Revisions of Goodloe Byron

by Goodloe Byron

Nathan First is a childlike biographer, making barely enough from his writing to survive. His only source of contact with the outside world is his sister, whose recent marriage has left Nathan to his own devices.Moved by a paltry obituary that he reads in the paper, Nathan sets out to compose his masterpiece; a biography of an ordinary man. But this will be no ordinary book; as Nathan becomes increasingly ambitious, the project blossoms into a study of the dark matter of humanity and appears to contain the abandoned history of the world.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2005

About the author

Goodloe is unique, some might say crazy. The Frederick, MD native has self-published thousand of copies of his 3, novels, packs them into his car, and goes on massive road trips to give them away – to students, lawyers, the homeless – for free. He’s even been to China on this mission.

Reviews

[Joel · Rating 2 out of 5]

First I was all, yay! I won a book through First Reads! Then I was all, oh no! It's self-published and being sent to me direct by the author, so it is probably a bad book, and a poorly constructed one at that! Then I was like weird! The package came and the book actually looks really, really nice, with a great cover, a readable layout, good quality paper, illustrations even! Then I was all wuh? According to the intro, I won this book because the author, who again, self published it, only gives his books away for free, to the tune of more than 20,000 copies of them to date! Then I was all, this kind of makes winning a copy a bit less novel!

Now I have to read it. Thanks for the free book, Goodloe. You have very nice handwriting.

------------

Never mind. I read the first two chapters and it's not really my thing. It's still very pretty though. And in the Goodloe spirit, I'm giving away my copy on Goodreads Swap. I think he'd appreciate it.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revisions Of, a novel soon to be handed out for free at a street corner near you, follows the story of Nathan First as he compiles the writings of a completely "ordinary" man, Daltry Truett. The composer of this scene, Goodloe Byron, splits his time impersonating Ed Wood and Jeff Magnum, weaving crippling desperation onto arcane city sets in a remarkable showing of dime show kitsch. Time and again he paints over the same thoughts with the same brush, leaving the reader wondering why he just read the previous scene, and why he so desperately wants to read the next. The answer: fear. For this novel is paean to the high-gloss terror that inhabits every day life, taking it a step further to directly imply that reading this novel is part of your existence's series of meaningless gestures.

The question asked is: can a novel be high art and refuse all literary device? Indeed, can a novel which admits the utter flailing uselessness of all individual human thought represent something ageless and important? For as Nathan, the protagonist and author, finds solace in the most superficial sentiments, Byron adds nothing deeper for us to see. We are abandoned in Nathan's rattling empty skull, no closer to salvation with his thoughts than we are with our own.

Goodloe Byron himself will soon die penniless and alone, buried without ceremony in a pauper's grave. But those who read his book will go on to fame and fortune; those who look through its unclouded lens will hoist above their heads babies, gold and Nobel Prizes. And they too will be lost, just as Nathan is lost to vanity and to the cruelty of human hope.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was more of an experiment than a book. The mysterious author without a bio or a photo, the 0 dollar cost and random distribution strategies (much expounded upon in an extensive section preceding the book)...it's all very interesting. But, alas, not necessarily good or worth the time. The concept of the book was actually pretty original, the execution leaned more toward the tedious side, for the most part since it was entirely narrated. Even the few events that did occur and the minor dialogue that did take place were narrated. They say reading is the best way to get inside someone's mind, but this was much too much, over 200 pages in the mind of a struggling author in his pursuit of a story. It would have done better with some balance, but much too much of the same was just sort of like reading a stream of consciousness that follows a tentative plot. Mind you, Goodloe Byron is not without talent and is capable of turning out a nice phrase or exhibiting some very imaginative cleverness, but there ought to be more for a novel to work on more than an experimental level. Still...the man publishes his own books (and does a lovely job of it, artwork inside and out, chapter doodles, general layout, one of the loveliest trade paperback edition I've seen in a while) and gives them away for free, so how critical can one be really. There are some readers who might actually like this, it's feasible. For me, though, the book did not live up to its cover.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revisions Of (Goodloe Byron).

