What do You think about Please Don't Come Back From The Moon (2006)?
I'd be lying if I said I thought this was a perfect book, but I do think that it is exactly the kind of book that needs to be more widely read (based on the jacket quotes, it could hardly have been more praised, or I'd say that, too). It moves, it has believable characters with understandable motivations, it's a pleasure to read, and it doesn't try to draw attention to its writing style or stand on one leg pontificating about some high falutin academic bullshit. It's effortless in its storytelling and well crafted without being full of itself or condescending to its audience, and I find those qualities to be both too rare and too under appreciated in modern fiction books that aren't filed under genre fiction.
—Shek
This book was marketed as Magic Realism. It is not Magic Realism, not even if you have a rediculously liberal idea of what that term means. It is social realism that explores the power of the main characters personal mythology concerning his absent father. Magic realism is a term that gets thrown around too much these days, which is pitiable, because it is an awesome term. It describes its particular "ism" farm more accurately than most. However, it gets attached to a lot of things that don't qualify. This book for example. A brief definition (sorry to rant): In magic realism, fabulous things literally happen but they are not treated by the narrative as such. Narrative authority refuses to justify the inexplicable. These events are literal in the context of the story and the reader is asked to accept them as such. In this book, the fabulous things are not literal events. They are metaphorical, even in context. That said, it's still a very readable book I would recommend to most of my friends. Especially the female ones. Bakopoulos creates characters who are both real and likeable without being Lowest Common Denominators, as is the case with most contemporary fiction overly concerned with characters to whom the reader can relate. The situations are compelling and the pace is pitch perfect. Bakopoulos also manages to confront some uncomfortable contemporary political realities without alienating his audiences, something that seems to be rarely attempted, and accomplished rarer still. Read this book.
—Adrian Stumpp
This book appeared mysteriously in my pile (perhaps it follows its plot and came back from the moon) and when there was nothing else to read I finally decided to start it. It's an original plot - a small town in middle, depressed america where unemployment is at an all time high where all the fathers one by one disappear in the night. The story follows one son left behind who believes (like his mates) that the fathers have all gone to the moon. I liked the writing and quite liked the main characters but felt the book didn't live up to the front cover 'raves' (an original and brilliant first work.'
—Camille
