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A review by robshpprd
The Tetherballs of Bougainville by Mark Leyner
2.0
I like postmodernism. In fact, most of my favorite writers are considered postmodernists. So when I found out about tis Leyner guy who has been grouped with the likes of Pynchon, Franzen, Wallace, etc., I had to check him out. I was disappointed, to say the least. Imagine all the worst aspects of the postmodern novel, the disjointedness, the flaunted erudition, the arbitrary shifts in frame, drain them to the dregs of their content, and you've got The Tetherballs of Bougainville. Every sentence is masturbatory. Every plot point is absurd. Leyner is clearly an intelligent guy, but if he can't turn that into something readable, then I'm not interested (I've taken issue with Umberto Eco for similar reasons, but he never gets even remotely this far from narrative).
At first I thought this was at least funny, but I soon realized that Leyner has only one joke that he tells again and again and again. It goes something like this:
—What are your thoughts on [absurd combination of 3-5 references to pop culture and esoterica]?
—Oh that? I find it [banal, hackneyed, trite, played out, etc.]
It's genuinely funny the first few times. It's painful soon thereafter.
I'm not surprised that Wallace and Franzen are still touted as literary giants, and Mark Leyner is now occupied with the (apparently 3-volume?) Why Do Men Have Nipples? series.
At first I thought this was at least funny, but I soon realized that Leyner has only one joke that he tells again and again and again. It goes something like this:
—What are your thoughts on [absurd combination of 3-5 references to pop culture and esoterica]?
—Oh that? I find it [banal, hackneyed, trite, played out, etc.]
It's genuinely funny the first few times. It's painful soon thereafter.
I'm not surprised that Wallace and Franzen are still touted as literary giants, and Mark Leyner is now occupied with the (apparently 3-volume?) Why Do Men Have Nipples? series.