Mike Nagel made waves in indie lit circles in 2022 when he published his popular debut Duplex with Autofocus Books, a book about alcoholism, the pandemic, and life within the walls of his Texas duplex complete with photographs. Two years later, his follow-up, Culdesac, promises more of the same: dark humor, witty takes, photographs of the American suburbs, and in the words of Jerry Seinfeld “a show about a whole lot of nothing.” We would be forgiven for thinking this is a strike against the book but in fact Nagel has crafted one of the most compelling takes in the current literary zeitgeist.
Culdesac follows a straightforward arc set just shy of a year after Duplex. Mike has quit drinking, but his doctor has raised concerns about his health. Approaching middle age and suddenly forced to get serious about taking care of himself, he sets out on walks around his suburban Texas neighborhood. Mike’s trademark humor is present in the witty observations about his neighbors and his self-deprecation. Trips to Jamba Juice, Whole Foods, and his doctor follow. In contrast to Duplex, which, despite the pandemic backdrop felt less serious, Culdesac introduces a more focused existentialist voice. “… I’ve read two hundred pages of this What Are People For? and I still don’t know the answer … I’m suspicious of clarity and focus. In this case, however, a simple answer would have been nice.”
Nagel has crafted a gripping, post-capitalist Americana memoir that subverts American iconography and gives a voice to a suburban post pandemic middle-class experience. Where we once idealized white picket fences, a man walks his endless asphalt suburbs. Instead of cowboy hats and denim jackets, we get corporate chains (Jamba Juice, Whole Foods, etc.) and a deeply relatable health anxiety which serves as the primary tension of the book.
Early on we are told that “to keep us all alive and productive for as long as possible, my company offers us a free subscription to a fitness app called LIMEADE. A one- dollar value. Three times a day I’m prompted to participate in various activities designed to improve my overall health and well-being … if I reach 2500 points, I unlock CRUNCH MODE and my company will cover 25% of my healthcare cost. A not-insignificant expense considering the rising cost of healthcare and the declining state of my health.” The angst of the American health care system and the negative returns of the poor nutritional value of the American food system are ever so present. How does one cope in a nation that is both playing up its imperialist cards and threatening to collapse (for good or for ill) at any given time?
Where Duplex was a book of the moment, Culdesac offers a stronger, more nuanced take that feels lasting. This memoir succeeds in capturing a reality that many Americans in 2024 feel, a post-capitalist Americana that offers a revisited take on the classic American dream of the suburbs and the anxieties of the 2020s. For we who have dealt with health scares, live or grew up in suburbs, or enjoy dark humor, Culdesac is a one-sitting read.
Culdesac, by Mike Nagel. Autofocus, January 2024. 98 pages. $16.00, paper.
Alex Gurtis is the author of the chapbook When the Ocean Comes to Me (Bottlecap Press, 2024). A ruth weiss Foundation Maverick Poet Award Finalist and a winner of Saw Palm’s 2022 Florida Fauna and Flora contest, Alex received his MFA from the University of Central Florida. His work as a poet and critic has appeared in or is forthcoming in anthologies and publications such as Autofocus, Barrelhouse, HAD, and Rejection Letters, among others.
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