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Where All Light Tends to Go
The area surrounding Cashiers, North Carolina, is home to people of all kinds, but the world that Jacob McNeely lives in is crueler than most. His father runs a methodically organized meth ring, with local authorities on the dime to turn a blind eye to his dealings. Having dropped out of high school and cut himself off from his peers, Jacob has been working for this father for years, all on the promise that his payday will come eventually. The only joy he finds comes from reuniting with Maggie, his first love, and a girl clearly bound for bigger and better things than their hardscrabble town.
Jacob has always been resigned to play the cards that were dealt him, but when a fatal mistake changes everything, he’s faced with a choice: stay and appease his father, or leave the mountains with the girl he loves.
In a place where blood is thicker than water and hope takes a back seat to fate, Jacob wonders if he can muster the strength to rise above the only life he’s ever known.
A Finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel
In the country-noir tradition of Winter's Bone meets 'Breaking Bad,' a savage and beautiful story of a young man seeking redemption.
Jacob has always been resigned to play the cards that were dealt him, but when a fatal mistake changes everything, he’s faced with a choice: stay and appease his father, or leave the mountains with the girl he loves.
In a place where blood is thicker than water and hope takes a back seat to fate, Jacob wonders if he can muster the strength to rise above the only life he’s ever known.
A Finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel
In the country-noir tradition of Winter's Bone meets 'Breaking Bad,' a savage and beautiful story of a young man seeking redemption.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2015
552 people are currently reading
12.4k people want to read
About the author
David Joy
9Ìýbooks1,900ÌýfollowersDavid Joy is the author of the Edgar nominated novel Where All Light Tends to Go (Putnam, 2015), as well as the novels The Weight Of This World (Putnam, 2017), The Line That Held Us (Putnam, 2018), and When These Mountains Burn (Putnam, 2020). His memoir, Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman's Journey (Bright Mountain Books, 2011), was a finalist for the Reed Environmental Writing Award and the Ragan Old North State Award for Creative Nonfiction. His latest stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Garden & Gun, and The Bitter Southerner. He is the recipient of an artist fellowship from the North Carolina Arts Council. His work is represented by Julia Kenny of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency. He lives in Jackson County, North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,331 reviews
May 6, 2020
The glaring contrast between the harsh ugliness of this storyline and the beauty of the author’s writing makes for a stunning read. This is my second and I've gotta say, he continues to impress me with his level of grit, compelling characters and poetic words. I’ve enjoyed his writing so much, this city girl is contemplating a gander at his memoir, . Say what? Yes . . . that's how enamored I am with his style.
At sixteen, Jacob resigned himself to the fact that he was meant to live the outlaw life he was born into. He walked out of school, ditched his longtime love Maggie, and joined his father in the family meth game. Now eighteen, living in a small mountain town in the heart of the Appalachians, he’s living under his father’s rule, making one shitty decision after another, dodging "the bulls" and wavering on his place in this world.
Unlike Aiden and Thad, the two down-and-out characters from , I found myself drawn to Jacob immediately. Empathizing with him on some level and maybe even harboring a bit of a crush? Despite the situation he found himself in, Jacob had heart and the wherewithal to know he wasn’t and would never be the cold and calculating man his father was.
As a reader who revels in the possibility of a loving connection, my heart was giddy at the thought of Jacob and Maggie making a go of it . . . again. Ultimately, I think it was the love he had for her and the sacrifices he made that impressed me most. It proved, in some way, despite everything he’d done, Jacob deserved more than this grim existence. Just like Maggie, I wanted Jacob to snap out of it and realize he could leave it all behind. He didn’t have to accept this fate without a fight. It would just take guts and a little determination, right?
The harsh reality is, life isn’t pretty or easy and sometimes our choices have a way of coming back and biting us in the ass. This book is dark and even a tad grotesque at times, but somehow, the author still manages to deliver all of this wickedness with a level of . . . elegance. Is that even a word I can use to describe grit-lit?
At sixteen, Jacob resigned himself to the fact that he was meant to live the outlaw life he was born into. He walked out of school, ditched his longtime love Maggie, and joined his father in the family meth game. Now eighteen, living in a small mountain town in the heart of the Appalachians, he’s living under his father’s rule, making one shitty decision after another, dodging "the bulls" and wavering on his place in this world.
Unlike Aiden and Thad, the two down-and-out characters from , I found myself drawn to Jacob immediately. Empathizing with him on some level and maybe even harboring a bit of a crush? Despite the situation he found himself in, Jacob had heart and the wherewithal to know he wasn’t and would never be the cold and calculating man his father was.
As a reader who revels in the possibility of a loving connection, my heart was giddy at the thought of Jacob and Maggie making a go of it . . . again. Ultimately, I think it was the love he had for her and the sacrifices he made that impressed me most. It proved, in some way, despite everything he’d done, Jacob deserved more than this grim existence. Just like Maggie, I wanted Jacob to snap out of it and realize he could leave it all behind. He didn’t have to accept this fate without a fight. It would just take guts and a little determination, right?
The harsh reality is, life isn’t pretty or easy and sometimes our choices have a way of coming back and biting us in the ass. This book is dark and even a tad grotesque at times, but somehow, the author still manages to deliver all of this wickedness with a level of . . . elegance. Is that even a word I can use to describe grit-lit?
August 2, 2019
Jacob McNeely has tried to make peace with the hand life has dealt him, his mother is an addict and his father the cruel head of a meth ring and it seems as if all he's meant to do in life is follow his fathers footsteps as an outlaw. After dropping out of high school and breaking up with the love of his life Maggie it seems like he's gotten himself entrenched where he is. Then when Maggie graduates and a errand his father sends him to run turns south, Jacob must figure out if there is a way out for him.
I would say 4.5 stars honestly and I'm extremely depressed after reading this one. I can't take it honestly the way the story kept building up my hopes and then something would happen and Jacob would again be unable to move forward. Also that ending was just cruel. I loved the writing and the characters and the language was poetic. It was wonderful but I'm just feeling like I need to go lay down and cry or stare at the wall for a while now because I'm not okay with how it all ends up turning out and it's all so unfair.
I would say 4.5 stars honestly and I'm extremely depressed after reading this one. I can't take it honestly the way the story kept building up my hopes and then something would happen and Jacob would again be unable to move forward. Also that ending was just cruel. I loved the writing and the characters and the language was poetic. It was wonderful but I'm just feeling like I need to go lay down and cry or stare at the wall for a while now because I'm not okay with how it all ends up turning out and it's all so unfair.
November 27, 2015
Daddy taught me well. Talk shit when you're free. Shut up in the cuffs. Lawyer up first chance.
Jacob McNeely's daddy runs the meth trade in the small North Carolina town. He gives Jacob the job of helping a couple of his guys take out a guy he thought was a "tattler".
They fuck that up. Daddy has to get involved.
Daddy McNeely has the town the way he wants it. With the law (bulls) looking the other way while he conducts business and his ex-wife (Jacob's mom) strung out on meth so bad that she doesn't know her name.
Jacob starts to realize that he knows where his life is headed. He is being groomed to take a place in daddy's empire. But then there's Maggie. Maggie just finished high school and she was Jacob's girlfriend back in the day. He thinks she is going to go on to great things in life and get out of the little hick town. Jacob had broken up with her when he decided he was holding her back.
Well Jacob...I don't know what to think of his character, he pops so many drugs that I don't know how he functioned to even figure out that she might go somewhere. Of course, he never did meth. Can't be sampling daddy's product.
I'm in the middle on a book I thought I would love. I just never felt the love for it. Too many inconsistencies, like Maggie-she is supposedly the golden girl but I kinda just thought she was dumb. She dumped her "now boyfriend" for Jacob after Jacob beat him up. Then she has unprotected sex with Jacob. Yep, she going somewhere. Probably to the free clinic.
The ending was dark and I did think it ended appropriately. I thought about sticking my head in the oven-that's my judge with whether a hick-lit book is good.
Some souls aren't worth saving, I thought.
There're some souls that even the devil wants no part of.
Jacob McNeely's daddy runs the meth trade in the small North Carolina town. He gives Jacob the job of helping a couple of his guys take out a guy he thought was a "tattler".
They fuck that up. Daddy has to get involved.
Daddy McNeely has the town the way he wants it. With the law (bulls) looking the other way while he conducts business and his ex-wife (Jacob's mom) strung out on meth so bad that she doesn't know her name.
Jacob starts to realize that he knows where his life is headed. He is being groomed to take a place in daddy's empire. But then there's Maggie. Maggie just finished high school and she was Jacob's girlfriend back in the day. He thinks she is going to go on to great things in life and get out of the little hick town. Jacob had broken up with her when he decided he was holding her back.
Well Jacob...I don't know what to think of his character, he pops so many drugs that I don't know how he functioned to even figure out that she might go somewhere. Of course, he never did meth. Can't be sampling daddy's product.
I'm in the middle on a book I thought I would love. I just never felt the love for it. Too many inconsistencies, like Maggie-she is supposedly the golden girl but I kinda just thought she was dumb. She dumped her "now boyfriend" for Jacob after Jacob beat him up. Then she has unprotected sex with Jacob. Yep, she going somewhere. Probably to the free clinic.
The ending was dark and I did think it ended appropriately. I thought about sticking my head in the oven-that's my judge with whether a hick-lit book is good.
Some souls aren't worth saving, I thought.
There're some souls that even the devil wants no part of.
October 1, 2018
3.5 stars, but who's counting?
The road back into The Creek bent and curved for what seemed forever, split off one way toward Walnut Gap and cut off another toward Yellow Mountain. That forever is part of what gave the place its lore. Folks that far removed had seldom associated law and justice with badges. The old time stories told tales riddled with bootleggers and murder, stories of copper stills on the fingers and branches of cold mountain streams, heads bashed in and buried before the blood had time to cool.
yes, it's another one of those kinds of books. an isolated southern community doling out its old-school justice without need for the law to intercede - where police are paid off to look the other way so the meth business can continue unobstructed. jacob mcneely is eighteen years old, and the son of charlie mcneely, the undisputed meth king of cashiers, north carolina. they have a relationship that is based on blood, not affection, and jacob has been sucked into the family business without having either the aptitude or the heart for it.
