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A review by michaela_lubbers
Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
3.0
This is a good book - I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in New Orleans & its culture, food, and the comfort of long-term partners. I daresay I even really liked this book, but it's not a *great* book. I'm not quite sure why I say, or what I think it's missing - and maybe it's that this just isn't my regular fare. It's very realistic fiction and now that I think about it some more, I don't think it needs anything. It feels pretty complete as-is.
I want to like this book even more than I do, even; the descriptive language is fabulous, the characters well-developed, Brite seems to have an excellent grasp on New Orleans itself and the food within and without. And yet.
The plot doesn't really get started until about halfway through the book, which I theoretically don't mind - the first half-ish sets up the setting and characterization in a deeply enjoyable way, meandering through kitchens and G-man and Rickey's history. It's a lot like Fried Green Tomatoes, in that way, of painting this rich depiction of the locale and characters and all its color for the first half, before really diving into the particulars of the plot.
Brite is a deft writer, so I'm going to check out some more works and see if something else really wows me.
I want to like this book even more than I do, even; the descriptive language is fabulous, the characters well-developed, Brite seems to have an excellent grasp on New Orleans itself and the food within and without. And yet.
The plot doesn't really get started until about halfway through the book, which I theoretically don't mind - the first half-ish sets up the setting and characterization in a deeply enjoyable way, meandering through kitchens and G-man and Rickey's history. It's a lot like Fried Green Tomatoes, in that way, of painting this rich depiction of the locale and characters and all its color for the first half, before really diving into the particulars of the plot.
Brite is a deft writer, so I'm going to check out some more works and see if something else really wows me.