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A review by greebytime
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
2.0
I very rarely rate a book 2-stars because I tend not to finish books I don’t enjoy. But that’s where Asymmetry is interesting - it’s three stories, the first of which is over half the book and tells the fictionalized story of author Lisa Halladays relationship with Phillip Roth (here called Ezra Blazer). Its interesting and I guess salacious enough to hype the book up though it’s not particularly revelatory or insightful (I always assumed Roth wasn’t the most wonderful person).
The next story follows an Iraqi being held in a UK detention center while he tries to travel, and while parts of that story are interesting it feels insanely disjointed and wholly disconnected from the first story. This doesn’t even include a four page discussion of a medical condition a minor character has in almost purely clinical terms. I kept reading because the title of the third story references Ezra Blazer and I figured it would tie it all together.
It does not. And the third story is one of the most unnecessary stories I can remember reading (it’s the supposed transcription of the author Blazer talking about his favorite music and then hitting on the female host of the show).
I don’t get this book or the hype, and definitely don’t recommend it. The first story is solid enough to get two stars but that’s it. Avoid this one.
The next story follows an Iraqi being held in a UK detention center while he tries to travel, and while parts of that story are interesting it feels insanely disjointed and wholly disconnected from the first story. This doesn’t even include a four page discussion of a medical condition a minor character has in almost purely clinical terms. I kept reading because the title of the third story references Ezra Blazer and I figured it would tie it all together.
It does not. And the third story is one of the most unnecessary stories I can remember reading (it’s the supposed transcription of the author Blazer talking about his favorite music and then hitting on the female host of the show).
I don’t get this book or the hype, and definitely don’t recommend it. The first story is solid enough to get two stars but that’s it. Avoid this one.