Synopses & Reviews
"You'll want to scratch."
These spoken words open to us the strange and beguiling world of young corporal Rudy Spruance, forced to join the military due to a mysterious past, and sent for some unexplainable reason to a top-secret military hospital in Greenland. There he meets a wide cast of unusual and colorful characters, outcasts and rejects all, begins to fall for the commanding officer's leggy and strong-willed girlfriend, and slowly uncovers the awful secret behind the portion of the base dubbed "The Wing."
It is a world where glaciers crouch on the horizon, icebergs float along the bay, and polar bears must be chased away from the local dump. It is also a place where conflicting forces intersect, where history, so long held at bay, begins to encroach, and a place that in several months' time will be submerged in an endless night, affectionately termed "The Stark Raving Dark." In the grand tradition of Joseph Heller and Ken Kesey, No One Things of Greenland is the hair-raising and hilarious story of one man's desperate attempts to find his place in a mad, mad world.
Review
"Rooted in truth, this is a terrific possibly great first novel. The sense of place is vivid, especially the Stark Raving Dark....And the military mentality and attendant bureaucracy that influence everything but the environment offer a narrative glue for a quirky, affecting, and powerful read." Thomas Gaughan, Booklist
Review
"Griesemer handles these overly familiar materials with brio and skill; if only Joe Heller hadn't got there and planted his flag first." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Griesemer's debut novel, No One Thinks of Greenland, can be compared in a blurb such as this with Catch 22 without too much embarrassment....Spruance's experiences with the hospital's half-mad director, Col. Lane Woolwrap, and the inmates' manic activities, are rendered with the ring of dead-on satire." The Stranger (Seattle)
Review
"In its manic moments, the book recalls the topsy-turvy military worlds of Catch-22 and M*A*S*H, though it doesn't quite reach the subversive heights of its predecessors." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
“Youll want to scratch.” These spoken words open to us the strange and beguiling world of young Rudy Spruance, forced to join the military due to a mysterious past, and sent for some inexplicable reason to a top-secret military hospital in Greenland. There he meets a wide cast of unusual and colorful characters, outcasts and rejects all; begins to fall for the commanding officers leggy and strong-willed girlfriend; and slowly uncovers the awful secret behind the portion of the base dubbed “the Wing.”
Synopsis
“Youll want to scratch.” These spoken words open to us the strange and beguiling world of young Rudy Spruance, forced to join the military due to a mysterious past, and sent for some inexplicable reason to a top-secret military hospital in Greenland. There he meets a wide cast of unusual and colorful characters, outcasts and rejects all; begins to fall for the commanding officers leggy and strong-willed girlfriend; and slowly uncovers the awful secret behind the portion of the base dubbed “the Wing.”
About the Author
John Griesemer's fiction has been published in Glimmer Train, Gettysburg Review, Threepenny Review, and elsewhere. He has worked as a mental hospital orderly, a fisherman, and a journalist. He is an actor and has appeared on and off-Broadway and in television and film, including Malcolm X, Days of Thunder, and The Crucible. He lives with his family in New Hampshire. No One Thinks of Greenland is his first novel