Joey Goebel
Encyclopedia
Joey Goebel is an American author
whose work centers around the peculiarities of culture in Middle America. He was raised in Henderson, Kentucky
, a small town on the Ohio River
across from Evansville, Indiana
. His parents, the late 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 over ten languages and have found their largest audience in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Goebel currently lives in Kentucky, with wife Micah. Goebel has recently finished his third novel, Commonwealth, which was published on July 4, 2008.
in Owensboro, Kentucky
, where he received an English degree with an emphasis in professional writing. He has received an Master of Fine Arts
in Creative Writing from Spalding University
.
in April 2003.
The Anomalies was a Book Sense
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
. 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, a Swiss literary publisher. Goebel attended the Frankfurt Book Fair
, 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, awarded to a prominent young talent
for a punk
band called The Mullets with band members Jason Sheeley and Justin Hope. The band played about one hundred shows throughout the Midwest (many in Evansville, Indiana
) and released two cassette tapes, a seven inch EP record, and three Compact Disc
s.
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 high school (“At the Pep Rally”), some making fun of popular culture (“Intrusive T.V. Neighbors”), and some purely comedic (“At a Flea Market”).
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
("My Sweet Lolita
") and F. Scott Fitzgerald
("All the Sad Young Men").
arts and entertainment magazine News 4U.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
whose work centers around the peculiarities of culture in Middle America. He was raised in Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson is a city in Henderson County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River in the western part of the state. The population was 27,952 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area often referred to as "Kentuckiana", although "Tri-State Area" or "Tri-State" are more...
, a small town on the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
across from Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
. His parents, the late Adam Goebel of Louisville, and Nancy Bingemer Goebel of Henderson, were both social workers and met in Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
. His older sister CeCe is also a social worker.
Goebel's books have been published in over ten languages and have found their largest audience in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Goebel currently lives in Kentucky, with wife Micah. Goebel has recently finished his third novel, Commonwealth, which was published on July 4, 2008.
Education and careers
Goebel attended Brescia UniversityBrescia University
Brescia University is a coeducational Catholic university located in Owensboro, Kentucky, in the United States. It was founded in 1950 by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph as Brescia College. It attained university status in 1998 with the addition of Master's degree programs in...
in Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...
, where he received an English degree with an emphasis in professional writing. He has received an Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in Creative Writing from Spalding University
Spalding University
Spalding University is a private, co-educational university affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and located in Louisville, Kentucky.-History:...
.
Novels and nominations
MacAdam/Cage Publishing of San Francisco published Goebel's first book The AnomaliesThe Anomalies
The Anomalies, published as The Freaks outside of the US, is a novel by Joey Goebel published in 2003.-Plot summary:In a small town in Kentucky, five outsiders have come together: an eighty-year-old woman who walks around in cowboy boots and a Sex Pistols t-shirt; a beautiful woman in a wheelchair;...
in April 2003.
The Anomalies was a Book Sense
Book Sense
Book Sense was a marketing and branding program of the American Booksellers Association, in which many independent bookstores across North America participated in order to better compete with the large book chains. Bookstores participating in the Book Sense program were expected to display the Book...
76 title selected by the nation's independent booksellers and was nominated for the Kentucky Literary Award.
Goebel's second novel, Torture the Artist
Torture the Artist
Torture the Artist, published as Vincent outside of the US, is a novel by Joey Goebel published in 2004.- External links :* John Hood's Bully Magazine review of Torture the Artist* Review* Review* Buy the Book online...
, was released in October 2004, also by MacAdam/Cage
MacAdam/Cage
MacAdam/Cage is a small publishing firm located in San Francisco, California. It was founded by David Poindexter in 1998. As of 2003, it published around 30 to 45 titles per year, primarily fiction, short story collections, history, biography, and essays, and had twelve employees...
. 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, a Swiss literary publisher. Goebel attended the Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. As to the number of visitors, the Turin Book Fair attracts about as many visitors, viz. some 300,000....
, and he and Vincent were featured in Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
.
On July 4, 2008, Goebel's third novel, Commonwealth
Commonwealth (novel)
Commonwealth is the third full novel written by the American author Joey Goebel.-Plot summary:Somewhere in the middle of America dwells Blue Gene Mapother, a trashy, mullet-headed Wal-Mart stockboy-turned-flea marketer who staunchly supports any American war effort without question...
, was published. In 2009, he was the recipient of Romania's Ovid Festival Prize, awarded to a prominent young talent
The Mullets
From 1996-2001; prior to becoming a novelist, Goebel sang and played guitarfor a punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band called The Mullets with band members Jason Sheeley and Justin Hope. The band played about one hundred shows throughout the Midwest (many in Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
) and released two cassette tapes, a seven inch EP record, and three Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s.
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 high school (“At the Pep Rally”), 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 LukeBickers. 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 Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
("My Sweet Lolita
Lolita
Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian...
") and F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
("All the Sad Young Men").
Other work
Goebel has written several articles for the Evansville, IndianaEvansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
arts and entertainment magazine News 4U.
External links
- Joey Goebel's Homepage
- Interview with Joey Goebel on TastesLikeChicken
- Interview with Joey Goebel on PopMatters
- Mass-Market Martyr John Hood's Bully Magazine review of Torture the Artist