seattleserina's review
2.0
I wanted to like this more; I"m sure there are going to be some hipster kids out there who think I'm an asshole for not loving it. And I'm okay with that...
baearthur's review against another edition
3.0
While these stories/essays are at times amusing, I find Davy intolerable. He seems to fancy himself a romantic and intellectual, but he really seems mostly delusional. He falls in love (which I suppose is the point) with every girl and wants to make grand gestures, but in the same breath talks about cheating on these women he is "in love with" with astounding regularity. His "charm" seems to be that he's an idiot, but I don't think I'd want to meet this person, and certainly can't identify with him. This book seems to ask us to get to know him, he craves being honest with people, but reveals himself to be a terrible person-just begging to still be loved.
nickie184's review against another edition
4.0
Such of an interesting person he is! Funny and heartbreaking. I found myself totally on his side in his search for more happiness. His heart may feel like an idiot, but it is full of warmth and good energy.
malvord27's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Davy Rothbart can write. Sentence structure, keeping you hooked and wanting more, it's all there. I've had this book on my to-read list for years and I'm mad at past me for waiting so long to finally read it. I don't know how Davy got into all the hijinks he did and how he met everyone he did, but it is impressive. He has led an extensive life and I'm glad his writing is good enough so we can read about it all.
jenmillie's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
4.0
He is one of the more interesting authors I've read. His magazine Found was one of my favorites. His stories are honest in a way that is not often seen (by me). Just read it!
hebzy's review against another edition
3.0
This guy's life could be made into a movie. He has a nice writing style, but it leaves me questioning if his stories are true or made up because of how well written they are and how much detail they include.
Davy must really just not give a fig and it's hard to embarrass him or is really courageous for the series of essays and stories he included in his book. From many of the stories I read I know I don't like him as a person, which almost made me give this book two stars, but I didn't because it was still well written even if I didn't really enjoy reading it. However, I did enjoy the essays titled: how I got these boots, Canada or bust and The strongest man in the world.
Davy must really just not give a fig and it's hard to embarrass him or is really courageous for the series of essays and stories he included in his book. From many of the stories I read I know I don't like him as a person, which almost made me give this book two stars, but I didn't because it was still well written even if I didn't really enjoy reading it. However, I did enjoy the essays titled: how I got these boots, Canada or bust and The strongest man in the world.
tracethelight's review against another edition
3.0
This collection was a welcome change from a lot of the essays I've been reading online lately. There's a trend of over-sharing and extreme sentimentality, which is fine. I've written essays in that vein, myself. However there's a lot of it floating around. Rothbart's collection is straight to the point and plain-spoken. And it absolutely did not lack the depth that those other highly emotionally-written essays strive for. I felt like I was speaking with an old friend, someone who I'd spent time forming a deep connection with and who was comfortable opening up on any topic that came to mind. The whole book was bursting with honesty, whether or not it spotlighted him "positively" or "negatively." It was good old, honest and engaging story-telling. I have a list of people I'd like to pass this book to and I think that desire to share someone's writing in that manner speaks volumes about the effect it had on its reader.
melissabalick's review
4.0
If your heart is also an idiot, you'll relate with this book.
Davy Rothbart seems to get passed over by the ladies more often than most. Maybe it's because he's so earnest about falling in love with almost every girl he meets that the girls sense it is impermanent? Or just because nice guys finish last? Or because he seems to be on the road so often? I suspect it's a combination of these things, and also that, as he posits toward the end of the book, it's the chase he's really after. He loves falling in love constantly.
From one woman's point of view, the fact that a book like this exists speaks to a number of possibly-important lessons. One, that there are men out there whose hearts are as soft and squishy as our own hearts. Two, that there are at least a couple intelligent, weird, kind men over the age of 30 who would send pee to a stranger, travel immense distances more than once in his life to meet with someone he never met before who could just maybe be "the one," and who would befriend someone in prison who was wrongfully convicted of murder and help try to free him--and yet isn't married. And three, that men really are cheating scum. Even when they seem to be on a constant search for a good girlfriend and they find one, they'll cheat on them. Of course, I already knew this, both from experience and also from reading the excellent book Sex at Dawn, which, to be fair, teaches us that all humans are cheaters, regardless of gender.
In any case, this is an entertaining, quick read where some really crazy, unexpected stuff happens. Odd friendships are forged quickly, drunken shenanigans result in waking up naked on the streets of NYC, and a dead body is found. No joke! You should probably read it.
Davy Rothbart seems to get passed over by the ladies more often than most. Maybe it's because he's so earnest about falling in love with almost every girl he meets that the girls sense it is impermanent? Or just because nice guys finish last? Or because he seems to be on the road so often? I suspect it's a combination of these things, and also that, as he posits toward the end of the book, it's the chase he's really after. He loves falling in love constantly.
From one woman's point of view, the fact that a book like this exists speaks to a number of possibly-important lessons. One, that there are men out there whose hearts are as soft and squishy as our own hearts. Two, that there are at least a couple intelligent, weird, kind men over the age of 30 who would send pee to a stranger, travel immense distances more than once in his life to meet with someone he never met before who could just maybe be "the one," and who would befriend someone in prison who was wrongfully convicted of murder and help try to free him--and yet isn't married. And three, that men really are cheating scum. Even when they seem to be on a constant search for a good girlfriend and they find one, they'll cheat on them. Of course, I already knew this, both from experience and also from reading the excellent book Sex at Dawn, which, to be fair, teaches us that all humans are cheaters, regardless of gender.
In any case, this is an entertaining, quick read where some really crazy, unexpected stuff happens. Odd friendships are forged quickly, drunken shenanigans result in waking up naked on the streets of NYC, and a dead body is found. No joke! You should probably read it.
katsinthestacks's review
4.0
A mental road trip with all the same thrills and frustrations. While the author's character was occasionally distasteful to me, his writing is engaging and honest.
sonnyjim91's review
4.0
Davy Rothbart's memoir/essay collection was really good! I'd recommend "Human Snowball", the essay that got me to buy the book, above all others, but almost all the essays are funny, thoughtful, and memorable. I wasn't a huge fan of the last essay in the book, which I had to reread to remember what it was even about, but otherwise I loved his stories. The structure of the book also deserves some mention - most essayists seem to structure their collections somewhat haphazardly, but Rothbart intersperses his longer pieces with a few short works, so you only have time to read 3 or 4 pages, those are your go-tos. These shorter pieces really shine, from the heartwarming (Rothbart spends time with an old hitchhiker whose life goal is to see the Grand Canyon) to the ridiculous (Rothbart wakes up on a Central Park bench in the middle of the day with nothing but his socks and a pizza box). The reviews on the back cover are a testament to his work - read My Heart Is an Idiot if you want to hear the stories of love and adventure of today's generation.