annamolpus's review against another edition
4.0
I heard this compared to the film American Beauty, but this is much darker. Kevin Spacey smoking a joint in the garage does not compare to this narrator's descent into self-destructive alcoholism (if you can even call it a "descent" since there is really no point in the story in which he doesn't seem to have a serious drinking problem). Depressing as it may sound, it's also a quick read, and pretty hard to put down. Certainly, it's not for everyone, but if you can handle a bit of ugliness in your narrator, it's worth a read.
vivamonty's review against another edition
3.0
When this book came out in 1991, many of the reviews compared its eponymous narrator with Holden Caulfield. There's some truth to that connection; Peter Jernigan is just as disaffected and fed up, though his additional years point not to youthful indiscretion as his problem, but instead the fact that he's a rotten person. Gates' trick is taking this unlikeable lout, driving him to the edge of alcoholic nihilism, and somehow instilling in him a voice that is just engaging enough for us to stick with him.
The book's reliance on contemporary references and its stiff position within the zeitgeist of 1988 means it hasn't aged as gracefully as some other novels. Jernigan is the type of character who is not currently in vogue; his sarcastic self-sabotage and piss-poor parenting don't quite lend themselves to sympathy. But as a novel of its time about the soullessness of just existing without purpose of direction, it's a fascinating read.
The book's reliance on contemporary references and its stiff position within the zeitgeist of 1988 means it hasn't aged as gracefully as some other novels. Jernigan is the type of character who is not currently in vogue; his sarcastic self-sabotage and piss-poor parenting don't quite lend themselves to sympathy. But as a novel of its time about the soullessness of just existing without purpose of direction, it's a fascinating read.
franklenraymond's review against another edition
3.0
I had trouble finding what saving grace this book may have earned for being a valuable part of our culture. A story of alcoholism and a character with no redeeming qualities. Picked it up because it was mentioned in an article about the Possum Living family, but the tie-in is a loose back story that provides the basis for Jernigan's decent into madness through it lack of any relationship or social skills.
survivalisinsufficient's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't really like Catcher in the Rye, but I figured it was because I was too old when I read it. This is supposed to be like an adult Catcher in the Rye, but I still didn't like it, so maybe it's me. I have a problem with books where I hate everyone in the story.
boxfish's review against another edition
5.0
I'm surprised a book this good (and one short-listed for a Pulitzer, apparently), isn't better-known. I stumbled across it on a "help me find the name of this book" forum where someone had remembered it only by the lines
. The whole book wound up being full of images that elegant and memorable; the narrator's voice is as perfect and unusual as I've ever read for the first-person-account-of-slide-into-degeneracy narrative. All in all, one of the most un-put-downable books I've read in a long time, and one I'm still amazed isn't firmly established as one of the greatest books of the last few decades.
Spoiler
immediately following the wife's death in the driveway:"I walked around the end of the garage instead and back to the pool, now deserted. I climbed the steps up onto the deck, felt like I was going to black out, quick sat down on something, and when the shiny flecks stopped swimming in front of my eyes I looked down and saw her wet footprints fading."
stevendedalus's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book in spite of myself. I mean, it's another lauded book about a middle-class white guy going through a mid-life crisis, whoop-de-doo. But Jernigan is the most grating, unloveable asshole that just hate-reading this book becomes a joy in itself.
It's a careful airing of white male privilege where the worst person is given chance after chance for no reason by ostensibly good people and burns every bridge while presenting his own rare and slight positive actions as heroic deeds.
This narrative realization builds slowly as you realize that Gates's use of anti-hero tropes isn't meant to get you, as per the usual novel, to be charmed by and sympathize with the protagonist. No, he's a toxic asshole and before you realize it you're reading to bask in his horrible flameout and self-destruction.
His literary pretensions are not evidence of a tender soul, they're hallmarks of his own unearned sense of superiority (though they do let Gates do some fun references and cringey work).
I found this a great companion piece to Dionne Brand's Theory, itself working in the same way through a completely different but just as self-absorbed protagonist. I think I discovered my favourite new genre: the takedown of pretentious literary fiction heroes.
It's a careful airing of white male privilege where the worst person is given chance after chance for no reason by ostensibly good people and burns every bridge while presenting his own rare and slight positive actions as heroic deeds.
This narrative realization builds slowly as you realize that Gates's use of anti-hero tropes isn't meant to get you, as per the usual novel, to be charmed by and sympathize with the protagonist. No, he's a toxic asshole and before you realize it you're reading to bask in his horrible flameout and self-destruction.
His literary pretensions are not evidence of a tender soul, they're hallmarks of his own unearned sense of superiority (though they do let Gates do some fun references and cringey work).
I found this a great companion piece to Dionne Brand's Theory, itself working in the same way through a completely different but just as self-absorbed protagonist. I think I discovered my favourite new genre: the takedown of pretentious literary fiction heroes.
greenblack's review
3.0
This is a compelling story. My rating is more 2.5 stars than 3 stars. This a very well written book, filled with persons I didn't like at all. So, I will recommend the author and the book but none, not even one, of the characters. I'm on the fence..... you decide.
More...