Nathan First is a struggling biographer. He comes across an obituary in the paper and decides to write a book on this man's life. It becomes his obsession and mission to make something of this mans life. A loner, and some what sad character, his only contact to the outside world is his sister. They have a unique brother/sister relationship based on sibling love.

Goodloe Byron has a dark poetic style to his writing. This story takes you deep into the mind of Nathan, bringing about mixed emotions. An intriguing journey in the day and life of an ordinary man, struggling to make something of himself and his subjects. Left me feeling satisfied and wanting to read more of his work. Mr. Byron is quite talented, the artwork in and throught out this book is truly amazing, fascinating & orignal. Must read for all who want a memorable, interesting thought provoking read.

*Won on Goodreads give-a-ways.

[Alisha Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, I think I have to start out by mentioning that Revisions Of is...quirky, to say the least. It's not entirely what you would expect and now as I just finished it, I find that my thoughts are a bit muddled to as to how I felt about the book. Let's see if I can sort out my thoughts...

Revisions Of basically follows the day to day life of an average man who happens to be a biographer who is writing a biography about, you guessed it, the average man. Did this just blow your mind for a minute? If you're still with me, let's continue. When I say day-to-day life, boy do I mean it. And I guess the day-to-day life of an average man isn't always so captivating, hence, why most of the world is painfully average (I, of course, include myself in that statement). But still, I have to say that Nathan (who's the main character) has the dry sense of humor that I totally got (most of the time). And I love a man with a dry sense of humor. So that endeared me to Nathan right up until the end.

However, I do have to say that it took me a while to get used to the style of the book, which includes the muddled thoughts of Nathan. I have to ask. Is it poetic justice that I myself am muddled at this particular moment? Was that Goodloe Byron's intention, to have the readers muddled? And with it to make us realize that we are all like Nathan, that we can't really escape the stigma of being average, no matter how much we try? Or maybe I'm just over-thinking it. Anyway, like I mentioned before. It took me about fifty pages to actually get acclimated with Revisions Of. Then when I finally had to put it down (it being 2 in the morning and all) and picked it back up the next day, I had to re-acclimate myself all over again. While it didn't take as long as the first time, it still took more than a few pages.

So, ultimately, how do I feel about Revisions Of? I think it was an okay book. It wasn't my favorite, but I don't regret reading it. And it did make me chuckle out loud a couple of times and that's always a plus. It did also make me think about what exactly was Goodloe Byron's point with the book and since school's out for the summer (did I just get the song stuck in your head? Talk about poetic justice if I did), over-thinking things isn't necessarily a bad thing considering that most of the time, us college students, avoid thinking during the summer at all costs. So, I think I do recommend Revisions Of to most people, especially if you like that dry sense of humor thing.

P.S. This was a First Reads Win

[Darcia Helle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revisions Of is one of those books you will probably either love or hate, with little in between. Byron has a unique writing style and this is not your typical novel. For starters, there is virtually no dialogue. The story is in Nathan's ramblings, observations, thoughts, and obsessions.

Nathan, the main character, is an author. One day he reads an obituary that tells him next to nothing about the deceased man. Nathan becomes obsessed with this man's life. Determined to give some sort of status to this easily forgotten dead man, Nathan sets out to tell his story. In the process, Nathan stumbles through life, mentally unraveling as things go drastically wrong.

Goodloe Byron did a tremendous job of stepping into Nathan's head and bringing his readers along for the ride. Many times, I would stop and read a particular anecdote over again. This is not a suspenseful page-turner but is instead a mindful journey.

[Mir]

I just received a copy of this in the mail. It was actually a tad disturbing, because the author's writing is so similar to mine that for a moment I thought I'd had some sort of mental break where I mailed myself something and then forgot.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

First let me say that I’ve read A.S. Byatt’s The Biographer’s Tale and Steven Millhauser’s Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954 by Jeffrey Cartwright, both texts concerned with characters constructing life stories of other characters. So, Goodloe Byron’s Revisions Of appealed to me as a possible relative of this postmodern family. After completing Revisions last evening, I find that I can’t place Byron’s novel on the same wafty level of stratosphere. However, that may not be a bad thing for many readers who simply could not get through Byatt's or Millhauser’s longer texts.

