A Farewell to Walmart (Kindle Single)

3.3 3.3 out of 5 stars | 184 ratings

Price: 1.99

Last update: 01-21-2025


About this item

Reflecting on her transformation from Podunk pariah to well-traveled millennial writer, Carly J. Hallman knows that life in small-town America isn’t all bake sales and friendly smiles—sometimes it just plain sucks.

A delightful tongue-in-cheek collection of essays on topics such as lobsters and puberty, A Farewell to Walmart follows eight-year-old Hallman past the superstore’s automatic doors on opening day in 1995 through her sophomore year of college—a time defined by baby fat, ridicule, and, above all, the constant presence of Walmart. Along the way, she learns to navigate middle-school drama, deals with the death of a peer, and ultimately figures out what it takes to move on from everything that’s held her back.

Supported by a lively cast of characters, including a flatulent grandfather, a sadistic gym coach, and Chewbacca—yes, the real one—Hallman perfectly encapsulates how a big-box store can be the cultural epicenter of small-town life and the launching pad to a wider world.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Someone Astonishing
    4.0 out of 5 stars A Fresh & Vibrant Short by a Talent to Watch
    Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2017
    **** NO SPOILERS REVIEW****
    Carly Hallman has a real talent, with fresh prose and a unique voice. The framing of this story around the local Walmart is a clever device. Said supercenter is the framework around which her young life centers in this tale of an awkward kid in a small town. The events that unfold are not momentous. There are no earthshattering occurrences, just the small events of a small life. Like most kids, most everywhere, Carly dreams of moving away--AWAY--that mythical place that is always just over the next hill. As one who had that same dream, I completely empathize with the author's yearning. However, I did take pause when she went just a bit over the line in a few places, seeming to Indict small, southern towns as hopelessly racist, religiously intolerant and homophobic. I don't think that's how she intended to characterize EVERYONE who lives in such places, but I think she got a little overzealous in illustrating her points in a few spots. Such potholes are her biggest nemesis and cause her to appear terribly snobbish in some places. Still, she's a talent to watch--and I'll definitely be doing that.
  • Diana
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected
    Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2016
    This had a lot less to do with a Walmart than I expected. And the stories it tells are less fleshed out than I would have preferred. Not a bad set of stories, really, but they don't make much of an emotional impact.
  • Keith B.
    2.0 out of 5 stars At Least it Was Short
    Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2016
    Life is like a whole cake waiting to be divided up and eaten. 'A Farewell to Wal-Mart' is like getting the thinnest slice that could still be called 'cake' thd author even mentions other places and adventures she had after she wrote this Kindle Short which skips aimlessly from her early teen years to early twenties. No real depth. No serious drama. What I don't think she understands is EVERY town to a teenager is somewhere they want to escape. There was nothing eventful in this story. It was brief moms of a mundane life and nothing special. The writing showed that she has some talent but it doesn't shine here. To be honest all I can say is I'm glad it was short and I'm glad it's over. I really didn't enjoy it. As a coming of age story it lacks any angst or real drama.
  • James McGuffin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious and witty
    Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2017
    Excellent story about what it’s like to grow up awkward in an even more awkward town. Special guest appearance by Chewbacca (seriously).
  • Lyn G.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not terribly long, and not terribly in-depth on anything
    Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2017
    Not terribly long, and not terribly in-depth on anything, but it's decently interesting. It might have been more interesting had it had some more details in particular stories, but I think it was worth the less-than-an-hour it took me to read. It's written in a nice, friendly style, and is pretty humorous in a few spots. I would recommend it.
    Note: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
  • Mary Showalter
    3.0 out of 5 stars Just not my kind of book
    Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2017
    My apologies to the author, I guess this just isn't my kind of book. I found it uninteresting and had to make myself finish it. There were parts where I felt some sympathy, maybe even empathy for the main character and one of her friends. But that's the most emotion it pulled out of me. I was mostly disappointed.
  • Joseph Kyle
    1.0 out of 5 stars Arrogant, classist ranting disguised as coming-of-age story.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2017
    It must suck, having determined at eight years old that one is inherently superior to the world around them. It must have been tremendously annoying, being forced to have lived a childhood that is absolutely normal. The horrors of an unspectacular yet unforgivably uneventful coming of age is a relatively new phenomenon, one borne out of a youth culture that increasingly disdains stability and comfort. Millennial author Carly Hallman’s novella, A Farewell To Walmart, is the epitome of this relatively new concept in the post-happiness world--shallow recollections from a young woman who mistakes her otherwise dull, atypical life for being edgy, different, rebellious.

    A Farewell To Walmart initially proves entertaining—her recollection of being fascinated by the concept of the store's lobster tank versus the reality of it is adorable, and her tale of the horrors of being forced to participate in a fashion show makes for amusing reading. Yet as Hallman grows into a teenager, the stories become less interesting, and the evidence builds that she’s become embittered young adult with nothing but disdain for everyone and everything around her. (I could be wrong, but there’s absolutely nothing in the way of real foresight or reflection to make me think otherwise.) Instead of any kind of knowledge or wisdom gained from her youth, one simply sees an unapologetic and unsympathetic class hatred for the residents of her “small town,” who are, in her eyes, ignorant, overweight, backwards, and unforgivably not her.

    What makes Hallman’s writing so sad is that it contains judgment without insight, experience without understanding. Happiness for Hallman comes only from escape, and with escape comes the ability to sneer at and judge those she assumed to have sneered at and judged her. Having moved from San Diego to the “small town” of Granbury, Texas must have seemed a culture shock, but then again, no seven year old is intuitive enough for the insights their adult self invariably imparts on their younger selves. Nor does Walmart play any real role in her short work, A Farewell To Walmart, other than to serve as the center of her scorn and derision of Middle America.

    A Farewell To Walmart isn’t so much a coming of age story—one imagines Hallman having difficulty understanding that her oh-so unique story isn’t unique at all—inasmuch as it is the Portrait Of The Artist As An Insufferable Prig. Then again, simply because one has an English degree and a chip on their shoulder doesn’t mean that they have any actual insight or wisdom into their bitterness. If anything, this book is tragic—not for the tale that it tells, but for presenting the overwhelming evidence that even though its author has some writing talent, she is headed for a life of bitterness, cynicism, and unhappiness, based on a narrow-minded perception and prejudice towards a culture that she seemingly made little to no attempt to understand. Even sadder is that people of this mindset often mistake their prejudices for enlightenment, and in today's culture, that mindset is only going to grow stronger...

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  • Sylvia W. Norton
    4.0 out of 5 stars Is There Life Outside of Wal-Mart.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2021
    You bet there is. I was there today in the new splendid one they were finishing. This is my adventure land at old age.
    Note the impact it has on youth. The growth experience, dreams of things to come.
    Great short story!

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