Book Review: Unamerica by Cody Goodfellow + Podcast interview

Unamerica by Cody Goodfellow

Paperback, 448 pages

Expected publication: June 2019 by King Shot Press

I have reviewed most of Cody Goodfellow's books and I normally kick off the review with a paragraph on who Cody is. I feel like should not have to do that at this point plus I did just that three book reviews back when I wrote about the book set to come out after this one called Scum of the Earth. This book is a very different tone, but both are pure Cody Goodfellow. This one is more of a dark and serious novel and in the vein of Cody as I think of him. Not to say there are not fun moments as there certainly are. Most reading experiences from Goodfellow have equal moments of pained laughter and cringe-worthy unsettling doses of weird.

It might sound like exaggerating to say that I waited 10 years for this book but I did. Goodfellow has been working off and on Unamerica for that long, and once told me the concept during a conversation at Bizarrocon. I have several times since asked Cody when I was going to get this book. My bar was incredibly high so I was a little afraid that this book could not live up to the hype. So let's dig into this and figure out was this book worth the wait.

Unamerica is a story seen from several points of view but our main character is a former illegal raver and drug dealer Nolan Hatch who is trying to sneak his way back over the border after a few years aboard. It is amazing how ripped from the headlines this novel feels even with a ten year gestation period. Hatch gets taken by Border Patrol like commandos and is dumped in an underground city made mostly of stacked up storage containers.

In this underground city, it is basically anything goes, you don't have to work, the parties never end and drugs are endlessly available. Once in Unamerican Nolan reverts to his former ways. He can move drugs, and makes himself useful to the gangs but why does this city exist? What is the reason this place exists?

At the same time, religion rises in the form of several street preachers and the two forces rise not unlike the King classic The Stand, the way the drug acts seems very influenced by the Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. For my money that is a great combination of influences. The street preachers give this novel a chance to explore religion.

There is a lot going on in this novel in this novel and I think Goodfellow may have been trying to express many political ideas that were rooted in the Bush Jr. years when it was conceived. This novel explores the way ghetto-style segregation and drugs affect targeted areas of communities. It also explores the idea of how and why the government benefits from pumping drugs into these neighborhoods. It is very much about prison-like conditions the residents in these neighborhoods have to deal with. One of the most interesting elements is the corporate government partnership that runs the underground city. In that sense, it explores the ills of capitalism in underground economies.

I know that sounds like a lot of different messages and ideas, It is true this novel explores religion, drugs, capitalism, social Darwinism, and probably more I didn't catch. It is a lot to take in but it is OK because Goodfellow fills the 436 pages with texture and swag. Underrated as a writer Goodfellow is a diabolical genius who balances strong political messages subtle moments of bizarro insanity. For every jaw-dropping speech about how the human brain works there are just as many scenes like the one with the cannibal complaining of needing maple syrup for his human meat. The line between high brow and low brow as never been thinner and it is one of the things that makes this author one of my favorites.

Goodfellow can break unwritten rules and get away with it. For example, no one should get away with paragraphs that are basically lists of elements that make up a setting. Goodfellow does this all the time in this novel Hatch’s introduction to Unamerica walking in has a long list of the various things he sees. They generally work. Goodfellow is one of the smartest writers of my generation and it is impossible for me to read his work without marveling at his skill, intelligence, and ability on page after page. Unamerica is the best thing I have read this year and I have read a few masterpieces already. This is a must-read for fans of weird fiction that lives on the border of science fiction and Horror. Goodfellow's most assured work is a dystopia not to miss. I hope the people behind the Philip K Dick award pay attention as it is worthy.