ofliterarynature's review
3.0
Thanks to artlessdodges for providing a free e-copy for review, I sincerely apologize for this taking so long! (please don’t hate me)
Just to start off, Bummed Out City is completely outside of my reading comfort zone, being neither YA, fantasy, or sci-fi, so I don’t really have a lot of comparison points when rating or talking about it. But now that I’ve mulled over it for a month…and a half (SO SORRY) I’ll keep it short and sweet. All of the characters, even David, I’m afraid, felt pretty flat and one sided – pretty much everyone was there to play one role and one role only, which wasn’t super interesting. Second, every line of dialogue (I mean every) included I say/he says/she says without variation or pause, and it drove me crazy because it kept making my brain skip. It’s too consistent to not be a deliberate choice, but it’s uber distracting.
BUT THE STORY. The failing, twenty-something wannabe author who has no idea what to do with his life? SPOT ON. Count me as both impressed and very terrified at how well Burr managed to translate that to the page (which admittedly slowed my reading down a bit because it was kind of painful). He managed to perfectly play on all of the fears I harbor about graduating and being shoved out into the big, scary world on my own. While the aspiring author angle did feel a little more relevant to me than it may to others, I think the feelings of inadequacy are common enough that other people will probably feel that same emotional punch I did.
TL;DR - A pretty decent book, but not really my thing (or a great comfort read)
Just to start off, Bummed Out City is completely outside of my reading comfort zone, being neither YA, fantasy, or sci-fi, so I don’t really have a lot of comparison points when rating or talking about it. But now that I’ve mulled over it for a month…and a half (SO SORRY) I’ll keep it short and sweet. All of the characters, even David, I’m afraid, felt pretty flat and one sided – pretty much everyone was there to play one role and one role only, which wasn’t super interesting. Second, every line of dialogue (I mean every) included I say/he says/she says without variation or pause, and it drove me crazy because it kept making my brain skip. It’s too consistent to not be a deliberate choice, but it’s uber distracting.
BUT THE STORY. The failing, twenty-something wannabe author who has no idea what to do with his life? SPOT ON. Count me as both impressed and very terrified at how well Burr managed to translate that to the page (which admittedly slowed my reading down a bit because it was kind of painful). He managed to perfectly play on all of the fears I harbor about graduating and being shoved out into the big, scary world on my own. While the aspiring author angle did feel a little more relevant to me than it may to others, I think the feelings of inadequacy are common enough that other people will probably feel that same emotional punch I did.
TL;DR - A pretty decent book, but not really my thing (or a great comfort read)
kelseyreadingstuff's review
5.0
4.5. Finished in one sitting. This is by far the best book I've read this year. Granted we're only nearing the end of January, but I was getting concerned that I hadn't fallen in love with a book yet. Glad that my concerns have been assuaged with this one. I will gladly make this my Staff Rec at work when I can get my hands on some physical copies!
i_masad's review
5.0
BUMMED OUT CITY, by Scott Burr - Review
Having just reviewed Ben Lerner’s first novel, it’s strange to be reviewing one that is both so similar and so different. Similar, because it is about a young, probably white, male writer who is somewhat lost in life. Different, because unlike Ben Lerner’s main character and narrator Adam Gordon, I felt something like empathy for David Moore.
David is 29, depressed, basically unemployed and trying to come to terms with the fact that he might never get published. He is a familiar figure - he reminded me of someone I see in the mirror rather a lot. That is not to say that Bummed Out City will only resonate with struggling artists and writers; David’s frustration and confusion are symptoms of many a modern young adult.
David has written several novels, all unpublished, though not for lack of trying. He has a girlfriend he loves but whose vision for their future life together diverges from his own. He has a mother going through chemotherapy, a father who’s entered and exited his life several times and usually just to hit him up for money, and even a few friends. While there actually is a plot, the novel does a great impression of lacking one, hiding the inciting incident and conflicts within David’s narration, which is what carries the book along. One moment in a movie-theater is particularly illuminating
I’m there with the characters as they move through their fictional lives with that special kind of purpose that only fictional characters get to have, where everything matters and each thing leads necessarily to the next thing and it al adds up to something, to some dramatic and fulfilling and satisfying and appropriate conclusion and it’s nothing at all like real life, where things just happen and you do one thing and then you do something else and the next day you do it again or maybe you don’t and none of it adds up to anything or goes anywhere, where you wake up the next morning and you’re still there and you still have to brush your teeth and trim your toenails and worry about money and pay for car insurance and all the other mundane pedestrian slogging shit you did the day before.
