Reviews

Driving Short Distances by Joff Winterhart

muadabid's review

4.0

Nice and does not seem fiction to me.

alexsiddall's review against another edition

3.0

Funny and insightful

elizaeliza's review

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

steeno's review against another edition

5.0

This is wonderful.

mekeisha's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

savviola's review

emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

annadoherty's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

tamewhale's review

I felt an immediate connection to this book because it reminded me of my own 20s, of having dropped out and being somewhat aimless. I felt for these characters and wanted them to succeed.

Winterhart draws the fairly mundane but with a slight comical exaggeration bordering on caricature. He is not cruel though. We see people sometimes at their worst or most empty and it brings us closer to them.

I was so swept up in the story that I assumed it was based on real events but the ending felt too neat, too deliberate and the spell was broken.

This seemed to me to be a book about looking. We are shown the details of people and things and we are shown how they resemble others. Perhaps it is about seeing things as they are.