For those who list toward more predictably linear books, Byron’s story of a writer, described by another character as “a fragile moron, something unfit for the world,” is no more discombobulating than a typical Poe or Kafka story. Okay, so these writers do seem a bit “weird” to would-be trusters of narrators. But, postmodern story telling can get much worse.

I do believe, however, that readers may be more keen to finish Byron’s book if they understand how teetery the narrator-biographer really is. Although I was suspicious of his hyper-introspection from the opening scene, I didn’t really trust my suspicions until the end of Part I (page 128)—and that’s a little too long to wait for confirmation in a book that is only 238 pages long.

I had been looking forward to the “study of dark matter” and “the abandoned history of the world” since I read the back of the book. So, I was relieved to realize that it had been there all along, lurking in the interstices as dark matter tends to do. Still.

As this book is titled Revisions Of, I can’t help thinking of additional revisions I would like to see in future editions—and, hopefully, Byron isn’t as infuriated by editorial suggestions as his fictional biographer tends to be. I love the way the illustrations contribute to this book with Nathan First (narrator) lurking around the chapter numbers. He’s a bit like those mad women replicating in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper.”

Since the graphics already contribute so much to the impact of this book, I’m thinking that Byron has the makings of a fine graphic novelist. The book is almost there…and I imagine his Nathan character crawling between paragraphs or along the margins. I’m not suggesting less text. But, I could see something even more hybrid than the current incarnation.

The images need not be any more elaborate--not so annotated in appearance as those that appear in Reif Larsen’s The Selected Works of T.S.Spivet, at any rate, but maybe a little more intrusive than they are at present. Pseudo-graphic novels come to mind such as Avi’s collaboration with Brian Floca in City of Light, City of Dark and Philip Pullman’s collaboration with David Mostyn in Spring-Heeled Jack. Byron doesn’t really need a collaborator since he’s capable of concocting all the quirk/art for himself. So, there you have it. My impressions and suggested revisions for Revisions Of.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revisions of by Goodloe Byron is a difficult book to describe. It is about an emotionally fragile writer who seems separated from himself by a seemingly endless number of subdivisions of commentaries about himself, every second of every moment of consciousness, every thought of an action, each thought continuing to be taken apart until the book, despite the actions and plot and some major emotional events seems to be in stasis. The narrator is uncertain-at first, in the introduction, a friend of the author, and then a second person pov that seems to be accompanying Nathan, our hero, inside his head, not quite an omniscient narrator but not quite a participant either.

At first, I found the book a delight and the narrative voice distinctive and interesting. However, as the book went on, I began to long for release into a less ironic world, a less, perhaps, examined world. Nathan, with his preoccupation with his sister began to creep me out a bit. I wavered between laughter and a mild revulsion.

When Nathan decides to take on the project of writing a biography of an "ordinary man" I felt a positive shiver of excitement. I wanted Nathan to do something, to create something in the present. To leave his head and enter the (fictional, of course) world. But, sadly and inevitably, the process of writing the biography is afflicted in the same way as the rest of Nathan's life.

There are deep emotional events that occur in this novel but I was unable to feel anything. The tone-or perhaps the character of Nathan himself-left me in an increasingly numbed state. I became increasingly reluctant to continue reading as I felt as helpless as Nathan to have an emotional impact.

By the end (which I will not disclose) I went from feeling sorry for Nathan to feeling angry with him. It may well be that I was defending myself against a bleakness cleverly and intelligently expressed. But ultimately the book left me feeling hollow. I wish that the author had perhaps written the book as a short story or novella of the Bartleby, The Scrivener sort and perhaps included another story in which a fuller emotional range is expressed.

Recommended: for people who enjoy intelligent writing, and can tolerate or enjoy an enormous level of irony. I give the book 3 stars based on the quality of writing. The empty feelings I was left with took the space of the other star I would have given for the intellectual energy of the book to be matched with greater emotional vitality.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from the author through the Goodreads giveaways program.

I wondered why the strange title, Revisions of? Looking at the title page I noticed that the arrangement of the title and author's name leads to the conclusion that the real title of the book is Revisions of Goodloe Byron, making it a veiled autobiography.

