melissabalick's review against another edition
5.0
Someone on Reddit said this was a good book, so I read it! And goddamn, I loved it.
I used to live in the Bay Area and I hung out with a fair number of skateboarding punks there. I don't know that Paloma would call herself a "punk," but certainly there is some overlap. This book reminded me so much of one friend of mine there in particular that I texted her and begged her to read this book, to help inspire her to keep writing too (she mostly makes zines). The narration's sardonic voice, her disgust with the physical, and the mockery of life's every-day absurdities was so recognizable and relatable for anyone who lives on the fringes, especially the Bay Area fringes. And of course it was a pleasure for so much of the story to take place in an area of SF that I'm pretty familiar with--the Mission, Bernal Heights, Precita Park, the streets off Valencia. I've been to El Rio many times. Fun! Not the bar, necessarily (I kinda hate bars), but the book being set in places I'm familiar with. If she'd referenced The Knockout or Thrillhouse, I'd have freaked, thinking Tara Jepson MUST know some people in common with me.
ANYWAY, this is the kind of book that, if you like it, you know who else will like it, and you recommend it to them, and then they read it and recommend it to someone else who would like it and it gets passed around forever.
I used to live in the Bay Area and I hung out with a fair number of skateboarding punks there. I don't know that Paloma would call herself a "punk," but certainly there is some overlap. This book reminded me so much of one friend of mine there in particular that I texted her and begged her to read this book, to help inspire her to keep writing too (she mostly makes zines). The narration's sardonic voice, her disgust with the physical, and the mockery of life's every-day absurdities was so recognizable and relatable for anyone who lives on the fringes, especially the Bay Area fringes. And of course it was a pleasure for so much of the story to take place in an area of SF that I'm pretty familiar with--the Mission, Bernal Heights, Precita Park, the streets off Valencia. I've been to El Rio many times. Fun! Not the bar, necessarily (I kinda hate bars), but the book being set in places I'm familiar with. If she'd referenced The Knockout or Thrillhouse, I'd have freaked, thinking Tara Jepson MUST know some people in common with me.
ANYWAY, this is the kind of book that, if you like it, you know who else will like it, and you recommend it to them, and then they read it and recommend it to someone else who would like it and it gets passed around forever.
sayitagainjen's review against another edition
3.0
LIKE A DOG was a fast read, largely because the stream of consciousness writing plunged the narrative toward it's inevitable (and familiar) end. I felt like I couldn't stop reading, though it wasn't because I was deeply interested or invested in the story. In many ways, I resented—and grudgingly admired—Paloma. She chooses to live in the booze-soaked margins, living moment to moment on her shoestring weed-dollar budget. But it didn't feel like any sort of real struggle. You get the impression that her parents have money, that they've always had resources, and that at any moment she could fall back on their charity to keep existing. It's privilege, and it feels gross to me. At the same time, I feel that pull to stop doing something responsible, give up on conscious consumption and capitalism and do whatever feels right. Fuck the 40-hour work week, right? And then there's Peter. Peter's story gutted me, if only because I've seen it played live. I recognized the patterns, promises. The relief, if not closure.
Was it enough? I don't know. It's not a traditional narrative.
For me, the writing truly felt short whenever Jepsen tried to pull the narrative out of the moment and make a larger commentary on society—especially in the comedy sections. It rang hollow, especially from a character who isn't being forced into her life circumstances. Her story swings so wildly from moment to moment that coming up for air to say something like, "it's hard being a woman!" made me want to roll my eyes, even if I actually agree with her.
Was it enough? I don't know. It's not a traditional narrative.
For me, the writing truly felt short whenever Jepsen tried to pull the narrative out of the moment and make a larger commentary on society—especially in the comedy sections. It rang hollow, especially from a character who isn't being forced into her life circumstances. Her story swings so wildly from moment to moment that coming up for air to say something like, "it's hard being a woman!" made me want to roll my eyes, even if I actually agree with her.
amkclaes's review against another edition
3.0
A dark, witty, enjoyable read. Gave me a nightmare. It ends with an event that should bang, but because of the character's level of depression and detachment from reality, plays like a fizzle. I appreciated the thought behind making explicit the various forms of racism and classism the character works through but at times it felt a little heavy-handed. A portrait of the declining American white middle class youth in California in its uncomfortable position between power and ruin as well as an effective account of the psychological experience of dissociation and depression.
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