My fellow book bloggers will understand this. When you get an unsolicited request for review, it usually goes from good to terrible. It's never great. It's not that it can never be great, but great writers often don't have to do this. Well, Ryan W. Bradley did this and man, CODE FOR FAILURE was about the greatest thing. Not the usual type of novel you'll find in the HarperCollins library though. It doesn't respect any format standards or any traditional ideas in terms of its content. Ryan W. Bradley has to market his book the hard way because he has new ideas.
I was reminded of many artists I loved when reading CODE FOR FAILURE. Kevin Smith being the first. CLERKS was the first big time comedy about over-the-counter jobs. It reminded me of personal hero of mine Henry Rollins, who brings politics to the masses in an entertaining, digestible format. There were echoes of Raymond Carver also. It had everything to charm me. But what made it truly remarkable is that despite that his influences are clear, the ideas are his alone. He is a new voice, a new force to be reckoned with.
THREE REASONS TO READ: CODE FOR FAILURE
1) It's a credit to realism. Anybody that ever called realist novels boring need to read CODE FOR FAILURE. By using a clever form (short vignettes), Bradley captures the bare essence of what makes life soul crushing and yet beautiful.
2) It's a fun political novel. Your usual friendly neighborhood political novel will talk about mass movements and revolutions. The macro side of politics. This novel deals with the micro. How you're affected in your daily life by thing such as gas prices, the self-esteem movement and the shift of values of a nation.
3) It's human and deeply positive. David Foster Wallace once said the novelist's job was to highlight what it is to be a human being. To find what's still shining in the darkness. Bradley understands that. His protagonist is flawed and wounded, but he refuses to give up.
THREE TOPICS ABOUT: CODE FOR FAILURE
1) Do you think the protagonist's longings are a construction or do you think it's human nature to long for something better? As children of this generation are sheltered from physical and economical need, is it a normal shift they take towards things like love and fulfillment?
2) CODE FOR FAILURE almost has a sketch-like approach, like in comedy. Do you think it helped or it hurt the most dramatic points of the novel and why?
3) Do you think college is carrying a certain romanticism about life on the work market? If so, how?