Rash

Written by Pete Hautman

Narrated by Andy Paris

Winner of the National Book Award, Pete Hautman pens a futuristic satire brimming with wry humor and honored by a Booklist starred review. Welcome to the United Safer States of America in 2076! Here, prisoners perform all manual labor. And the country is finally safe. Sixteen-year-old Bo ignores governmental protective devices capturing every action and word. He endures the avalanche of safety regulations. But when he's accused of spreading a rash at school, anger and jealousy threaten to override his daily dose of calming Levulor and earn him a "job" in the Canadian tundra.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781470355159

Pete Hautman

Pete Hautman is the author of National Book Award–winning novel Godless, Sweetblood, Hole in the Sky, Stone Cold, The Flinkwater Factor, The Forgetting Machine, and Mr. Was, which was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America, as well as several adult novels. He lives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Visit him at PeteHautman.com.  

Reviews for Rash

[bell7_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In the future, the USSA - that's the United Safer States of America - takes everyone's safety extremely importantly. There is no more football, you must wear protective gear even to run on a special surface, and losing your temper is a punishable offense. When Bo Marsten breaks the rules, he's assigned to work making pizzas for McDonald's (a huge corporation that does a whole lot more than just restaurants), and doesn't quite know how he's going to get out of this fix.The book had a lot going for it at the start: interesting premise, humor, a likable protagonist who finds himself in a tough situation only partially of his own making. But I felt like the author just started running out of ideas partway through. The middle started to drag even as the situation became more and more over-the-top, and it finally ended in a way that made me completely unsure if anything was actually accomplished other than Bo's development - and I'm not convinced that he couldn't have changed like that given another set of circumstances. I muddled through to the end because it was a fast read and I liked the AI program that Bo creates for a school assignment.

[paakre-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Science fiction story of a boy who has inherited anger management problem from his father who in addition to his brother has spent time in jail for the petty offenses now considered major. Large passages about football games in prison reminded me of the satire, M*A*S*H (Robert Altman, not the TV show). This satire is pitched at our everyday cowardice in the face of conflict. The best thing in it is the AI creature named Bork who takes on a life of his own and contributes mightily to the saving of the main character.

[gaillamontagne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the United Safer States of America, personal safety has become society’s obsession. French fries are illegal, contact sports have been banned, and obesity is a crime punishable by imprisonment.Teenager Bo Marsten has grown up in this ultra-safe environment, but he has trouble following the many rules. Rash is the story of how his “rash” behavior lands him in a prison camp run by a sadistic former football coach, where he must play an illegal and almost forgotten sport: tackle football. Wonderful narration with voices characterizing each individual. Probably boys from 6-9th grade will especially like it but I loved it as an adult too. As someone who grew up with concrete under my playstructure and riding my bike for years without a helmet, I can relate to the over emphasis on "safety".

[akmargie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was just kinda blah. And the female characters kept saying "Oh, Bo." Who says that? What kinda of response is that? Sure its nit-picking, but when it happens withing the first 30 pages and I have a stack of books at home. Yeah.

[librarybrandy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bo is from a family with a history: both his father and brother are incarcerated for anger-based crimes (road rage and a fistfight, respectively), and Bo is acutely aware of his own struggles with self-control. His rival, Karlohs, intentionally needles him, going so far as to give himself a rash and blame it on Bo. The resulting school-wide psychosomatic rash lands Bo in a heap of trouble, in spite of it not actually being his fault.. Name-calling has already put him on probation, so throwing a punch at Karlohs, while satisfying, seals his fate. Bo is off to the Canadian tundra to fill his 36-month sentence in a pizza factory, miles from nowhere and surrounded by hungry polar bears.

Work in the pizza factory isn’t unbearable, but it’s far from pleasant. However, things take a turn for the better when he’s accepted into the factory’s highly-selective, highly-illegal football team. Playing football gives Bo the outlet he never knew he’d been looking for, but it’s not enough to help him overcome all his fears. There are still those hungry polar bears on the other side of the fence, after all.

In between Bo’s athletic and personal problems, there’s the matter of his science-project AI he’d been working on when he was kicked out of school: Bork has somehow, against all odds, developed sentience and a sense of humor, and is now creeping through the WindO, a webghost with legal aspirations.