The main character, Nathan First, is clearly weird. His flights of fantasy lead me to conclude that he is mildly insane, but he seems fairly harmless. He uses lots of words that most people probably don't know, such as glissando, pg 57; denouement, pg 105; chiromancy, pg 114; and many others scattered throughout. He also uses words that no one (except perhaps the author) knows, such as simulacric, pg 22 and arboreality, pg 55. Another quirk is the occasional long (really long) sentence, such as the one on page 22 that consists of 86 words. Then there are passages that just don't make any sense at all (consistent with mild insanity) such as this one from page 50, "He explained that he will stand and speak for Truett. And tell those angels that they are imperfect for their perfect loathing. And with this work he hopes the clouds will shake and the golden beams supporting them may crumble. For there is no perfect thing to come, for something perfect must be done and lie behind. And there is no great thought that demands perfection's simple answer." As I said, Nathan (that is, Goodloe) is weird.

I have to admit that I had a hard time getting into this book. But the more I read, the more I got hooked. It's an acquired taste. And I also admit that the passages that don't make any sense may in fact make sense after all if they are read many times and sufficiently pondered. When I finished the last page, my basic reaction was, "Huh?" To understand this book, I would definitely have to read it at least once more and maybe several times more. But I have a rule. With all the books I want to read but haven't yet, I never read the same book twice.

[Susan L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, consider me a new fan of Goodloe Byron! I basically knew I would love this book before I'd really read a word, and the fact that the story was compelling and well-written was just the icing on the book-like cake. When is The Wraith coming out? Are there still free copies of The Abstract floating around? I would love to read both! I think I requested Revisions Of as a Goodreads giveaway at least four or five times before I finally won a copy, so I'm glad I persisted.

The Zero Dollar Tour is brilliant. This is how art should be: well-designed and nicely presented, free and accessible to anyone. It's unfortunate that this fantasy is near impossible in most cases, but good for Goodloe Byron that he has been able to pull it off. I love his cover design and the illustrations (although I think the bold, precise style of them sometimes doesn't quite match the understated, meandering style of the writing), as well as his handlettering of my name on the front page and the packaging. Speaking of which, I wish the packaging had been a bit better as my copy got scraped up on the spine, but I guess if you're giving away thousands of free copies, you wouldn't want to waste money on bubble mailers.

Onto the actual story. I personally enjoyed it, although I could see why it might not be popular with everyone. It's definitely not a page turner. It's more a thoughtful, slim novel, which is how I like them anyway. The prose is great. Stream-of-conscious is touching at times, quite amusing at others. I was a bit letdown at the end, I thought it was a little anticlimactic, but that might've been the intention. There were quite a few typos throughout, although I wondered if some of them were intentional as well. The problem with more "experimental" literature is it's so hard to tell. Anyway, I'm definitely keeping this book and looking forward to The Wraith. Hopefully I'll be able to snag a copy.

Grade: B+

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathan First is a struggling Biographer. He is a loner, his only contact to the world outside is his sister. One day he comes across an obituary in the paper and he decides to try to write a story about this mans life. This story brings about mixed emotions.It takes you deep into Nathans mind.This story is an interesting journey into the life of an ordinary man.Byron is a talented man , I loved the art work through out the book. It is truly amazing. I highly recommend this book for all those readers who love a thought provoking interesting read.

[Christy Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

If nothing else, this book is well worth the price.

Byron's writing is interesting and charming, although it is a little 'and then, and then, and then' at times. This is a what-you-see-is-what you get book. Does it look good to you? Then you'll like it. If not, then skip it.

The art inside is due a check out, at least.

[Dara Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrible book!! The story basically follows a loser columnist who randomly chooses a man listed in the Obituary section of his local newspaper. With no leads or ideas, he searches for the dead man's lovers and friends so that he can sell the biography of the man's life to his publisher. The main character is selfish, bad mannered and rude, not even attending his own sister's funeral because he has no money due to the fact that he hasn't sold a story in years. When, at last, he get an offer for the story on the obit man from a college professor who will publish his story, he turns the money down out of pride and winds up in ruins, with all of his hard work and toiling having gone to waste.
*This book was free at the Brooklyn Book Fair 2018...

