- Paperback: 236 pages
- Publisher: CreateSpace (14 July 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1453697241
- ISBN-13: 978-1453697245
- Product Dimensions: 14 x 21.6 x 1.4 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,176,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Mendacities
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The truth is out there - but finding it, even by accident, can be hazardous to your health. When a high-school student accidentally discovers the sinister truth behind the "accident" that killed his father, he and his friends must come up with a plan to expose the lies and thereby save themselves from the government. Mendacities is a gently dystopian coming-of-age novel about love, lies, and casual nudity.
About the Author
Mr. Berger lives in the midwestern United States, with his wife and two children. This is his first novel.
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2 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Extremely entertaining
25 Jan 2011
Format:Paperback
Mendacities is a very, very entertaining book, let's make that clear. What's less clear is how to describe it; it's a novel about a group of high-school students (which makes it by some definitions a YA novel), one or more of whom attempt to develop plot-related same-sex relationships (which may or may not make it an LGBT novel), all of whom uncover the answers to a sinister political mystery, become embroiled in a real-life conspiracy theory, and get caught up in some relatively zany adventures (which may or may not make it an adventure novel). After various adventures, including a homicide or three and some gently science-fictional elements (which may or may not make it an SF novel), a slightly audacious resolution is reached which leaves the main characters older, wiser, and more cynical (which may or may not make the book a coming-of-age story). Also, there's a romantic subplot which achieves a happy resolution, some gentle philosophical moments, some brief casual nudity, and probably some other things I'm forgetting.
Unless you consider "romantic LGBT YA SF dystopian political conspiracy coming-of-age adventure novel" a genre, where to shelve Mendacities might be a problem. The author suggests this is actually intentional, in that he was trying to emulate a Japanese "light novel". As far as I can tell, being no expert in this field, he succeeded admirably. Not having a shelf for light novels, my copy lives among my (other) favorite trade paperbacks - by the likes of Neal Stephenson, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Robert Lynn Asprin. Make of that what you will.
The author suggests that Mendacities is suitable for "ages 15 and up, more or less", and I believe this is basically spot on. There is a small amount of violence, yes, and some underage drinking and casual nudity, but it's all handled quite soberly, rather than glorified in any way, and in the age of MTV, HBO, and the Internet, I really can't see how anyone could find this objectionable for anyone age 14 years and above.
Rated four out of five stars merely because world-building and character-development fill the first three (entertaining, and foreshadowing-rich) chapters before the real plot actually comes along.
Unless you consider "romantic LGBT YA SF dystopian political conspiracy coming-of-age adventure novel" a genre, where to shelve Mendacities might be a problem. The author suggests this is actually intentional, in that he was trying to emulate a Japanese "light novel". As far as I can tell, being no expert in this field, he succeeded admirably. Not having a shelf for light novels, my copy lives among my (other) favorite trade paperbacks - by the likes of Neal Stephenson, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Robert Lynn Asprin. Make of that what you will.
The author suggests that Mendacities is suitable for "ages 15 and up, more or less", and I believe this is basically spot on. There is a small amount of violence, yes, and some underage drinking and casual nudity, but it's all handled quite soberly, rather than glorified in any way, and in the age of MTV, HBO, and the Internet, I really can't see how anyone could find this objectionable for anyone age 14 years and above.
Rated four out of five stars merely because world-building and character-development fill the first three (entertaining, and foreshadowing-rich) chapters before the real plot actually comes along.
Nostalgia
25 April 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
My rating for its entertainment value would be three stars, but I give at another star for effort! (I'll explain that below.) Plus, I don't want to mess up that lovely array of four stars already fanned out up there... And it really was a very enjoyable experience!
The style is entertaining, and I was intrigued by the initial promises of the plot as it unfolded, but the author loses track somewhere around the 60% mark. (I read the Kindle Edition, can you tell?) As in, the plot drops off a cliff at that point and makes a faraway "splat." Nothing much happens for a long long time. The characters kind of disappear into vague exposition.... So let's not talk about it, okay? :)
Which leads me to my next point. The author, on his website, says the book was written in 2010 by a man with a wife and two kids, but uh, that would be pretty hilarious if it were true! Because it reads as if it were written by a very precocious 15-year old boy sometime in the mid- to late eighties. Early nineties? (Don't get me wrong, the style, grammar, and editing all deserve high marks!) If these are contemporary kids, then where are the cell phones, the internet, computers, etc? Do people still use rolls of film?
Nothing wrong with all of that, I think it's great! That's one of the beautiful things about the Kindle and the new self-publishing movement -- you can pull out those old novels moldering in your trunk (or hard drive) and give them a new lease on life. And that's really the only reason I stuck with it after the author lost the thread (or rather, I skimmed -- trust me, you'll need to start seriously skimming once you hit the 60% mark). I was simply curious about this high school kid's project as an artifact, and it aroused a certain amount of nostalgia in me for a bygone age.
So, an A for effort, and the first half is quite good! Promising and reasonably original material, lots of laughs. I was thoroughly entertained and touched. Certainly worth the price of admission!
The style is entertaining, and I was intrigued by the initial promises of the plot as it unfolded, but the author loses track somewhere around the 60% mark. (I read the Kindle Edition, can you tell?) As in, the plot drops off a cliff at that point and makes a faraway "splat." Nothing much happens for a long long time. The characters kind of disappear into vague exposition.... So let's not talk about it, okay? :)
Which leads me to my next point. The author, on his website, says the book was written in 2010 by a man with a wife and two kids, but uh, that would be pretty hilarious if it were true! Because it reads as if it were written by a very precocious 15-year old boy sometime in the mid- to late eighties. Early nineties? (Don't get me wrong, the style, grammar, and editing all deserve high marks!) If these are contemporary kids, then where are the cell phones, the internet, computers, etc? Do people still use rolls of film?
Nothing wrong with all of that, I think it's great! That's one of the beautiful things about the Kindle and the new self-publishing movement -- you can pull out those old novels moldering in your trunk (or hard drive) and give them a new lease on life. And that's really the only reason I stuck with it after the author lost the thread (or rather, I skimmed -- trust me, you'll need to start seriously skimming once you hit the 60% mark). I was simply curious about this high school kid's project as an artifact, and it aroused a certain amount of nostalgia in me for a bygone age.
So, an A for effort, and the first half is quite good! Promising and reasonably original material, lots of laughs. I was thoroughly entertained and touched. Certainly worth the price of admission!
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