Fight Song
A Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“A Generation X call-to-arms about facing mid-life on our own terms with the unique heart that beats inside us all . . . Poignant, honest, and funny as hell.” —The Huffington Post
When his bicycle is intentionally run off the road by a neighbor’s SUV, something snaps in Bob Coffin. Modern suburban life has been getting him down and this is the last straw. To avoid following in his own father’s missteps, Bob is suddenly desperate to reconnect with his wife and his distant, distracted children. And he’s looking for any guidance he can get.
Bob soon learns that the wisest words come from the most unexpected places, from characters that are always more than what they appear to be: a magician/marriage counselor, a fast-food drive-thru attendant/phone-sex operator, and a janitor/guitarist of a French KISS cover band. Can these disparate voices inspire Bob to fight for his family? To fight for his place in the world?
A call-to-arms for those who have ever felt beaten down by life, Fight Song is a quest for happiness in a world in which we are increasingly losing control. It is an exciting novel by one of the most surprising and original writers of his generation.
"A whimsical, madcap, delightfully depraved fable for our age.” —Jonathan Evison, New York Times bestselling author
"For its irreverent beat, relentless energy, and sharp, funny characters, Fight Song may as well be titled 'Battle Cry.'" —The Rumpus
“Mohr . . . brings a dollop of David Sedaris–like humor to the pathos . . . It’s a surprisingly sweet, rollicking tribute to anyone who’s ever needed a fight song to fight back.” —Booklist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An unusual take on a mid-life crisis narrative, Mohr's novel is an overwrought yet heartwarming farce that exposes the ridiculous and complicated currents of modern life. Video-game designer Bob Coffen, mastermind of the Disemboweler series, has lost his gumption. Adrift in a meaningless job, disconnected from his kids, and unaware of the depths to which he's failing his wife, Bob reaches a new low when, for his 10th anniversary at work, he is given a plock (a plaque and clock in one) frozen at midnight, a disturbing reminder of his irrelevance. Then, when Schumann, his psychotic thrill-seeking neighbor, runs him off the road, Bob becomes desperate for a new order. A madcap weekend of soul-searching ensues, featuring entertaining and vividly drawn characters like Schumann, obsessed with his glory days; a magician named Bj rn the Bereft who specializes in marriage counseling; a fast food worker at the Taco Shed who dabbles in drive-thru erotica; and a lovelorn janitor who plays in a Kiss cover band. While Bob's odyssey offers unexpected often brilliant confrontations of modern clich s, the plot meanders too far into the bizarre and sacrifices some of the empathy gained along the way. But Mohr's (Damascus) elegant writing and colorful milieu is refreshing, an interesting mix of Charles Bukowski and Tom Robbins, with a cinematic heaping of the Coen brothers for good measure.
