The Jugheads

My long-awaited copy of "The Jugheads" will arrive from Amazon any day now, but -- through a friend of the author -- I had a chance to read the original manuscript a while back. I've been thinking about it ever since, and am really glad this book has finally been published. It tells the thoroughly All-American, yet darkly subversive tale of a young man growing up in Texas, that most iconically American state. There, J.R. Helton rips the smiling Happy Face off the suburban American Dream to reveal the reality therein, and it's not a pretty sight. It is a very entertaining drama, however, in which Helton spares no one -- least of all himself -- in telling the ugly truth behind so many of the self-serving, onanistic cultural myths that shimmer like quicksilver on the road ahead.It's a road we all drive, and as society we've put the pedal to the metal trying to catch up with those mirages, but it can't be done -- they dance forever beyond our grasp on the Highway to Nowhere. We do learn a thing or two on that futile quest, though, even if those hard lessons serve only to underline just what fools we've been."The Jugheads" is one harrowing, painful, but darkly funny ride, and well worth your time. Take a deep breath before you read it… but read it.

Réally fait and perfect

If you read "Drugs", this story is the coming of age story of Jake, its main character. Admittedly, a hard read at times as you see how a father repeatedly imposes his mania on a family as he tries, and often fails, to do what he believes is right. As a teacher I winched reading the first few pages of the book. I know that many of my students come from similar, painful home situations. The beginning reads like a movie, flashing from scene to scene. Keep reading. The book will pull you in.I'm not sure what order to recommend that you read first ... Drugs is Jake as an adult and The Jugheads him as a child and teenager. Read them both.

Heartbreaking and funny. Protagonist Jake Stewart shares a stark story of survival in a home dominated by a relentlessly dysfunctional father. If you grew up in Texas in the 70s, you'll recognize the people and places and ethos of the time. If you didn't, Helton puts you right there. Absolutely loved every page of this book.

As in Drugs, J.R. Helton again balances masterful storytelling with biting cultural critique. The Jugheads—both excruciating and darkly funny—follows Jake Stewart (of Drugs) as he grows from boyhood to manhood in a household dominated by a narcissistic, pathologically controlling father. We watch Jake contend not only with the universal—and often cringe-worthy—teenage rites of passage (booze, drugs, sex) but also with a father whose single-minded pursuit of the “American dream” is making everyone around him, especially Jake, increasingly miserable. And it’s oddly fun to witness.As things fall apart for the Stewart family, Helton’s characteristically sharp, unfussy prose keeps us reading. The plot advances at a fast clip across the broad sweep of Texas, from urban Houston to the place-less suburbs and finally to the 12-acre Hill Country idyll where Jake’s old man is sure he’ll finally realize the dream. On this odyssey we meet characters influencing Jake’s life, from a benignly quirky grandmother to a thoroughly creepy art teacher. There is something recognizable in these people, in these places—but something perverted, too. By the time we reach the final chapter, “Walden Revisited,” Helton makes us realize we are anywhere but there.The Jugheads artfully turns the classic American coming-of-age story on its head. You’ll be glad you read it.

Loved it. I highly recommend reading his "Bad Jobs and Poor Decisions" and "Drugs".

JR Helton is one of the best contemporary writers of autofiction and this one, full of cringeworthy and tragicomic moments, is no exemption. Simply superb.