David is basically an angsty teenager inside a man’s body and hasn’t yet caught up to the responsibility he owes to other people as well as himself. By the time he begins to understand that he is actually grown up, he has both fallen naturally into adulthood and royally screwed up his first phase in it.
Whether he is writing a blog post, fighting with his girlfriend or getting drunk at a bar, David’s voice is monotone - not monotonous, mind you - and gray. His voice is flavored with the apathy of true clinical depression as well as the ashy taste of dying dreams. It is refreshingly honest in that David manages to lie to himself while the reader sees through his convenient truths to the actual consequences that must eventually follow his behavior and his attitude. There is a self-conscious nod to this when David comes to realize things and feels no need to explain them to us; he just tells us that he gets it, and as a reader, I knew just what he meant. It was refreshing, actually, not to slog through a paragraph of what exactly was illuminated, since it had always been startlingly obvious to me, though not to him. The lack of expository fluff is one of the reasons this book works so well.
What really struck me, though, is what made Bummed Out City different than most books about artistic young men who don’t make it. Scott Burr manages to convey the absolute viability of a different styles of living rather than trashing all of them except for the bohemian author’s dream. Even while David wallows in his own self-pity, even while he cynically criticizes the American Dream of a house, a dog and 2.2 kids, I never felt as if the desire for such things was being truly undermined. When David is criticized by Carol, his girlfriend, for his passivity in their relationship, I agreed with her completely while also feeling she was being unfair. I was reading all sides of each situation through the subtly of Burr’s writing, which is a rare thing to experience in the depths of a first-person narrative.
It is always such a joy to feel that a book is distinctly of its time, and this one certainly is. The echoes of our currant climate are redolent: recession, high unemployment rates, urban decay. And, above all, the belief of my generation - that we are all special little snowflakes - and the reality. That we are not. And that’s okay.
Having just reviewed Ben Lerner’s first novel, it’s strange to be reviewing one that is both so similar and so different. Similar, because it is about a young, probably white, male writer who is somewhat lost in life. Different, because unlike Ben Lerner’s main character and narrator Adam Gordon, I felt something like empathy for David Moore.
David is 29, depressed, basically unemployed and trying to come to terms with the fact that he might never get published. He is a familiar figure - he reminded me of someone I see in the mirror rather a lot. That is not to say that Bummed Out City will only resonate with struggling artists and writers; David’s frustration and confusion are symptoms of many a modern young adult.
David has written several novels, all unpublished, though not for lack of trying. He has a girlfriend he loves but whose vision for their future life together diverges from his own. He has a mother going through chemotherapy, a father who’s entered and exited his life several times and usually just to hit him up for money, and even a few friends. While there actually is a plot, the novel does a great impression of lacking one, hiding the inciting incident and conflicts within David’s narration, which is what carries the book along. One moment in a movie-theater is particularly illuminating
I’m there with the characters as they move through their fictional lives with that special kind of purpose that only fictional characters get to have, where everything matters and each thing leads necessarily to the next thing and it al adds up to something, to some dramatic and fulfilling and satisfying and appropriate conclusion and it’s nothing at all like real life, where things just happen and you do one thing and then you do something else and the next day you do it again or maybe you don’t and none of it adds up to anything or goes anywhere, where you wake up the next morning and you’re still there and you still have to brush your teeth and trim your toenails and worry about money and pay for car insurance and all the other mundane pedestrian slogging shit you did the day before.
David is basically an angsty teenager inside a man’s body and hasn’t yet caught up to the responsibility he owes to other people as well as himself. By the time he begins to understand that he is actually grown up, he has both fallen naturally into adulthood and royally screwed up his first phase in it.
Whether he is writing a blog post, fighting with his girlfriend or getting drunk at a bar, David’s voice is monotone - not monotonous, mind you - and gray. His voice is flavored with the apathy of true clinical depression as well as the ashy taste of dying dreams. It is refreshingly honest in that David manages to lie to himself while the reader sees through his convenient truths to the actual consequences that must eventually follow his behavior and his attitude. There is a self-conscious nod to this when David comes to realize things and feels no need to explain them to us; he just tells us that he gets it, and as a reader, I knew just what he meant. It was refreshing, actually, not to slog through a paragraph of what exactly was illuminated, since it had always been startlingly obvious to me, though not to him. The lack of expository fluff is one of the reasons this book works so well.
