oatylime's review
Billed as essays on men and toxic aspects of modern masculinity; instead found it meandering and boring
leaflinglearns's review
3.0
Recently, Karen Russell's brother Kent Russell came out with a book that was supposedly about hyper-masculinity in America. In the brilliantly named I Am Sorry to Think I Have Raised a Timid Son, Russell writes about his time spent with juggalos, a man who immunizes himself to snake venom, Amish baseball players, a survivalist, and more. Sounds exactly like my kind of book, right? He also intersperses this with writing about his relationship with his father. And the truth about this book is that he really just wanted to write about his dad.
If he wanted to write about his dad and his family, he should have. Russell is an interesting character and a really good writer. He's often really funny, and I loved his descriptions of Florida. It's just that the essays he wrote weren’t very connected. They were just kind of inserted next to each other: something about his dad next to something about some manly guy. And the last essay felt especially disjointed. It was clear that he had probably written it for something else. It's when he's writing about his family that he touches on some interesting things.
Read more of my review and my experience reading this book with a dead father here: http://outlandishlit.blogspot.com/2015/04/reading-kent-russells-essays-when-my.html
If he wanted to write about his dad and his family, he should have. Russell is an interesting character and a really good writer. He's often really funny, and I loved his descriptions of Florida. It's just that the essays he wrote weren’t very connected. They were just kind of inserted next to each other: something about his dad next to something about some manly guy. And the last essay felt especially disjointed. It was clear that he had probably written it for something else. It's when he's writing about his family that he touches on some interesting things.
Read more of my review and my experience reading this book with a dead father here: http://outlandishlit.blogspot.com/2015/04/reading-kent-russells-essays-when-my.html
mugren's review against another edition
1.0
Shit gonzo. Mediocre writing about topics and family members than no one would want to read.
stevendedalus's review
4.0
Russell has a helluva lot of talent. His ability to take on worlds and subsume them into his prose (hockey enforcers, or antivenom enthusiasts, or isolationists) makes for absorbing reading.
His stories all focus on alienation, and trying to find belonging in a hostile world. He injects himself into the stories, and they read like Vice Media but on a higher level. His interstitial essays where he meditates on his own sense of alienation and weirdness tries to meld these essays into a larger whole.
It's not particularly successful. And it reads mostly as self indulgent, of some new kid bragging about how tough and fucked-up he is. Which is a shame, because Russell's investigative essays are fascinating looks at another world where he is an observer, not the subject. They're far more interesting than he is or even claims to be.
I understand Russell's solipsistic need to try to understand his attraction to these crazy outsiders. I'm just not nearly as interested in it as he is. But when he's actually exploring a new world, with new people, that is some truly engrossing stuff.
His stories all focus on alienation, and trying to find belonging in a hostile world. He injects himself into the stories, and they read like Vice Media but on a higher level. His interstitial essays where he meditates on his own sense of alienation and weirdness tries to meld these essays into a larger whole.
It's not particularly successful. And it reads mostly as self indulgent, of some new kid bragging about how tough and fucked-up he is. Which is a shame, because Russell's investigative essays are fascinating looks at another world where he is an observer, not the subject. They're far more interesting than he is or even claims to be.
I understand Russell's solipsistic need to try to understand his attraction to these crazy outsiders. I'm just not nearly as interested in it as he is. But when he's actually exploring a new world, with new people, that is some truly engrossing stuff.
sarahc3319's review
3.0
Not at all what I expected but enjoyable. Russell has such a distinct voice and his range of topics is as colorful as his prose. Gah. But really, I enjoyed these essays so much and would recommend-- the voice of his dad is worth all the snakes and Juggalos, etc.
bibliocyclist's review
4.0
"But now, Grandpa was always comin’ down on us. He said we weren’t ready for when life attacks. He called dad a nothing-master. And a bluebeard. And fatty-tatties. And he called me a playboy man-baby. That made me imagine a crazy magazine. Dad tried to call his old friends. Local wizards, I’m sure, masquerading as store managers. But he hung up the phone slow, and sad. Dad said, ‘The worst thing about living here is that you can only kill yourself once.’ ”
"A dog barks loudest at its own reflection. Do they say that? They should.”
"He seemed rather to move around like a violent decision that was in the process of making itself."
"Everything fills its moment entirely and then vanishes."
"In all his ponds were alligators, and only psychos rang his bell."
"By the time you think you need to make a decision, that decision has already been made."
"A dog barks loudest at its own reflection. Do they say that? They should.”
"He seemed rather to move around like a violent decision that was in the process of making itself."
"Everything fills its moment entirely and then vanishes."
"In all his ponds were alligators, and only psychos rang his bell."
"By the time you think you need to make a decision, that decision has already been made."
majordang's review
4.0
Went back and forth on my thoughts on this book. The research reporting is spot on, interesting cross sections of American masculinity (Amish baseball leagues, Gathering of the Juggelos, self injectors of snack venom). Interspersed with personal essays about his relati ship win his father. Ultimately felt very connected to the family narrative, representing a middling to lower brow family (Florida!) I haven't seen in print before. Writing has high levels of personality and is entertaining and informative.
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