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May 03, 2011

Sean rated it:

I've said in other reviews that I could pretty much go the rest of my life without reading another novel set in a bar. And this one does have all the bar-book cliches: the surly bartender, the sad drunken teachers, the deteriorating regulars, the old lady that's really a man, the friendly homeless guy, the former child actor, the solo road trip. With all that said, I still really enjoyed it. The voice is rendered in a deadpan-poetic style to that manages to feel fresh. The details all feel authe More...

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Jan 06, 2009

Kevin rated it:

I predict this book is going to rock a few worlds when it appears next month. deWitt, a new Portland author, writes convincingly, hypnotically, and often humorously in an odd (but freakishly natural-sounding) 2nd person narrative voice. This is lowlife gutter drunk bar life in a revealing light--a place where the bartender ("you") are more wretched than the customers, of course until you make your great escape. A superb little debut.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2009

Carlos rated it:

this was good. for the people who described this as bukowski lite...i guess i agree. I've only read one bukowski book and it was indeed a little dark. this book's main character was someone you assume is a good guy who's gone down a dark path, and you root for him. or at least I did.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 07, 2009

christa rated it:

There are a few things that make me leery when reading a debut novel: 1) When one of the blurbs is by someone who is listed in the acknowledgments (Well that was nice of your friend/writing mentor/college roommate Dennis Cooper to say he loves this book very much); 2) When the book is, oh, say, about a bartender, and in the author's short bio on the back flap it says, for instance " ... Oregon, where he currently resides ... blah blah ... has worked as ... a bartender."

Patr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 26, 2011

Diarmuid rated it:

Mildly entertaining story about the life of an alcoholic bartender and his clientele. The author's use of the second-person serves to interpellate the reader as narrator while the atomised, aposiopetic narration withholds any ultimate immersion in this identity: i.e. it is by turns attractive and repellent - a formal device which serves to substantiate a persistent moral vacillation (in the protagonist; in the reader).

In spite of this, Ablutions doesn't really have much to recommend More...

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Feb 14, 2009

Mike rated it:

This near-novel presents the reader with a barman observing the depressing lives of the alcoholics and drug addicts who come to the seedy bar where he works. Having worked in the bar for six years, the main character (only identified as a second person "you") has allowed himself to gradually adopt behaviors similar to the customers. This is far from a good thing. As he drinks himself into oblivion behind the bar, his life disintegrates; the most notable evidence of this is the break-up More...

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Oct 27, 2010

Patrick rated it:

Patrick deWitt's Ablutions is bleak and his minimalist style does nothing to dispel the bleakness – in fact it promotes it. There's endless dark vignettes, vile sexual encounters, and character studies of the bar patrons and his life as a bartender/bar back (it is never quite clear what he does, except drink a lot). His dismal relationships, or lack there of, dominate the plot – although in all fairness, there isn't any plot per say, as the subtitle of the book explains these are: Notes for a No More...

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Jul 05, 2009

Ken rated it:

For his first novel Patrick Dewitt has dredged the drunken swamp of his bar hall years and his own imagination to bring to the surface a gang of dark bar fly characters that were born by some of most memorable language I've read this year. In any novel. We are led through this journey, a swirling toilet flush of a downward spiral, by the bar back at a once famous Hollywood bar. He introduces us to the regulars which are overall a seedy bunch but each one fascinating in their own way. The bar More...

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Aug 13, 2009

Matt rated it:

This was a decadent indulgence. It definitely reminded me of reading Bukowski and instilling that urge to head down to a local watering hole to engage and be entertained by the lower and often despondent rungs of urban life. I was intrigued by the NY Times book review that echoed caparisons to Fante and Hamsun. While I can certainly see the former's shadow in the writing, it was hard for me to compare to Hansun with the exception of some slight parallels to "Hunger."

Howe More...

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May 21, 2009

Chloe added it

As the subtitle implies, Ablutions: Notes for a Novel is not a conventional work of fiction. The bar-back narrator remains nameless; there is little plot; the text is highly segmented; and the word "discuss," followed by a person's name, is the most frequently used transition from one section to the next. Although filled with this imperative and told in the present tense, Ablutions depicts a static world -- a Los Angeles bar -- where characters pass their time in a haze of drugs and al More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Clifdisc rated it:

Ablutions is Patrick deWitt's first novel, a darkly comedic look into the decaying lives of LA barflies written from the perspective of an equally self-destructive bar-hand. The novel is written in second person narrative which has the disturbing effect of putting you in the protagonist's unpleasant and increasingly ugly skin.

I love Patrick deWitt's tone which is by turns humorous, melancholy, whimsical, dark and surreal. The book is at its best when this tone elevates the mundane More...

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Dec 09, 2011

Amy rated it:

I can't stand writing in the second person, "You walk in to the bar, you drink whiskey, you think blah blah blah." it's weak. This book is Creative Writing 101 bad. For me, anyway. I found the protagonist repulsive and irritating and as a result had nothing to root for in the book. The other characters were boring stereotypes. On the back it was compared to Bukowski, which is just crazy. This book had no soul, it was just an account of some idiots getting drunk. The minimalist style di More...

