The novel begins on the premise that the author (Birch) received a letter from a former high school friend/underground political activist (Emory Walden) who disappeared in early 2011. In the letter, Walden asks the Birch to publish the details of his story outside traditional publishing circles to ensure the integrity of the story.

Back in the US after a stint in Europe, Walden learns about the impact his political blog is having among a contingent of angry citizens in the wake of the 2008 financial collapse. While attempting to reestablish himself in the US, Walden crosses paths with retired marketing executive (Fletcher Spivey) who expresses interest in harnessing Walden's voice and energy to push his reawakened ideologies after keeping them dormant for decades as he built a massive corporate machine. The story that follows is a fast-paced political thriller that tracks Walden through the many turns (sometimes with jarring affect) in his relationship with Spivey et al as they attempt to spark change in an increasingly volatile fringe citizenry. Acting as a covert operative attempting to amass a following of discontents, Walden becomes increasingly paranoid that his operation with Spivey has been infiltrated and he finds himself racing against time to determine the true nature of several of his key relationships.

Discontents is a solid debut from author James Wallace Birch. By using witty dialogue, well-crafted prose and constantly stoking the coals of unsettled relationships and motivations, Birch maintains a consistent level of traction with the reader enabling a near effortless ability to engage the material. Main characters are well-developed, relationships are clear, and ulterior desires/motivations are effectively obfuscated as the story unwinds keeping suspense at the level of intrigue. Characters are very human/authentic and Birch adeptly portrays the many relationship threads and conflicts everyone encounters as they attempt to balance personal and professional lives. Birch is an effective storyteller, capable of extracting the essence out of his characters and leaving the reader to make judgments.

Twists and turns in the plotline ramp up substantially as Emory's relationship with Fletcher develops, requiring a close read to remain cognizant of the quickly developing set of 'facts'. These turns can be rather abrupt and loosely defined at times which may throw readers off.

For the political-minded reader, Discontents is not only an enjoyable adventure pushing back against the fabricated majority, but also an exploration of the challenges one faces when putting everything on the line to service ideals. ( )

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

As I've said here before, although in general I'm proud of CCLaP's policy to review any book that any person takes the trouble to actually send, it sometimes leads to me having to do some pretty harsh critiques of titles that clearly don't deserve that harshness, titles that in fact are clearly not even ready for a wide general audience to see them, but that got sent anyway because of the (often self-publishing) authors not knowing better; and unfortunately, a perfect example of that would be James Wallace Birch's Discontents, obviously written with a lot of heart but so much of a mess to be almost unreadable. The supposed true story of an accidental political genius who sparks a national populist revolution, the book wallows in some of the worst cliches even known to the literary world -- the Chomsky-regurgitating undergraduate blogger who inexplicably has corporate CEOs and Congress members hanging onto his every word, the Shakespeare-quoting "noble street trash," the Manic Pixie Dream Girl who exists only to justify weak plot turns -- the storyline itself mostly hinging around a shadowy John Galtian figure who seems to be a left-leaning amalgam of a thousand pieces of Ayn Rand fan-fiction rolled together, who ironically spends most of his time delivering ridiculously portentous ten-page monologues about such subjects as '60s radicalism, just to end each one with, "…But please, I don't wish to bore you." (Too late, Fletcher; too late.) I always feel guilty writing reviews like these, because obviously the more prudent thing would be for someone to simply sit Birch down and tell him of all these problems in a much more private setting, to encourage him to simply ditch this book altogether and to take a few creative writing courses before starting again; but that's a side-effect of the kind of the world we now live in, where technology allows people to nationally release a professional-looking artistic project long before they've gathered the kind of trusted feedback that helps them determine whether they should actually do so or not. An 'A' for effort, certainly, but I can't in good conscience recommend this to a general audience.

Out of 10: 1.8 ( )

When I see documentaries or read books about the 1960s, I occasionally can't help but ponder whether the radicals of the period, such as Abbie Hoffman or Bernadine Dohrn, ever wondered what America would be like today had the change they advocated come to pass. They face the problem all of us do -- no one knows what might have been had fate or choice led us down a different path. But what would you do if you believed that conditions were similar enough that it's possible to take another stab at change that was unsuccessful?

That is the underlying premise of James Wallace Birch's Discontents as an individual hopes to vicariously effect the change he hoped for nearly 50 years ago. Birch sets the novel in the framework of a letter he received this summer from a high school friend, Emory Walden, who disappeared in January 2011. Walden, a political dissident who acted largely through a blog and graffiti art, asked Birch to publish his story of what happened to him. Birch also uses the conceit of Walden's insistence that the story not be edited by mainstream publishers to explain why the book is available only as an ebook.

Walden, a name apparently aimed at invoking some of the themes of Henry David Thoreau's book, returned home to the District of Columbia area from a scrounging life in Europe. Somewhat to his surprise, his blog of political thoughts developed a cult-like following in the activist community. Finding a job at a restaurant, Walden meets Fletcher Spivey, who recently sold a marketing firm his father co-founded that Spivey built into a Fortune 500 company. But Spivey sacrificed his ideals to achieve that success. Coming of age in the 1960s and 1970s, Spivey's presence at many seminal events, from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream' speech to the 1968 Democratic National Convention to Woodstock, renders him almost an avatar of the period. He became convinced of the necessity of radical change to reform the country but ultimately yielded to what he perceived to be a family obligation.

Now retired and aging, Spivey is nagged by regret, and even shame, over abandoning his beliefs and becoming part and parcel of the economic system he railed against. But he believes current political and economic conditions are such that the level of discontent and dissent can be ignited. He believes Walden's words and art can be the match that starts a revolutionary fire so offers to support Walden so he can focus on catalyzing radical change. To keep Walden safe from authorities as he builds and seeks to inspire his following, Spivey even gets Walden a fake identity. Along the way, though, Walden becomes convinced that the plan has been infiltrated and that things are not quite as they seem.

Overall, Birch tells the story in readable, well-crafted and creditable prose. He also does a good job summarizing the perspective of those who are among the discontented and makes Walden a fairly well-formed character as he deals with both his personal life and the burden Spivey's assignment poses. But Discontents still shows signs it is a self-published ebook. Aside from repeated typos (perhaps due to conversion alone), Birch sporadically lapses into sentences and phrases that feel a bit too embroidered. The bigger problem is the sense of incongruity the book creates in providing essentially two denouements.

Although one twist is certainly within the contemplation of the main story, the other seems incompatible with the picture most of the book draws of Walden. Birch provides some basis that might explain the latter but the core of the Walden character seems unaffected or unchanged overall. Logical issues also appear. For example, Walden's picture is published in the paper with his false name after he is arrested by D.C. police and the police say in the article they are looking for Walden. Yet the police never make the connection between the two names despite the fact a number of non-movement individuals -- including a member of the police force -- would recognize the picture as Walden.

No one can say for sure that the editorial staff of an established publishing house would have avoided those problems. And certainly an argument can be made that these plot developments force a reader to think more closely about fate and free will and the relationship between what we believe and life-changing turning points. Still, the handful of anomalies push the mystery or thriller aspect of Discontents more toward the forefront and encumber an interesting concept and generally well-told story.

(Originally posted at A Progressive on the Prairie.)