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish this book. No plot and just random ramblings. 1 star

[zxvasdf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won't lie. It was really hard for me to get started with Revisions Of... but I pushed on and was amply rewarded.

Nathan First is not an easy person to like. The book summary is misdirecting. Yes, it is about a biographer inspired by an obituary, but it is so much more than this. I think what Goodloe Byron has done was to write a story addressing Asperger's without saying it out loud. Nathan is a recluse prone to extreme flights of imagination.

It is a stream of consciousness filled with the boulders of Nathan's digressions, and what results is a disjointed journey through a life in which every event offers opportunity for elaborate possibilities. What the reader experiences is a herky jerky progression through a narrative that places you within the protagonist's thoughts. Nathan also doesn't possess any real empathy with anyone, and experiences emotions such as fear, joy, and frustration only in relation to himself. He may imagine a love affair with a woman he sees on the street, and become suffused with euphoria, only to have it dashed when she doesn't look at him as she passes; he then may rationalize a panoply of reasons she would have for rejecting his affections.

I say this book is about Asperger's because I personally know someone who is of a similar nature. He is adrift in his world, useless in encounters with people whom he inevitably ends up alienating with stretches of silence or abrupt insults. Nathan First is not much different. The portion that finally propelled me through the remainder of the book concerns a earth-shattering Revelation half-way through. It tremendously affected Nathan, but as you read on you gradually discover the degree of his alienation to the world. He is a man left adrift, his obsession with Truett, the subject of his biography, serving as a life raft.

Nathan First is not a character I will easily forget. My life, with its minor catastrophes, is infinitely simpler than Nathan's world of self-imposed phantasms. Despite his brilliance, he is as locked in the mortal condition as we all are, and more so, one could argue.

This book is not for everyone, but those who persevere and take to heart Goodloe's treatment of his character, it is a charming and idiosyncratic story that is sad and joyous at the same moment.

*I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.*

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seemed like this book was more experimental than anything else. As if the author was trying out a style and a character, to see how it would take. And overall, I didn't feel that it was complete.

The style of the book was written to reflect the mental processes of the main character, who has a tendency to tangent and ramble and get carried away in various small, everyday fantasies. I really liked this aspect of the book. I've walked through my day and wondered what I would do if suddenly a ninja came from behind a tree, etc., and I feel like many people do this sort of thing. I was even visualizing various people I've met while reading the book, because I feel that this is a common personality trait. Some of the musings of the main character were rather engaging and thought provoking. And while I enjoyed this aspect of the character, for the most part, I did feel like it went on a bit too long in parts. But perhaps that was the point.

What I found most frustrating was the lack of /any/ sort of relationship or plot development. At all. This was entirely a character piece, but nothing within the story was given closure whatsoever. Relationships were not explored, nor were they explained or continued. A very pivotal and tragic event happened to the main character in the middle of the story - not only was this event never explained but the character seemed to have no lasting changes as a consequence. It was as if things never changed, except for an occasional scuffle or sadness. The end was similar in that the project of the main character was, without explanation, completely abandoned. So the beginning and end of the novel reads the same.

I can understand having an interesting character and wanting to write a story just about him/her. I can also understand that some personality traits mean that a person/character won't change or be changed by normally traumatic experiences. However, these two qualities do not for a good book make. Nor do many loose ties and unfinished story lines. That leaves the reader a bit hollow.

As an experiment, I thought this was a good start. As a book in and ot itself, I think it needs work.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to feel about this one. The main character makes me cringe, so I had a hard time appreciating his ramblings. And then he'd come out with a gem:

But really it was not so much the case that Nathan did not care for his health, and in fact it was quite the opposite. On a daily or even hourly basis, thoughts of his health agitated and paralyzed him, something that on the outside resembles laziness, minus its serene benefits. (pg. 123)

Replace "health" with any adulting-themed task (health included), and this is pretty much my life.

