Adios, Nirvana

"To live is to swim toward the shimmer
To die is to never try"

Jonathan is barely surviving after the death of his twin brother Telly. He skips classes, doesn't sleep, survives on Red Bull, NoDoz and Special K topped with pure cane sugar from Hawaii. A year ago, he was awarded best young poet in

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Seattle, now he lives in a constant mindless stupor. The only poetry he actually writes is about his brother - the Tales of Telemachus. Less than five months before the end of the term, he receives an ultimatum from the school principal - get his act together or he'll be held back a year. To make up for his missed school work, he was given special projects: to write a book, a memoir of David Cosgrove II, a WWII soldier and to perform a song at the school's graduation ceremony. With the help oh his "thicks," he just might be able to keep afloat.

I absolutely adored this book. Jonathan’s ramblings are engrossing. There were a few times when he sounded condescending and full of himself but I think it added depth to his character. Made himself more tangible, more real. The way he was dealing with the loss of his brother made it immediately clear to me how much Telly meant to him. My favorite part of the story was when he and Telly went to Eddie Vedder's house. I think the way he described Telly at that moment sums up how much he loved and admired his brother. David’s story was intense and heartbreaking and it added another layer to the book. I thought the "thicks" were awesome for not giving up on Jonathan. I loved the other characters too - Agnes, Frank Conway, Count Basie, Gupti, Birdwell and especially RIC and RUBY.

One of the best books I’ve read this year.

p.s. FLOAT A TURD!

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It's almost a year after the fact, and Jonathan is still dealing with the death of his twin brother, Telemachus. Or not dealing. Living but moving forward.

Jonathan learns that he's going to have to repeat his junior year if he doesn't follow through with the plans set forth by his teachers and

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principal. This plan is no collection of worksheets, but more like a series of challenges personally designed to wake Jonathan from his mourning, to get him back into his life again.

Part of the plan is that he attends all of his classes and completes all of his homework, which doesn't seem to be much of a stretch for him. He's smart enough and, with the help of Red Bull, he doesn't sleep. The more creative parts of the plan require Jonathan to perform a song at that year's graduation ceremony--Jonathan's an excellent musician, but not used to performing without his twin. Finally, Jonathan must write the life story of a local war vet who's personally requested Jonathan after watching him win a poetry competition.

Thus begins the journey of this novel, where Jonathan will either succeed in regaining his life, or drown in the longing for his brother to return.

Jonathan typifies the most difficult type of at-risk teen to work with, in my opinion. He is super smart, creative, sensitive, and in serious pain. He is gifted, so school work does not really pose a challenge to him. His mother is a single mother, and is very lax and in a great amount of anguish over her son's death. More than this, Jonathan pretty much sees the world for what it is--a series of hoops to jump through, a means to an end.

I was impressed with the way that the school dealt with Jonathan. Rather than coming up with a generic, impersonal academic plan, they allotted time for Jonathan to find his strengths and his bearings as a teen who has lost his twin brother, his best friend.

This book is raw and beautiful and mentions all sorts of music and writers that I love. Poetry and lyrics and intelligence are a focal point. Jonathan feels like a real person, one that you'll want to encourage, unsure if he'll actually make it.

I loved this book for its writing, its realism, and its honesty. Very good indeed.

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Musicians, especially guitarists, will probably love this book. There’s a lot about passion and technique that probably resonates with musicians. I got the whole passion thing, but the stuff about technique really slowed the pace for me. The whole beginning, in fact, felt just a hair too slow for

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me. It seemed as though there was so much setting up the story that it took too long for the story to really get rolling.
Once Jonathan meets David and decides to help him write his life story, all the plot threads hit their stride and move right along. The hesitant friendship Jonathan forms with David allows him to work through his grief over his brother’s death. I have to say that, although I didn’t totally understand what exactly it was that got through to Jonathan – maybe it was just knowing that David knew grief, too – I was glad to see him finally get a good night’s sleep. Jonathan’s attraction to Katie, a girl he meets through his connection to David, allowed me to see how he had really started to move beyond Telly’s death in bigger ways. I will say, though, that I found the “romance” angle of that story to be extremely underdeveloped for the way the story ended.
A great thing about Wesselhoeft’s writing is the way that he weaves in Jonathan’s poetry. His poet’s observations were great insight into his mind and gave a fresh view of common occurrences that are often overlooked. I am decidedly not a poet, but I’ve always admired the way poets view the world around them.
At times I felt there wasn’t enough to the story, and other times it seemed there was maybe too much. But at its heart is a story that kept me engaged and wanting to see the changes it would bring about in Jonathan.

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Jonathon used to be a twin. I say used to be because his brother died less than a year ago. Jonathon is drifting and confused. His life is slipping away from him. The only escape he can find is in his poetry and his guitar, but they just aren't enough. As his life spirals further and further away

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down hill, he finds himself attached to the strangest people. People that show him that just because it hurts now, doesn't mean it always will.

Jonathon is an amazing character. He's a "typical" teen, caught in a loop of rebellion and finding himself. His group of friends are everything that a person could ever want. They are there to pick him up when he falls, help him out when the going gets tough, and push him forward when he needs a shove.

4/5

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An impressive debut. Realistic, compelling story. I wonder if Eddie Vedder will read it.

From the first few pages, I thought I would have to force myself to get through this book. I hated those pages and wanted nothing to do with the story following. I would summarize them thus: Boy depressed by the passing of brother gets drunk with friends. Boy pees over the edge of a ledge twenty

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feet up. Boy vomits epically and descriptively. Boy falls, mostly non-accidentally, off of the ledge and into the puke. This is, in my opinion, not an excellent start to a book or anything I am particularly in to reading. Having continued though, I was rewarded for my perseverance.

This is not to say that this book is one that I will keep in my personal collection or probably ever read again. But it definitely had its moments and had a few fantastic quotes. More than that though, it had heart and passion. The descriptions of poetry, of the writing process and of music are unbeatable. Wesselhoeft really makes the reader feel the creative juices flowing and get really into those moments. The best parts of this book, the most engaging, are the scenes where very little is actually happening, the moments of contemplation and quiet, frenzied creation.

For all rock music fans and poets, Adios, Nirvana is definitely worth reading. It comes out tomorrow, so go give it a try!

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