I'd been around crank my whole life, so it had never been a drug, only money. When I was young, Daddy would put it to me like we were carrying on a family tradition, a matter of course that started with moonshine runs in chopped cars to make enough bread to survive the winter. It didn't seem so bad when he put it like that. Outlawing was just a way of earning a buck. By the time I was nine or ten, Daddy had me helping him break down big bags of crystal into grams, never anything smaller, and I got a cut just like most kids got allowance.
jacob has grown up knowing this was his birthright and that his path is inevitable, but although he does what needs to be done; what his father dictates - including acts of violence in the name of business, he is more of a resigned participant than an enthusiastic one. he has given up expecting anything apart from following his father's footsteps.
That was my reality: the hurt, the shame, and everything else entailed. So, waiting around to die was something I'd known for a long time, and it wasn't the dying part that ate at me. It was the waiting.
his mother has become an addict herself, and has lived apart from the family for a number of years, and since he dropped out of school and broken up with his girlfriend maggie, jacob has essentially been alone, plodding through a life he does not want, knowing there is no escape from his fate.
his father, apart from being a criminal, is also a real dick - this is no "rooting for the antihero" situation, no secret heart of gold, just a hardened, bitter man who gets a couple of moments of residual humanity, but is mostly just callous and unlikeable.
"I don't really think they wanted me there, and I don't really know why I went. But one thing led to another, and I left Avery Hooper spread out on the floor."
"Shit doesn't just unfold like that, now. Would be out of your character to just walk in and go hitting somebody. Wouldn't put it past me, but you avoided that kind of meanness some how or another. No, I reckon something had to have happened for you to just haul off and hit somebody."
"Maggie Jennings."
"And there it is, a goddamn woman."
"She ain't just some woman first of all and you know that."
"Well, I know a lot of things. I know you two were tighter than a burl growing up. I know you two were together a good while, and hell, you might've even popped her cherry. But I know that a woman's just a woman, and there's no changing that. If they didn't have pussies, the dumpsters would be full of them."
jacob has too much sensitivity to be a true heir to his father, who sees him as a pussy, and it becomes a real struggle for him to balance his father's demands with his better nature, his loyalty to his mother, and the feelings he still has for maggie, whom he left in order to avoid holding her back and tying her to their town, when she is one of the few he sees with the brains and aptitude to escape her own birthright.
his mother is rarely lucid enough to be a true mother to him, but they are allowed a few shining moments in which the kind of relationship they could have had is achingly glimpsed
It was the closest thing to a normal conversation I'd ever had with her. It was the closest thing to a mother she'd ever been. And if we'd been normal I reckon that would have been the time we'd have hugged one another and she'd have kissed me on top of my head. I reckon that would have been the tie that we looked each other square and said we loved each other. But we were a far cry from normal. There had never been any room for that sappy shit. There was a part of me that was happy for that, a part of me that thought the hardness that came with it helped to protect us from all the other bad that was in this world. But there was a part of me that knew the downfall. There was a part of me that understood that with that hardness came an inability to ever let anyone worth having get close enough to love.
which, of course, is a big part of the reason he is unable to remain with maggie, his childhood best friend become more in their adolescence. the book also grants them a few moments of possibility:
I wouldn't call it our restaurant or some sappy shit like that, but it was a spot we'd shared when the world seemed slower, a place that seemed to hold an energy similar to that spot in the creek where we stood as wide-eyed children with spring lizards squirming in our hands. In the two years that had passed, both of our lives seemed to have lost that simplicity. Both of us carried things now that we hadn't carried before. But being there, being there with her beside me, seemed to bring back all that old feeling. When we were together it seemed like everything else, all the bad shit that surrounded us, stopped and we were all right for a moment or two. It was never a thing that felt like forever, but sometimes all a person needs is a chance to catch their breath.
but these hopeful scenes are few and far between, and the realities of jacob's inherited outlaw lifestyle are more typically characterized by violence, betrayal, and helplessness, as this family/crime story smashes everything lovely in its path in grim delight.
it's gritty and bleak, and while it's not the best of its kind, it is definitely worth your time. it's a perfect introduction to this type of story for newcomers to the genre, but for someone like me, who has read A LOT of backwoods noir, it lacks a little of the spark that is found in, say, woodrell or mccarthy. but for a debut?? it's very impressive, especially those scenes where jacob is trying so hard to take initiative and do what he thinks needs to be done, only proving how inept he is at being a criminal mastermind - he's one to watch, for sure.
The road back into The Creek bent and curved for what seemed forever, split off one way toward Walnut Gap and cut off another toward Yellow Mountain. That forever is part of what gave the place its lore. Folks that far removed had seldom associated law and justice with badges. The old time stories told tales riddled with bootleggers and murder, stories of copper stills on the fingers and branches of cold mountain streams, heads bashed in and buried before the blood had time to cool.
yes, it's another one of those kinds of books. an isolated southern community doling out its old-school justice without need for the law to intercede - where police are paid off to look the other way so the meth business can continue unobstructed. jacob mcneely is eighteen years old, and the son of charlie mcneely, the undisputed meth king of cashiers, north carolina. they have a relationship that is based on blood, not affection, and jacob has been sucked into the family business without having either the aptitude or the heart for it.
I'd been around crank my whole life, so it had never been a drug, only money. When I was young, Daddy would put it to me like we were carrying on a family tradition, a matter of course that started with moonshine runs in chopped cars to make enough bread to survive the winter. It didn't seem so bad when he put it like that. Outlawing was just a way of earning a buck. By the time I was nine or ten, Daddy had me helping him break down big bags of crystal into grams, never anything smaller, and I got a cut just like most kids got allowance.
jacob has grown up knowing this was his birthright and that his path is inevitable, but although he does what needs to be done; what his father dictates - including acts of violence in the name of business, he is more of a resigned participant than an enthusiastic one. he has given up expecting anything apart from following his father's footsteps.
That was my reality: the hurt, the shame, and everything else entailed. So, waiting around to die was something I'd known for a long time, and it wasn't the dying part that ate at me. It was the waiting.
his mother has become an addict herself, and has lived apart from the family for a number of years, and since he dropped out of school and broken up with his girlfriend maggie, jacob has essentially been alone, plodding through a life he does not want, knowing there is no escape from his fate.
his father, apart from being a criminal, is also a real dick - this is no "rooting for the antihero" situation, no secret heart of gold, just a hardened, bitter man who gets a couple of moments of residual humanity, but is mostly just callous and unlikeable.
"I don't really think they wanted me there, and I don't really know why I went. But one thing led to another, and I left Avery Hooper spread out on the floor."
"Shit doesn't just unfold like that, now. Would be out of your character to just walk in and go hitting somebody. Wouldn't put it past me, but you avoided that kind of meanness some how or another. No, I reckon something had to have happened for you to just haul off and hit somebody."
"Maggie Jennings."
"And there it is, a goddamn woman."
"She ain't just some woman first of all and you know that."
"Well, I know a lot of things. I know you two were tighter than a burl growing up. I know you two were together a good while, and hell, you might've even popped her cherry. But I know that a woman's just a woman, and there's no changing that. If they didn't have pussies, the dumpsters would be full of them."
jacob has too much sensitivity to be a true heir to his father, who sees him as a pussy, and it becomes a real struggle for him to balance his father's demands with his better nature, his loyalty to his mother, and the feelings he still has for maggie, whom he left in order to avoid holding her back and tying her to their town, when she is one of the few he sees with the brains and aptitude to escape her own birthright.
his mother is rarely lucid enough to be a true mother to him, but they are allowed a few shining moments in which the kind of relationship they could have had is achingly glimpsed
It was the closest thing to a normal conversation I'd ever had with her. It was the closest thing to a mother she'd ever been. And if we'd been normal I reckon that would have been the time we'd have hugged one another and she'd have kissed me on top of my head. I reckon that would have been the tie that we looked each other square and said we loved each other. But we were a far cry from normal. There had never been any room for that sappy shit. There was a part of me that was happy for that, a part of me that thought the hardness that came with it helped to protect us from all the other bad that was in this world. But there was a part of me that knew the downfall. There was a part of me that understood that with that hardness came an inability to ever let anyone worth having get close enough to love.
which, of course, is a big part of the reason he is unable to remain with maggie, his childhood best friend become more in their adolescence. the book also grants them a few moments of possibility:
I wouldn't call it our restaurant or some sappy shit like that, but it was a spot we'd shared when the world seemed slower, a place that seemed to hold an energy similar to that spot in the creek where we stood as wide-eyed children with spring lizards squirming in our hands. In the two years that had passed, both of our lives seemed to have lost that simplicity. Both of us carried things now that we hadn't carried before. But being there, being there with her beside me, seemed to bring back all that old feeling. When we were together it seemed like everything else, all the bad shit that surrounded us, stopped and we were all right for a moment or two. It was never a thing that felt like forever, but sometimes all a person needs is a chance to catch their breath.
but these hopeful scenes are few and far between, and the realities of jacob's inherited outlaw lifestyle are more typically characterized by violence, betrayal, and helplessness, as this family/crime story smashes everything lovely in its path in grim delight.
it's gritty and bleak, and while it's not the best of its kind, it is definitely worth your time. it's a perfect introduction to this type of story for newcomers to the genre, but for someone like me, who has read A LOT of backwoods noir, it lacks a little of the spark that is found in, say, woodrell or mccarthy. but for a debut?? it's very impressive, especially those scenes where jacob is trying so hard to take initiative and do what he thinks needs to be done, only proving how inept he is at being a criminal mastermind - he's one to watch, for sure.
March 17, 2022
the only reason this isnt getting 5 stars is because of how short this book is - i simply wanted more.
this story is built with blood, sweat, and tears, so its such a shame that it doesnt explore more of that hardness. i wanted to see more of the small town whose fierce grip on the people who live there make it difficult for them to escape. i wanted more of jacobs dads ‘business� and how jacob came to get caught up in it. i wanted to see more of the relationship between jacob and maggie and how their love pushed each other away.
its such a vulnerable and desperate story that i just wanted more than the bare basics of it. dont get me wrong, the bare basics are compelling on their own, which is why i think this could have been outstanding had there been more. more development, more growth, more to experience as a reader.
but i still really enjoyed how gritty and real this story feels.
