We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

Calf: A Novel
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Published:
Catapult 2015
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
Part Are You There God, It's Me Margaret and part Taxi Driver, this creepy, unsettling, and absolutely addictive novel is at once a penetrating character study, a meditation on the zeitgeist of the '80s, and an unflinching depiction of violence, both intimate and sensational.
The year was 1981. The US was entering a deep recession, Russia was our enemy, and John Hinckley, Jr.'s assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan shocked the nation. It was also the year author Andrea Kleine learned her close childhood friend had been violently murdered by her socialite mother, Leslie DeVeau. Both events took place in Washington, DC. Hinckley and DeVeau were both sent to St. Elizabeth's hospital, guilty by reason of insanity. It was there that they met, and later became lovers.
These two real-life, and ultimately converging events inspired Kleine's jaw-dropping, spine-tingling novel, CALF. Made up of dual narratives and told over the course of one year, Kleine's account follows a fictionalized John Hinckley Jr. as he stalks a young actress in the lead-up to the assassination attempt, and eleven-year-old Tammy, whose friend is murdered in her sleep.
Also in This Series
Formats
Adobe EPUB eBook
Works on all eReaders (except Kindles), desktop computers and mobile devices with reading apps installed.
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
OverDrive Read
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
09/01/2015
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781619026773
ASIN:
B011H52XR4
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Andrea Kleine. (2015). Calf: A Novel. Catapult.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Andrea Kleine. 2015. Calf: A Novel. Catapult.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Andrea Kleine, Calf: A Novel. Catapult, 2015.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Andrea Kleine. Calf: A Novel. Catapult, 2015.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection11
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
34d5fa3a-d14f-0607-458c-34777805eeb3
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 17:51:20
Date Updated:
Dec 20, 2023 17:26:01
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 09:19:57
Last Metadata Change:
Dec 21, 2023 23:26:15
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 09:20:00
Last Availability Change:
Jun 09, 2021 13:00:02
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 29, 2024 02:17:20

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63}IMG100.JPG
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63}IMG200.JPG
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/{9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63}IMG150.JPG
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/{9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63}IMG400.JPG
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781619026773
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 674275
      • name: Adobe PDF eBook
      • id: ebook-pdf-adobe
      • identifiers:
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 674275
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B011H52XR4
      • name: Kindle Book
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781619026773
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 674275
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • id: ebook-overdrive
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9781593766191
mediaType
eBook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Andrea Kleine
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
Calf
dateAdded
2016-02-26T04:34:00Z
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com?websiteID=141&titleID=2244488
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
Calf A Novel
crossRefId
2244488
subtitle
A Novel
id
9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63
starRating
3.3

