Reviews

Man or Mango?: A Lament by Lucy Ellmann

joakley's review against another edition

5.0

Extremely good! Possibly perfect!

If I have ever ranted and raved about ducks Newburyport to you but you didn’t want to read a thousand-page run on sentence, just read this instead!!!!

Kinda giving John Henry Days by colson whitehead vibes but like in structure not in content but I guess kinda in content too a little bit?

soj19's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

eskimonika's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

2.5

gloriawide24's review against another edition

dark funny 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

bree_klass's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

I don’t get it 

wendyblacke's review against another edition

5.0

After reading Ducks, Newburyport I couldn't wait to check out some more Lucy Ellmann so I was very excited to get my hands on Man or Mango to read with my Ducks crew Josh and Julie.

What I wasn't prepared for was just how often I'd be bursting out laughing at the absurd nature of this book. The characters are all so interesting and weird and despite how short this novel is I felt like I got to know them all pretty well.

The chapters are short making it easy to pick up and put down, but you probably won't want to put it down.

The ending surprised me, bringing the book to a satisfying conclusion. Once again I'm left wanting to get my hands on more Lucy Ellmann books.

Highly recommend this one!

corvidquest's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

1.5

erink87's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

3.25

mccordian's review against another edition

5.0

A must-read for the reclusion romantic. Ellmann limns the paranoia of the human-allergic and the heartbreak of the society-squooshed with the same headachecrushed sugarrush of a kid punished into to writing an essay on why he shouldn’t've eaten ALL his Halloween candy before bed. Lesson learned: no regrets but for the all-encompassing Regret (just take the pathos less traveled). Included within: Lists! Conclusion: It’s funny, it’s sad, and she’ll (I’ll) do it all again.

tinamayreads's review

5.0

I love this striking new cover of MAN OR MANGO? by Lucy Ellmann that matches her Booker Prize shortlisted book Ducks, Newburyport. I loved this book! It was originally published in 1998 and the writing is so unique. I love that so much! It’s about reclusive Eloise who spends her days avoiding people and American poet George who’s trying to write an epic ice hockey poem. This book is so funny and it made me laugh so many times. It has so many things that I love: short length (this book is 216 pages), unique and compelling writing, poetry, interesting characters, and dark humour. I’m so curious to read her other books now since I loved this one!

Thank you to Biblioasis books for my gifted review copy!