If You Want Me to Stay

by Michael Parker

In Michael Parker's new novel, Joel Dunn Jr. tells the story of how he did everything he could to save his family after his mother left and his father's tenuous hold on sanity unraveled. On a journey from the town of Trent, North Carolina, to the coast, Joel and his little brother Tank thread their way back to their mother, fueled by potato chips, Coke, and the soundtrack of the powerful soul music that their daddy taught them to love. Always keeping...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565124847
• ISBN13: 9781565124844
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
• Length: 177 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

The book that should be used to lobby government policymakers for years to come

Reading this book was an experience that reminded me of my support group "NAMI" because people who have immediate family members who are mentally ill need to share experiences with each other to feel better themselves and to protect themselves. I downloaded the book from a link I got from the public library website. The digital right to listen to the protected content expires after 3 weeks but I found the time to listen to it all the way thru once and am now listening a second time to the 04:44:36 wma file. I got it because I needed more information about mental illness and what I as a sane person could do about an immediate family member who was ill. I didn't get much in the way of practical advice on what I can do, but I was surprised by the talented storytelling. The narrator Joe Junior had hung his hopes on the possiblity of getting the law involved when he reported the criminal activity that he had witnessed to "Fat Frosty" but Tank reported it all to him before Joe Junior could. Frosty had to decide whether or not to wait until Joe Junior and Tank's dad came back from his current mental illness episode so he could be reimbursed for the boys food and gas purchases on credit, or get the law involved so the dad could go off to Dick's Hill. "You want me to extend your daddy credit when he's fixin to be carted off to Dick's Hill?" The problem was, Joe Junior didn't tell Frosty what was really going on in his mind which was: somebody had to get the law involved, because he couldn't do it, he was too close to situation and knew there would be hell to pay if he did, but someone had to and he had decided he would tell Fat Frosty. "If only" is a theme repeated over and over in this story. I was frustrated by all of them. I wish the author had mentioned the "NAMI" support group meetings where advice and resources are freely shared among the meeting attendees. That could have been something that Joe Junior heard from someone that knew his mom say about what his mom was up to. Instead Joe gets picked up by the police who apparently call his mom and discover that his mom is not interested in getting involved in her oldest sons life in any way. I think the author missed a chance here to pitch what I consider to be a great organization (www.nami.org). Another great resource is www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org I wish I knew the song "If you want me to stay" by Sly Stone but unfortunately I don't remember it. There are some references to music I knew but a lot of it I don't know. I live in Nashville and there is a 6 billion dollar a year music industry here. The novel by Michael Parker sounds like someone who has been a music fan himself but he was careful to share with us his favorite music artists thru the characters of his novel. I wonder if he would have accepted "product placement advertising" from the agents of the artists who wanted him to place songs and artist names in the novel like they do video of Coke and Pepsi in movies. (Probably not)

breathtaking

Michael Parker's IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY is stunning. He shows us his shining skill as an author, the power of the perfect narrator for a down and dirty story, and the heartbreaking way children can be let go. In this lyrical novel, Joel Jr. and Tank reveal the blessings and curse of innate strength and determination. The saddest and most redemptive part of this story is that it is perfectly believable. The courage and resourcefulness of children, the human instinct for survival at any price, the power of narrative--both the song of the protagonist and the deeper narrative of the music that keeps Joel Jr. moving forward, ever forward, always on the lookout for rescue or any hint of salvation. This just may be the best book I have ever read.

Utterly Depressing.

I gave it five stars because only a great writer could keep me reading such a dark, dark, dark book.

The best book I've read this year

This is a wonderful short novel. The first person account of a young boy who goes on a trip with his younger brother to find their mother after the boys' father "goes off." When you're in Joel's head, you hear the voice of a 14-year-old boy who feels abandoned yet loved, sad yet resolute, hilarious yet aware of the seriousness of the situation. The writing is lyrical, and the soulful soundtrack that accompanies the book begs a CD companion. I had to revisit my Sly, Curtis, Aretha, Otis, Staple Sisters, and all of my Stax/Volt records (NOT Mowtown, as Joel will tell you, even though he loves early, joyous and innocent Marvin Gaye, not really the the older more serious Marvin [metaphor?]. And on top of that he was always haunted by the story of Marvin's father killing him...). The way he talks about the music makes you hear it as you never had before. I worry that books like this that aren't on every Barnes & Noble or Borders table will get lost, but this book needs to be found. Read it, you won't be disappointed.

Can't Put This One Down

Michael Parker's newest book is a flat-out page-turner. It's inhabited by Joel Jr.--who, at 14, is not still a boy, not quite a man. He's got music--which is the other main character here--and he's got trouble. His ways of getting by in a hard time are heartbreaking and hysterical. This kid crawls into your brain and stays there long after the book's done. This is gorgeous storytelling about an awful life and grace where there should be none, a book that's full up with wisdom, strange beauty and wretched things that you cannot see coming.