And thank goodness the government has stepped up to the plate to ensure the safety of its citizens! The United Safer States of America have outlawed virtually anything dangerous: alcohol, pocketknives, self-mutilation (tattoos and body piercing, mainly), even name-calling, which could damage the victim's feelings. The penal system, incarcerating nearly 25% of the population, is more about a labor force than corrections.

Lots of football details for the sports fans, plus humor and a main character you honestly root for, despite how many of his problems are entirely of his own making. 8th grade and up would likely enjoy this (older readers will get more out of it, of course), particularly reluctant-reader boys.

[squeakychu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I originally picked up this book because the opening lines looked interesting. It seemed to be a humorous look at life in the future. As I further read the book, though, I realized that I was not the demographic that the book was meant to hit. In lieu of a teenage boy reading this novel, here I was, a woman in my sixties wondering how I was going to get through this book or even whether to give up on it. I kept reading. I liked Bork, the cybernetic creation of Bo Marsten, who had built him as part of a high school project to create an intelligent personality from a part of his school's computer. Sadly, anger was not permitted in this future scenario so when Kharlos Minx moved in on Bo's love interest Maddy, Bo acted up to the point that he was sent to prison in the Canadian tundra. Should I continue reading, I wondered? Well, Bork came back and, irises spinning, amused me greatly. At one point in Bo's imprisonment, he was made to play football. This reader had just finished watching the (real life) Washington Redskin-Dallas Cowboys game so I took note when I read of a football team in this story called the RedShirts. Football to me is great. All of a sudden, I finished the book...and I liked it! No going back now.

[lchs1mrso · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rash by Pete Hautman is set in the future in United States. Regulations have taken over and made everything extremely safe. Bo Marsten is a teenager that has an anger management issue. In this society, he is sent to jail for punching someone. At the prison, Bo is recruited to join the factory’s illegal football team. Bork, the artificial intelligence that Bo made, gets him released from prison. Bo then returns home but feels unsatisfied being so restricted. In the end, Bo goes to South America to get away from all the regulations. The cover is quite intriguing with an outline of an animal’s face and a man running. It tempts the reader to find out what that is all about. Those who like books with futuristic societies should read this book.

[lscottke · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Futuristic Sports Fiction. Middle School to HS average reader. Main Characters: Bo Marsten, (Gramps, “Rhino”, “Hammer”)After losing his temper too many times in a future world regulated for complete citizen safety, Bo is sent to work in a prison pizza factory (a McDonalds merger!) in the northern tundra. Many of his fellow inmates are in for similar misdemeanors, and Rhino is in for unsafe, self-destructive eating habits. The USA is now the USSA (the extra S for “safer”) and runs on the manpower provided by the large percentage of citizens imprisoned in work camps for misdemeanors. Any aggression, any strenuous contact sport, any reckless behavior is enough to go on record. USSA laws and municipal regulations are fear-of-litigation driven. Medication, Levelor, suppresses any emotional outbursts.Bo (who doesn’t take his Levelor, a misdemeanor in itself) is jealous about his girlfriend’s interaction with an arch track (running) rival. He loses his temper once too often after being blamed for a rash outbreak that is in fact a reaction to a skin cream. He ends up on a prison football squad coached by an ex-pro footballer, playing illegal contact sports against other prison teams (Coke!)When Bo’s computer A.I. creation, Bork, manages to arrange an early release, Bo is thrown out of the prison to fight his way to the nearest arctic town while avoiding polar bear attacks.Back home again, Bo must face hard realities: he doesn’t like his father, he has outgrown the soft high school life, and he knows he doesn’t want to live either like his maverick grandfather (a beer swilling relic of the late 20th century) or in obeisance to the minutiae of safety regulations. A move to another continent is inevitable.Some appeal, but this story doesn’t have the power or the strong social message of Feed. It does point out the power of teamwork and determination.

[mjspear_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bo Marston has a problem with his temper... so when he acts, well, rash, he gets sent to a work camp/prison for rehabilitation. Set in a dystopic future, prison means churning out food for global-sized burger and pizza companies. The guards discover that Bo is a fast runner and he is soon drafted to play an elite -- but highly illegal -- game of football. There is a curious subplot about Bo's virtual alter-ego and a subsequent spring from prison and an escape through the arctic. Bo finally gets home and is acquitted but faces the even harder road of returning to (normal) high school and resuming his life. A book that contains more football play-by-play and less suspense than one would expect (being chased by polar bears should be exciting but, meh...) The avatar subplot is, to this reader, just weird. The notions of a future society that is overly-protective and a prison/corporation meld are intriguing but the book feels half-baked; not one of Hautman's best.

