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American Subversive: A Novel Paperback – April 5, 2011

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David Goodwillie (Author)
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David Goodwillie (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 40 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner; Reprint edition (April 5, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1439157065
  • ISBN-13: 978-1439157060
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #651,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThe Personal, and The Political
By Sarah on April 19, 2010
Format: Hardcover
A bombing, a beautiful terrorist, a mysterious note: these are the sparks that ignite David Goodwillie's second book and first novel, "American Subversive." It's a glib thriller with unexpected gems buried within its well-turned sentences, a book that's quickly devoured but that lingers on the palate.

The novel deals with domestic terrorism, and the book's plot is lent chilling plausibility by the current political climate. After a bombing in Manhattan, gossip blogger Aidan receives an email with a photo of a beautiful woman with the caption, "This is Paige Roderick. She is the one responsible." His curiosity quickly draws him into Paige's world, and together their narratives make up an engrossing story that explores the world of the radical underground and those who inhabit it. The book is meticulously researched and in part based on the actions of the radical group the Weather Underground, which lends the story an eerie realism.

The voices of Aidan and Paige are distinct and well-written. The split narrative is handled deftly and is never confusing, and the prose is engaging, if a bit distant at times - even the sympathetic, fascinating Paige is at times unreachable. That said, Goodwillie has accomplished the balancing act so well that it's impossible to decide which one of them is the protagonist. The author tells the story of those who care too much and those who don't care at all, but doesn't average the two into a happy and potentially meaningless ending. These characters may be fictions, but they are no caricatured martyrs. This is the beauty of the book: we are shown both extremes, apathy and fanaticism, but we are never told which is right, nor are we thrown into a rhetorical firefight. This is a story about people, not politics.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing and timely debut novel
By M. Lee on April 17, 2010
Format: Hardcover
As you might expect from a political thriller, American Subversive is fast paced, gripping and a serious page turner. Now, I'm not a thriller kind of girl but this book is un-freaking-believable. Seriously. The concept is so timely (blogging and terrorism) and I actually found it easy to relate to the main characters (Goodwillie writes from the perspective of a woman - how cool is that?).

The relationship between said characters (two narrators: blogger and terrorist) is complicated but innocent, with intertwining facets you find yourself constantly thinking about long after the final page.

Aidan, failed journalism student turned gossip blogger on a site that eerily resembles Gawker, is both completely unlikeable (but with good intentions) and the kind of protagonist you root for from beginning to end. Paige, a very sad but very determined eco-terrorist is responsible for turning 2010 Manhattan into chaos. It's horribly familiar to those of us who lived through 9/11, which makes it a relevant and necessary read.
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5.0 out of 5 stars"When was the last time you believed in something?"
By Jill I. Shtulman TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on May 6, 2010
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
American Subversive is a book about belief turned inside-out. It's an intelligent and literary thriller, a thought-provoking peek into America's dark soul, and a veritable page turner. It's also the debut book for David Goodwillie, an author who is up to the task of unearthing the country's seductive roots.

The dual protagonists/narrators are Aidan Cole, a member of the chattering class, who blogs for Roorback, ("a roorback is a defamatory falsehood published for political effect") and Paige Roderick, an attractive idealist who is involved in an act of domestic terrorism at the midtown Manhattan location of Barney's. One late night, at a glitterati party following this act, Aidan checks his email to view an image of a woman crossing Madison Avenue (the site of the bombing) with the words, "This is Paige Roderick. She's the one responsible."

But Goodwillie is too good to settle for a "who-done-it" thriller. He delves deeply into his characters to reveal two alienated and unmoored thirty-somethings who are dealing with a profound disillusionment based on divorce, death, a country that lost its way, and friendships that easily turn into betrayals.

