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Ron Riekki
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u.p. Paperback – November 15, 2008

by R.A. Riekki (Author)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
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From a bold new novelist comes a complex tale of friendship and brutality. Set in Michigan s Upper Peninsula, U.P. is the story of four teens immersed in an ugly world, one whose threat of violence is always simmering beneath the surface. R.A. Riekki s distinctive characters and their poignant quest for freedom is a swan song to lost youth, redefining the traditional coming-of- age-story. Four boys, four distinct narratives that converge into a harrowing and heartbreaking whole.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    236 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Ghost Road Press
  4. Publication date
    November 15, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    5.98 x 0.54 x 9.02 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0979625564
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0979625565
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in Marquette, R.A. Riekki has studied writing at Central Michigan, Brandeis, Virginia, and Western Michigan. U.P. was nominated by John Casey for the Sewanee Writers' Series.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ghost Road Press; First Edition (November 15, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 236 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0979625564
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0979625565
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 0.54 x 9.02 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

About the author

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Ron Riekki

Ron Riekki

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Ron Riekki’s books include U.P.: a novel (Ghost Road Press), Posttraumatic: A Memoir (Small Press Distribution), My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I Am Melting in Extinction (Loyola University Maryland’s Apprentice House Press), and Blood Not Blood Then the Gates (Middle West Press). Riekki co-edited Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice (Michigan State University Press), The Many Lives of The Evil Dead: Essays on the Cult Film Franchise (McFarland), and The Many Lives of the Twilight Zone: Essays on the Television and Film Franchise; and edited And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017 (MSU Press), Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (MSU Press, awarded an Independent Publisher Book Award), and The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works (Wayne State University Press, awarded a Michigan Notable Book from the Library of Michigan).

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
17 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Yoopers
5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply affecting, Highly entertaining
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2010
Verified Purchase
Ingenious ! I was tickled by the local references, but this novel transcends the novelty of that. It is brutal and graphic at times. I didn't find that to be detrimental but necessary to illustrate a culture of violence that infects our little section of the world ( but is not often spoke of ). The boys in this book will be in my head for awhile. I'm anxiously awaiting the movie adaptation.
5 people found this helpful
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J. Weber
2.0 out of 5 stars f*in' depressin man.....
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2010
Verified Purchase
Based on some excellent reviews, I was excited to read this book by a young author from the UP. Unfortunately it was depressing and vulgar - and I felt like it was put on vulgarity - like how little white boys from the wealthy suburbs try to act so tough from the inner city .... I felt this vulgarity was too much - it was fake wanna be. Perhaps it would appeal to young men, the characters sure seemed obsessed with themselves and sex, sex, themselves, sex and oh yes - sex, and frankly they seemed like really stupid characters. So if you want to read about ignorant self obsessed characters who don't do much of anything then this book is for you.
4 people found this helpful
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Barbara Beswick
5.0 out of 5 stars If you're from Michigan...or close, a must read.
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2013
Verified Purchase
The author gave me this book years ago and I've read it again, more recently. It is a very good study on personalities that seem to mesh at first...and then age and maturity creeps in. The environment is daunting and sets an atmosphere for what you don't expect to ever happen.Exciting reading, for sure. Barbara Beswick
2 people found this helpful
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Mary Vusich
2.0 out of 5 stars U.P. ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2010
Verified Purchase
Sorry. I would not recommend this book for young people to read. I'm very familiar with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and recognized so many of the spots depicted in Marquette County. The author appeared to have enjoyed writing about acts of sex...F.....in' this and F....in' that in his story about 4 boys and their personalities. Plus the book is difficult read. Doesn't make sense half the time. Yes! The U.P. is an economically stressed area of Michigan but I think the author did not do it justice.
5 people found this helpful
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Meg Tuite
5.0 out of 5 stars Riekki rocks it!
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2015
Verified Purchase
Love Riekki's work! This is amazing and powerful!
One person found this helpful
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Yvonne Osborne
5.0 out of 5 stars A new writer shows us the dark side of the U.P. and introduces four characters we won't easily forget
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2009
U.P. is a runaway train crashing through the deep woods of the north country. An atypical coming-of-age novel, U.P. is the story of four teenagers desperate to escape the mining towns of Ishpeming and Negaunee but doomed to immersion in the violence simmering just below the surface of their Upper Peninsula communities. I could not put it down! These four characters will forever resonate in my memory. I read spellbound, silently pleading with them to drop the plan that will destroy their lives. The ending is brilliant. I read it over and over. Does Hollow make it to Boot Camp? Does J have to cross the border to escape? Do Craig and Antony jump? The ending crescendos like a full metal jacket, rock star reunion.
6 people found this helpful
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Ryan P. Dolley
5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful novel by a sharp new writer.
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2009
This book is fantastic. It's a novel about Michigan's near-empty Upper Peninsula that turns the stereotype of a tranquil country upbringing on its head; it's a novel about four deeply wounded young men who make fantastic, interesting, compelling, sympathetic, and frightening characters; It's funny as hell, the structure works to support the story, and the ending is absolutely incredible.

I polished this one sitting in a backwoods deer blind in northern Michigan. I read the ending again. And again as I sat in the dusk snow darkening around me.

I've rarely been so affected by a moment spent with a book.
12 people found this helpful
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stoic
3.0 out of 5 stars A Downbeat Coming-of-Age Story from Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.)
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2010
U.P. is a novel about the tribulations of four young men on Michigan's upper peninsula. The novel has its strong points, but it could have been much better had author R.K. Riekki made some changes. In particular, the book's plot is thin and needs more development.

The novel focuses on four high-school age boys:
Craig - a would-be ladies' man,
J - who is already jaded, due in part his cerebral palsy,
antony - a rap-obsessed white kid, and
Hollow - who dreams of escaping the U.P. by joining the military.

U.P. is strong on character development. The reader comes to know each of the four young men and cheers for them to make the right decisions. Riekki also does a good job of recreating the mood of the late-80s and early-90s when the novel takes place.

However, as mentioned, U.P.`s plot is weak. Simply put, Riekki needed to give the characters more to do. Instead, the book meanders along with one scene blending into the next. The mood is bleak. (In fact, the first sentence includes "...nothing good has ever come out of the U.P."). The reader tires of the depressing tone before the book's end.

Riekki is a talented writer and U.P. is well crafted. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the four boys and the book works in spite of the complexities this introduces to the story. Unfortunately, Riekki chose to write antony's chapters using phonetic spellings as well as nonstandard punctuation and grammar. This gets old after about the first page and the reader dreads the chapters that antony narrates.

U.P.'s worth reading, but don't get your hopes too high.
4 people found this helpful
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