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Klosterman explores the world of fiction
By Lindsey | October 26, 2008
Chuck Klosterman
Downtown Owl
Scribner
288 pages
$28.00
Downtown Owl serves as Chuck Kloseterman’s first non-autobiographical novel. His previous efforts, full of pop culture, music references, and stories of ex-girlfriends and drugs, gave me the impression that this novel was going to be much different than it turned out to be.
While Klosterman is known for his wit and cultural commentary, he is also successful in creating his own world with Downtown Owl.
Set in the fictional town of Owl, N.D., residents who never cross paths in this book appear to have more in common with each other than it would seem. The book illustrates how three very different people are all connected.
The story begins with a newspaper clipping about a winter storm. It’s reported that at least 11 people are dead. From the initial clipping, the reader is taken back a few months to where the story begins.
Each chapter is dated and moves between Mitch, Horace, and Julia.
Mitch Hrlicka, or Vanna White, as he is referred to by his coach John Laidlaw after making a joke about Mitch needing more vowels in his last name, is a rock and roll-hating jock. He doesn’t seem to connect to anyone in Owl and goes so far as to compare the dystopia in 1984 to his small town.
Mitch sees Big Brother as another version of Owl residents knowing everything about everyone else. He finds nothing wrong with the dystopia since he’s been living in a similar situation his entire life.
Next we are introduced to Horace, a widower farmer, whose story gets off to a slow start, but quickly becomes the most fascinating of the three storylines. We learn of his wife’s death and her struggle with fatal familial insomnia, among other tidbits about Horace’s life.
Finally, we are introduced to Julia, a young seventh and eighth grade teacher from Wisconsin. Julia is from a big city and often compares it to Owl. She’s a budding alcoholic, something that flourishes her first night in town. She is quickly accepted into the community, but that’s not to say that she doesn’t have her share of problems along the way.
There’s a sense of isolation conveyed in Owl. Sure, Klosterman makes it a point to mention 1980’s cultural items, but he chooses his references wisely, although some seem forced.
The novel takes place from August 1983 to February 1984, yet Klosterman has Julia listening to Foreigner’s 4 album, released in 1981, and she is asked out on a couple dates to the theatre to see E.T.—which came out during the summer of 1982. Other times Klosterman incorporates the timeframe of the book flawlessly, like when Julia reads off a translucent plastic sheet resting on an overhead projector.
Although sometimes the references feel forced, Klosterman shows the small town atmosphere of Owl.
Whether you’re from a small town or a big city, Julia’s love interest, Vance, says it best while high for the first time: “What I have come to realize is that totally different people are still basically the same.”
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