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ruthiella's review
1.0
I found this book to be very disappointing. 300 pages of dreck such as,
“I wanted her to look beautiful and maybe that is what all children want: for their parents to look beautiful. And in order for them to look beautiful, you have to find ways to ignore their ugliness. It is easier to be ugly yourself than to admit to the ugliness of the people who made you; it is easier to love the people who made you if you are ugly and they are not. And it is easier to live on this earth if you love the people who made you, even if that means risking the love of the people you yourself have made. Even if.”
WTF? Not only was the story dull and unfunny, other than the names of a few authors and Aunt Polly from Tom Sawyer, there are virtually no real literary references in this book. And I might add, there are no real arsonists either. In fact, I don’t think the author even likes books. I am not sure how he feels about arsonists. The back flap compares of the book it to "A Confederacy of Dunces" and "Catch 22", neither of which I much liked. I guess it is supposed to be a farce. Maybe I just don’t get farcical humor?
“I wanted her to look beautiful and maybe that is what all children want: for their parents to look beautiful. And in order for them to look beautiful, you have to find ways to ignore their ugliness. It is easier to be ugly yourself than to admit to the ugliness of the people who made you; it is easier to love the people who made you if you are ugly and they are not. And it is easier to live on this earth if you love the people who made you, even if that means risking the love of the people you yourself have made. Even if.”
WTF? Not only was the story dull and unfunny, other than the names of a few authors and Aunt Polly from Tom Sawyer, there are virtually no real literary references in this book. And I might add, there are no real arsonists either. In fact, I don’t think the author even likes books. I am not sure how he feels about arsonists. The back flap compares of the book it to "A Confederacy of Dunces" and "Catch 22", neither of which I much liked. I guess it is supposed to be a farce. Maybe I just don’t get farcical humor?
miss_tricia's review
3.0
The writing in this book is crazy good times. Every paragraph contains some peculiar turn of phrase or witty metaphor or blatantly unveiled foreshadowing. I probably read at least one thing aloud to my husband on every page (a sure sign that I though it was clever). I'm also recommending this for everyone who has been thinking about the distinction between a memoir and a novel, as there's a lovely discussion of that very topic. I'll probably never read this again, but it's definitely worth one read, so I'd give it an extra half-star if I could.
dilan11's review
3.0
At first, it was funny and the tone of the narrator was interesting but then about 100 pages in I thought it might have been better as a short story. It was hard to stick with this narrator for a whole book.
In some ways just too gimmicky and meta, it is a book about writing a book, reading books, about the whole memoir trend.
I gave it three stars because I think that Brock Clarke can write. I just don't think what he writes has much value. Really what is a reader to do with this much unmitigated tragedy.
In some ways just too gimmicky and meta, it is a book about writing a book, reading books, about the whole memoir trend.
I gave it three stars because I think that Brock Clarke can write. I just don't think what he writes has much value. Really what is a reader to do with this much unmitigated tragedy.
chloemakesbooks's review
1.0
couldn't stand it. Like catcher in the rye, except older and even more whiny. get over yourself! you're not funny!
rothcoe's review
2.0
Am I an asshole for not reading this all the way through and just skipping to the end? Probably. Should I be rating this? Probably not. This is a book I really wanted to like, but I just didn't have the patience for, but I wanted to know how it ended, but when I read the end I was kind of "Meh".
pixelswirl's review
This book had a fantastically interesting premise, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters. I ended up just skimming the last 100 pages or so.
hpayne's review
4.0
I was so frustrated that the main character never gets a break- that's the only thing that keeps this from "it was amazing"- but then maybe it's what makes it a great book
marisahowardkarp's review
4.0
This was a lot of fun. It was light without being forgettable fluff, and it was creative, well-written, and well-constructed without ever seeming self-conscious. I loved the sort-of-unlikable narrator and feel like it would be really fun to go out to dinner with the author and hear his bizarre and hilarious take on everything going on around us. This was on my list for years and I'm not sure why it took me so long to get to it.