Stephen Florida
Gabe Habash
Coffee House Press
2017
Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she saw and heard
the author do a reading at the Boston Book Festival in October, and she was impressed
by his writing and presentation. She was intrigued by the story of a college
wrestler that is obsessed with winning the championship, and the process of his
unraveling. Ms. Hen’s favorite novels are about unstable young women, but she
is willing to give unstable men a chance, too, sometimes.
Stephen Florida is a wrestler at the 133 pound slot in
Oresburg College in rural North Dakota. Ms. Hen learned at the reading that the
author didn’t have any personal experience with wrestling, and he had
never been to North Dakota. Ms. Hen thinks that it is impressive to write an
entire novel that takes place somewhere an author has never been, and about a
subject that is not his specialty.
Stephen Florida wants to win the Division IV NCAA
Championship in the 133 weight class. He is determined to win, and it drives
his every move. He skates through his classes, not applying himself, scraping by just to stay in school. In wrestling, a lot of men have to struggle
to keep their exact weight, and at times have an eating disorder to the point
where they are neurotic about food. Stephen is like this. He has a good friend
Linus, who wrestles at the 125 weight class, and they are both at the top of
their game.
Stephen meets a girl, Mary Beth, and starts dating her. She works
just as hard as he does; she wants to work at an art gallery, and is quirky
like him. She doesn’t know if she wants to be with him, and she can’t decide.
He struggles with everything, and starts to unravel during winter break, which
he spends alone at the college.
Ms. Hen thinks this book has an odor to it. It could be the
smell of men wrestling, or the excessive description of flatulence. Ms. Hen has
had the privilege to read two books in a row (also the novel EILEEN) in which
the character describes their bowel movements in minute detail. Ms. Hen doesn’t think reading about this is pleasant, but it portrays the truth about the
character, and what is important to that person.
The writing in STEPHEN FLORIDA is exquisite. Ms. Hen thinks
that the descriptions of the breakdowns that Stephen has are expertly rendered.
Ms. Hen had the idea that this novel could be a type of MOBY DICK story, but
she wasn’t sure how it would turn out in the end. Ms. Hen thought that the
wrestling championship could be Stephen Florida’s great white whale, the one
thing he desires in the world that destroys him, but she will not reveal the
end. She thinks everyone should read this novel.
Ms. Hen noticed there are some chickens in this novel, which
made her happy. Stephen eats a lot of chicken, “ ‘Stephen gets an extra piece
of chicken for breaking that kid’s arm.’ “ And also, at the end of the novel,
during the championship match, “I eat the chicken dinner and blank out my
entire history.”
Ms. Hen thinks that STEPHEN FLORIDA is a beautiful novel.
It’s about a young man who starts to come undone, who wants one thing, and it
practically drives him insane, not quite, but nearly. Ms. Hen was dazzled by
this novel, and if you like excellent writing, and anguished, complicated characters, you
will be too.
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