Tietam Brown

First off, let me just say that I've done of lot of reading over the years. I have a BA in history and English literature, an MA in history, and nearly a Ph.D. in history. I'm pretty selective in what I read. I originally bought this book, not because I found the story interesting, but becasue I thought I owed it to Mick Foley. Foley gave so much to all of us as fans of wrestling, that I thought I owed it to him to buy his novel and give it a chance. I finally just now got around to reading it, and once I began I didn't put it down until I was finished. It was, without a doubt, one of the best novels I've ever read, and I've read a lot of them.The story just keeps you glued to the page. It's full of humor, and if you know Foley, it's full of his particular brand of humor. It's also one of the darkest things I've ever read. Knowing that Foley grew up in a loving family and now has one of his own, one wonders where this dark tale comes from. If you've ever seen his old Cactus Jack promos, maybe it comes from that same place. But the horrible things that happen to Andy Brown are not just there to shock. They are central to a story about how a human being can endure so much hell and somehow still emerge in the end as a good person. I think that is the central question Foley is asking: What is a good person? I think his answer is one who comes out undefeated by the terrible things that life can hand to us. Tietam Brown is evil, not because of the things he does, but because of what he has let tradgedy do to him. It's a bit like why Captain Ahab is evil and unredeemable.Mick Foley has really written something special here. The next time he publishes a novel, I'll buy it because of its own merits, not because of my admiration for the author's past acheivements.

Tietam Brown is an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of Mick Foley's previous work or is just looking for a good novel to read.Tietam Brown is a book about a boy named Antietam 'Andy' Brown, named after his grandfather that died fighting in one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, who after some unfortunate incidents, has lost an ear and the use of his right hand. We see this story flash between his past where his deadbeat father had left him when he was young and soon after, his mother eventually died. As he goes from foster family to foster family, he has had to put up with a child molester and an abusive drunk. In the present time, Andy was nearly raped by a couple of bullies at school and had the ... beat out of him by a teacher/coach pumped up on steroids. His father has come back after eight years and now has custody of Andy, and he ends up going through some changes. He goes from being a drunk guy who sleeps with practically every woman he meets to someone who looks to protect and teach his son about the different ways of life. As I read this story, I found myself relating to Andy more and more because while I have the use of both hands, I was born with a left ear smaller than my right, and I am unable to hear out of it, so that would be the equivalent of missing a whole ear. I knew what it was like to be ridiculed and pushed around by other people, but I eventually toughened up and learned to put up with it, much like what Andy has done.I can say that Tietam Brown is an excellent debut novel from Mick Foley and I'm looking forward to any future works that he might put out. With all that being said, I rate this book 5 out of 5.

When this story first made me chuckle on the second page, I knew I was hooked. Mick weaves a good tale that keeps you engrossed, and wanting to turn the page. I had high expectations of this story and was not let down. I would love to call this a 'quick read' but it wasn't for me because I found myself going back to read scenes that I truly enjoyed. The sections entitled, "Rage', I reread them they were so intense. A great read for anyone who wants to be absorbed and forget they are reading fiction.

I have read thousands of books, and I have never read one quite like this one. In fact, "Tietam Brown" is so different I am having a hard time quantifying it for this review. But I do know this: It's good. Very good for a first fictional effort. Part comedy, part tragedy, part horror, part coming of age story, "Tietam" really cannot be summed up with one sentence. Much like real life, the bad blends with the good, "normal" is only a word, no one is totally what they seem, and those whom we love the most can also hurt us the most.If you have read Foley's autobiographical works, "Have a Nice Day" and "Foley Is Good" or even just watched his wrestling career on TV, then you will see flashes of Mick in "Tietam." Bits of Mick's quirks are entwined in both Tietam and Andy, and occasionally a "Mickism" is used. In the beginning, the writing style pretty closely follows "Have a Nice Day," but soon finds its own rhythm and goes down a much darker and more literary path. Mick's perverse humor is also very apparent, much to my delight. :)But don't let the author's name and background fool you: This is not a "wrasslin' book" or "Foley's Life Part 3." Instead, "Tietam" is a wonderful study of forgiveness, of right and wrong, of the limits that people put on their love -- both for themselves and others.Most of all, it's the story of Andy Brown, a high school student who has spent most of his life in foster homes and an orphanage and who survived a terrible car accident at the age of five. His father, an enigmatic, mercurial man, comes into his life after a 17-year absence, and immediately the reader knows Andy will never be the same. However, this reader was shocked to find out just what an emotional, strange journey he will have. Put on your seatbelt and keep it on -- you will need it, because this is one powerful, somewhat surreal story.The character that steals the show is Antietam "Tietam" Brown, Andy's father. He's smart, vulgar and loves deeply. He exercises naked, has purple fuzzy dice hanging on his rearview and sings along with Barry Manilow. And he can go from "normal" to crazy and criminal in the blink of an eye. He's not altogether sane. Antietam also has deeply conflicting views of the world and the people closest to him that he does not see as a problem.And that is what makes him so essentially different from Andy. It can be argued that Andy has had a much harder life than his father did up to that age, and yet, Andy has a better understanding of the world around him. It is ironic that a confused, lonely teen has a much clearer moral vision for himself than his world-weary, road-hardened father does, but it is nonetheless true that Andy has the ability to see the shades of meaning, the layers of complexity in people and events that black-and-white thinker Tietam is incapable of.But most of all, Andy is able to forgive. The further you go into the story, the more you realize how important this is. I won't say anything more about it, because I don'

I purchased Tietam Brown at 4:00 PM in the afternoon, and, despite a 6:00 AM morning the next day, stayed up and finished it at 1:30 in the morning. Foley crafts an intricate tale with twists and turns that, at its conclusion, will leave you questioning and realizing things that you've always "sort of" known, but never really realized.The novel deals with themes of forgivness and finding the rare state of "normal" when nothing close to normal has ever existed. It is a lively, exciting, and amazingly realistic book.I look forward to more from this excellent author.