Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff Explained

Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff
Author:Sean Penn
Language:English
Country:United States
Genre:Novel
Political satire
Published:2018 (Atria Books)
Isbn:978-1-5011-8906-7
Pages:176

Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff is a 2018 American satirical novel written by Sean Penn.[1] Narrated from the point of view of Pappy Pariah, the book tells the story of Bob Honey, a supposed international assassin who kills elderly people with a mallet. Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, published the novel on March 27, 2018.[2]

Inspiration

In several interviews, Penn said that he was inspired to write the novel in response to current political movements, including the Parkland shooting survivors working to change gun laws. Although readers can draw connections to modern events and figures, Penn claims that the book is about morality and modern American culture.

Plot

With no formal plot, it is not entirely clear if Honey's life story, recounted through Pariah, is supposed to be true or a figment of Honey's delusional mind.[3] [4] Honey lives in a quiet street in Woodview, California. Since his divorce, he has a hard time connecting with other people and annoys his neighbors with his lawn mowing. Honey complains of the incessant marketing of modern society and never-ending news cycles. His ex-wife, who drives an ice-cream truck around his neighborhood, is now happily married to her divorce lawyer. Honey now longs for a young woman named Annie; when describing her, he says, "Effervescence lived in her every cellular expression, and she had spizzerinctum to spare."

Honey is a former septic tank salesman who becomes an assassin.[5] He tries to be more social, throwing a barbecue for his neighbors. His job as a contract killer for a secretive government program takes him around the world. The off-the-books government program instructs him to target elderly citizens and others who drain resources in a consumption-driven society. His adventures include a trip to New Orleans to help Katrina victims. He travels to Baghdad, Beirut, South Sudan, and other locations for sewage emergencies. Honey also submerges himself into the Pacific Ocean in a quest to find sea life. An investigative journalist starts asking questions about him, causing Honey to start making changes in his life. He is threatened by an ever-invasive media and possible assassination attempts from his mysterious controllers.[6]

The book includes an epilogue featuring a poem that touches on current events — the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, North Korea, Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and the MeToo movement.[7] Honey also writes a threatening letter to the US President "Mr. Landlord" in which he advocates for the President's assassination.[8] He declares, "You are not simply a president in need of impeachment, you are a man in need of an intervention. We are not simply a people in need of an intervention, we are a nation in need of an assassin [...] Tweet me bitch, I dare you."[9] [10] The lengthy epilogue poem ends with Honey killing the investigative journalist with his mallet and running away to parts unknown.

Characters

Release

A portion of the novel was first published as a free Audible book, listing Pappy Pariah as the author and Penn as just the narrator of the audio book.[13] Initially, Penn denied being the author of the book, insisting instead that it was written by an author he had met in a bar in Key West, Florida.[14]

In press junkets to promote the novel's release, Penn has stated his wish to quit acting and become a full-time novelist.[15]

Reception

Bob Honey was met with generally negative reviews, with several critics decrying the writer's undisciplined style.[16] Mark Athitakis writing for The Washington Post was critical of the book, observing that the satire was not humorous and the writing incoherent with overuse of alliteration.[17] Writing for the National Review, Jonah Goldberg had not yet read the book but commented on excerpts, characterizing the formulaic prose as "4 parts alliteration, 1 part wry masturbation references."[18] Goldberg's comments were based on a review and quotes provided by Claire Fallon of the Huffington Post, who herself was highly critical of the book, going so far as to announce that "Sean Penn The Novelist Must Be Stopped".[19] It was featured in Michael J. Nelson and Conor Lastowka's podcast series 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back, a program which analyzes literature they deem to be of poor quality. On Cracked.com, Mark Hill called it "the worst novel in human history," observing that "Penn writes like he's looked up every single word in his thesaurus except 'dictionary'."[20] The novel was also criticized for racist and misogynistic content.[21] In The Guardian, Sian Cain called Bob Honey "repellent and stupid on so many levels."[22]

