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3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Pure Genius Sep 28, 2003
Bad Trades is like quicksand. You know reading it will kill you but there is no escaping it. For those who wish to live, I suggest doing so vicariously through one of my favorite literary works, Bad Trades. Geoff Peterson's approach to this book is brilliant. This novel is page upon page of mind-altering poetry and quotes masked in a narrative facade. Bad Trades should be on every library shelf and in every home.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Nights Beneath the Lightbulb Dec 10, 2003
By lindy
Bad Trades enshrouds wisdom like fog in front of the moon or a sheet covering a lightbulb leaking brilliance little by little so that the thought provoking content will never evanesce. It is about a man who has lost everything, and is struggling to put down a twenty year old bottle of beer. Bad Trades is "the perfect note." Peterson says it all without saying too much. If you like contemporary American literature, you will love Bad Trades. Bad Trades is one of the basic texts.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Goodbye Wyoming Dec 10, 2003
By dac
Best read 'Round Midnight, Bad Trades writhes with more effusiveness than the darkest of Miles' standards. In it Peterson stumbles through the miasma that is existence and discovers that memories of ex's and idols can haunt more deeply than any spectral entity. It reaches deep within the heart and intellect to create feelings and thoughts too often forgotten in our "well-adjusted" world. Like the basic texts of Gershin, Ellington, and the Essenes, Bad Trades is a necessity of everyman's library.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
We All Have Our Dragons Aug 03, 2001
By Jane Rossi
Harry's a mess---he sleeps on his friend's couch, has a dead-end job as a tv-radio station security guard, his ex-wife makes his life miserable, he's hopelessly in love with a married woman, and the publishing world doesn't recognize that he's the next Ernest Hemingway. Amidst all this angst, he's got to stay sober and sane enough to live in an insane world. Miles Davis and a desperate hope that China has all the answers provide only temporary respite. Can it get much worse? Oh, yes. Harry's got to slay some dragons that he never, ever thought would lumber his way.You may not be able to put this book down, because as messed up as Harry is, you'll see yourself everywhere. This is the quintessential quest tale, and God knows, we're all on a quest whether we like it or not.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Chasing ghosts in the closet of your mind Aug 10, 2000
By Jane Anderson
A book review of Bad Trades Bad Trades, by Geoff Peterson, is the search for ghosts in the deepest recesses of the mind. Not satisfied with his persona, Harry takes the name of Nick Glegor, a return to sender, address unknown type. (Thank God, his name wasn't Occupant.) Harry believes Glegor must be a detective, otherwise why would he have left no forwarding address. What else could a name like Nick Glegor be but a detective? A name like Harry is so, so . . . everyman. Not satisfied with his life, he lives in yesterday via soundless TV reruns. Donna Reed flickers across the TV screen like so much broken promise. Harry's going to China to find himself. Nick Glegor's going to Wyoming to meet himself. Between China and Wyoming is yesterday. Parts of life need closure; ghosts to be pursued and confronted and dealt with - all in the name of peace. As only Geoff Peterson can, he takes his protagonist stream of consciousness and tattoos it on our memory synapsis. "Yes Yes, I've been there." It's like going to confession But there is no absolution. There is no penance. No completion. Despite its 208 pages, it is not difficult to read this book at one sitting, though you may find yourself putting the book down to think of something in your life that fits. It is best read, however, aloud. The words flow like spirits at a seance or a frat party. Its words will draw you in like a whirlpool off the coast of China.
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