� 4 stars
this story is built with blood, sweat, and tears, so its such a shame that it doesnt explore more of that hardness. i wanted to see more of the small town whose fierce grip on the people who live there make it difficult for them to escape. i wanted more of jacobs dads ‘business� and how jacob came to get caught up in it. i wanted to see more of the relationship between jacob and maggie and how their love pushed each other away.
its such a vulnerable and desperate story that i just wanted more than the bare basics of it. dont get me wrong, the bare basics are compelling on their own, which is why i think this could have been outstanding had there been more. more development, more growth, more to experience as a reader.
but i still really enjoyed how gritty and real this story feels.
� 4 stars
October 28, 2021
A beautifully crafted story of a young man growing up with the knowledge that like it or not, his future has been pre-destined.
Jacob McNeely had to drop out of school to help his father run the family business. Not your typical mom and pop enterprise. The McNeely family runs the local meth ring. Jacob desperately wants more for himself and his first love Maggie. But deep down he knows he could never give Maggie the future she deserves. That is, unless�.
This was a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story guaranteed to touch you deeply. I’m normally not a fan of YA, but these young characters captured my heart.
This book was resting comfortably on my shelf for years, and I’m so pleased Susanne and I finally set aside time to finally pick this one up, as we both came away questioning why we waited so long to read it.
This is my second read from David Joy. With The Line That Held Us sitting proudly on my favorite shelf. Looking forward to more from this author.
Posted to:
A buddy read with Susanne.
Jacob McNeely had to drop out of school to help his father run the family business. Not your typical mom and pop enterprise. The McNeely family runs the local meth ring. Jacob desperately wants more for himself and his first love Maggie. But deep down he knows he could never give Maggie the future she deserves. That is, unless�.
This was a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story guaranteed to touch you deeply. I’m normally not a fan of YA, but these young characters captured my heart.
This book was resting comfortably on my shelf for years, and I’m so pleased Susanne and I finally set aside time to finally pick this one up, as we both came away questioning why we waited so long to read it.
This is my second read from David Joy. With The Line That Held Us sitting proudly on my favorite shelf. Looking forward to more from this author.
Posted to:
A buddy read with Susanne.
October 13, 2018
Harsh and brutal with not so much as a ray of hope. I still don’t know where the light goes but, not a lot reaches this part of the mountains.
Meet Jacob McNeely:
Jacob’s Dear Old Daddy:
Ron Rash (left) and David Joy share a moment during WCU’s Spring Literary Festival. Both authors� novels have been included on the list of nominees for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award.
Meet Jacob McNeely:
The school I’d spent the majority of my life in seemed smaller now, though looking back it had never been big enough. I grew up twenty miles south of Sylva, a town that really wasn’t much of a town at all but the closest thing to one in Jackson County. If you were passing through, you’d miss Sylva if you blinked, and the place where I was from you could overlook with your eyes peeled. Being a small, mountain community that far away, we only had one school. So that meant that kids who grew up in this county would walk into Walter Middleton at five years old and wouldn’t leave until graduation thirteen years down the road. Growing up in it, I never found it strange to share the halls with teens when I was a kid and kids when I was a teen, but looking down on it now, two years after leaving for good, the whole thing was alien.
The white dome roofing the gym looked like a bad egg bobbing in boiling water, the courtyard was lined in uneven passes from a lawnmower, and a painting of the school mascot, centered in the parking lot, looked more like a Chupacabra than any bobcat I’d ever seen. To be honest, there wasn’t too much worth remembering from my time there, but still it had accounted for ten of my eighteen years. Surprisingly, though, that wasn’t disappointing. What was disappointing about that school, my life, and this whole fucking place was that I’d let it beat me. I’d let what I was born into control what I’d become. Mama snorted crystal, Daddy sold it to her, and I’d never had the balls to leave. That was my life in a nutshell. I took a drag from my last cigarette and hocked a thick wad of spit over the railing.
Jacob’s Dear Old Daddy:
The tattoo gun shut off, the Hispanic man patted my father on the shoulder, and Daddy straightened up and reached for his cigarettes. The Hispanic had snubbed her name short at Jose, and I started to laugh, the joint from earlier still heightening humor. “Who the hell is José?�
“It says Josie, dipshit, that’s your daddy’s nickname for me, but what do you know? Ain’t like you can spell. You never even finished school.�
Daddy cut eyes at her to shut her mouth, and she knew to shut it fast. It was a mouth he’d paid for after all, so I reckon it gave him that right. Her teeth were damn near rotted out the first time she came around, but Daddy said he saw something in her, put fifteen thousand dollars� worth of work into those gums just to have her smiling teeth like corn pearls.
“From over here that looks like J-O-S-E, and far as I know, that spells José. I glance at the Hispanic and his stare widened. Part of him looked like he was about to laugh, but then there was this fear I could see way back in him like he just might piss himself.
“J-O-S-E?� Daddy turned to look the Hispanic man square. That fear I’d seen suddenly shot up to the front of the His panic man’s eyes.
“Son of a bitch, that dumb fucking spic left out the i,� Josephine squealed. She was boiling now, her face getting flushed as she stood up with legs that ran from ankles to heaven in short shorts, and a tank top that she was all but pouring out of. For a split second, I thought I saw what Daddy had seen in her, but then she opened her mouth again. “Charlie, you better not let him do this to me! You better not let some spic ruin what we have.�
The Hispanic man watched her with eyes spread, and I knew if I handed him a knife at that moment, he’d stab that old loudmouth bitch till there wasn’t any sound left to be made but gurgling.
Daddy stayed calm like he always did, and there was something a bit more frightening about a man that could stay at ease while doing the sorts of things he was known to do. He never raised his voice and never raised his hand, just turned to the Hispanic man and asked him if he could fix it.
“Hell no, he can’t fix it?� Josephine squealed. She started to open her mouth again, but Daddy duct-taped her lips closed with nothing more than a glance.
“The two of y’all just get the fuck outside, so I can have a talk with Jacob.� Daddy rose and carefully rolled his T-shirt down over his back. “You’re going to fix this when I’m done talking to the boy.�
The Hispanic man stood first, laying the tattoo gun down on a side table before sidling toward the door. Josephine, on the other hand, stuck around for a minute, rose and hung around my father’s neck like a yanked-loose necktie with corn pearl teeth strung at the knot. She kissed him on his neck, and he paid her little mind. Josephine strutted toward the door and glared at me as if I was responsible for the misspelling of her name. I smirked, and it ate her up.
Ron Rash (left) and David Joy share a moment during WCU’s Spring Literary Festival. Both authors� novels have been included on the list of nominees for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award.
October 13, 2021
4.5
The story was better then a four and the narration by MacLeod Andrews was a five!
Dark� a very dark and gritty story set in North Carolina.
A world of crystal meth dealing and a young man looking for redemption, amid his father’s monstrous ways.
The story was better then a four and the narration by MacLeod Andrews was a five!
Dark� a very dark and gritty story set in North Carolina.
A world of crystal meth dealing and a young man looking for redemption, amid his father’s monstrous ways.
May 21, 2015
METH-AMORPHOSIS - physical and mental transformation caused by meth abuse.
- Faces of Meth
Methamphetamine (Meth) is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant drug that dramatically affects the central nervous system. It is usually illegally produced and distributed in several forms, including powder, crystal, rocks, and tablets.
In the short term, using meth causes an increase in energy and alertness, a decrease in appetite, and an intense euphoric “rush.� In the long term, a person using meth may experience irritability, fatigue, headaches, anxiety, sleeplessness, confusion, aggressive feelings, violent rages, cravings for more meth, and depression. They may become psychotic and experience paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions. The paranoia may lead to homicidal or suicidal thoughts. Because meth is so addictive, the distance between the short and long term effects may not be very long (generally a couple of months).
is a powerful, brutal, intimate and heartrending story about the effects of meth on a family and those associated with them. Set in the Appalachian Mountains near rural Cashiers, North Carolina, it is narrated by 18 year old Jacob McNeely, a young man ensnared in grim circumstances that leave little room for hope.
The only beacon comes in the form of Maggie, Jacob’s ex-girlfriend and childhood best friend. She’s described repeatedly as beautiful and smart � a “good girl� who’s destined for a better life. Maggie represents everything Jacob can’t have and feels he doesn’t deserve � hope, beauty, goodness and honest success.
is an excellent novel, one of depravity that paints a merciless and joyless portrait of poverty and crime in a drug infused environment. Joy has a real gift for scene-setting and vivid characters that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat until the final page is turned.
I was curious as to Joy's meticulous research and/or knowledge of the meth industry and the horrific impact this drug has on an individual. His telling of the effects was simply superb.
It brought to mind a poem that I had seen on Facebook, written by a young Indian girl who was in jail for drug charges, and was addicted to meth. She wrote this while in jail. She fully grasped the horrors of the drug, as she tells in this simple, yet profound poem. She was released from jail, but, true to her story, the drug owned her. They found her dead not long after, with the needle still in her arm.
I AM METH
I destroy homes, I tear families apart,
I take your children, and that's just the start.
I'm more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold,
The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.
If you need me, remember I'm easily found,
I live all around you - in schools and in town
I live with the rich, I live with the poor,
I live down the street, and maybe next door.
I'm made in a lab, but not like you think,
I can be made under the kitchen sink.
In your child's closet, and even in the woods,
If this scares you to death, well it certainly should.
I have many names, but there's one you know best,
I'm sure you've heard of me, my name is crystal meth.
My power is awesome, try me you'll see,
But if you do, you may never break free.
Just try me once and I might let you go,
But try me twice, and I'll own your soul.
When I possess you, you'll steal and you'll lie,
You do what you have to ? just to get high.
The crimes you'll commit for my narcotic charms
Will be worth the pleasure you'll feel in your arms.
You'll lie to your mother, you'll steal from your dad,
When you see their tears, you should feel sad.
But you'll forget your morals and how you were raised,
I'll be your conscience, I'll teach you my ways.
