Look, I'm Gone-James Howard Kunstler, KITSAP Publishing 2025

 

As Disaster Amnesiac started reading James Howard Kunstler's latest novel, Look, I'm Gone, its title puzzled me quite a lot. This swiftly moving tale from Kunstler takes place over Thanksgiving vacation of a twelve year old American kid in the year 1963. Jeff's his name and he's been shipped away from his home in Manhattan to a boarding school in New Hampshire. After briefly describing the circumstances of this young man's reason for being there along with a lucrative poker game played within its grounds, its actions move to the City. The author's descriptions of New York City during that period are sharp and clearly written. It was obvious to this reader that his memories of many of the iconic spaces within that city are accurate despite all of the time elapsed and it was a joy to read them. Shortly, Jeff heads out into town, flush with cash from his lucky card game. As he spends money and mourns the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he befriends a young Broadway performer. In the exposition of this relationship, Kunstler gives insightful glimpses into those brief and almost intangible moments that lead from childhood into the affectations that characterize a teenager's ideas about what it means to be grown up. More genuine real world insights are provided by a political attaché from the Soviet Union. As these new to him features of human development unfold, Jeff becomes more and more obsessed with Holden Caulfield, the main character in Catcher In the Rye. Salinger's novel and even the man himself feature prominently within both the physical and mental aspects of the story as the obsession reaches a boiling point and Jeff decides to run away from his parents' apartment and head back to the Granite State in order to pose his burning questions to the acclaimed author. It's within these scenes, in the last third of the novel that it becomes a very pleasurable page turner. That said, James Howard Kunstler's writing, so full of rich detail, especially as regards architecture and its effect upon people, shines on every page as good, simple (but by no means simplistic) writing. Back to the title: Look, I'm Gone strikes Disaster Amnesiac as being a glimpse into a world and its dynamics that are indeed gone. Grab this one when it's published later this year and take a glimpse. Perhaps we can get some of it back in some ways.