At one point, Nathan is internally debating (an activity that consumes most of the book) whether it is more honest to be polite to someone you dislike, or to treat them in a way that is in line with your feelings towards them, and he comes up with this:

...it was honest to be courteous. Because that merely showed that one thought the other a person. So for that alone it would be more treacherous to behave like a jerk and tell people what you thought of them directly. While it would be saying the truth that the other is an enemy, it would neglect the larger thing that the other is a person as well. (pg 144; emphasis added by reviewer)

Please, remember that whomever you are interacting with (I'm thinking of while driving especially) is a person, no matter how much you dislike what they are doing/saying. (Unless they're trying to kill you. Then they're just an a**hole.)

For these two moments (and the illustrations, which are pretty fun too), I can't entirely write off the book as something I disliked. Stylistically, I'm not really a fan of the stream of consciousness thing, or the way this type of narration likes to play fast and loose with grammar rules. I understand the why of it, but I'm not a fan. But those two moments of validation and "I'm not alone!" feeling make up for a lot. Unfortunately, those two moments are all that I took away from this book, and I suspect that Byron was going for more.

[Benni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the author and goodreads for the free reading copy. Additional thanks to the author for the personalized note, in purple ink no less. (See p. 83.)

Before I even began to read this book, I read about Goodloe Byron and his Zero Dollar Tour. Mr. Byron gives away his books for free, and crashes book fairs to do so. This is a man who I'd give money to, if I had any money to give.

Revisions Of is about Nathan First, a biographer documenting the life of a deceased, ordinary man--but to discuss the plot any further would be misleading, as this is novel is less concerned with plot than with the poetry of life. I tried to divorce Nathan the character from Goodloe the author, but I'm not sure I was successful. Both are fascinating, and I wanted Nathan to be Goodloe's direct vessel, as I wanted an "in" to Goodloe's mind. Certainly parallels exists between Nathan's biography and Goodloe's novel.

Nathan is more than a biographer, he is an artist. Every little detail he uncovers about his subject leads him to construct a story. But each additional fact unearthed may prove his previous thesis wrong, and a whole new story blooms.

Nathan's mind is full of quotables; flip to any page and you're likely to find one.

"The newspaper settled into its new master's arm without any resistance, however much stock we put into our ownership of things, these things themselves never seem to pay it any mind." (p. 30.)

"Contrary to what any employer would like us to believe, laziness is the last bastion and best proof of sanity, were it not for it, nothing would ever be done." (p. 167.)

"Because that was the rotten thing about being in the higher socio-economic classes, their chief task consisted of maintaining their apparent suitability for their chief tasks, their fitness as a host body for their power." (p. 195.)

Absolutely loved this novel. Now my fingers are crossed as to winning a copy of Byron's The Wraith.

[Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received Revisions Of from first reads. As others mentioned, the book is very nice in appearance and the drawings at the beginning of each chapter are exquisite.

The language of the book is verbose, even relentlessly loopy at times, perhaps to emphasize the neurotic inner world of the main character, Nathan. Most of the book is spent in his mind, observing life through his nervous, obsessive point of view. Nathan is a broke biographer, who becomes obsessed about typing up everything a "regular guy" who recently died and publishing it as a book. His overall aim is not very clear. His attitude in life and in the project is severely affected by his neurotic behavior, which leads him to do outlandish things that must seem ridiculous from the outside which then causes him to panic which then causes him to lie which triggers free-association type of day dreams and personal assessments. And on and on it goes. It never really lets up, so as real events happen (some of which are personally very tragic) the reader is unsure or unaware of the extent of these events. Nathan is unable to feel or think about these events in a mature, comprehensive manner. Instead, he seems numb with bouts of overwhelming feeling, which quickly and suddenly is forgotten. Similarly, his very few interactions with other people are confused and immature, with lots of lying and pretending and emotional numbness.

Overall, the text could use some more editing, I think. Though the writing style gives a good feel for Nathan's psychological state, it could still be tighter and shorter. At times, I could not stop myself from skipping through some of Nathan's stream of consciousness to be able to stay interested in the book. These musings have a lot of interesting gems in them, but again, I often felt that it could be more concise.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book. It was hard to follow with Nathan's ramblings. If you ever wanted to be inside someone's head at all waking moments this is your chance to do so, and I am sure by the end you will never wish that ever again. There is no quotation marks when there are conversations which is hard to differentiate when he is really talking to someone or if he is going through the different scenarios in his head.