I take kids from parents, and parents from kids,
I turn people from God, and separate friends.
I'll take everything from you, your looks and your pride,
I'll be with you always ? right by your side.
You'll give up everything - your family, your home,
Your friends, your money, then you'll be alone.
I'll take and take, till you have nothing more to give,
When I'm finished with you, you'll be lucky to live.
If you try me be warned - this is no game,
If given the chance, I'll drive you insane.
I'll ravish your body, I'll control your mind,
I'll own you completely, your soul will be mine.
The nightmares I'll give you while lying in bed,
The voices you'll hear, from inside your head.
The sweats, the shakes, the visions you'll see,
I want you to know, these are all gifts from me.
But then it's too late, and you'll know in your heart,
That you are mine, and we shall not part.
You'll regret that you tried me, they always do,
But you came to me, not I to you.
You knew this would happen, many times you were told,
But you challenged my power, and chose to be bold.
You could have said no, and just walked away,
If you could live that day over, now what would you say?
I'll be your master, you will be my slave,
I'll even go with you, when you go to your grave.
Now that you have met me, what will you do?
Will you try me or not? It's all up to you.
I can bring you more misery than words can tell,
Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell.
Both this book, and this poem, are deserving of being read.
- Faces of Meth
Methamphetamine (Meth) is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant drug that dramatically affects the central nervous system. It is usually illegally produced and distributed in several forms, including powder, crystal, rocks, and tablets.
In the short term, using meth causes an increase in energy and alertness, a decrease in appetite, and an intense euphoric “rush.� In the long term, a person using meth may experience irritability, fatigue, headaches, anxiety, sleeplessness, confusion, aggressive feelings, violent rages, cravings for more meth, and depression. They may become psychotic and experience paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions. The paranoia may lead to homicidal or suicidal thoughts. Because meth is so addictive, the distance between the short and long term effects may not be very long (generally a couple of months).
is a powerful, brutal, intimate and heartrending story about the effects of meth on a family and those associated with them. Set in the Appalachian Mountains near rural Cashiers, North Carolina, it is narrated by 18 year old Jacob McNeely, a young man ensnared in grim circumstances that leave little room for hope.
"There was no escaping who I was or where I’d come from. I was shat out of a crank-head mother who'd just been cut loose from the loony bin. I was born to a father who'd slip a knife in my throat while I slept if the mood hit him right."His father, Charlie, an extremely violent man, runs a methodically organized meth ring, with local authorities receiving a regular payout to turn a blind eye to his dealings. His mother, Laura, is a crystal meth user, rarely sober and therefore "absent" for most of his life, thus leaving Jacob to be predominantly raised by his father in an environment fueled by drugs and brutality.
"Outlawing was just a way of earning a buck. By the time I was nine or ten, Daddy had me helping him break down big bags of crystal into grams, never anything smaller, and I got a cut just like most kids got an allowance."Essentially this book is about an 18 year old kid who is trying desperately to follow in his father's footsteps because that is how he's been raised, but as this darkness builds around him and he tries to go through with those expectations, it becomes evident that despite how much he tries, he doesn't carry that same meanness in his blood.
"My mother was the definition of rode hard and put up wet. Her eyes were bulbous, her face sunken in, just a thin layer of skin stretched tight over bones. Hair that was thick and brown in old pictures strung greasy down her neck now.
She was nothing like those pictures anymore, though she was exactly how I'd always remembered. She was absolutely pitiful."
"She was what she was, an addict, and there was nothing that could be said or done to change her. Death was her only saviour."
The only beacon comes in the form of Maggie, Jacob’s ex-girlfriend and childhood best friend. She’s described repeatedly as beautiful and smart � a “good girl� who’s destined for a better life. Maggie represents everything Jacob can’t have and feels he doesn’t deserve � hope, beauty, goodness and honest success.
“God doesn’t answer McNeely prayers."As the situation with his father spirals out of control, Jacob must decide whether he can escape his criminal circumstances by leaving with Maggie, or stay with the violent, crime-ridden legacy he's inherited.
is an excellent novel, one of depravity that paints a merciless and joyless portrait of poverty and crime in a drug infused environment. Joy has a real gift for scene-setting and vivid characters that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat until the final page is turned.
I was curious as to Joy's meticulous research and/or knowledge of the meth industry and the horrific impact this drug has on an individual. His telling of the effects was simply superb.
It brought to mind a poem that I had seen on Facebook, written by a young Indian girl who was in jail for drug charges, and was addicted to meth. She wrote this while in jail. She fully grasped the horrors of the drug, as she tells in this simple, yet profound poem. She was released from jail, but, true to her story, the drug owned her. They found her dead not long after, with the needle still in her arm.
I AM METH
I destroy homes, I tear families apart,
I take your children, and that's just the start.
I'm more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold,
The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.
If you need me, remember I'm easily found,
I live all around you - in schools and in town
I live with the rich, I live with the poor,
I live down the street, and maybe next door.
I'm made in a lab, but not like you think,
I can be made under the kitchen sink.
In your child's closet, and even in the woods,
If this scares you to death, well it certainly should.
I have many names, but there's one you know best,
I'm sure you've heard of me, my name is crystal meth.
My power is awesome, try me you'll see,
But if you do, you may never break free.
Just try me once and I might let you go,
But try me twice, and I'll own your soul.
When I possess you, you'll steal and you'll lie,
You do what you have to ? just to get high.
The crimes you'll commit for my narcotic charms
Will be worth the pleasure you'll feel in your arms.
You'll lie to your mother, you'll steal from your dad,
When you see their tears, you should feel sad.
But you'll forget your morals and how you were raised,
I'll be your conscience, I'll teach you my ways.
I take kids from parents, and parents from kids,
I turn people from God, and separate friends.
I'll take everything from you, your looks and your pride,
I'll be with you always ? right by your side.
You'll give up everything - your family, your home,
Your friends, your money, then you'll be alone.
I'll take and take, till you have nothing more to give,
When I'm finished with you, you'll be lucky to live.
If you try me be warned - this is no game,
If given the chance, I'll drive you insane.
I'll ravish your body, I'll control your mind,
I'll own you completely, your soul will be mine.
The nightmares I'll give you while lying in bed,
The voices you'll hear, from inside your head.
The sweats, the shakes, the visions you'll see,
I want you to know, these are all gifts from me.
But then it's too late, and you'll know in your heart,
That you are mine, and we shall not part.
You'll regret that you tried me, they always do,
But you came to me, not I to you.
You knew this would happen, many times you were told,
But you challenged my power, and chose to be bold.
You could have said no, and just walked away,
If you could live that day over, now what would you say?
I'll be your master, you will be my slave,
I'll even go with you, when you go to your grave.
Now that you have met me, what will you do?
Will you try me or not? It's all up to you.
I can bring you more misery than words can tell,
Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell.
Both this book, and this poem, are deserving of being read.
April 24, 2015
This is a fantastic debut novel, beautifully written with great characters and a wonderful sense of place. Set in the rural area of Cashiers, North Carolina, the protagonist is eighteen-year-old Jacob McNeely, whom we meet one night as he climbs the town's water tower to look down on the high school parking lot as his former classmates leave the building from their graduation ceremony. In particular, Jacob is searching for Maggie, the girl he loves and whose heart he broke two years earlier.
Jacob is not graduating with his class because he left school the first moment he could to join his father in the family meth business. Jacob's father is the kingpin of the local meth industry. He launders his cash through his auto body shop and pays off the cops to look the other way. In truth, Jacob comes from a long line of outlaws and he knew at an early age that he destiny was predetermined. He's been assisting his father for a good many years already, and even if he had higher aspirations, he understands that he hasn't a prayer of achieving them.
Jacob's mother lives alone in a cabin in the woods, surrounded by Jack Pines, having long ago become addicted to her husband's product line. Jacob laments that "I wasn't old enough to remember the day Daddy sent her there. The way he told it, she was stealing crank and spent most of her time climbing around the peter tree. So he sent her to this place. Loved her too much to give her nothing, but giving her anything at all squared things so he'd never have to love her again."
While Jacob knows he'll never escape from Cashiers, he hopes that Maggie will. She's the brightest and most beautiful girl in town, and Jacob know that she's one of the few who has a chance to escape, go to college and make a real future for herself. Accordingly, though they had loved each other since they were children, he broke off the relationship two years earlier so that she would not feel trapped, bound to Cashiers through him. He still cares for her very much, though, and when he sees that the future he envisions for her might be threatened, he acts in a way to protect her, irrespective of the consequences for himself.
In the meantime, his relationship with his father becomes increasingly rocky. His father is a strict disciplinarian who expects Jacob to obey his orders without question. Jacob is not cut from the same cloth, however, and when problems arise in the meth business and things get increasingly violent, Jacob will have some hard decisions to make.
As I suggested above, this is a great read, easily on a par with the best of Daniel Woodrell's books, and I promise that anyone who enjoyed , for example, is going to love this one. 4.5 stars for me--my favorite book of the year thus far, and I eagerly await David Joy's next book.
Jacob is not graduating with his class because he left school the first moment he could to join his father in the family meth business. Jacob's father is the kingpin of the local meth industry. He launders his cash through his auto body shop and pays off the cops to look the other way. In truth, Jacob comes from a long line of outlaws and he knew at an early age that he destiny was predetermined. He's been assisting his father for a good many years already, and even if he had higher aspirations, he understands that he hasn't a prayer of achieving them.
Jacob's mother lives alone in a cabin in the woods, surrounded by Jack Pines, having long ago become addicted to her husband's product line. Jacob laments that "I wasn't old enough to remember the day Daddy sent her there. The way he told it, she was stealing crank and spent most of her time climbing around the peter tree. So he sent her to this place. Loved her too much to give her nothing, but giving her anything at all squared things so he'd never have to love her again."
While Jacob knows he'll never escape from Cashiers, he hopes that Maggie will. She's the brightest and most beautiful girl in town, and Jacob know that she's one of the few who has a chance to escape, go to college and make a real future for herself. Accordingly, though they had loved each other since they were children, he broke off the relationship two years earlier so that she would not feel trapped, bound to Cashiers through him. He still cares for her very much, though, and when he sees that the future he envisions for her might be threatened, he acts in a way to protect her, irrespective of the consequences for himself.
