Do You like book Callisto (2009)?
I'm of two minds about satires of America written by non-American authors. On the one hand, it would seem presumptuous for a foreigner to understand American life enough to mock it, but on the other hand, it's satire, so who cares? America is as good a target as any. Torsten Krol, a mysterious writer (even his publisher apparently knows next-to-nothing about him), has created a unique protagonist in Odell Deefus, who is on his way to enlist in the Army when he walks into some very unlucky circumstances which are exacerbated by Odell's unbelievable idiocy. The satire is such that not a single character in the book is totally likable, but that turns out to be what makes everything work.
—Tommy
Torsten Krol’s 2007 novel Callisto offers a brilliant, insightful, and hilarious look at modern day American politics, delivered in a highly unlikely package. Krol’s narrator, Odell Deefus, is a naive, eccentric, and just plain dumb Kansas native who finds himself launched into a series of tremendously unfortunate events after his car breaks down en route to an Army recruitment center to join the fight in Iraq. His car troubles stop him in Callisto, where he meets Dean Lowry, a quiet and not-so-friendly local who offers to tow Odell’s car the following morning.After a few drinks, Dean opens up a bit more to the stranger he so generously offered shelter and a free tow. Odell shares his intention of signing up for the service, which causes Dean to share his own views on the state of US politics, involvement in Iraq, and even religion. Once excessive drink sends them both to bed, paranoia overcomes Odell who begins to suspect Dean of murderous intentions. These suspicions get Odell into the worst kind of trouble in the most accidental of ways – and things only grow progressively more troublesome from there.Throughout the course of the novel, Odell gets wrapped up in drug trafficking, terrorist threats, televangelists, car bombs, murders, and even the FBI. Krol takes readers on a completely unpredictable and unexpected journey that is comical and satisfying. The author’s commentary on the Bush administration (which was a primary intention in the creation of this novel) is cutting though often intriguingly veiled. Krol’s unique blend of humorous political commentary offered within the confines of a novel narrated by a bumbling non-thinker makes for a most entertaining and one-of-a-kind novel that is more than worthy of all the praise it has come to receive.
—Laura Finazzo
Potremmo immaginare un’ipotetica scala di blues letteraria che va da William Faulkner a John Steinbeck passando per Raymond Carver, un intervallo di quinta diminuita, in cui due gradi della scala diatonica vengono abbassati dando così origine al tipico suono malinconico e stonato. Ipotizzando che i gradi abbassati siano Cormac McCarty e Pete Dexter, mancherebbe all’appello ancora una nota della pentatonica, il Krol, la “blue note”. Quella aggiunta clandestinamente: la sesta di cinque. Un’eccezione rispetto alle altre scale, un’eccezione che nel caso dello scrittore mancante è data dalla sua nazionalità. Torsten Krol è australiano, ma il suo ultimo libro, “Callisto” (ISBN edizioni), è puro blues. Leggere Callisto è come ascoltare un bluegrass primitivo suonato da un’orchestra di chitarre distorte; è come osservare il “Gotico americano” di Grant Wood, ridipinto in chiave contemporanea. Al posto del forcone, un fucile d’assalto. Pensate agli altri cinque autori della scala, pensate alla loro America, quella della bible belt, delle strade e dei paesi dimenticati da Dio e dagli uomini. L’America profonda e scura che rappresenta il ventre molle e allo stesso tempo il cuore pulsante della nazione. Lontano da New York, lontano dal San Francisco, lontano da Washington e da Chicago. Ebbene Callisto, Kansas è là. Così lontana eppure così vicina tanto che l’11 settembre, la guerra in Irak, l’esportazione della democrazia, l’islamofobia e il sogno (infranto) americano si attorcigliano l’uno sull’altro in un thriller denso e scuro. Blu scuro.http://kaizenology.wordpress.com/
—J
