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A review by ketevanreads
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
2.0
I read this as part of a mini-challenge to read the lowest and highest rated book you own, and I really wanted to prove the reviews wrong. I bought this book thinking it would be a fantastic romp. Unfortunately, this one does deserve its lowest rank. While not the worst book I've ever read, I genuinely think I got nothing out of it. It was bland, odd since so much happens.
I read a lot of reviews that said they didn't enjoy it because our protagonist, Sam, was very unlikeable. And I thought to myself, "Hey! I love unlikeable narrators/characters, surely I'll enjoy it more!" And now I realize that I enjoy characters who are horrible people, while Sam is truly just unlikeable. His bland internal monologue and poor decisions are enough to not like him, but not enough to hate him either. I suppose that's some sort of metaphor about how most people actually are, but it didn't come together well enough for that to work very well.
I read a lot of reviews that said they didn't enjoy it because our protagonist, Sam, was very unlikeable. And I thought to myself, "Hey! I love unlikeable narrators/characters, surely I'll enjoy it more!" And now I realize that I enjoy characters who are horrible people, while Sam is truly just unlikeable. His bland internal monologue and poor decisions are enough to not like him, but not enough to hate him either. I suppose that's some sort of metaphor about how most people actually are, but it didn't come together well enough for that to work very well.