In the meantime, his relationship with his father becomes increasingly rocky. His father is a strict disciplinarian who expects Jacob to obey his orders without question. Jacob is not cut from the same cloth, however, and when problems arise in the meth business and things get increasingly violent, Jacob will have some hard decisions to make.
As I suggested above, this is a great read, easily on a par with the best of Daniel Woodrell's books, and I promise that anyone who enjoyed , for example, is going to love this one. 4.5 stars for me--my favorite book of the year thus far, and I eagerly await David Joy's next book.
August 10, 2016
Out of all the books in this genre that I've read this year, out of all the books I've read this year there are only a handful I can say are my favorites. "Where All Light Tends to Go" is the one that haunts me most of all of those, it's the one that I think of most often. Maybe partly because I'm familiar with areas near where this story is told, but the largest part is because it's a beautifully told story even when the story is hardly beautiful, the telling of it is poetic, lyrical, lovely even when you least expect it.
October 8, 2018
In Cashiers, North Carolina, the name McNeely is synonymous with the meth trade.Ìý Jacob's father runs the business and his mother enjoys the fruits of his labors.Ìý Father is profane and a little bit crazed, his torso a veritable graffiti of tattoos.Ìý Mom is just this side of a drooling idiot after years of sampling the product (Quality Control, anyone?).Ìý All Jacob has ever wanted is to get out of there, but as he grows older he finds himself involved so deeply in his father's business that these hopes have dimmed considerably.Ìý He is about to make a last ditch effort to extricate himself from the whole shootin' works.
November 27, 2015
Find all of my reviews at:
"Blood's thicker than water, and I was drowning in it."
Jacob McNeely has been raised in the mountains of North Carolina by his father - a real uhhhhhhh self-made man . . . .
His momma is still around . . . kinda . . .
Unfortunately, she didn't take the advice of Fat Amy so the majority of her life has been spent scratching at imaginary bugs and other important things like looking for a lightbulb.
Jacob came to terms at an early age that there would be little to no chance of getting out and has always done what his daddy told him - even when those things were of the sort that would nag at his conscience for eternity . . . .
When one of his "chores" goes South, Jacob must decide whether he's all in or to take a risk on a life with the girl he's always loved . . . .
If given more time to mull it over, this might end up as a 3.5 or even 3 Star book for me. That's why I'm not giving myself more time to think it over. I started reading Where All Light Tends To Go with my morning coffee . . . and never put it down. At 260 pages with prose that really sucked me right in, it wasn't hard to finish this in one sitting.
That's not to say the story was perfect. Daddy ran an empire, but we were never really given any details about the operation. Jacob was assigned to supervise some serious tasks, but was pretty much incompetent with zero common sense. Various scenes were totally far-fetched or unnecessary and I thought 25 of the last 50 pages or so kinda shit the bed. However, it ended up redeeming itself, even if it wasn't with the kind of adrenaline rush of an ending I had been expecting on all along . . .
Plus, I thought it was truly un-put-down-able and as an added bonus had a great freaking soundtrack . . . .
For a debut, Where All Light Tends To Go was solid and I will definitely pick up whatever Joy comes up with next. Hick Lit is quickly becoming a genre of choice.
Hear that, NetGalley? You shouldn't have denied me this one. Thanks to the library for having my back . . .
"Blood's thicker than water, and I was drowning in it."
Jacob McNeely has been raised in the mountains of North Carolina by his father - a real uhhhhhhh self-made man . . . .
His momma is still around . . . kinda . . .
Unfortunately, she didn't take the advice of Fat Amy so the majority of her life has been spent scratching at imaginary bugs and other important things like looking for a lightbulb.
Jacob came to terms at an early age that there would be little to no chance of getting out and has always done what his daddy told him - even when those things were of the sort that would nag at his conscience for eternity . . . .
When one of his "chores" goes South, Jacob must decide whether he's all in or to take a risk on a life with the girl he's always loved . . . .
If given more time to mull it over, this might end up as a 3.5 or even 3 Star book for me. That's why I'm not giving myself more time to think it over. I started reading Where All Light Tends To Go with my morning coffee . . . and never put it down. At 260 pages with prose that really sucked me right in, it wasn't hard to finish this in one sitting.
That's not to say the story was perfect. Daddy ran an empire, but we were never really given any details about the operation. Jacob was assigned to supervise some serious tasks, but was pretty much incompetent with zero common sense. Various scenes were totally far-fetched or unnecessary and I thought 25 of the last 50 pages or so kinda shit the bed. However, it ended up redeeming itself, even if it wasn't with the kind of adrenaline rush of an ending I had been expecting on all along . . .
Plus, I thought it was truly un-put-down-able and as an added bonus had a great freaking soundtrack . . . .
For a debut, Where All Light Tends To Go was solid and I will definitely pick up whatever Joy comes up with next. Hick Lit is quickly becoming a genre of choice.
Hear that, NetGalley? You shouldn't have denied me this one. Thanks to the library for having my back . . .
September 1, 2018
Heck of a story, told with profundity and clarity, set in a stark, cursed world few see
This novel is especially praiseworthy for a debut, particularly when I compare it to some of the early works of other authors of the Southern lit (noir) ilk, like Daniel Woodrell, whose praise graces this book's cover. I keep wanting to compare this to a Ron Rash short story (like those in the stellar, sulphurous Chemistry and Other Stories) expanded and developed further into a rather short novel. By this comparison, I intend high praise.
Written as a first person narrative of Jacob McNeely, apparently 18, around the time of his former classmates' HS graduation. He dropped out of school to help out in the family business, a West Carolina mountain meth mob of which his daddy, Charlie McNeely, is the don. The book revolves primarily around the relationship between Jacob and daddy, their ties to the community (vel non) and particularly to "bulls" (law enforcement officers). The themes include whether one can escape blood and environment ("blood is thicker than water, and I'm drowning in it"), and the irrefutable difference between what's right and what's wrong and how this distinction sometimes gets muddled by a life full of "broken windows."
Jacob's love interest Maggie (childhood sweetheart) and their possibly rekindled romance are a driving force in the story, her being symbolic of "a way out of here." And yet, I never could identify with it enough because, I think, she was not fully developed; thus I never realized their relationship in a way that made me feel despair at the threat of losing it. Perhaps that's what Mr. Joy intended. Ever present was a sense of the emptiness of a life lived with a daddy don and a momma meth head, with a little dark and *addled* spice a la Flannery O'Connor thrown in.
The novel kept me hanging until the end. Mr. Joy employs clear, conversational prose to convey a funereal context. I can't help believe that if he'd had a little more experience under his belt, he might have more fully explored the story of Jacob + Maggie and have hit a home run.
I look forward to reading more from this gifted writer. He can tell a hell of a story, with profundity and clarity, set in a stark and cursed world few see aside from on nightly newscasts or TV news-magazines.
This novel is especially praiseworthy for a debut, particularly when I compare it to some of the early works of other authors of the Southern lit (noir) ilk, like Daniel Woodrell, whose praise graces this book's cover. I keep wanting to compare this to a Ron Rash short story (like those in the stellar, sulphurous Chemistry and Other Stories) expanded and developed further into a rather short novel. By this comparison, I intend high praise.
Written as a first person narrative of Jacob McNeely, apparently 18, around the time of his former classmates' HS graduation. He dropped out of school to help out in the family business, a West Carolina mountain meth mob of which his daddy, Charlie McNeely, is the don. The book revolves primarily around the relationship between Jacob and daddy, their ties to the community (vel non) and particularly to "bulls" (law enforcement officers). The themes include whether one can escape blood and environment ("blood is thicker than water, and I'm drowning in it"), and the irrefutable difference between what's right and what's wrong and how this distinction sometimes gets muddled by a life full of "broken windows."
Jacob's love interest Maggie (childhood sweetheart) and their possibly rekindled romance are a driving force in the story, her being symbolic of "a way out of here." And yet, I never could identify with it enough because, I think, she was not fully developed; thus I never realized their relationship in a way that made me feel despair at the threat of losing it. Perhaps that's what Mr. Joy intended. Ever present was a sense of the emptiness of a life lived with a daddy don and a momma meth head, with a little dark and *addled* spice a la Flannery O'Connor thrown in.
The novel kept me hanging until the end. Mr. Joy employs clear, conversational prose to convey a funereal context. I can't help believe that if he'd had a little more experience under his belt, he might have more fully explored the story of Jacob + Maggie and have hit a home run.
I look forward to reading more from this gifted writer. He can tell a hell of a story, with profundity and clarity, set in a stark and cursed world few see aside from on nightly newscasts or TV news-magazines.
Read
September 13, 2016Putting this book aside, too. Working on getting out of a book slump. Not a bad book just not the right timing.
August 23, 2018
David Joy's powerful debut novel is one you can't put down. Where the Light Tends To Go gives you a true look at life in the Appalachians. Jacob McNeely, son to a meth ring leader, is a character I could really feel for. He wants to leave his unforgiving environment, but is resigned to his inevitable fate. The reader lives through his heartbreaking romance with girlfriend Maggie.
Well written. A recommended read.
4 out of 5 stars.
Well written. A recommended read.
4 out of 5 stars.
October 23, 2021
Review posted to:
Books like this are the reason I love to read.
Character-Driven Fiction that is dark, gritty, realistic, heartbreaking, and utterly compelling, Where All the Light Tends to Go by David Joy, checked every single box. If only all other books were this good.
Jacob McNeely lives a shady life. How could he not, after being raised by his dad who runs a large meth operation in their small town? Though Jacob wants to live his own life and make his own decisions, the truth is, for someone like him there’s no way out. Every step he takes, every decision he makes, puts him on shakier ground.
For Jacob, life is dirty, messy, and hard-fought, and yet he perseveres.
What keeps Jacob going day after day is Maggie, his childhood sweetheart. Doomed from the start, these two have never been able to make it work, yet the love they feel for each other is palpable. Kind, loving, and supportive, Jacob only wants the best for Maggie. It is that, right there that stole a piece of my heart and captured it. What can I say, except that there’s just something about Jacob, a man willing to risk it all for the woman he loves.