Nathan appears to be a poor loner who writes biographies. He is captivated one day by a line in the paper about Truett Daltry passing away earlier that day. He decides to invade this man's life by going to his home, work place, and his mistress's place. Nathan walks you through every possible situation that can happen for any situation in his life. This drove me absolutely crazy. He corresponds with his sister through letters throughout the book until he doesnt hear from her for awhile. He gets a letter from her husband Peter telling Nathan that she is now dead. He is devastated. Peter shows up at his house one day and they end up fighting, days later they apologize. Nathan tries to get his book published on Truett through a colleague of Peter's. It ultimately fails, he losing pages of the biography in a rain gutter. He decides to go back to his own publisher to send out his book. But you never really know if he does decide to get it published.

[Seán · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a purely material perspective, this book is a finely-crafted work of art worth more than an once-over. I love the brilliant amber of the front and back covers (I stared at them often on the train this week), and Byron's sketches are crisp and engaging from the frontispiece to the closing illustration. I was very much surprised by how much it all added to the text.

The novel itself employs an unique voice to give life to Nathan First, the bizarre author of little-noted biographies of increasingly obscure figures. This exercise is something like what Byron calls in the book an "anatomy of the neighbor," except it could be that Byron is examining both a part of himself (a self-published author given to strange flights of fancy such as continental book-giving sprees) as well as the very act of writing itself (the fashioning of lives from wordstuff). It seems like an impossible challenge: Byron took it upon himself to achieve a satisfying work out of Nathan's quotidian doings and rambling thoughts, who himself is devoted to transcribing the uncollected notebooks of a complete nobody. Yet, it succeeds. Byron slyly nudges out the extraordinary here and there in his contemplation of the plainest ordinary.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisions Of is the story of Nathan First, a socially awkward and mediocre biographer working on his pièce de la résistance: the biography of an ordinary man whom no one has heard of. There is very little dialogue as Nathan is very solitary, and the mind of a solitary man can be a rather interesting place. Or perhaps we're just fooled into thinking that dull is the new interesting. Either way, what began as a charming view of Nathan's habit of overthinking everything (charming in that these were peculiar lines of logic I could follow and appreciate and have perhaps even found myself guilty of embracing from time to time) slowly descended to the point where his severe introvertedness bordered on and then swiftly crossed over into the realm of the manic and obsessive, and I began to lose patience. Despite his sometimes maddening argumentation, he is what makes this story so quirky and imaginative, and I would recommend this book not only because it is free (Goodloe Byron's crusade to consistently deliver good, free, published novels is admirable!), but it is also very good. Worth every penny and more.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads First Reads. (Side note: The author was nice enough to autograph it and write a small note inside. I love it when authors do stuff like that! It didn't really influence my review, but it was a nice touch.)

This book was... strange? But in a good way. There was practically no punctuation throughout the book, but I could live with that- it fit the style. I wasn't quite sure if Nathan was supposed to be mentally challenged, a genius, or just insane, but whatever he was, I loved him! His dry sense of humor cracked me up. I honestly laughed out loud over this book.

The plot centers around Nathan, an author (not a particularly well-known or talented one) who decides to write a biography about a completely ordinary man. Although there is a plot, the vast majority of the book takes place inside Nathan's mind in a pseudo-stream-of-consciousness technique, bouncing from one idea to another completely unrelated one. But even though I'm not a big fan of stream-of-consciousness, I loved it!

Overall, this was a very unique book. Thanks for the giveaway, Goodloe! It definitely did suit my style.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the concept of an author who publishes his own work and distributes free copies, and Goodloe Byron, it turns out, does just that, to the tune of tens of thousands of free copies distributed. My online research on the author was interesting and left me with lots of questions, so since the synopsis sounded interesting, I entered a Goodreads drawing for a copy through First-Reads. Further piquing my curiosity, the copy arrived hand addressed by the author in a strikingly unique penmanship. The book was autographed with the inscription "Hope it suits your style...", but sadly, it did not. This is a stream of conscience style that just didn't work for me. The main character is, by his own sister's admission, someone who is not quite functional in society, and I was never able to get into his head and understand his ramblings. I persevered to the end, but it never really came together. In the spirit of the author's quest, I will pass it along to another reader whose style it just might suit!