What really struck me, though, is what made Bummed Out City different than most books about artistic young men who don’t make it. Scott Burr manages to convey the absolute viability of a different styles of living rather than trashing all of them except for the bohemian author’s dream. Even while David wallows in his own self-pity, even while he cynically criticizes the American Dream of a house, a dog and 2.2 kids, I never felt as if the desire for such things was being truly undermined. When David is criticized by Carol, his girlfriend, for his passivity in their relationship, I agreed with her completely while also feeling she was being unfair. I was reading all sides of each situation through the subtly of Burr’s writing, which is a rare thing to experience in the depths of a first-person narrative.
It is always such a joy to feel that a book is distinctly of its time, and this one certainly is. The echoes of our currant climate are redolent: recession, high unemployment rates, urban decay. And, above all, the belief of my generation - that we are all special little snowflakes - and the reality. That we are not. And that’s okay.
marciatch's review
4.0
I got interested in this book the moment I read the synopsis. I'm very thankful to Artless Dodges Press for giving me the opportunity not only to read and review this book, but also to get to know this book. I would probably not have contact with this work otherwise. Thank you, and sorry for taking me so long to get to reading it.
It may have taken me long to pick up the book and start reading it, but when I did pick it up I read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down before I finished it.
The book tells the story of David, a struggling author. David had many dreams. None of them came true. His book are still not a success. More than that, he cannot find a single publisher that would accept to publish them. I thought this discussion, of life not being able to keep up with one's expactations and dreams, to be really interesting and poignant. We have all those dreams and images of what the future will be like and, most of the times, none of these dreams come true. David took it really badly, which is what leads to all his problems.
I David as a main character. He is completely annoying and self-centered. And, because of his selfishness and self-centeredness, he was a totally unreliable narrator. We could see he was trying his best to make us understand his suffering and problems and see the others as 'enemies' of his progress. And we could see him trying and failing to do so.
I didn't think this book was plotless. I believe the mundane tasks were essential to understand David as a character and what he was trying to accomplish.
As for the ending, I really liked it. I felt it fit with the general mood of the story, making it all raw and powerful, I think any other ending would have made the story a disservice and would not have rung as true.
It may have taken me long to pick up the book and start reading it, but when I did pick it up I read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down before I finished it.
The book tells the story of David, a struggling author. David had many dreams. None of them came true. His book are still not a success. More than that, he cannot find a single publisher that would accept to publish them. I thought this discussion, of life not being able to keep up with one's expactations and dreams, to be really interesting and poignant. We have all those dreams and images of what the future will be like and, most of the times, none of these dreams come true. David took it really badly, which is what leads to all his problems.
I David as a main character. He is completely annoying and self-centered. And, because of his selfishness and self-centeredness, he was a totally unreliable narrator. We could see he was trying his best to make us understand his suffering and problems and see the others as 'enemies' of his progress. And we could see him trying and failing to do so.
I didn't think this book was plotless. I believe the mundane tasks were essential to understand David as a character and what he was trying to accomplish.
As for the ending, I really liked it. I felt it fit with the general mood of the story, making it all raw and powerful, I think any other ending would have made the story a disservice and would not have rung as true.
kirstieish's review
2.0
First of all, let me point out that I was given this book for review and in exchange to give my honest opinion.
With that said, this book bothered me quite a bit and it took me a long time to get through it. The main character, David, is this unlikeable character that doesn't have much going for himself. He is mad at the world, depressed, and barely doing anything to change. Throughout the entire book, he didn't seem to change. In the beginning, he was very much against any type of change. He would argue against it with his girlfriend, Carol. Then about two thirds into the book, he decided to play adult. Act like one kind of and do what Carol wanted even though that isn't what he wants. He seemed lost for pretty much the entire book. That was one sad character.