My favorite kind of novel, this is character-driven southern literature/grit lit at its messiest, and yet I loved every second. Jacob is a man looking for absolution. The question, of course, is whether or not he can find it.
Have I mentioned how brilliant this novel is? The writing is stunning, the characters are fully fleshed out, and the drama is devastating. This is the third novel that I’ve read and loved by David Joy, who quickly became one of my favorite authors after having read The Line that Held Us.
This book has been sitting on my unread bookshelf for almost 3 years. All I can say is, boy, am I glad that Kaceey and I FINALLY made the time. David Joy, your writing is spectacular. It’s lyrical, poetic, gritty, and full of heart and I eagerly await your next book.
Another amazing buddy read with Ms. Kaceey, which gave us a lot to discuss.
Published on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, and Twitter.
Books like this are the reason I love to read.
Character-Driven Fiction that is dark, gritty, realistic, heartbreaking, and utterly compelling, Where All the Light Tends to Go by David Joy, checked every single box. If only all other books were this good.
Jacob McNeely lives a shady life. How could he not, after being raised by his dad who runs a large meth operation in their small town? Though Jacob wants to live his own life and make his own decisions, the truth is, for someone like him there’s no way out. Every step he takes, every decision he makes, puts him on shakier ground.
For Jacob, life is dirty, messy, and hard-fought, and yet he perseveres.
What keeps Jacob going day after day is Maggie, his childhood sweetheart. Doomed from the start, these two have never been able to make it work, yet the love they feel for each other is palpable. Kind, loving, and supportive, Jacob only wants the best for Maggie. It is that, right there that stole a piece of my heart and captured it. What can I say, except that there’s just something about Jacob, a man willing to risk it all for the woman he loves.
My favorite kind of novel, this is character-driven southern literature/grit lit at its messiest, and yet I loved every second. Jacob is a man looking for absolution. The question, of course, is whether or not he can find it.
Have I mentioned how brilliant this novel is? The writing is stunning, the characters are fully fleshed out, and the drama is devastating. This is the third novel that I’ve read and loved by David Joy, who quickly became one of my favorite authors after having read The Line that Held Us.
This book has been sitting on my unread bookshelf for almost 3 years. All I can say is, boy, am I glad that Kaceey and I FINALLY made the time. David Joy, your writing is spectacular. It’s lyrical, poetic, gritty, and full of heart and I eagerly await your next book.
Another amazing buddy read with Ms. Kaceey, which gave us a lot to discuss.
Published on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, and Twitter.
April 19, 2024
When I enjoy a man enough to move closer, there’s always this moment: a small leap of faith in which I become vulnerable, in which I carefully watch to see if he can do the same. All too often, he can’t. He’s closed off. Stoic. Emotionally stunted. I listen to my gut on such occasions, having lost all patience with men who can’t come through for me in this department.
And here’s the thing. The lead in this story - an all-brawn Appalachian scrub who ritually climbs his graffitied water tower to smoke cigarettes and hillbilly weed, who sells crank for his father and laughs at his hollowed-out drug addict of a mother when she accidentally inhales a joint roach or falls off a chair trying to change a lightbulb while loaded � seems like he’d be the worst offender amongst unknowable males.
But he’s no such thing. Well, I guess he’s 40% such-a-thing because he’s always internally wrestling what he calls “the man part of myself,� which is nothing but the voice of his father, in my opinion.
But this man - Jacob McNeely � seems tender to me in the way Johnny Cash is tender. He ain’t fancy or longwinded, but he feels things deeply and loves full-tilt.
I can’t explain it, really, but he’s always saying things that keep me on his side:
“Maggie was different. Even early on, I remember being amazed by her. She’d always been something slippery that I never could seem to grasp. Something buried deep in her that never let anything outside of herself decide what she would become. I’d always loved that about her. I’d always loved her� (2%).
“Rogers looked up toward the ceiling and blew a long line of smoke that hit the wood and spread like milk� (92%).
“We fit together perfectly. Everything about it was perfect. And perfect was something that in all my life I’d never known� (95%).
Go ahead and call me crazy. Read the book and say I’m a fool for loving McNeely the way I do. But I’m telling you right now: I’d marry this man. Also, is now a good time to say I’d also marry his main squeeze, Maggie? Though she isn’t fully utilized or fleshed out in this novel, she’s played in the film version by my second most persistent female Hollywood crush:
Jeeze, Louise. If I wind up with a fella, make him the feelin� type. And if it’s a woman, make her a dark-featured version of Robin Wright.
What else can I say? From word one, author David Joy held me in the palm of his hand. I looked forward to my audiobook time each day, and I felt a thrill just before hitting “play.� One day, I even listened to this book while paddling against a strong wind on a huge Texas lake, and the story was often good enough to make me forget to paddle. Instead, I reveled in this “Appalachian noir� and wondered where Joy’s been all my life.
I can’t explain it any better than I have. Many savvy readers will disagree. But I loved this story, which is short and kinda� sweet but mostly bitter.
Book/Song Pairing:
And here’s the thing. The lead in this story - an all-brawn Appalachian scrub who ritually climbs his graffitied water tower to smoke cigarettes and hillbilly weed, who sells crank for his father and laughs at his hollowed-out drug addict of a mother when she accidentally inhales a joint roach or falls off a chair trying to change a lightbulb while loaded � seems like he’d be the worst offender amongst unknowable males.
But he’s no such thing. Well, I guess he’s 40% such-a-thing because he’s always internally wrestling what he calls “the man part of myself,� which is nothing but the voice of his father, in my opinion.
But this man - Jacob McNeely � seems tender to me in the way Johnny Cash is tender. He ain’t fancy or longwinded, but he feels things deeply and loves full-tilt.
I can’t explain it, really, but he’s always saying things that keep me on his side:
“Maggie was different. Even early on, I remember being amazed by her. She’d always been something slippery that I never could seem to grasp. Something buried deep in her that never let anything outside of herself decide what she would become. I’d always loved that about her. I’d always loved her� (2%).
“Rogers looked up toward the ceiling and blew a long line of smoke that hit the wood and spread like milk� (92%).
“We fit together perfectly. Everything about it was perfect. And perfect was something that in all my life I’d never known� (95%).
Go ahead and call me crazy. Read the book and say I’m a fool for loving McNeely the way I do. But I’m telling you right now: I’d marry this man. Also, is now a good time to say I’d also marry his main squeeze, Maggie? Though she isn’t fully utilized or fleshed out in this novel, she’s played in the film version by my second most persistent female Hollywood crush:
Jeeze, Louise. If I wind up with a fella, make him the feelin� type. And if it’s a woman, make her a dark-featured version of Robin Wright.
What else can I say? From word one, author David Joy held me in the palm of his hand. I looked forward to my audiobook time each day, and I felt a thrill just before hitting “play.� One day, I even listened to this book while paddling against a strong wind on a huge Texas lake, and the story was often good enough to make me forget to paddle. Instead, I reveled in this “Appalachian noir� and wondered where Joy’s been all my life.
I can’t explain it any better than I have. Many savvy readers will disagree. But I loved this story, which is short and kinda� sweet but mostly bitter.
Book/Song Pairing:
May 22, 2015
Where All Light Tends to Go: Love, Light, and Fading to Black
by was chosen by members of On the Southern Literary Trail as the Post-1980 Group Read for May, 2015. Special thanks to Trail Member Dawn Copley for nominating this work.
has written a compelling debut novel in . A student of , Joy obviously listened closely to his gifted mentor. praises the novel as, "Lyrical, propulsive, dark, and compelling. Joy knows well the grit and gravel of his world, the soul and blemishes of the place." No faint praise from the widely recognized author of "Country Noir."
Where does all light tend to go? Perhaps the answer lies in the Psalms.
Pss.18
[1] I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
[2] The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
[3] I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
[4] The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
[5] The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me...
[6] In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
[7] Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
[8] There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
[9] He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
[10] And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
[11] He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
[12] At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
[13] The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
[14] Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
[15] Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
[16] He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
[17] He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
[18] They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
[19] He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
[20] The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
[21] For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
[22] For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
[23] I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
[24] Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
[25] With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
[26] With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
[27] For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
[28] For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
[29] For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
[30] As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
[31] For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
[32] It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
[33] He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
[34] He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
[35] Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
[36] Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
[37] I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
[38] I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.
[39] For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
[40] Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
[41] They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
[42] Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
[43] Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.
[44] As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
[45] The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
[46] The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
[47] It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
[48] He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
[49] Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
[50] Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
Or, perhaps all light just fades to black.
Jacob McNeely has been raised in the hills of Western North Carolina by a Meth kingpin, protected by cops on the take. Charlie McNeely has used his son in the family business since Jacob was a youngster, promising him a payday in the long run. But Charlie keeps the money put away "safe," as he drags Jacob deeper into the dirtier bits of the drug trade. Bits like taking care of snitches who blab to the law not on the family payroll.
Charlie may be a stone killer, but Jacob isn't. Nor can Jacob put aside his mmother, turned into a Meth addict by his oown father, who has simply called her "the Bitch" so long, it takes a law man to iinform the reader she once was called Laura.
David Joy deftly paints Jacob as a young man conscious of living in a world so evil he believes it impossible to escape from it.
Jacob will sacrifice his own happiness by breaking up with his love Maggie to keep her from becoming entangled in the world in which he is trapped. And Jacob will descend into a maelstrom of ever increasing violence ordered by his father.
Joy plots his novel at fever pitch. The ending stuns, startles, and reveals where all light tends to go. Is it in the Psalms, or does it simply fade to black? This is a must read. The answer to where the light tends to go is not an easy one.
David Joy is an author to be watched. Highly recommended, especially to admirers of authors such as and .
by was chosen by members of On the Southern Literary Trail as the Post-1980 Group Read for May, 2015. Special thanks to Trail Member Dawn Copley for nominating this work.
has written a compelling debut novel in . A student of , Joy obviously listened closely to his gifted mentor. praises the novel as, "Lyrical, propulsive, dark, and compelling. Joy knows well the grit and gravel of his world, the soul and blemishes of the place." No faint praise from the widely recognized author of "Country Noir."
