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Terror Nation I like Terror Nation because I think it would be cool to be a small town sports reporter who was put into the local mental institution for writing anti-Bush letters to the editor. And a dream of mine would be to cover Iowa sports or coach baseball and have that be good enough. "Palecek is ... a natural — or highly practiced — writer. With his rolling rhythms, everything he writes, even Charlie Johnson's brutal confinement goes down easy." Paperback: 496 pages. Publisher: Mainstay Press (April 4, 2006) |
"If you haven't heard of Mike Palecek, you should have." - Karris Golden, Waterloo-Cedar Falls [IA] Courier |
"It has been many years since I picked up a book and didn't put it down till I finished it. Mike Palecek's The American Dream smacks you right between the eyes with every turn of the page. This book tells the God-awful truth that none of us wants to accept." — Guy James |
The American Dream I like The American Dream because it's like punching America in the nose, it's like punching George W. Bush in the nose and Karl Rove in the nose. And I think those two pussies need to be punched in the nose. And it punches those ministers with American flags and dead children on their altar, and it punches my neighbor right square in the kisser for mowing his lawn and worrying about his damn lawn while we are killing children in Iraq. Paperback: 174 Pages |
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The Last Liberal Outlaw I like Outlaw because it talks about a reporter in a small town doing what a reporter in a small town should do, pay attention to the commas and oppose the construction of the prison near town. Paperback: 320 pages |
"Palecek is at his best when writing about small-town America ... We haven't had a writer like this since Kurt Vonnegut was at his peak." - Chuck Gregory, |
"Mike Palecek poses powerful questions. He has constructed a masterpiece in this novel. It deserves to be read. It's exhilarating and terrifying. It's realer than real." |
Looking for Bigfoot I like Bigfoot because I think there is a Bigfoot and I think Bush did 9/11 and I think the CIA killed the Kennedys, and I like baseball, a lot. Paperback |
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The Truth I like The Truth because it was written in the run-up to the current war and was written in a rage against pre-war stupidity in Iowa. I tried to stop the war with this book. I tried to expose the lies, stuff a dish towel in Tom Brokaw's mouth to keep him from lying. "The disruptive power of The Truth, intermittent as hailstorms along Tornado Alley, will move your jaded self out of the shopping malls and into the streets to demand accountability from an illegal government. If you don't get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness after reading pages 183-185, you've already purchased a post and chain in the inner circle of Hell." - Michael Annis, senior editor, Howling Dog Press Paperback. Publisher: New Hampshire Writers Collective |
"As a professional writer and editor I want to strongly second all the positive comments for this book. In addition to its fine message, its layout and Mike's real deftness with plotting make it a great reading experience, like few books I know." - Phil Hey, Professor of English and Writing, |
"... to inspire us all because it looks beyond the false gods of our time, the ruthless political leaders, the timid intellecturals, the stars of People magazine, and tells the story of the bravest people in America." - Howard Zinn |
Prophets Without Honor: 2002. Non-fiction, in cooperation with William Strabala. |
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Twins I like Twins because it talks about a prison burning and about the Twin Cities, which I love, and about robbing Twin Cities banks to give the money to the poor on Hennepin Ave. You can read a full review by Michael Wilt of Nimble Spirit Review HERE. Paperback: 332 pages. Publisher: Badger Books LLC (October 2003) |
"I'm enjoying immensely the detailed setting of the book in the Twin Cities - or at least a virtual reality of the area. Give it a try, I think you'll like it." - Stu Webb, |
"Well-written - Danny Schechter, |
Killing George Bush I like KGB because it tells the forgotten story of prisoners and conspiracy theorists and people slaughtered by Bush Sr. in Panama and women and children in jail visiting rooms and other stuff. Paperback. |
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Joe Coffee's Revolution I like Joe Coffee because it tells the truth about the Democratic Party and about farmer revolutionaries and farm kitchen tables. |
"Palecek's greatest talent lies in his ability to depict the ordinariness of life. After a few chapters of Palecek's tender attention to the characters' small lives, readers will feel the same itch for revolution that the characters give into." - Meta Hogan, |