I didn't see any character development till about the last chapter of the book. The way he spoke also annoyed me because he never seemed sure of himself. There were a lot of "whatever", "I mean", "um", "I don't know"'s after literally everything he said. It was very hard to read. The author wrote the dialogue like most people talk but that is not always the best for a book. For a main character, I would of liked to see a lot more of character development by at least half way in. He did somewhat but you could tell it was all fake. That he was just doing it for the sake of his relationship.
By the end of the book, things seem to be getting slowly better for him despite what happened to him. He had to deal with a lot of bad luck and it seemed like he would give up. He doesn't though and he gets some breaks here and there. He doesn't seem to do anything for himself though. Everyone is handing him all these opportunities and he is just like "ok maybe". Like come on, do something about it! He had no confidence at all and I think that is what hurt him the most as a main character, an author, and a person overall. It was just a really frustrating character to read.
For the other characters, I would say that there wasn't a lot of description and background story for them. You just got about a paragraph of description and were back reading the present dialogue. I would of liked to see how Carol and David got together. They seemed to put up with each others problems too much to make me personally want to stick around in that relationship. The character development for the story is just what bothered me the most. I felt no connection for any of the characters.
Overall, this book was alright. I wouldn't of picked it up myself if I wasn't given it for review. I was excited to read about it and hoped that it would be a good book outside of my usual comfort zone, but I was wrong. Maybe it just wasn't the right book for me and what I enjoy to read.
With that said, this book bothered me quite a bit and it took me a long time to get through it. The main character, David, is this unlikeable character that doesn't have much going for himself. He is mad at the world, depressed, and barely doing anything to change. Throughout the entire book, he didn't seem to change. In the beginning, he was very much against any type of change. He would argue against it with his girlfriend, Carol. Then about two thirds into the book, he decided to play adult. Act like one kind of and do what Carol wanted even though that isn't what he wants. He seemed lost for pretty much the entire book. That was one sad character.
I didn't see any character development till about the last chapter of the book. The way he spoke also annoyed me because he never seemed sure of himself. There were a lot of "whatever", "I mean", "um", "I don't know"'s after literally everything he said. It was very hard to read. The author wrote the dialogue like most people talk but that is not always the best for a book. For a main character, I would of liked to see a lot more of character development by at least half way in. He did somewhat but you could tell it was all fake. That he was just doing it for the sake of his relationship.
By the end of the book, things seem to be getting slowly better for him despite what happened to him. He had to deal with a lot of bad luck and it seemed like he would give up. He doesn't though and he gets some breaks here and there. He doesn't seem to do anything for himself though. Everyone is handing him all these opportunities and he is just like "ok maybe". Like come on, do something about it! He had no confidence at all and I think that is what hurt him the most as a main character, an author, and a person overall. It was just a really frustrating character to read.
For the other characters, I would say that there wasn't a lot of description and background story for them. You just got about a paragraph of description and were back reading the present dialogue. I would of liked to see how Carol and David got together. They seemed to put up with each others problems too much to make me personally want to stick around in that relationship. The character development for the story is just what bothered me the most. I felt no connection for any of the characters.
Overall, this book was alright. I wouldn't of picked it up myself if I wasn't given it for review. I was excited to read about it and hoped that it would be a good book outside of my usual comfort zone, but I was wrong. Maybe it just wasn't the right book for me and what I enjoy to read.
readingwithana's review
1.0
(Review thanks to an Ebook copy from The Artless Dodges Press)
David is an aspiring writer trying to make ends meet in Cleveland. He never went to college because he thought having a few works published in high school was enough indicator that all he needed to do was to write the next big thing and he would be published. Now he is almost thirty years old, has a struggling relationship with his girlfriend and has not been published. He has given up on life. He has nothing going for him and he knows it.
There really is not much to say about this book because nothing happens. There is no plot whatsoever. There was not much to expect. At many points throughout the book, I just wanted to stop reading and forget about this book. It’s really that bad.
David is not a likable character. At the beginning, I tried to be sympathetic because he is pretty much going through a crisis and trying to figure out what he wants to do next. After awhile though, he just became very unlikeable. He expected everything to work out without him even trying and working for what he wanted. It is as if he expected to one day wake up and everything would be like he always dreamed of it being. And that is just not how life works. Also, whenever people tried to help him, like giving him a job at a grocery store because he lost his former job, instead of humbly accepting, he accepts it with such an ungrateful attitude. David really hates his life and you know it.
