“Mr. Matthews’s unassuming but artful diversion presents a Joe Palooka type of garage mechanic named Clyde Stout, who discovers in himself an unusual athletic talent. Mr. Matthews extends his tiny subject just as far as it will go, with the facility of a kindly Ring Lardner.” (Martin Levin, NEW YORK TIMES )

“In this gentle first novel, told with a fine ear for adolescent patois, Matthews offers something of a literary atavism: a story about pure innocence that encounters pure evil and couldn’t care less.” (TIME MAGAZINE, 1967)

This novel was chosen by NBA Award-winning poet William Stafford as “one of the neglected books of the 20th century,” (ANTAEUS MAGAZINE)

Hanger Stout, Awake! arrived to my library hold shelf after I’d lost all recollection of what had called it to my attention. It was written in 1967, and was my first exposure to Jack Matthews. Superficially, it doesn’t seem like my kind of book at all. Clyde Stout, who involuntarily assumes the nickname Hanger, is really into cars, to the point where it’s hard for him to have a conversation that doesn’t involve them. The novel is written in his own words, and his syntax is sometimes a bit tortured. But Hanger is nothing like as dumb as he might at first appear to an over-educated reader, nor to the residents of his town. And his story, although small in scope, is marked by humor, warmth, melancholy, and some surprisingly striking language. Big thumbs up. (“D” Goodreads reader)

Author Troy Tradup: “I’m vaguely surprised this calm, lovely novella doesn’t have a larger cult following; it feels like this should have been a bigger deal than it apparently ever was. In his introduction to this 50th anniversary edition, the publisher references both The Catcher in the Rye and The Outsiders. I’d probably add Vision Quest, The Last Picture Show, and even Being There. There’s a lot going on in this short book—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say: just under the surface of this short book.

“Hanger tells the story of Clyde Stout, a 19-year-old small-town filling station attendant circa 1967. Clyde knows (and loves) cars but probably isn’t college material (Clyde’s homey, untutored first-person narration is spot-on, although it takes a while to stop correcting his sentences in your head). …

“The junkyard, weirdly enough, is where Clyde’s inner life really shines. The junkyard is, in the parlance of a later time, Clyde’s “happy place.” …

“One of the things that make this novella so special are the observations Clyde makes about the people around him without even realizing it (kudos to the late author, who most certainly DID realize what he was doing). It probably sounds silly to say, but I know the people and places in this book. I know that filling station where Clyde works with Pete and Bo and Dean; I know Pete and Bo and Dean. I know the Dairy Freeze across the street where Clyde eats his lunch; I’ve crossed that same dusty street to get a chocolate milkshake more than a few times myself…. This sweet, lovely, unassuming novella probably misses true greatness by just a hair, but I know I’ll feel its influence for a long, long time.