Adam Joseph Goebel III (born 2 September 1980) is an American author, whose work centers around the peculiarities of culture in
Middle America. He was raised in
Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson is a home rule-class city along the Ohio River and is the county seat of Henderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,757 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area, locally known as t ...
, a small town on the
Ohio River across from
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
. His parents, Adam Goebel of Louisville, and Nancy Bingemer Goebel of Henderson, were both
social workers and met in
Frankfort, Kentucky. His older sister CeCe is also a social worker.
Goebel's books have been published in sixteen languages and have found their largest audience in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, and
Switzerland.
Goebel currently lives in
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
. He is divorced and has a son, Adam Joseph Goebel IV ("Joe"). Goebel's third novel, ''Commonwealth'', was published on July 4, 2008. His fourth and fifth novels were published in German.
Education and careers
Goebel attended
Brescia University
Brescia University is a private Roman Catholic university in Owensboro, Kentucky. It was founded as a junior college for women and is now a coeducational university offering undergraduate and master's programs.
History
Brescia University trace ...
in
Owensboro, Kentucky, where he received an English degree with an emphasis in professional writing. He has received a
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from
Spalding University
Spalding University is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
History
Spalding University traces its origins to Nazareth Academy, one of the oldest educational instituti ...
in
Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
.
Novels and nominations
MacAdam/Cage Publishing of San Francisco published Goebel's first book ''
The Anomalies'' in April 2003.
''The Anomalies'' was a
Book Sense
IndieBound is a marketing movement for independent bookstores launched in 2008 by the American Booksellers Association. With resources targeted for "indie" booksellers, it promotes fiscal localism. IndieBound's curated reading lists include the I ...
76 title selected by the nation's independent booksellers and was nominated for the Kentucky Literary Award.
Goebel's second novel, ''
Torture the Artist'', was released in October 2004, also by
MacAdam/Cage
MacAdam/Cage was a small publishing firm located in San Francisco, California. It was founded by publisher David Poindexter in 1998. In 2003, it published around 30 to 45 titles per year, primarily fiction, short story collections, history, biogra ...
. ''Torture the Artist'' was the finalist for the 2004 Kentucky Literary Award and made the long list for the Dylan Thomas Prize for 2006.
In fall of 2005, ''Torture the Artist'' was published in German under the title ''Vincent'' by
Diogenes Verlag
The Diogenes Verlag (short: Diogenes) is a Swiss publisher in Zurich, founded in 1952 by , with a focus on literature, plays and cartoons. It has been managed since 2012 by the founder's son, Philipp Keel.
History
Daniel Keel, who founded the ...
, a Swiss literary publisher. Goebel attended the
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...
, and he and ''Vincent'' were featured in ''
Der Spiegel''.
On July 4, 2008, Goebel's third novel,
''Commonwealth'', was published. In 2009, he was the recipient of Romania's
Ovid Festival Prize
The Ovid Prize, established in 2002, is a literary prize awarded annually to an author from any country, in recognition of a body of work. It is named in honour of the Roman poet Ovid, who died in exile in Tomis (contemporary Constanța), on the ...
, awarded to a prominent young talent
In 2013, Goebel's fourth novel ''
I Against Osborne
I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...
'' was published in German under the title ''.'' It was also published in French.
In 2019, Diogenes published a collection of linked stories titled ''.'' The English title is ''
I Know It's Going to Happen for You Someday
I, or i, is the ninth Letter (alphabet), letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in Engl ...
.''
Music career
The Mullets
From 1996 to 2001, prior to becoming a novelist, Goebel sang and played guitar for a
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band called
The Mullets
''The Mullets'' is an American sitcom created by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. Starring Michael Weaver, David Hornsby, Loni Anderson and John O'Hurley, it aired on UPN from September 11, 2003 to March 17, 2004.
Premise
The Mullets are blue-co ...
with band members Jason Sheeley and Justin Hope. The band played about one hundred shows throughout the Midwest (many in
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
) and released two cassette tapes, a seven-inch
EP record
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. , and three compact discs.
The band had a rabid following in the Tri-state area of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.
Goebel wrote over one hundred songs for the Mullets, some of them bitter love songs ("Swimmin' Alone with the Turkeys"), some scoffing at his surroundings—particularly small-town life ("Kentucky Waterfall"), some making fun of popular culture ("Intrusive T.V. Neighbors"), and some purely comedic ("At a Flea Market").
Novembrists
Goebel sang and played guitar for
Novembrists, with bandmates Jr. Bailey and Luke Bickers. The band stayed together for about a year, long enough to record and release a CD. They played one farewell show.
Novembrists songs were a bit darker and had a few more literary allusions, such as
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...
("My Sweet
Lolita") and
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
("All the Sad Young Men").
Bibliography
Goebel's protagonists are intelligent rebels, sensible madmen, and rejected dreamers disgusted by a society that embraces boy band media and girl glam. His prose laments the absence of originality and morality in contemporary culture.
* ''
The Anomalies'' (aka ''Freaks'', German title) (2003)
* ''
Torture the Artist'' (aka ''Vincent'', German title) (2004)
* ''
Commonwealth'' (aka ''Heartland'', German title) (2008)
* ''
I Against Osborne
I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...
'' (aka , German title. Currently available in German only) (2013)
* ''
One Day It Will Be Good'' (aka , German title. Currently available in German only) (2019)
Other work
Goebel has written several articles for the
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
arts and entertainment magazine ''
News 4U''.
References
External links
Joey Goebel's HomepageInterview with Joey Goebel on TastesLikeChickenInterview with Joey Goebel on PopMattersJohn Hood's Bully Magazine review of Torture the Artist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goebel, Joey
1980 births
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
American punk rock guitarists
American punk rock singers
Living people
Rock musicians from Kentucky
Spalding University alumni
Novelists from Kentucky
Singers from Kentucky
Songwriters from Kentucky
Guitarists from Kentucky
American male guitarists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century American singers
21st-century American guitarists
American male songwriters