Penn has defended portions of the book concerning the presidency of Donald Trump and the Me Too movement as being "taken out of context", remarking, "I think, we're in a sad state where fiction is attributed to opinion ... where fiction can't be just read as it is."[23] Several media sources have interpreted "Mr. Landlord" as an obvious[24] allegorical reference to Donald Trump.[25] [26] [27] According to the BBC News, "Critics were keen to pick up on Mr Landlord, a character that could be a thinly veiled dig at Donald Trump. He is described as a 'violently immature 70-year-old boy-man with money and French vanilla cotton candy hair'."[28]

Novelist Salman Rushdie praised the novel, saying "It seems wrong to say that so dystopian a novel is great fun to read [...] I suspect that Thomas Pynchon and Hunter S. Thompson would love this book."[29] Travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux also came out in favor of the book, calling it "Comic, cauchemaresque, crackling with life [...] Bob Honey is a hero of our Trumpian times reflected in the cracked mirror of Penn's prose. I loved that it defied the critics who are, as always like eunuchs in a harem observing the creative act but unable to do the same."

Trevor Noah, on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, described the book as "a strange story that seems like a metaphor for real life."[30] Penn told Marc Maron in his podcast, WTF, that the novel Bob Honey was a way for him to combat the negativity and societal burnout he had been dealing with. "It was an exercise in avoiding defeat," he told Maron. "It's kind of 'operating world humor,' because I felt like a surgeon whose patient was inevitably going to die every day. And I thought, let me go practice this in an alternate reality form which got me away from the news for a while."[31]

The Pearl Jam song "Never Destination," written by longtime Penn friend Eddie Vedder, on the 2020 album Gigaton mentions Bob Honey in the lyrics: "Thank you Bob Honey. Thanks Paul Theroux. If ever I die, to this place let me go."