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-crafted book, chronicling the downward spiral of a deranged mind. Yes, Nathan First is arrogant and deluded, but there is a small part of him that is frightfully aware of just how weak and lost he is. He doesn't connect with people, lives alone and is obsessed with his work and his own ideas, and there is very little in his life to anchor him in reality. Nathan is indeed a genius, and he is very aware of this fact, using it to rationalize nearly everything he does. He is never wrong, even when he knows that he is, and this is the crux of his break with reality; he is too fragile to accept the world around himself without filtering it through his own dementia. In the second half of the story, when his last real tether is snapped, Nathan falls to new lows of reason and self-control. The last few chapters show a pathetic man completely at the mercy of his own obsessions, but there is an acceptance, as if he has begun to welcome his own insanity.


I received this book for free through Goodreads First-Reads. Thanks.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Nathan First is a childlike biographer, making barely enough from his writing to survive. His only source of contact with the outside world is his sister, whose recent marriage has left Nathan to his own devices.
Moved by a paltry obituary that he reads in the paper, Nathan sets out to compose his masterpiece; a biography of an ordinary man. But this will be no ordinary book; as Nathan becomes increasingly ambitious, the project blossoms into a study of the dark matter of humanity and appears to contain the abandoned history of the world."

Free, I won this from first reads.

Oh boy, what to say about this book...Goodloe Byron has a unique writing style. I'm just not sure what I truly thought of this story. Revisions Of left me slightly dizzy and confused. I had a very hard time sticking with this but I knew from reading a previous work of Mr. Byron that the ending would be good. I felt like I was in the mind of an Autistic. There were bits of humor and even several nuggets of wisdom in this book.

[Kiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for free via goodreads! Oh wait, everyone who received this book received it free of charge. But really, I was immediately intrigued the moment I started reading about the "Zero Dollar Tour." Loved those little anecdotes. Anyway, onto Revisions Of: It took me a while to get through the first few chapters, but after I got used to Byron's style, I managed all right. I think what hooked me was Nathan First. His is the only point-of-view we get for the most part, and we're sort of in his mind throughout the novel, but he has no sense of himself in relation to the world around him. And I think that's what made this book work... Many authors allow their characters the capacity for introspection, but Byron has done just the opposite. Except, of course, in those moments when Nathan suddenly sees something clearly for the moment, notices it for what it is...

So, yeah, I don't know where else to go with this review at 3:07am. Good job, Goodloe! (Heehee.)

[Rachel P · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so badly because I think very highly of the author, Goodloe Byron. I think it is so admirable that he gives his books away for free so everyone can enjoy them. I love his custom hand drawn illustrations, I think they are the most attractive part about this book. However, I cannot get into this story. Nathan is deeply reflective and quite often in his own head which restricts the development of the other characters in this novel. The protaganist does offer a lot of wisdom as a result of his reflections and rasies a lot of thought-provoking questions but this happens so often that I just want him to move on and get on with the story already. It seems to me that the flow of this story is stunted by the constant stream of introspection.

Again, I wanted to give this book a higher rating but I really didn't care for this story. I like the author, just not the book.

[DH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely different from all the other books I've read, but it's worth reading.

The writing style makes the book feel like it was written in the past rather than the present. It did take me a while to get used to the writing and there were a few passages that I had to read a couple of times before moving on. But once I got used to the dated feeling of the writing, I really enjoyed the storyline and the book.

The book takes on a narrative form and doesn't contain any dialogue or quotations. Even when the characters speak to one another, it is in narrative form. In this case it worked for the book because the story although told in third person mainly focuses on the thoughts and ramblings of the main character, Nathan.

It was an interesting read and I recommend it to anyone whose looking for something out of the ordinary.