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A review by hollowspine
The Disappointment Artist by Jonathan Lethem
4.0
Each essay in the Disappointment Artist takes some aspect, movie, book, band, or person, that had for a span of time at least, become an obsession for Lethem and then explored how each led back to what was going on closer to home in his life.
The fact that he watched Star Wars 21 times may have more to do with his mother's illness than it had to do with his obsession with CP-30. His attraction to three bearded older friends to do with his anger at his father for surviving his mother's death. The book is about his relationships, his friendships and how they influenced his writing and his life and brought him to a few choice realizations.
The "Beards" we use in our lives to hide our true feelings, or at least make them more easily digestible for the outside world, each chapter, though sometimes written years apart definitely added to the overall collection. Very well written and thoughtful.
I'll always remember reading a book of short stories by Lethem with my brother while travelling around Europe and how I took solace in it, even when I was struck by depression in the middle of the trip. Funny how we associate these cultural landmarks with life events. I'll always remember the books I was reading at different times of my life too.
As I was listening I felt inspired to look at my own life, though unlike Lethem, I have always been too lazy and apathetic to be obsessed by many things, even books. I stopped re-reading books when I was a teenager and have only revisited a couple for nostalgia since then, as I listened Lethem read his essays I felt like I too should look back. Nostalgia contagion! I probably won't look back, but the melancholia conveyed in this book does give one that feeling.
The fact that he watched Star Wars 21 times may have more to do with his mother's illness than it had to do with his obsession with CP-30. His attraction to three bearded older friends to do with his anger at his father for surviving his mother's death. The book is about his relationships, his friendships and how they influenced his writing and his life and brought him to a few choice realizations.
The "Beards" we use in our lives to hide our true feelings, or at least make them more easily digestible for the outside world, each chapter, though sometimes written years apart definitely added to the overall collection. Very well written and thoughtful.
I'll always remember reading a book of short stories by Lethem with my brother while travelling around Europe and how I took solace in it, even when I was struck by depression in the middle of the trip. Funny how we associate these cultural landmarks with life events. I'll always remember the books I was reading at different times of my life too.
As I was listening I felt inspired to look at my own life, though unlike Lethem, I have always been too lazy and apathetic to be obsessed by many things, even books. I stopped re-reading books when I was a teenager and have only revisited a couple for nostalgia since then, as I listened Lethem read his essays I felt like I too should look back. Nostalgia contagion! I probably won't look back, but the melancholia conveyed in this book does give one that feeling.