[snat_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My immediate thought after finishing Rash: Huh. What a peculiar novel. And I'm still not entirely sure what to say about it. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. However, I think its target audience would love it. That audience is teen and preteen boys and heaven (aka Barnes and Noble) knows there aren't enough books out there for them. The novel is set in the not too distant future of the United States, which is now known as the USSA (United Safer States of America). In this dystopian-lite future, anything that is dangerous to one's safety has been outlawed: no drinking, no smoking, no contact sports, no fast food, no foul language. Children can't play outside without the appropriate safety gear. Most of the populace is taking a cocktail of drugs to maintain their health and well-being (including Levulor, which dampens the instinct toward anger). The reason for the emphasis on safety is that it has significantly increased the lifespan of the average human. The tradeoff is that one really can't enjoy that life. (And if you think this future is a ridiculous hypothesis, look at national, state, and city legislation attempting to do things such as yanking toys out of Happy Meals, attempting to make walking and using an electronic device such as an iPod or cell phone illegal, implementing Body Mass Index requirements at public schools, etc.)In this society, even the most minor of infractions can be a criminal offense that sends you to a prison workfarm. These workfarms perform the potentially "dangerous" (by this futuristic society's standards) jobs no one else wants to do. They produce goods and produce, and they also maintain the nation's infrastructure. Bo Marsten's famously short-tempered family knows this first hand: his father (convicted of road rage) works at a shrimp farm and his brother works on a road crew. It's only a matter of time before Bo's own temper gets the better of him and he's sent to a production facility in the arctic that is run by a football fanatic who arranges illegal sporting events for his own entertainment. Because of Bo's ability to run faster than anyone else, it isn't long before he's recruited to the team and learns first hand what pain really feels like.There are a lot of draws here for teenage boys: very short chapters, rapid fire pacing, frequent changes in topic (you'd almost think Hautman himself is ADD as frequently as events and settings change), a futuristic society whose ridiculousness makes it simultaneously frightening and funny, and, of course, football.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In a future America, where safety is of the utmost importance and people are sent to corporate work camps for a whole host of offenses, Bo is accused of causing a rash that impacts his entire school. He's packed off to a work camp in the tundra that is focused on making pizza. The warden of the camp has a love for football and forces his wards to play on the team in exchange for special food rations. Bo's school artificial intelligence project, Bork, seems to have developed sentient thought and starts to shake things up.

[alina100_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is very entertaining. It is as much packed with action as with humor and satire.The protagonist, Bo Marsten, breaks one law after another in the United Safer States of America, towards the end of the 21st century. He is sent for 3 years to the Canadian tundra, at apizza factory where he has to survive the hard work and illegal football pracices or be polar bear food. As the events in his life unfold eveyrthing is being ridiculed and exposed, at times with humor, and at other times with downright harsh sarcasm - from the obsession with safety, to big business mergers and the government itself. Kids will love the action, and relate to Bo's high school experiences and the way he feels. They might even enjoy the intellectual game of trying to keep track of all the things the author is denouncing with irony and satire sprinkled throughout the book.

[asata_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun and provocative, original--try it for a twist!

[kashif_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is set in the 2080s when most things we enjoy are illegal.

[rumyana2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is very entertaining. It is as much packed with action as with humor and satire.The protagonist, Bo Marsten, breaks one law after another in the United Safer States of America, towards the end of the 21st century. He is sent for 3 years to the Canadian tundra, at apizza factory where he has to survive the hard work and illegal football pracices or be polar bear food. As the events in his life unfold eveyrthing is being ridiculed and exposed, at times with humor, and at other times with downright harsh sarcasm - from the obsession with safety, to big business mergers and the government itself. Kids will love the action, and relate to Bo's high school experiences and the way he feels. They might even enjoy the intellectual game of trying to keep track of all the things the author is denouncing with irony and satire sprinkled throughout the book.

[librarygirl66 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In a future society that has decided it would "rather be safe than free," sixteen-year-old Bo's anger control problems land him in a tundra jail where he survives with the help of his running skills and an artificial intelligence program named Bork.

[stevejm51 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Imagine a future world where safety is more important than freedom.