kjboldon's review
4.0
Such a bizarre, challenging essay, composed only of footnotes to a missing text. I'm not sure I "got" it, but I definitely admire it and was in its thrall.
cheezh8er's review
I've read this book three times now, but I still don't think I get it. Can't really rate it since the form and general idea of this book is something that truly intrigues and delights me. But I feel like I'm missing context wading through the footnotes. Which is part of the point. However I don't see enough of a coherent theme to even guess how these things fit together. The impression I'm left with is that I'm not a well read enough or deep enough in the sphere of academia
sylvia_flora's review
5.0
Boully's book is a fantastic formal narrative of footnotes with esoteric post-modern references and other MFA-worthy things.
Her writing exceeds what you might see online, so don't take Boully's speaker as being interested in click-bait. The reader gets no evidence of the main character of this book except through the speaker in the footnotes.
The reader gets, essentially, the body, the outlines, of some person, but every section leaves much interpretation up to the reader, and her or his familiarity with the topics being discussed. It's wordy at times.
That being said, it's good for short reading sessions...and the physical book is fertile ground for literally drawing connections between narrative notes.
Writers should read this if they haven't already.
Her writing exceeds what you might see online, so don't take Boully's speaker as being interested in click-bait. The reader gets no evidence of the main character of this book except through the speaker in the footnotes.
The reader gets, essentially, the body, the outlines, of some person, but every section leaves much interpretation up to the reader, and her or his familiarity with the topics being discussed. It's wordy at times.
That being said, it's good for short reading sessions...and the physical book is fertile ground for literally drawing connections between narrative notes.
Writers should read this if they haven't already.
eberico's review against another edition
4.0
Carl told me I'd love this, that it was the perfect time for me to read it. And I did, and it was, though I don't know that I fully understood or absorbed all of it.
mlindner's review
4.0
Hmmm.
I mean. WTF?!
Lots of prompts for assorted writings.
Noticed that no footnotes bleed across to another page. Seems the typography would've required it once or twice.
Just what does "the body" of text say?
This may be with me a while.
I mean. WTF?!
Lots of prompts for assorted writings.
Noticed that no footnotes bleed across to another page. Seems the typography would've required it once or twice.
Just what does "the body" of text say?
This may be with me a while.
sneaky_tequila's review
5.0
I'm completely in love with Jenny Boully. I've read some of other works before, and I have to say that the line she walks between poetry and essay is nothing short of masterful.
I'm also a sucker for any work that's dually about language and the inadequacies of language at the same time. The idea of an entire essay expressed without the essay is something close to (if not) sheer brilliance, and it's also amazing to me just how much Boully trusts the reader to then, in their own minds, replace the narrative that isn't blatantly written down. Because Boully pushes thresholds on form and function so much, it's hard for me to nail down exactly what I would have imagined the essay having been, but there's a beauty in that kind of non-conformity, too. It could have been any number of things. The possibilities are only limited by the imagination of the reader.
What I found most appealing is the idea this essay suggests in the underneath of it all--that there will always be untold facets of a story, that language is an illusion.
I loved it.
I'm also a sucker for any work that's dually about language and the inadequacies of language at the same time. The idea of an entire essay expressed without the essay is something close to (if not) sheer brilliance, and it's also amazing to me just how much Boully trusts the reader to then, in their own minds, replace the narrative that isn't blatantly written down. Because Boully pushes thresholds on form and function so much, it's hard for me to nail down exactly what I would have imagined the essay having been, but there's a beauty in that kind of non-conformity, too. It could have been any number of things. The possibilities are only limited by the imagination of the reader.
What I found most appealing is the idea this essay suggests in the underneath of it all--that there will always be untold facets of a story, that language is an illusion.
I loved it.
melanie_page's review
2.0
3.5 stars
Loved the concept, beautiful writing style, didn't always love the ambiguous context.
Loved the concept, beautiful writing style, didn't always love the ambiguous context.
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