Philip Nork

He’s in hospital, in therapy. He eats too much and has no friends. He gambles on the ponies. He… He’s a person, with a history, a life, and a reason to be who he is. Bang bang recounts the protagonist’s search for this reason, as he writes his memoir and muses on what he’s told, from cruel nuns in school, taxi drivers who take whatever verbal abuse is offered with a smile, purveyors of sweet food, and a gradual separation from other “people.”

“Funny that I couldn’t or wouldn’t talk back then” he muses, “but this writing about my past seemed to be pretty easy for me to do.” It’s easy to read too—a dark story where the reader knows the protagonist is going to mess up further, but where the search for reason and hope becomes reader’s as well as writer’s.

Author Philip Nork offers a thoroughly convincing first-person tale, told bleakly and sadly. When word choices seem odd, they also feel right for a narrator who’s already made so many odd life choices. In a changing world, the protagonist soon traps himself at the computer keyboard and loses track of who he might have been. But “Everyone had a reason to live, you just don't know what yours is yet,” says the nurse. Is that true? Can six hundred pounds of pizza, beer and self-loathing find a purpose in life? With a little help from his friends…

It all makes for a satisfying and oddly uplifting tale filled with fascinating characters and plot.

Disclosure: I was given an ecopy and I offer my honest review.… (más)

The Adventures of Bang Bang Man
By Phil Nork
2019
Reviewed by Angie Mangino
Rating: 5 stars

Readers meet Matthew Davis as Dr. Darla poses a question to him that immediately sets up the story of the Bang Bang man.

“Matt, what was the trigger that got you into this situation in the first place?”

What situation? The aftermath of a heart attack has this obese man confined to hospitalization. Dr. Darla’s delving into what got him to this place in his life seemed to be his last hope.

“This was so different for me. It had been a long time since I trusted someone. … I was at the lowest I ever had been and there was nowhere to go but up.”

Written from Matt’s point of view the story of his life continues, with his childhood, his ex-wife, and his fascination and ultimately compulsion with betting on horseracing at the track. A conversational approach in the author’s writing keeps readers involved as they come to care for this man.

Why is he called the bang-bang man? Readers will learn the reason for the title in this engaging story while additionally finding themselves identifying with the compulsions, albeit not necessarily as extreme, in their own lives.

Matt would never see himself in this view, but he has much to teach all of us.

Angie Mangino currently works as a freelance journalist, author, and book reviewer, additionally offering authors personalized critique service and copyediting of unpublished manuscripts. www.AngieMangino.com… (más)

The Adventures of Bang-Bang Man by Philip Nork
Story of Matt who is now single, he's lost his wife and kids to divorce and they don't bother with him anymore.
Only thing important to him is betting and the horses. VInnie-the landlord of his complex sets him up with a computer and teaches him how to use it for betting.
That's after he's been tossed off the grounds of the horse facility where he used to bet and argue with the the drivers that made him lose his money.
Over the years he learns he can order anything online and have it delivered. His house is a mess and he gets into chat areas where he states one time the left side of his body is numb.
Vinnie tends to him and Matt wakes up in the hospital where he'd suffered a heart attack. With help from so many he's able to change his life around and even lose 300 pounds.
Those who do care about him, and he thought he had none, come to talk to him and that gives him enough promise to continue on and show progress.
It just takes that one person in his life to change it all around.
Like this story because it tells me of what really happens behind the scene with the horses and also about not only heart attacks but stomach surgery which my girlfriend had just undergone.
Felt so sorry for Matt when he hit bottom and glad he changed his habits to better his life.
Never give up, someone is always there for you.
Received this review copy from the author and this is my honest opinion.… (más)

This House is a Home by Phil Nork
Enriching and heartwarming story!
Last class assignment for the year and Pete has to find out about his ancestors and what better way then to go visit and talk to them.
Family, uncles and grandparents load up the car and lead to southern IL where other parts of the family live. Treasure the history of this one family and how it's portrayed to those of todays age.
Love how the author also explains what mining terms mean and how they were done.
Mining accidents and telling the time by the sun so much to this book.
Loved hearing how they use everything growing on the land.
Received this review copy from the author and this is my honest opinion.… (más)