Paige turns to domestic radicalism after the wasteful death of her brother Bobby in Iraq. She says,"Do you really want to know my worldview? Because it's pretty bleak these days. Everything I once saw as a problem with others -- the numbness, the detachment, the disillusionment that came with being American -- everything I once sought to fix...I'm coming now to feel myself." And Aidan? His transformation is less organic.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsCaptivating and thoroughly contemporary work of literature
By BushwickFalls7 on April 23, 2013
Format: Paperback
As almost every review of American Subversive points out, this novel captures the post-9/11 realities of our intertwined digital and social lives in a way that is so often left out of contemporary literature. The questions that are raised in the book are ones we are confronted with on a daily basis. Who do we trust to get our news, will our politicians ever be anything but a disappointment, how real is the threat of domestic terrorism (let alone the constant nagging dread that the backlash against America is bound to happen on our own soil). What makes this book successful is the way is which these questions are offered, rather than shoved down our throats.

The story is told through a two person narrative (a feat unto itself). Aidan Cole is a New York blogger, treading water in the B-list indie creative social scene. Paige Roderick is sucked into a pseudo back to the land, Eco-activist group after her brother's death in Iraq. Their lives converge when Aidan is tipped off to Paige's involvement in a recent NYC bombing. As he pursues the potentially high traffic story, more out of hapless interest at first, the characters' back stories are filled in through their own first person accounts of their past and future actions.

Goodwillie excels in his ability to capture the mindset and lifestyle of Aidan's semi-charmed but far from stable New York existence. The book is peppered with satirical cultural asides that will make you laugh and nod in agreement. But what is also surprising is his portrait of Paige. We see the logical and paced progression of a young woman searching for some sort of meaning in her life (and can't we all relate), and how seemingly easy she could wind up plotting attacks in the name of a greater good.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsHighly Enjoyable.

Well paced, engaging and current.

Published 2 days ago by Anna
3.0 out of 5 starsSeemed like a nice twisted read but didn't hit the mark

Blogging and Bombing and Politics. Seemed like a nice twisted read but didn't hit the mark. The author didn't quite do justice to the various threads he was weaving. Read more

Published 18 months ago by mk_uber
4.0 out of 5 starsA strong and timely work

David Goodwillie's first novel is a well constructed and intriguing one, and his writing displays an unnerving command of poise and clarity uncommon to those of his peers. Read more

Published on May 5, 2013 by J Dobson
2.0 out of 5 starsOverall disappointing

In 2010, a homegrown terrorist cell of young white Americans, frustrated by capitalistic corruption, resort to bombings of large corporations in NYC. Read more

Published on March 12, 2013 by bmara
5.0 out of 5 starsHow the underground live

American Subversive is a compelling and topical novel which is written with the same amazing ability I enjoyed so much in Goodwillie's memoir, It Seemed Like A Good Idea at the... Read more

Published on March 2, 2013 by David C. Breithaupt
4.0 out of 5 starsComplex and compelling. Goodwillie is a Real Find!

In spite of having read today in the NY Times that 30% of book reviews by readers are fake, I am forging ahead with this appraisal.

David Goodwille is a real find! Read more

Published on August 27, 2012 by reticulately
5.0 out of 5 starsA Prescient, Beautifully Written Novel

"American Subversive" is a thought-provoking and extremely timely novel. Goodwillie's strongest and indeed most remarkable quality is his aptitude - or knack - for depicting the... Read more

Published on July 17, 2012 by Lisa
4.0 out of 5 starsInteresting Twist on Terrorism

American Subversive is an intriguing, hard to pigeon-hole novel - part political thriller and part love story. Read more

Published on December 19, 2011 by JoeV
2.0 out of 5 starsUltimately disappointing

A very interesting premise, going inside the minds of American terrorists who justify their actions by claiming it's the way to a better world, made me read this book. Read more

Published on July 15, 2011 by Liberal viewer1
5.0 out of 5 starsCurious & Catching

Observant and uncomfortable, Goodwillie's incisive commentary into the simultaneous vacancy and seriousness of our times was a quick, yet substantive, read. Read more

Published on April 4, 2011 by Kathleen

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