Dust

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Pub Date 9 Aug 2016 | Archive Date 16 Feb 2018

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Description

"Early in life, my grandfather told me that only three things were certain: birth, death and time. And time only ticked one way; it went forward and never back. It came to be a recurring wish with me, the desire to turn back the clock, to undo what I had done. Always wishing for the impossible, my feet stuck firm in the molasses of the present, unable to shrug off decisions I had made and their unforeseen or disregarded consequences."

J.J Walsh and Tony 'El Greco' Papadakis are inseparable. Smoking Kents out on an abandoned cannery dock, and watching gulls sway on rusting buoys in the sea, they dream of adventure...a time when they can act as adults. The day they'll see the mighty Pacific Ocean.

Set in small-town New Jersey in the 1960s, against the backdrop of the Vietnam war, Dust follows the boys through the dry heat of a formative summer. They face religious piety and its murderous consequences, alcohol, girls, sex, loss, tragedy and ultimately the myriad things that combine to make life what it is for the two friends - a great adventure.

But it's a road trip through the heart of southern America with J.J.'s father that truly reveals a darker side to life - the two halves of a divided nation, where wealth, poverty and racial bigotry collide. This beautifully written debut novel would not be out of place alongside the work of Steinbeck and Philipp Meyer's American Rust.

At turns funny, and at others heart-achingly sad, their story unfolds around the honest and frequently irreverent observations of two young people trying to grow up fast in a world that is at times confusing, and at others seen with a clarity only the young may possess.

"Early in life, my grandfather told me that only three things were certain: birth, death and time. And time only ticked one way; it went forward and never back. It came to be a recurring wish with...


Advance Praise

Beautifully written... one of those rare timeless books that people will discover in years to come and wonder why they never read it first time around

– thelastwordbookreview.wordpress.com


DUST, as a debut novel, is extraordinary. Thought-provoking and absorbing, I couldn't put it down... a heart breaking novel about the loss of innocence in all its forms

– wardrobespareroom.blogspot.co.uk


...introspective and relaxed... this definitely makes it a book to think about... as a debut novel it is really excellent

ittakesawoman.co.uk


Beautifully written... one of those rare timeless books that people will discover in years to come and wonder why they never read it first time around

– thelastwordbookreview.wordpress.com


DUST, as a...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781910453223
PRICE US$14.95 (USD)

Average rating from 14 members


Featured Reviews

JJ and El Greco are inseparable adolescents growing up in New Jersey in the 60's. JJ is in thrall to El Greco's superior grasp of the wider world, from his knowledge (.mainly gained from his encyclopaedia) to his advice on life. They grow from childhood pranks and interests to being touched by losses from the Vietnam war, illness, family strife, racial inequality and JJ's realisation that his mother has had her free spirit wings clipped, and perhaps dreams of a different life. What lifts this book above the normal coming of age tale is the wonderfully descriptive writing, it is a joy. I was sorry to finish the book, I suspect it will be a while before I enjoy another as much as this.

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A road trip through adolescence in 1960s America, Dust tells the story of JJ and his friend Tony Papadakis. Brought up in white America, a road trip with JJ's father exposes the boys to poverty and scenes they have never imagined. Harsh, realistic and ultimately sad, reading Dust is a journey in itself.

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The friendship between 2 young boys in New Jersey in the 1960s is the basis for this beguiling and tender debut novel. J J and Tony, or El Greco as he is usually called, are firm friends and have all the adventures together you might expect. The first half of the book is well-observed and demonstrates much understanding of how a young boy’s mind works. My problem with the book was the 2nd half when J J’s father takes the boys on a road trip to the southern states of the US, where they see a very different world to the one at home and I felt that their voices became too knowing and adult. I doubt very much if such young boys would be aware of the social and political situation, or even be interested in it.
So I didn’t find this otherwise very enjoyable and readable novel totally convincing but nevertheless it’s a pleasant enough tale, and an interesting portrait of 1960s America.

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"Early in life, my grandfather told me that only three things were certain: birth, death and time. And time only ticked one way: it went forward and never back. It came to be a recurring wish with me, the desire to turn back the clock, to undo what I had done." from Dust by Mark Thompson
For as long as I can remember, part of me has faced backward, tied to the past by nostalgia and longing. When I read Maria Rainer Rilke's advice in his Letters to a Young Poet that one's childhood "treasure house of memories"* offers the creative artist a wealth of inspiration I knew it was true.

I share this to explain why I so enjoy writing that is turned backwards, considering a childhood's treasure house. The newness, the first contact, the adventure of life--and its sorrows and disappointments and questions--always has a poignancy for me.

Mark Thompson's slim debut novel Dust about the friendship and adventures of two eleven-year-old boys growing up in New Jersey in the late 1960s. It is full of lyrical nostalgia as J. J. Walsh recounts his last summer with his best friend Tony 'El Greco' Papadakis.

The boys still imagine sticks are swords, but they also sneak Kent cigarettes and drink coffee black. They imagine the larger world, planning a trip to see the Pacific Ocean. In a freedom rarely allowed today, the boys get into trouble and have misadventures, and they come to terms with death and pursue knowledge of sex. Details of American life offer a deep sense of time and place.

Near the end of summer, Mr. Walsh takes the boys to see his hometown of Savannah, GA, whose exotic beauty enchants JJ. During their travels, the boys experience the Jim Crow South with its poverty and division.

Dust is a love song to the endurance of love, love of a boyhood friend, a wife, a son.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

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