Stephen Markley

Ohio

“Extraordinary...beautifully precise...[an] earnestly ambitious debut.” —The New York Times Book Review “A wild, angry, and devastating masterpiece of a book.” —NPR “[A] descendent of the Dickensian ‘social novel’ by way of Jonathan Franzen: epic fiction that lays bare contemporary culture clashes, showing us who we are and how we got here.” —O, The Oprah Magazine “A book that has stayed with me ever since I put it down.” —Seth Meyers, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers One sweltering night in 2013, four former high school classmates converge on their hometown in northeastern Ohio. There’s Bill Ashcraft, a passionate, drug-abusing young activist whose flailing ambitions have taken him from Cambodia to Zuccotti Park to post-BP New Orleans, and now back home with a mysterious package strapped to the undercarriage of his truck; Stacey Moore, a doctoral candidate reluctantly confronting her family and the mother of her best friend and first love, whose disappearance spurs the mystery at the heart of the novel; Dan Eaton, a shy veteran of three tours in Iraq, home for a dinner date with the high school sweetheart he’s tried desperately to forget; and the beautiful, fragile Tina Ross, whose rendezvous with the washed-up captain of the football team triggers the novel’s shocking climax. Set over the course of a single evening, Ohio toggles between the perspectives of these unforgettable characters as they unearth dark secrets, revisit old regrets and uncover—and compound—bitter betrayals. Before the evening is through, these narratives converge masterfully to reveal a mystery so dark and shocking it will take your breath away.

Colton Ray

Though I don't live in Ohio, I live in a town fairly similar to the one described in the book. Sure, there's dysfunctional families and drug abuse and religious hypocrisy, but that's not all there is - to paint it so is pretty unfair. Almost every character in this novel is screwed up in some kind of way, and it makes it seem as if everyone that lives out in the boonies is a lunatic, which is unfortunate. Most people out here are happy and normal, not rapists or meth-heads. It may be more thrilling to pretend so, but it rings false and one-sided.

As an amateur author myself, I feel bad calling a published debut amateurish, but I can't think of a different word to describe Ohio. The first section felt overwritten, with too much over-theosophizing and monologuing for my taste. Bill Ashcraft is the unbearable kind of liberal, with no vision of the future, no hope for something better, just spouting drugged-up talking points at every opportunity, the obvious, easy kind. Yeah, George W. Bush was a bad president. The war in Iraq was bad. These aren't exactly cutting insights in 2018. 

This is the kind of book where everyone regardless of age is a horny porn star and swears like a sailor. I think the f-word is on every single page of this book - not great writing. Every character speaks in the same voice, the voice of the author thumping you over the head with his worldview and opinions about everything from global warming to Obama to religion. Even though I agree with him on most of it, the ideas are handled clumsily and the whole thing comes off ham-handed. He's really on a soapbox, which would be fine in an essay or a blog post, but when author tirades are inserted into fiction, it makes me roll my eyes. 

Most of the book is soap-opera level reminiscing on high school drama, to which I say, who cares? Literally no one remembers who cheated on who in the tenth grade, much less cares years later. The final climax reads like the author felt the book was too boring and had to throw in some kind of action scene even though it didn't really fit with the rest of the plot. Eh. 

Markley is trying too hard, throwing in all these complex subplots and ideas, and the novel begins to feel overcooked. I think this author clearly shows some promise, but this book just didn't make the cut for me. Here's hoping his next one will.

Bridget Smith

more like 3 1/2 !! 

this was soooo much novel. the writing is gorgeous whew but the length did feel inessential at times. despite that i loved reading a nuanced portrayal of the post-bush era and the ending!!!! wild. this is definitely the first of many springsteenian, middle america odysseys to come

Arushi Khosla

Phenomenal. Staggeringly beautiful, endlessly heartbreaking. Best book I've read in years. Fans of the classic bildungsroman will find themselves immediately absorbed in this transcendent work.

Caitlyn Baldwin

The writing is harsh and beautiful, the story full of suspense. I just found the verbose nature to be a little challenging to keep the story in focus

Ohio

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