Other characters were also very annoying. For example, David’s girlfriend, Carol. She was very pushy and would pout and complain when things would not go her way. There were also other characters that were also extremely unlikeable and some that I don’t even remember how they are connected to the story.
Another thing that I did not like was how it was writing. I understand that it was a stylistic choice to write it in the way that it was written but, the dialogue was chunky and nothing really stood out to me. It was just very poorly written.
Nothing really special about this book. I feel it was trying to make a statement of what it is like to live today in this kind of society and economic state but, it was very poorly executed.
David is an aspiring writer trying to make ends meet in Cleveland. He never went to college because he thought having a few works published in high school was enough indicator that all he needed to do was to write the next big thing and he would be published. Now he is almost thirty years old, has a struggling relationship with his girlfriend and has not been published. He has given up on life. He has nothing going for him and he knows it.
There really is not much to say about this book because nothing happens. There is no plot whatsoever. There was not much to expect. At many points throughout the book, I just wanted to stop reading and forget about this book. It’s really that bad.
David is not a likable character. At the beginning, I tried to be sympathetic because he is pretty much going through a crisis and trying to figure out what he wants to do next. After awhile though, he just became very unlikeable. He expected everything to work out without him even trying and working for what he wanted. It is as if he expected to one day wake up and everything would be like he always dreamed of it being. And that is just not how life works. Also, whenever people tried to help him, like giving him a job at a grocery store because he lost his former job, instead of humbly accepting, he accepts it with such an ungrateful attitude. David really hates his life and you know it.
Other characters were also very annoying. For example, David’s girlfriend, Carol. She was very pushy and would pout and complain when things would not go her way. There were also other characters that were also extremely unlikeable and some that I don’t even remember how they are connected to the story.
Another thing that I did not like was how it was writing. I understand that it was a stylistic choice to write it in the way that it was written but, the dialogue was chunky and nothing really stood out to me. It was just very poorly written.
Nothing really special about this book. I feel it was trying to make a statement of what it is like to live today in this kind of society and economic state but, it was very poorly executed.
may63536's review against another edition
4.0
I got interested in this book the moment I read the synopsis. I'm very thankful to Artless Dodges Press for giving me the opportunity not only to read and review this book, but also to get to know this book. I would probably not have contact with this work otherwise. Thank you, and sorry for taking me so long to get to reading it.
It may have taken me long to pick up the book and start reading it, but when I did pick it up I read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down before I finished it.
The book tells the story of David, a struggling author. David had many dreams. None of them came true. His book are still not a success. More than that, he cannot find a single publisher that would accept to publish them. I thought this discussion, of life not being able to keep up with one's expactations and dreams, to be really interesting and poignant. We have all those dreams and images of what the future will be like and, most of the times, none of these dreams come true. David took it really badly, which is what leads to all his problems.
I David as a main character. He is completely annoying and self-centered. And, because of his selfishness and self-centeredness, he was a totally unreliable narrator. We could see he was trying his best to make us understand his suffering and problems and see the others as 'enemies' of his progress. And we could see him trying and failing to do so.
I didn't think this book was plotless. I believe the mundane tasks were essential to understand David as a character and what he was trying to accomplish.
As for the ending, I really liked it. I felt it fit with the general mood of the story, making it all raw and powerful, I think any other ending would have made the story a disservice and would not have rung as true.
It may have taken me long to pick up the book and start reading it, but when I did pick it up I read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down before I finished it.
The book tells the story of David, a struggling author. David had many dreams. None of them came true. His book are still not a success. More than that, he cannot find a single publisher that would accept to publish them. I thought this discussion, of life not being able to keep up with one's expactations and dreams, to be really interesting and poignant. We have all those dreams and images of what the future will be like and, most of the times, none of these dreams come true. David took it really badly, which is what leads to all his problems.
I David as a main character. He is completely annoying and self-centered. And, because of his selfishness and self-centeredness, he was a totally unreliable narrator. We could see he was trying his best to make us understand his suffering and problems and see the others as 'enemies' of his progress. And we could see him trying and failing to do so.
I didn't think this book was plotless. I believe the mundane tasks were essential to understand David as a character and what he was trying to accomplish.
As for the ending, I really liked it. I felt it fit with the general mood of the story, making it all raw and powerful, I think any other ending would have made the story a disservice and would not have rung as true.
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