Brian Allen Carr (Sip) offers a nod to The Catcher in the Rye in his oddly charming, bittersweet novel Opioid, Indiana.
It's a fresh take on the coming-of-age novel, capturing adolescence in the age of Trump, mass shootings and drug addiction. The main character is Riggle, a white, 17-year-old "struggler" from south Texas who has moved to a small Midwest town he calls "Opioid, Indiana" to mask its real name. Having lost both parents in his youth and been recycled through foster care, Riggle now lives with his drug-addicted uncle and his uncle's girlfriend, Peggy, whom he has a crush on. When he's suspended from school, Riggle sets out to find his uncle--who has gone missing in a drug binge--and to make enough money to pay rent and save Peggy. Each day brings a new adventure as Riggle encounters a host of small-town characters: racists, conspiracists, general oddballs and a number of adults who seem alien in their ignorance of the times. At the beginning of each day, Riggle recalls Remote, the shadow-puppet his late mom used to explain how the days got their names. With illustrations of Remote, Carr crafts an entire mythos around his young hero.
Opioid, Indiana is lyrical in unexpected ways. Despite his slangy diction, Riggle's voice rings with innocence--as he openly questions the stupidity of racism; as he mulls over the recent school shooting in Florida and wonders about his teachers and classmates; as he gets a job washing dishes and explains in poetic detail the way the dishwater affects his psyche. Carr uses this misfit lyricism to create a distinctly American character: scrappy, sullied, but sincere in heart. His emotions are never forced. Riggle blooms in the gloom of that Midwestern winter. What irony he uses to grapple with life never blinds him to humanity, which speaks to Carr's talent in balancing tones.
Opioid, Indiana is one of the best novels of the year, a work of small miracles. --Scott Neuffer, writer, poet, editor of trampset