbs from some gatekeepers of literary merit like Salon and Details magazines. In any case, Egolf is no Celine. However, he is a talented writer who could benefit from a more judicious editing (both internal and employed by Grove Press.)

unfortunately, this book will never get into the hands of those who most need to read it. Coming from the abouts the same area that egolf based this book, i can attest that he did not have to strain to hard to make any of the characters in this book. The book is about injustice and its pent up rage that can only be contained for so long, and how it finally explodes in rage, that the coasts can only shake their heads in complete misunderstanding (the school shootings, the postals), and i doubt very few people outside of the midwest will *get* this book, because the midwest is an entirely different country for them.

if you've noitced that im avoiding talking about the plot of the book, that's correct. im trying to tell you what the books about.

but like i said, this book will be wasted on many, and the those that can profit from it, will never get their hands on it. I wonder if the author knew this when he wrote it.