Where does all light tend to go? Perhaps the answer lies in the Psalms.
Pss.18
[1] I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
[2] The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
[3] I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
[4] The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
[5] The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me...
[6] In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
[7] Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
[8] There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
[9] He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
[10] And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
[11] He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
[12] At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
[13] The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
[14] Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
[15] Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
[16] He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
[17] He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
[18] They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
[19] He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
[20] The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
[21] For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
[22] For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
[23] I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
[24] Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
[25] With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
[26] With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
[27] For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
[28] For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
[29] For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
[30] As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
[31] For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
[32] It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
[33] He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
[34] He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
[35] Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
[36] Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
[37] I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
[38] I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.
[39] For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
[40] Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
[41] They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
[42] Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
[43] Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.
[44] As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
[45] The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
[46] The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
[47] It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
[48] He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
[49] Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
[50] Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
Or, perhaps all light just fades to black.
Jacob McNeely has been raised in the hills of Western North Carolina by a Meth kingpin, protected by cops on the take. Charlie McNeely has used his son in the family business since Jacob was a youngster, promising him a payday in the long run. But Charlie keeps the money put away "safe," as he drags Jacob deeper into the dirtier bits of the drug trade. Bits like taking care of snitches who blab to the law not on the family payroll.
Charlie may be a stone killer, but Jacob isn't. Nor can Jacob put aside his mmother, turned into a Meth addict by his oown father, who has simply called her "the Bitch" so long, it takes a law man to iinform the reader she once was called Laura.
David Joy deftly paints Jacob as a young man conscious of living in a world so evil he believes it impossible to escape from it.
Jacob will sacrifice his own happiness by breaking up with his love Maggie to keep her from becoming entangled in the world in which he is trapped. And Jacob will descend into a maelstrom of ever increasing violence ordered by his father.
Joy plots his novel at fever pitch. The ending stuns, startles, and reveals where all light tends to go. Is it in the Psalms, or does it simply fade to black? This is a must read. The answer to where the light tends to go is not an easy one.
David Joy is an author to be watched. Highly recommended, especially to admirers of authors such as and .
May 8, 2015
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. There were too many inconsistencies for me, too many details that didn't add up, too much that just didn't jive, sometimes in the same sentence or paragraph. The story was a good one, but in the end I just did not care about these characters or what happened to them. Too bad, but I do think this author has some promise. Maybe he can tighten things up in his next book.
June 13, 2021
This is the second terrific book by this author that I've read and he has made me think more highly of grit lit (although I still think the genre is tainted by too many clichés and too much melodrama).
Despite the violence that surrounds him, 18 year old Jacob is a sympathetic character, and believable in his resignation that he is trapped by his circumstances. His father is a meth dealer who will do (or command the doing) of anything necessary to keep his business going. The police mostly look the other way until Daddy's crimes become personal to one of the cops. This book was lean and fast-moving with an ending that I was not expecting. I look forward to more from this author. I also enjoyed the narration of the audiobook by MacLeod Andrews.
Despite the violence that surrounds him, 18 year old Jacob is a sympathetic character, and believable in his resignation that he is trapped by his circumstances. His father is a meth dealer who will do (or command the doing) of anything necessary to keep his business going. The police mostly look the other way until Daddy's crimes become personal to one of the cops. This book was lean and fast-moving with an ending that I was not expecting. I look forward to more from this author. I also enjoyed the narration of the audiobook by MacLeod Andrews.
March 22, 2016
I was meh on this book, disengaged and disbelieving.
This kid, Jacob, is, essentially, the hooker with a heart of gold character and all his hopes are pinned on a girl, Maggie, whom he’s always loved. Only, he's not a hooker, he's the son of the small town's meth king. He thought he had found a way out of his miserable life and he was so close when some new cops, ones not being paid off, show up on the scene and go up against the methy population which, in turn, poses a problem for the cops who are on the pay and this leads to all sorts of trouble and ruins Jacob's chances of escaping forever with Maggie.
Jacob and Maggie are not too different from Todd and Viola from The Chaos Walking series what with their dumb conversations and the One-never-listens-to-the-other schtick but this story is set against the gritty, meth-addled Appalachia backdrop instead of a far distant planet. It doesn't work any better for these two than it did for those two.
The main gist of this entire book is Jacob's inability to get control of his life. He keeps stating he’s stuck, he can never leave. But why? Why can’t he leave? What’s really stopping him from going to a another town and getting a job? It's not like he has stuff he has to take care of at home. He hates his abusive, meth-making dad. He doesn't have any other family (aside from his mother who has no clue she's is mother because she lives on the couch, tweaking her fool head off, day and night) The love of his life is moving away and has asked him to come along so he has an actual out...so WHY is he stuck there, again? I don't know.
Also, why is he so amazingly stupid? He’s always 2 steps behind and that's what gets him into trouble over and over and he never learns a damn thing. I get frustrated with characters who create their own hopelessness but don't seem aware enough to understand that they're the ones who have to change their circumstances. These are the characters who do a lot of waiting for things to happen and make a lot of bad choices while they sit there, twiddling their fingers. I just don't have time to wait with them. I'm a more proactive person.
And then it all ended with me rolling my eyes and sighing heavily.
I wasn't really a fan of this story. I give it 1.5 stars and a surly glare.
This kid, Jacob, is, essentially, the hooker with a heart of gold character and all his hopes are pinned on a girl, Maggie, whom he’s always loved. Only, he's not a hooker, he's the son of the small town's meth king. He thought he had found a way out of his miserable life and he was so close when some new cops, ones not being paid off, show up on the scene and go up against the methy population which, in turn, poses a problem for the cops who are on the pay and this leads to all sorts of trouble and ruins Jacob's chances of escaping forever with Maggie.
Jacob and Maggie are not too different from Todd and Viola from The Chaos Walking series what with their dumb conversations and the One-never-listens-to-the-other schtick but this story is set against the gritty, meth-addled Appalachia backdrop instead of a far distant planet. It doesn't work any better for these two than it did for those two.
The main gist of this entire book is Jacob's inability to get control of his life. He keeps stating he’s stuck, he can never leave. But why? Why can’t he leave? What’s really stopping him from going to a another town and getting a job? It's not like he has stuff he has to take care of at home. He hates his abusive, meth-making dad. He doesn't have any other family (aside from his mother who has no clue she's is mother because she lives on the couch, tweaking her fool head off, day and night) The love of his life is moving away and has asked him to come along so he has an actual out...so WHY is he stuck there, again? I don't know.
Also, why is he so amazingly stupid? He’s always 2 steps behind and that's what gets him into trouble over and over and he never learns a damn thing. I get frustrated with characters who create their own hopelessness but don't seem aware enough to understand that they're the ones who have to change their circumstances. These are the characters who do a lot of waiting for things to happen and make a lot of bad choices while they sit there, twiddling their fingers. I just don't have time to wait with them. I'm a more proactive person.
And then it all ended with me rolling my eyes and sighing heavily.
I wasn't really a fan of this story. I give it 1.5 stars and a surly glare.
July 16, 2021
5 Stars! Love David Joy...
August 16, 2016
'There was a place where all the light tends to go, and I reckon that was heaven."
Where All Light Tends to Go is one of the darkest, grit-lit, small town NC noir, hillbilly noir - or whatever label you want to give this genre - novels I have ever read.
Set in Cashiers, NC, a town a little over an hour from where I live - which inhabits the richest and the poorest, this is a coming of age story casting a portentous shadow from the first page. The language is rough and the story raw and heartbreaking. Jacob, the 18 year old protagonist, is growing up in a family of methamphetamine - his father the head of a meth operation - and his mother an addict - Jacob, caught up in the middle.
Thanks, Cheri, for recommending this book! It still haunts me, as well.
*the audio was exceptional - the narrator's voice a perfect choice
Where All Light Tends to Go is one of the darkest, grit-lit, small town NC noir, hillbilly noir - or whatever label you want to give this genre - novels I have ever read.
Set in Cashiers, NC, a town a little over an hour from where I live - which inhabits the richest and the poorest, this is a coming of age story casting a portentous shadow from the first page. The language is rough and the story raw and heartbreaking. Jacob, the 18 year old protagonist, is growing up in a family of methamphetamine - his father the head of a meth operation - and his mother an addict - Jacob, caught up in the middle.
Thanks, Cheri, for recommending this book! It still haunts me, as well.
*the audio was exceptional - the narrator's voice a perfect choice
October 10, 2018
3.5 stars
March 12, 2017
Dark and gritty - A solid, 4 star Appalachian noir read!
April 1, 2017
"There was no escaping who I was or where I'd come from. I was shat out of a crankhead mother who'd just been cut loose from the loony bin. I was born to a father who'd slip a knife in my throat while I slept if the mood hit him right. Blood's thicker than water, and I was drowning in it. I was sinking down in that blood, and once I hit bottom, no one would find me."It's the hopelessness that makes this book so dark. A good boy born to a bad family and an even worse future. It's depressing...but 's writing makes the journey oh so worth it.
I found some excellent insight into the themes of this novel in an online interview with the author . If you have read this novel or if you just enjoy this author, I'd highly recommend giving this interview a look. It discusses how Jacob, this story's main character came to be...how Mr. Joy imagined Jacob as a boy being instructed by his father how to kill a pig with a knife, "his father standing behind him telling his son what to do, and this boy watching the light go out of this animal’s eyes and suddenly realizing just how much power a person had over life and death." The interview also addresses the Appalachian region, class stratification, and the political, cultural, economic, and social effects of drugs, all of which play intricate roles in this novel.
For a debut, is stunning. It's deep, emotional, dangerously real, ugly, and desperate. It's a book about patterns, family dysfunction, and a son's innocence that was never allowed to exist. Check it out.
My favorite quote:
“It’s funny how it only takes one person taking the time to show you they care for all that bad shit to not seem so bad for a moment. It’s not like the demons go anywhere. What haunts you is still right there when you go back under, but that one gesture from one person can bring you to the surface for a second or two.�
April 17, 2017
WHERE ALL THE LIGHT TENDS TO GO, David Joy’s debut is a gripping harsh tale set in deep rural Appalachia� a young teen, trying desperately to escape his evil, dysfunctional family environment and pulled in emotionally by a meth-addicted mother and a sociopathic father.
