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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780316010719
ISBN number: 0316010715
Label: Back Bay Books
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: March 06, 2006
Publishing house: Back Bay Books
Sale Popularity Level: 44851
Studio: Back Bay Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
A novel of extraordinary emotional power, hailed as one of the most moving and remarkable literary debuts of the year. THE HA-HA is the story of Howard Kapostash, a mute war veteran who, in opening his home to a nine-year-old boy, is afforded a rare glimpse of life outside his shell-with all its exuberant joys and crushing sorrows.
Amazon.com Review:
Peel back the made-for-TV-movie premise of Dave King's The Ha-Ha and you'll find a shrewd, engrossing, and occasionally gritty very first novel in the tradition of Jane Smiley. Howard is a brain-damaged Vietnam vet who can't speak or write, but who has managed to establish a reasonably good life in his small Midwestern hometown. In fact, Howard's chief limitation isn't his silence but his lingering romantic attachment to his high school girlfriend, Sylvia, now the drug-addicted single mother of a nine-year-old boy named Ryan (not Howard's child). Accustomed to Howard's devotion--and equally accustomed to rejecting his love, like a campfire she pees on again and again--Sylvia more or less dumps Ryan on him when she is forced to enter rehab. Yes, the handicapped vet must forge a relationship with the sullen fatherless boy. With material as Hallmark-tinged like this, it's only through vivid, honest, and far from syrupy characterization that King keeps sentimentality at bay. You can predict what happens when the gruff Howard begins to coach Little League (aw, shucks), but not his ferocious reaction to Sylvia's eventual betrayal. A skillful debut with several surprises. --Regina Marler
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Rated by buyers 
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I was not quite sure what to expect from this book, which I received from my sister, who reads everything. The story was very engaging, very well told. At times a little raw, but not gratuitously so. Recommended.
AND, the narration of the Audio CD, by actor Terry Kinney, was well performed.
Rated by buyers 
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This book was an easy listen and held my attention. My only complaint is that it seemed to only brush the surface of the complex emotions boiling beneath. This may not be the fault of the author as this version was abridged and I typically avoid abridgements for this reason (and the fact that I hate to miss anything when listening to a novel).
I found it interesting to read a book from the point of view of a character who cannot communicate with others via speech or writing and who has isolated himself from society because of his disability. I thought the characters were realistically written, especially Ryan, the wary child and his self-centered mother and liked the fact that none of these characters were perfect.
I still can't figure out why the main character never bothered to learn sign language but then it would have been a different book altogether . . .
All in all it was an interesting read.
Rated by buyers -
This is a really interesting book and how it would feel to be "of normal intelligence" and unable to speak. The author takes you inside Howie and his body and mind damaged by a land mine. I kept trying to figure out how it was going to end and was pleased with the author's compromise between idealistic and realistic.
Rated by buyers -
Although the title might lead one to think that it's funny, this book was described to me as "depressing." In fact, the title refers to a type of hidden retaining wall, rather than laughter. Either way, though, I wouldn't describe the book depressing myself, aside from the steep slide downward toward the end.
Rather, I'd say this book is astonishingly hopeful. Our main character has overcome a great deal of adversity, and managed to make a life for himself despite an injury that has left him unable to speak or to read easily. He has overcome addiction and the death of parents. He has made a life for himself, and achieved an equilibrium largely characterized by his detachment from the people around him.
But when his high school sweetheart asks him to take in her 9-year-old son, Ryan, while she goes to rehab, he finds that they are able to form a bond. But perhaps this emotional reawakening is not all that Howard thinks it will be. Inevitably, though, Ryan must return to his mother, and Howard finds his newly constructed world unraveling.
This is the depressing part of the book, which perhaps is more drawn out than it needed to be. Again, Howard must struggle, but this time, instead of finding solace in solitude, Howard is able to turn to the relationships he formed through Ryan and find comfort in companionship.
Rated by buyers 
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Howard Kapostash has been suffering a war injury, in which he can no longer speak and can barely read, ever since the Vietnam War. His own home is taken care of by Laurel, a Vietnamese woman from Texas, and his only job worth doing is being a lawn mower for a convent. Then, his ex-girlfriend comes along and asks if he can take care of her nine-year old son, Ryan, so she can get through her drug rehabilitation. What follows now is a heartwarming (but not too sentimental) story of family, friendship, love, and seeing a fresh light rather than an outdated one.
These characters are three-dimensional: there doesn't seem to be one single villain, except maybe Raymond. Even the minor characters are unforgettable. Tension is high when things go horribly wrong in the third act, and that's a good thing to feel if you dislike bland novels.
This is an extraordinary debut from Dave King, and I hope he writes more novels so I can read them without any distraction whatsoever.
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