''Goats'' is a 2000 novel written by

Mark Jude Poirier Mark Jude Poirier is an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona, the fifth child in a family of eleven children. He lives in New York City with his partner, Edward Cahill. Career He wrote the novel ...

published by Hyperion with the strapline "Girls, ganga and goat-trekking"

Plot introduction

The story is told from the perspective of two characters, Ellis and Goat Man. Ellis is fourteen and lives in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. His parents have split up and he lives with his mother Wendy, and Goat Man. Goat Man ostensibly looks after Wendy's garden and swimming pool and in return lives in the pool house. Goat Man is a goat-rearing

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

enthusiast and introduced Ellis to the drug when he was eleven. Ellis now faces moving to Gates, an exclusive Pennsylvania prep school. The novel charts this dislocation and the impact it has on Ellis and those he leaves behind.

Reception

Tom Perrotta Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' writes "Despite its occasional excesses, ''Goats'' is a hard-edged, clear-eyed coming-of-age novel shot through with unexpected flashes of tenderness." * ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' concludes, "With its low-key humor and idiosyncratic views on family, drug use and the modern American caste system, this is an engaging and perceptive debut".

Film adaptation

The film rights were optioned by Christopher Neil in 2002. The movie was filmed in 2011 in Tucson and Pennsylvania, adapted by the author and directed by Neil. The film stars

David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...

Vera Farmiga Vera Ann Farmiga ( ; born August 6, 1973) is an American actress who is best known for portraying paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring Universe films '' The Conjuring'' (2013), '' The Conjuring 2'' (2016), '' Annabelle Co ...

, Ty Burrell, Justin Kirk, and Graham Phillips. The film premiered at the 2012

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and is currently seeking distribution.

References

External links

Chapter 1 online

Kirkus Reviews
2000 American novels Novels by Mark Poirier Novels set in Tucson, Arizona Novels set in Pennsylvania American bildungsromans American novels adapted into films 2000 debut novels Hyperion Books books {{2000s-bildungsroman-stub