Notes From Underwhelmed [Paperback]

Haydn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 2009

Rival groups of clandestine thugs, a beautiful barista with a brain for baseball, a man-child obsessed with action figures, America's favorite talk-show host, robot clones, marketing drones, Bill Buckner and a missing billionaire playboy: they're all on a collision course, and Ian Gilmore must decode, decipher and defuse the situation before his life is dismantled piece by piece.Notes From Underwhelmed is a twisting, darkly humorous literary thriller that has earned comparisons to Delillo, Auster, Murakami and Palahniuk. It's part homage to the 1986 Mets, part commentary on corporate America and part exegesison contemporary identity.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Haydn Sweterlitsch lives in Washington DC with his wife and their dog. He is a graduate of both Villanova University and St. John's College (Annapolis, MD). He has worked for over ten years as an advertising writer, while his fiction, criticism and sports writing have appeared in several publications and forums. Mr. Sweterlitsch is an active, contributing member of the ARCLIG INDUSTRIES creative arts collective. Notes From Underwhelmed is his first novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: lulu.com; First edition (November 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1411640284
• ISBN-13: 978-1411640283
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,652,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a nice--and rare---surprise, October 12, 2005

By 

Eric_M "Eric22" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Notes From Underwhelmed (Paperback)

The author has done something special with this book. It's an example of that rare beast: plot-driven literary fiction (gasp)!

If you're looking for character-driven fiction with emotions, this is definitely not your book. It's not cathartic, it's not about feelings, and it's not sentimental. It is, however, a wolf in sheep's guise.

It's an amazingly fast-paced read, with several parallel storylines that keep you guessing until the final act and then converge and climax nicely without being too ham-fisted or deus ex machina. So in a word, it's a thriller.

But it's also a sneaky little novel that will stick in your brain. The writer has created an entirely new world, where hidden systems and groups pull the strings behind the scenes of our lives. It's Orwellian with a sense of humor-and not an ironic, satirical sense of humor. The humor is dark, but not pretentious. The writer keeps it moving and keeps it simple. He doesn't use words to show off, he uses words to communicate. He uses words with precision and agility, forcing them to work overtime.

While I was reading NOTES FROM UNDERWHELMED, I was struck by how fast the pages were turning. There is an economy of language that cuts to the heart of every scene, making each sentence (and every thought) mean something. There are no wasted scenes, and the writing acts as a propulsive force-as rocket fuel that powers this book to its final destination.

But then, when the dust clears and you put it down, that's when the real trick happens. Here you thought you finished a rather interesting, minimalist thriller that made you ponder certain aspects of the fractured persona of man circa now, but you'll find your mind coming back to the characters (especially the mysterious Mr. Caution), settings and scenes. You'll arrive at a different place. Because NOTES FROM UNDERWHELMED sneaks in very high-concept social commentary between the action and cliffhangers.

Again, if you're looking for emotional catharsis and insight, avert your eyes. But if you want a thriller that entertains in the deepest way and quietly nestles itself into your mind and forces you to keep thinking and examining it long after you finish it, then NOTES FROM UNDERWHELMED is an ace in the hole.