Sequel

A sequel[32] was released on September 10, 2019, with the title Bob Honey Sings Jimmy Crack Corn, published by Rare Bird Books,[33] as it directly continues off the events of the first novel, seeing Bob Honey, hunted by the authorities, head to Washington, D.C. to directly confront the Landlord.[34]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Sean Penn's freaky debut novel 'Bob Honey' is a Trump-era satire. Truitt. Brian. March 27, 2018. USA Today. March 28, 2018. en.
  2. Web site: Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff. www.goodreads.com. January 27, 2020.
  3. News: Sean Penn, Satirist, Swings at America in a Wild Debut Novel. Giles. Jeff. March 27, 2018. The New York Times. March 28, 2018. en-US. 0362-4331.
  4. News: What exactly is Sean Penn's role in the mysterious 'Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff'?. Athitakis. Mark. November 7, 2016. Washington Post. March 28, 2018. en-US. 0190-8286.
  5. News: Sean Penn: The actor turns a page. Smith. Tracy. March 25, 2018. CBS News. April 6, 2018. en. Tracy Smith (journalist).
  6. News: Ilana. Kaplan. Sean Penn responds to haters of his novel saying 'I'm 57 and my pool's heated'. March 30, 2018. The Independent. April 6, 2018. en-GB.
  7. Web site: Sean Penn's freaky debut novel 'Bob Honey' is a Tr**p-era satire. USA Today. March 27, 2018. Brian. Truitt.
  8. News: 'We're a nation in need of an assassin': Sean Penn's debut novel set to take on Tr**p. Cain. Sian. March 19, 2018. The Guardian. en. April 6, 2018.
  9. Sean Penn Slams Tr**p Era with New Controversial Book: 'We're a Nation in Need of an Assassin'. Miller. Mike. March 27, 2018. People. May 1, 2018. en-US.
  10. News: 'Cloaked in crazy': Sean Penn's debut novel ripped apart by critics. Loughrey. Clarisse. March 29, 2018. The Independent. May 1, 2018. en-GB.
  11. Book: Penn, Sean. Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff: A Novel. Simon & Schuster. New York City. March 27, 2018. 9781501189067.
  12. Web site: Sean Penn: Why I Had to Write 'Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff'. Rolling Stone. April 4, 2018. Jason. Diamond.
  13. News: Sean Penn will publish his first novel, 'Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff,' next year. Schaub. Michael. November 14, 2017. Los Angeles Times. March 28, 2018.
  14. Sean Penn Performs Live Reading of Novel, Which He May or May Not Have Written. Lawrence. Derek. October 7, 2016. Entertainment Weekly. March 28, 2018. en.
  15. News: Sean Penn Would Rather Write Than Act. Seymour. Corey. April 6, 2018. Vogue. April 15, 2018. en.
  16. News: Sean Penn's Novel, 'Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff': What the Critics Are Saying. Perez. Lexy. March 29, 2018. The Hollywood Reporter. March 30, 2018. en.
  17. News: What is Sean Penn thinking? His debut novel is a mess, again. Athitakis. Mark. March 27, 2018. The Washington Post. March 30, 2018. en-US. 0190-8286.
  18. News: Sean Penn Tries Writing. Goldberg. Jonah. Jonah Goldberg. March 28, 2018. National Review. March 30, 2018. en-US.
  19. News: Sean Penn The Novelist Must Be Stopped. Fallon. Claire. March 27, 2018. Huffington Post. April 6, 2018. en-US.
  20. Web site: Mark. Hill. Sean Penn Wrote The Worst Novel In Human History, I Read It. Cracked.com. April 22, 2018.
  21. News: Jeff. Giles. March 27, 2018. Sean Penn, Satirist, Swings at America in a Wild Debut Novel. The New York Times.
  22. News: Sean Penn's debut novel – repellent and stupid on so many levels. Sian. Cain. 29 March 2018. The Guardian.
  23. Sean Penn: Why I Had to Write 'Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff'. Diamond. Jason. April 4, 2018. Rolling Stone. April 15, 2018.
  24. What in the world is going on in Sean Penn's new novel?. Entertainment Weekly. March 27, 2018. January 27, 2020.
  25. News: Sean Penn novel 'Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff' includes Trump allegory, assassination threat. Ernst. Douglas. March 15, 2018. The Washington Times. April 30, 2018. en-US.
  26. Web site: Sean Penn's Debut Novel Takes Aim at Trump: 'You Are a Man in Need of an Intervention'. Orosz. Nora-Grayce. March 20, 2018. Complex. en. April 30, 2018.
  27. News: Sean Penn's Debut Novel Set To Take On Donald Trump & #MeToo. Wiseman. Andreas. March 20, 2018. Deadline Hollywood. April 30, 2018. en-US.
  28. News: Sean Penn book is trashed by critics. March 28, 2018. BBC News. April 30, 2018. en-GB.
  29. Book: Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff. April 9, 2019. Simon & Schuster. 9781501189050.
  30. Web site: Sean Penn – Following His Muse With "Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff" – Extended Interview. https://web.archive.org/web/20180401022216/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/zc37de/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-sean-penn---following-his-muse-with--bob-honey-who-just-do-stuff----extended-interview. dead. April 1, 2018. March 27, 2018. Comedy Central. June 1, 2018.
  31. Episode 901 – Sean Penn / Lynn Shelton. March 26, 2018. June 1, 2018. WTF Podcast with Marc Maron.
  32. Allison. Crist. September 11, 2019. Sean Penn on Meeting Assad, His Rumored Jamal Khashoggi Documentary and New "Silly-Ass Novel". The Hollywood Reporter. January 27, 2020.
  33. Web site: Bestsellers. Los Angeles Times. January 27, 2020.
  34. Web site: Rien. Fertel. Bob Honey Sings Jimmy Crack Corn—and you won't care—in Sean Penn's second novel. The A.V. Club. September 9, 2019. January 27, 2020.