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • fileName: Calf_9781619026773_2244488
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 1092298
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781619026773
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 674275
      • rights:
            • type: Copying
            • value: 0
            • type: Printing
            • value: 0
            • type: Lending
            • value: 0
            • type: ReadAloud
            • value: 0
            • type: ExpirationRights
            • value: 0
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • onSaleDate: 9/1/2015
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=9022f054-ba19-4885-8a8e-d07368ee3a63&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: Calf_2244488
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 674275
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B011H52XR4
      • name: Kindle Book
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • onSaleDate: 9/1/2015
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=9022f054-ba19-4885-8a8e-d07368ee3a63&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: Calf_9781619026773_2244488
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 815403
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781619026773
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 674275
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 9/1/2015
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=9022f054-ba19-4885-8a8e-d07368ee3a63&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: family
      • value: War
      • value: Historical
      • value: romance
      • value: Rome
      • value: Fiction
      • value: crime
      • value: westerns
      • value: novels
      • value: Saga
      • value: Thrillers
      • value: cowboys
      • value: suspense
      • value: Military
      • value: Short Stories
      • value: Historical Fiction
      • value: mystery
      • value: Drama
      • value: Horror
      • value: noir
      • value: Adventure
      • value: french
      • value: Science Fiction
      • value: Thriller
      • value: action adventure
      • value: medieval
      • value: survival
      • value: exploration
      • value: sci-fi
      • value: Alternate History
      • value: fiction books
      • value: fantasy
      • value: western fiction
      • value: historical novels
      • value: thriller books
      • value: adventure books
      • value: survival fiction
      • value: historical fiction novels
      • value: historical fiction books
      • value: books historical fiction
      • value: fiction psychological
      • value: books fiction
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Kleine, Andrea
      • bioText: Andrea Kleine is a writer and performance artist whose work has spanned dance, theater, film, literature, and interdisciplinary projects. She has received five MacDowell Colony fellowships and the New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship award. Her writing has been published in The Los Angeles Review of Books, Everyday Genius, NYFA Current, and on her blog, The Dancers Will Win. Calf is her first novel.
      • name: Andrea Kleine
imprint
Soft Skull
publishDate
2015-09-01T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
Calf
fullDescription
Part Are You There God, It's Me Margaret and part Taxi Driver, this creepy, unsettling, and absolutely addictive novel is at once a penetrating character study, a meditation on the zeitgeist of the '80s, and an unflinching depiction of violence, both intimate and sensational.
The year was 1981. The US was entering a deep recession, Russia was our enemy, and John Hinckley, Jr.'s assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan shocked the nation. It was also the year author Andrea Kleine learned her close childhood friend had been violently murdered by her socialite mother, Leslie DeVeau. Both events took place in Washington, DC. Hinckley and DeVeau were both sent to St. Elizabeth's hospital, guilty by reason of insanity. It was there that they met, and later became lovers.
These two real-life, and ultimately converging events inspired Kleine's jaw-dropping, spine-tingling novel, CALF. Made up of dual narratives and told over the course of one year, Kleine's account follows a fictionalized John Hinckley Jr. as he stalks a young actress in the lead-up to the assassination attempt, and eleven-year-old Tammy, whose friend is murdered in her sleep.
reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Three Guys One Book
      • content:

        "If you came of age in the 1980's, then this coming October it would be wise for you to pick up Calf by Andrea Kleine. After admiring the cool jacket art, you get to roll around in its dueling narrative....How can you take a moment like the assassination of a President and fictionalize it to the point where it becomes its own fever dream? That is the magic here, and it is really impressive to read."

      • premium: False
      • source: Publishers Weekly, starred review
      • content: "Dread stalks every page, and the result is unsettling, scary, and often brilliant. For readers looking for a sharp, twisted narrative, this is a keeper."
      • premium: False
      • source: Elliott Holt, author of You Are One of Them
      • content: "In 1981, John Hinckley, Jr.'s attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan rocked the nation. And Andrea Kleine's gripping novel, Calf, will rock readers. This is a wonderfully unsettling book about love, loss, and unlikely connections."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        Starred review from May 18, 2015
        At the start of this debut novel, Kleine explains that the story was influenced by two acts of violence in Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s: John Hinckley Jr.'s attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan, and the murder of a young girl by her socialite mother, Leslie deVeau (Hinckley and deVeau became lovers after both were found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to the same mental institution). Kleine uses these incidents as springboards for her story, but she smartly deviates from the facts to maximize suspense. Hinckley's stand-in here is Jeffrey Hackney, a college dropout from Texas with dreams of fame. He moves to Los Angeles before heading to D.C. in hopes of attracting the attention of a young starlet. Like his real-life counterpart, Hackney suffers from delusions, manipulates his family, and becomes more and more mentally unstable. Meanwhile, 10-year-old Tammy moves from Virginia to the nation's capital with her mother, sister, stepbrother, and stepfather after her parents divorce. Though Tammy makes friends at her new school, she feels isolated, and when her friend Kirin is murdered in her sleep by her own mother, Tammy too becomes unstable and starts down a dark, dangerous path. Dread stalks every page, and the result is unsettling, scary, and often brilliant. For readers looking for a sharp, twisted narrative, this is a keeper.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        August 1, 2015
        Performance artist Kleine debuts with the bleak intertwined tales of a fourth-grader murdered by her mother and a narcissistic loser who shoots the movie star he's been stalking.The novel was "inspired," the author tells us, by the creepy real-life love affair of would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley and Leslie DeVeau, who killed her daughter (a childhood friend of Kleine's) and met Hinckley while both were patients in a psychiatric hospital. Unfortunately, the only character who comes to fictional life here is Tammy, an anxious 10-year-old at the end of 1980, when she relocates to Washington, D.C., and finds herself on the fringes of her new school's social scene while younger sister Steffi fits right in and swiftly acquires a best friend, Kirin. Tammy's mother and stepfather are stick figures of selfishness, leaving the girls to pick up and supervise their 4-year-old half brother after school, while Kirin's mother, Valerie, is such a twitching mass of symptoms that it's all too clear which mom will be shotgunning her daughter halfway through the novel. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Hackney (the Hinckley stand-in) grieves over John Lennon's death and can't understand why neither his parents nor anyone at the college where he's stopped attending classes can see how special he is-never mind that he makes few efforts to demonstrate his specialness other than some creative bouts of lying to cover up his failures. The flat-affect prose doesn't encourage us to feel any empathy for-let alone interest in-Jeffrey or anyone else except pathetic Tammy in this dour saga of alienation and unhappiness. It doesn't help that the narrative whipsaws between Jeff's growing fixation on starlet Amber Carrol and the interactions of the kids and parents in Tammy's neighborhood, chronicled in chapters confusingly split among multiple points of view. After the two murderous denouements, the novel dwindles into a depressive anticlimax for Tammy and more delusions for Jeff and Valerie. Fact-based fiction needs more imaginative transformation than it gets here.

        COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        October 15, 2015

        The attempted assassination of President Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. and the 1982 murder of a ten-year-old girl by her mother in Washington, DC, are the inspiration for this debut. Kleine's stand-in for Hinckley is Jeff Hackney, a troubled loner pressured by his family to make something of himself. His delusions of a music career and obsession with a starlet bring him first to California and then, fatefully, to the nation's capital. Meanwhile, preteen Tammy is having family troubles and struggles to fit in at her new school. When her younger sister's best friend is murdered, Tammy and her peers try to make sense of the tragedy. VERDICT Kleine gets the details of growing up in the early 1980s exactly right; in fact, the Tammy sections of the book read very much like the Judy Blume books that are often referenced. Kleine fictionalizes just enough of Jeff's story to add suspense and presents a plausible psychological portrait of a killer. The author's personal connection to the second case (the murdered girl was a childhood friend) perhaps led to a bit of overreach, as her attempts to get inside the mother's head and connect the two stories feel somewhat forced. Nevertheless, this is a tense page-turner.--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

        Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

popularity
45
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/9022f054-ba19-4885-8a8e-d07368ee3a63/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
9022f054-ba19-4885-8a8e-d07368ee3a63
starRating
3.3
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63}IMG100.JPG
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63}IMG200.JPG
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/{9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63}IMG150.JPG
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/{9022F054-BA19-4885-8A8E-D07368EE3A63}IMG400.JPG
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Fiction
      • value: Literature
      • value: Thriller
      • value: Historical Fiction
publishDateText
09/01/2015
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9781593766191
mediaType
eBook
shortDescription
Part Are You There God, It's Me Margaret and part Taxi Driver, this creepy, unsettling, and absolutely addictive novel is at once a penetrating character study, a meditation on the zeitgeist of the '80s, and an unflinching depiction of violence, both intimate and sensational.
The year was 1981. The US was entering a deep recession, Russia was our enemy, and John Hinckley, Jr.'s assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan shocked the nation. It was also the year author Andrea Kleine learned her close childhood friend had been violently murdered by her socialite mother, Leslie DeVeau. Both events took place in Washington, DC. Hinckley and DeVeau were both sent to St. Elizabeth's hospital, guilty by reason of insanity. It was there that they met, and later became lovers.
These two real-life, and ultimately converging events inspired Kleine's jaw-dropping, spine-tingling novel, CALF. Made up of dual narratives and told over the course of one...
sortTitle
Calf A Novel
crossRefId
2244488
subtitle
A Novel
publisher
Catapult
bisacCodes
      • code: FIC002000
      • description: Fiction / Action & Adventure
      • code: FIC014000
      • description: FICTION / Historical / General
      • code: FIC025000
      • description: Fiction / Psychological