Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff: A Novel

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Bob Honey has a hard time connecting with other people, especially since his divorce. Hes tired of being marketed to every moment, sick of a world where even an orgasm isnt real until it is turned into a tweet. A paragon of old-fashioned American entrepreneurship, Bob sells septic tanks to Jehovahs Witnesses and arranges pyrotechnic displays for foreign dictators. Hes also a contract killer for an off-the-books program run by a branch of United States intelligence that targets the elderly, the infirm, and others who drain society of its resources.

When a nosy journalist starts asking questions, Bob cant decide if its a chance to form some sort of new friendship or the beginning of the end for him. With treason on everyones lips, terrorism in everyones sights, and American political life sinking to ever-lower standards, Bob decides its time to make a changeif he doesnt get killed by his mysterious controllers or exposed in the rapacious media first.

A thunderbolt of startling images and painted with a broadly satirical, Vonnegut-ian brush (Kirkus Reviews), Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff is one of the year's most controversial and talked about literary works.

An incredibly interesting work. Jane Smiley
A straight up masterwork. Sarah Silverman
Blisteringly funny. Corey Seymour
A transcendent apocalyptic satire. Michael Silverblatt
Crackling with life. Paul Theroux
Great fun. Salman Rushdie
A provocative debut. Kirkus Reviews

Reviews

Charmingly weirdPenn takes on an ambitious challenge here, and he succeeds spectacularly. Bob is a wonderful character, the kind of guy you cant take your eyes off thats part of the books almost immeasurable charm. * Booklist (starred review) *
Penn paints with a broadly satirical, Vonnegut-ian brush. . . . he gives nods (by way of sly footnotes) to the likes of David Foster Wallace and Thomas Pynchon. . . . Its good fun [and] a provocative debut. * Kirkus Reviews *
It seems wrong to say that so dystopian a novel is great fun to read, but its true. I suspect that Thomas Pynchon and Hunter S. Thompson would love this book." -- Salman Rushdie
Before I started reading, I glanced over the table of contents. The first chapter is called Seeking Homeostasis in Inherent Hypocrisy. I rolled my eyes and said aloud to no one, fuuuck you. Then, I read it, and it turns out its a goddamned novel for the ages. A straight-up masterwork, more relevant to this very moment than anything Ive seen. Tom Robbins, Mark Twain, E.E. Cummings and Billy Bragg all just came in Chuck Bukowskis pants. Whether its your cuppa tea is something I cannot know. But sweet Jesus it was mine. -- Sarah Silverman

Author Bio

Sean Penn won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performances in Mystic River and Milk, and received Academy Award nominations as Best Actor for Dead Man Walking, Sweet and Lowdown, and I Am Sam. He has worked as an actor, writer, producer, and director on over one hundred theater and film productions. His journalism has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Nation, andHuffPo. This is his first novel.