Back Roads (Oprah's Book Club) (Hardcover)

by Tawni O'Dell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Oprah Book Club® Selection, March 2000: Not since S.E. Hinton (The Outsiders) has a female novelist penned such a tough and titillating portrait of lower-class, crime-ridden manhood. Set in "beautiful, ruined" western Pennsylvania, amid Eat n' Parks and Lick n' Putts, Tawni O'Dell's Back Roads follows Harley Altmyer as he walks a raging, self-conscious line between crime and innocence. Why is he being held by the authorities, and what's he so mad about? In the recent past, it's his mother, who murdered his father and went to jail for life. In the far past, it's Dad himself: an abusive, hopeless man. In the present, it's the responsibility for his three younger sisters, which makes him fantasize about smashing their faces in until they "spit up bloody macaroni and cheese."

But Harley still has a conscience--barely. He doesn't strike his sisters; he's been trying to protect them. The oldest is sassy Amber, 16, who's having sex on the living-room couch with townies who abuse her; next is frighteningly stoic 12-year-old Misty, with eyes "a glazed brown like a medicine bottle"; the youngest is adorable Jody, who at 6 pens to-do lists with items such as "PRAY FOR DADDYS SOWL." Overburdened with the practicalities of life, and the ever-mounting losses, Harley has started seeing his own words floating in the air in front of his face. "CLOSURE. TRUTH. MOST GUYS."

This first novel opens well. O'Dell does an impeccable job of making Harley both brutal and forgivable. Here, for instance, he retreats to his basement room: "I lay there until dawn, thinking about Dad, and feeling the same useless frustration I had felt the first time I had seen him piss on a sparkling white drift of pure new snow."

But that delicacy is soon lost, and Back Roads risks becoming an overabundant affair, pitched high, with a roller-coaster trajectory. Harley's anger metamorphoses into an almost bloodthirsty lust for his sexy, middle-aged neighbor, which stirs up myriad forbidden family secrets. Misty, it turns out, has been hiding something. Amber revolts. And even Jody's scribbles turn malevolent. While the writing is good throughout, the tension and plotting assume an unpleasant adolescent posture--bodice-ripping passion and mordant gloom combined. Nonetheless, O'Dell's assured and touching portrait of her protagonist emerges unscathed. You will likely remember luckless, fated Harley Altmyer long after his tsunamic tale has receded. And no matter what the judge decides, you will understand why this impoverished, angry young man was probably the most innocent one of all. --Jean Lenihan

From Library Journal
In a small Pennsylvania town depressed by coal mine closings, a young man of 19 finds himself thrust into the role of parent. Harley has become the guardian of his three younger sisters as the result of their mother going to jail for the shooting death of their father. Each sibling finds his or her own way of coping with this family tragedy. During his regular visits with a psychotherapist Harley finds some comfort while at the same time feeling disdain for this woman. He is able to satisfy his youthful urges by beginning a series of sexual encounters with an older woman whose daughter is a playmate of his youngest sister. The characterizations are vivid, and each family member generates sympathy. Reader Dylan Baker does a satisfactory job of interpreting Harley's sense of frustration and cynicism. An absorbing novel worth purchasing for fiction collections.DCatherine Swenson, Norwich Univ. Lib., Northfield, VT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 338 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (March 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670894184
• ISBN-13: 978-0670894185
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (347 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #814,616 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 32 in The Oprah's Book Club Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 107 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden from the world on the Back Roads, February 25, 2000

By	Jeff Paszkiet (Illinois) - See all my reviews

I finished this novel in two days.I simply could not put it down.I needed to know what was going to happen to Harley next. Harley's like other teens,except he has too much responibility too soon. With his father dead, his mother in prison, and three sisters to take care of,one may wonder where he finds the time and energy for everything else that happens. I didn't care, all I wanted was what would happen with the next page. He may be a low class Holden Caufield, but this novel reminds me more of the Bean family in Carolyn Chute's wonderful The Beans Of Egypt Maine. If you don't know that novel, read them both. Be prepared not to put them down until you are finished. Anyone who is interested feel free to e-mail me about books,music,etc. Enjoy! [e-mail]

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everytime you THINK you've got it... YOU AIN'T GOT IT!, May 1, 2000

By	the_empress (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

I finished BACK ROADS two weeks ago and I am still haunted by the images and the language of the text. It is a very intense piece of Art. Although, I must warn you that Oprah was telling you the truth, it's a hard novel on the emotions . O'Dell, the author, does not let up! If you are a 'lists' person, here it is in order of intensity: Intrigue, Sex, Abuse, Sex, Secrecy and Genuine Unpredictability. The protagonist, 19-year-old Harley Altmyer is the sole guardian of his three younger sisters Amber (16), Misty (12) and the baby of the family Jody (6) (Jody's spelling is both sad and painfully funny). Rather than become a ward of the state or be put on welfare, a very responsible Harley decides to be "the man" of the house after their mother is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of their very abusive father. I am very tempted to tell you the incredible twists and turns O'Dell takes you with that fact. But you must read it all for yourself. You will NEVER in a million years or pages should I say, see what the end will be. To continue, in conjunction with his two years experience of parenting, Harley also has to deal with his bursting need for sexual comfort. Some of the sexual images in his mind are extremely disturbing and violent. Yet, this author is on her job, she makes you see why the images surface in that manner in the first place which allow us very sensitive readers to carry on with the story. He has to deal with three emotionally raw females, for which he has neither data nor point of reference. Also, there is the mortgage, the two full-time jobs, and a loneliness that is so vast it creates a fifth mouth to feed. If you are one of those, " I can't read another disturbing word of this book, I MUST put it down"...you simply can't. Back Roads calls you back until your eyes have reached the last alphabet of the novel.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes life isn't a bowl of cherries, but the pits..., January 28, 2000

By A Customer

Tawni O'Dell has written a tale of The Great American Nightmare. Undoubtedly, the story is a tragedy and, just as an occasional person might not appreciate Shakespeare's tragedies, this work may lose a sensitive reader. But the realism of the work with descriptions that are PERTINENT, makes the reader feel, smell, hear, and taste becoming one with the book. Harley is a victim of circumstance. His family has splintered from the whole of society with the death of his father and he becomes burdened as an individual to bear premature responsibilities. The story becomes a tale of children with misdirected passions brought into a harsh, cruel world too soon. And sadly enough, the work stings of believability. After reading this novel, one begins to ponder the workings of our society upon those who merely seek to just survive. Ms. O'Dell has done an outstanding job on her first book. And until Tawni O'Dell has her next novel in print, I will simply keep rereading this one.