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A review by alisonjfields
Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish
4.0
8.4/10
I really wanted to hate this book because, at first impression, it seemed like exactly the book that every over-serious dude in your creative writing class would give his eye-teeth to write. I mean, it's brutal and beautiful, violent and gorgeous at the same time. It's a book by the privileged scion of a literary family--a consummate insider-- that manages to truthfully evoke the lives on the margins of almost everything.
But hey, it's brutal and beautiful and frequently painful to read, but one of the best things I've read in a really long time.
So yeah, color me impressed.
Nothing I love more than being surprised by a writer.
I really wanted to hate this book because, at first impression, it seemed like exactly the book that every over-serious dude in your creative writing class would give his eye-teeth to write. I mean, it's brutal and beautiful, violent and gorgeous at the same time. It's a book by the privileged scion of a literary family--a consummate insider-- that manages to truthfully evoke the lives on the margins of almost everything.
But hey, it's brutal and beautiful and frequently painful to read, but one of the best things I've read in a really long time.
So yeah, color me impressed.
Nothing I love more than being surprised by a writer.