A mix of Southern Gothic, noir, coming-of-age, lyrical, gritty, psychological, dark, disturbing, and compelling. The next Cormac McCarthy.
Jacob McNeely’s world has no future. It is a cruel world, pulling him into a dark world of violence. From the dark mountain woods of Sylvia, NC, a father runs a meth ring, and his mother is an addict. Jacob’s dad has forced him to help him with his illegal business. Killing or whatever it takes. He has dropped out of high school and has no friends. This is the only way of life he knows.
The light of his life is a girl named Maggie, his first love; however, he has nothing to offer her. She desires to escape this backward town for a better life and future. Jacob encourages her and supports her.
Jacob is involved in violence while his father controls everything around him. At the same time, he is pulled—sucked into being loyal to his family. Can he ever leave the mountains, his family and have a life with the girl he loves? If given the choice, can he leave, or break free from the bondage.
A heartbreaking story of a young teen, and the dismal realities of his future, and his desires and hopes; a young love, he can only dream of.
From darkness to light, Joy captures every glimpse of hope and sadness. Brutally honest, as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. He captures the harsh realities of the area, its people, and culture, with storytelling drawing you into this world from his character’s own heart and soul.
While I listened to the audiobook back in June, I was traveling at the time, and as I often do, rate the book with a review to come later. However, often, especially with audio, I fail to return to the writing of the review.
While reading Brother by Ania Ahlborn, also set in the deep rural Appalachia� (horror) of a young boy bound emotionally, haunted by a violent abusive family trying to escape his life (totally different twist); made me think about David Joy’s Where All the Light Tends to Go. It was so powerful. When going back, noticed I had not written a review. This is a book you cannot forget.
Narrated by MacLeod Andrews with a voice, matching the characters, and the setting, delivering a solid performance. (highly recommend the audio version).
In the tradition of Winter's Bone meets Breaking Bad, a savage and beautiful story of a young man seeking redemption. For fans of Ron Rash and Wiley Cash.
A native of North Carolina, I enjoy supporting Carolina authors. David Joy has written an extraordinary Southern literary debut and captures the intimate feelings and emotions of his characters beautifully. Available in paperback Feb. 2016
Cannot wait for his second novel, The Weight Of This World, coming spring, 2017.
A mix of Southern Gothic, noir, coming-of-age, lyrical, gritty, psychological, dark, disturbing, and compelling. The next Cormac McCarthy.
Jacob McNeely’s world has no future. It is a cruel world, pulling him into a dark world of violence. From the dark mountain woods of Sylvia, NC, a father runs a meth ring, and his mother is an addict. Jacob’s dad has forced him to help him with his illegal business. Killing or whatever it takes. He has dropped out of high school and has no friends. This is the only way of life he knows.
The light of his life is a girl named Maggie, his first love; however, he has nothing to offer her. She desires to escape this backward town for a better life and future. Jacob encourages her and supports her.
Jacob is involved in violence while his father controls everything around him. At the same time, he is pulled—sucked into being loyal to his family. Can he ever leave the mountains, his family and have a life with the girl he loves? If given the choice, can he leave, or break free from the bondage.
A heartbreaking story of a young teen, and the dismal realities of his future, and his desires and hopes; a young love, he can only dream of.
From darkness to light, Joy captures every glimpse of hope and sadness. Brutally honest, as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. He captures the harsh realities of the area, its people, and culture, with storytelling drawing you into this world from his character’s own heart and soul.
While I listened to the audiobook back in June, I was traveling at the time, and as I often do, rate the book with a review to come later. However, often, especially with audio, I fail to return to the writing of the review.
While reading Brother by Ania Ahlborn, also set in the deep rural Appalachia� (horror) of a young boy bound emotionally, haunted by a violent abusive family trying to escape his life (totally different twist); made me think about David Joy’s Where All the Light Tends to Go. It was so powerful. When going back, noticed I had not written a review. This is a book you cannot forget.
Narrated by MacLeod Andrews with a voice, matching the characters, and the setting, delivering a solid performance. (highly recommend the audio version).
In the tradition of Winter's Bone meets Breaking Bad, a savage and beautiful story of a young man seeking redemption. For fans of Ron Rash and Wiley Cash.
A native of North Carolina, I enjoy supporting Carolina authors. David Joy has written an extraordinary Southern literary debut and captures the intimate feelings and emotions of his characters beautifully. Available in paperback Feb. 2016
Cannot wait for his second novel, The Weight Of This World, coming spring, 2017.
April 2, 2018
David Joy has a tendency to write really ugly characters that you can't help but feel empathic for in a 'I-know-I-really-shouldn't-but-I-goddamn-it-I-do' kind of way. It's that delicious southern-underbelly, coming of age, backwoods-demons kind of fiction that just sucks you right in.
And in audiobook? Oh hell yes. The narrator compliments Joy's writing perfectly.
And in audiobook? Oh hell yes. The narrator compliments Joy's writing perfectly.
March 3, 2016
There was a place where all light tends to go, and I reckon that was heaven.
Pretty good grit-lit story set in in the mountains of North Carolina. Some of the elements are fairly standard for this type of book, meth dealing family run by a no holds barred old man who will stop at nothing to keep the business going, police corruption. While many of the themes are familiar I thought the author did a nice job of creating an interesting and somewhat unusual main character, Jacob McNeely. Instead of a thick headed county hick or a scheming mastermind criminal, Jacob walks the line between what he was born into and what he knows he can't do, namely, escape this world in which he finds himself. His outlook on his life is very bleak
There was never a moment in my life when I bought into the idea of light at the end of the tunnel. That old adage rests entirely on the direction being traveled. Out of darkness toward the light, folks might find some sort of hope in moving forward, some sort of anticipation for what awaits them. But my entire life I’d been traveling in the opposite direction, and for those who move further into darkness, the light becomes a thing onto which we can only look back. Looking back slows you down. Looking back destroys focus. Looking back can get you killed.
Rogers was trying hard to offer some sort of insight into a reality that he knew led to hurt. But I’d known it since I was a kid. That was my reality: the hurt, the shame, and everything else entailed. So, waiting around to die was something I’d known for a long time, and it wasn’t the dying part that ate at me. It was the waiting.
There is a faint hope in his life, his former girlfriend, Maggie. This is another well used theme in all types of books, the lovers from different sides of the tracks.
It’s funny how it only takes one person taking the time to show you they care for all that bad shit to not seem so bad for a moment. It’s not like the demons go anywhere. What haunts you is still right there when you go back under, but that one gesture from one person can bring you to the surface for a second or two. And for a very long time, all I’d really needed was to come up for air.
When we were together it seemed like everything else, all the bad shit that surrounded us, stopped and we were all right for a moment or two. It was never a thing that felt like forever, but sometimes all a person needs is a chance to catch their breath.
Jacob had broken things off a few years back because he figured he would be holding Maggie back, but always continued to love her. Their relationship ebbs and flows throughout the story but Jacob never can fully commit to escaping with Maggie.
There for a while I got caught up in dreaming, and dreaming’s an awfully good thing when you don’t have to wake up. But staring back at the light only to stumble further into darkness hurts worse than never dreaming at all.
As Jacob tries to cope with a crisis in the family business and this rekindling with Maggie he never seems able to fully cut ties with his past.
The one flaw that kept this from being an outstanding book was that several of the scenes were very predictable and never really rose to the level of the character of Jacob. Otherwise a good book with a character I really enjoyed.
3.5 rounded to 4
Some souls aren't worth saving, I thought. There're some souls that even the devil wants no part of.
Pretty good grit-lit story set in in the mountains of North Carolina. Some of the elements are fairly standard for this type of book, meth dealing family run by a no holds barred old man who will stop at nothing to keep the business going, police corruption. While many of the themes are familiar I thought the author did a nice job of creating an interesting and somewhat unusual main character, Jacob McNeely. Instead of a thick headed county hick or a scheming mastermind criminal, Jacob walks the line between what he was born into and what he knows he can't do, namely, escape this world in which he finds himself. His outlook on his life is very bleak
There was never a moment in my life when I bought into the idea of light at the end of the tunnel. That old adage rests entirely on the direction being traveled. Out of darkness toward the light, folks might find some sort of hope in moving forward, some sort of anticipation for what awaits them. But my entire life I’d been traveling in the opposite direction, and for those who move further into darkness, the light becomes a thing onto which we can only look back. Looking back slows you down. Looking back destroys focus. Looking back can get you killed.
Rogers was trying hard to offer some sort of insight into a reality that he knew led to hurt. But I’d known it since I was a kid. That was my reality: the hurt, the shame, and everything else entailed. So, waiting around to die was something I’d known for a long time, and it wasn’t the dying part that ate at me. It was the waiting.
There is a faint hope in his life, his former girlfriend, Maggie. This is another well used theme in all types of books, the lovers from different sides of the tracks.
It’s funny how it only takes one person taking the time to show you they care for all that bad shit to not seem so bad for a moment. It’s not like the demons go anywhere. What haunts you is still right there when you go back under, but that one gesture from one person can bring you to the surface for a second or two. And for a very long time, all I’d really needed was to come up for air.
When we were together it seemed like everything else, all the bad shit that surrounded us, stopped and we were all right for a moment or two. It was never a thing that felt like forever, but sometimes all a person needs is a chance to catch their breath.
Jacob had broken things off a few years back because he figured he would be holding Maggie back, but always continued to love her. Their relationship ebbs and flows throughout the story but Jacob never can fully commit to escaping with Maggie.
There for a while I got caught up in dreaming, and dreaming’s an awfully good thing when you don’t have to wake up. But staring back at the light only to stumble further into darkness hurts worse than never dreaming at all.
As Jacob tries to cope with a crisis in the family business and this rekindling with Maggie he never seems able to fully cut ties with his past.
The one flaw that kept this from being an outstanding book was that several of the scenes were very predictable and never really rose to the level of the character of Jacob. Otherwise a good book with a character I really enjoyed.
3.5 rounded to 4
Some souls aren't worth saving, I thought. There're some souls that even the devil wants no part of.
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