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Feb 27, 2009

Jim rated it:

Patrick deWitt's debut novel has a superb hook: a bartender in a Hollywood bar collects notes about his clientele — the coke dealer, the transvestite, the cop fetishist, the alcoholic child actor, etc. Although the tone is as curiously detached as a 19th-century naturalist's ("Discuss Junior, the black crack addict"), the gruesome catalog of his customers' failings is spliced with confessions of the bartender's epic consumption of Irish whiskey and whatever drugs he can get his hands o More...

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Aug 29, 2011

Graham rated it:

A great read after picking this book up in a closing Borders store. An aside from the novel itself, this was a book I thought for sure I was going to have to grab online and so I have to give Borders much thanks for adding this novel to its shelves!

This book took some getting used to so far as the "voice" for me, but once it became natural, the book was a breeze to read. All of the characters were interesting and while at times cliche in feeling, DeWitt made each of them More...

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Oct 23, 2011

Chris rated it:

After reading The Sisters Brothers, Ablutions came as a bit of a shock. DeWitt took me to some dark, dark places in this story of a downward-spiraling bartender. I liked the plot-less, yet compelling form: bartender as focal point to the cast of alcoholic, damaged and just-plain-odd regulars that frequent his bar. It almost reads like a book of short stories up to a point, then focuses more on the bartender whose life is turning sour. A fun read for folks who aren't scared off by a little scatol More...

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Jul 09, 2011

Jeremy rated it:

Discuss for a moment the dive bar. The Hollywood dive bar to be more precise. Filled with sights, sounds and smells that could easily be from a movie produced by the town that serves as its backdrop. First time author (and former bartender and LA resident) Patrick deWitt serves up a fabulously entertaining book that dissects the goings on at a local bar. The regular bartender serves as the book's narrator and while he takes a close look at the barflies that post up each day, it quickly becomes c More...

2 comments like

Mar 05, 2010

A.M. rated it:

I picked up this book at the Borders closing sale for one reason only: I liked the cover. Despite what people say about book covers, I find them often a good indicator of the book within, and this cover in particular made me think of art, and strange stories told at early hours of the morning, and alcohol. All of which are covered in great depth in this book.

Now, I’m not one for literary gimmicks, for the emphasis on style over plot. But I have to say Patrick deWitt’s debut is one of More...

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Aug 06, 2009

heather rated it:

A terrifying book whose true grace is its absolute, whiskey sodden realism, that refuses to even offer the beleaguered narrator cheap resolution through the conventional routes-- or the quite strange routes the narrator seeks. We keep reading not because we await the narrator's redemption but because we sense DeWitt's gritty, tragic universe is one where each act blooms into its inevitable conclusion, in a worse way than we could have imagined. I kept questioning my motives as I read. Am I a sad More...

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Dec 11, 2011

The Nate Gatsby rated it:

Well, I'm not exactly sure what to think about this book. I'm not sure there was really a solid plot, I'm not sure there was a moral, and I'm not sure there was a reason for it all together. Yet throughout the book I was entertained by the complete randomness of it all. I actually enjoyed the book. I guess when I don't understand a book and it generally just goes over my head, I just assume that it was a great book and that I was just not smart enough to realize it. Either way, I'll give this bo More...

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Jun 15, 2011

Jane rated it:

Notes for a Novel is a good subtitle for this book that reads more like a series of very dark vignettes set in a bar and sometimes on the streets of Los Angeles. Think Barfly & Bukowski. The characters are interesting, despite being a bit stock. I often don't finish books that don't have much of a plot, but this book is short and it's beautifully written. And damn, you can't beat that cover with a stick. I'm hoping for a bit more from his new book The Sisters Brothers.

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Apr 26, 2010

Erik rated it:

The entire book is written, beautifully, in second person. I bought into it. You, the character, are with your vices, though you believe yourself in a bad situation working at this bar. You feel the whole time like you're in a well-crafted dream after a serious bender. I was frantically tearing through the pages at the end, concerned about the final outcome of me, you, him and was not disappointed. The book made me feel the alcohol in the well-crafted dream. Well done.

1 comment like

Dec 16, 2011

Nani (emmyrose224) rated it:

Ablutions was pretty good. I was in the mood for something beautiful and tragic into which I could get absorbed, but while sometimes beautiful, and while sometimes tragic, Ablutions just didn't absorb me completely like I wanted it to. Don't get me wrong, it was very well written and I'm glad I read it. But it lacked something I was looking for. Maybe I'll change my review if I find it different reading it in a different mood.

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Jun 10, 2010

Neil rated it:

A funny, horrific and surreal trip into the mind of one alcoholic bartender and the relationships he has with his clientele and wife. The 2nd person narrative is a little odd to begin with, but fits perfectly with the journey the bartender makes into addiction. You feel like you’re making the trip with him. In this respect it reminded me of American Psycho, horrid and hilarious in equal measure

It’s a little depressing, but I enjoyed it thoroughly

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Jun 15, 2009

Michael rated it:

Fascinating book. It's written in the second person and is unlike anything I've read. It tells the story of a miserable alcoholic leading a life as a barback and all-around loser, trying to break free of his pathetic existence. Graphic depictions of drinking, drugs, sex, and violence will leave you queasy yet quite entertained. HMH book, I might be able to send a free copy.

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Nov 15, 2010

Leota rated it:

Ablutions tells the story of the regulars and the employees of a once-swanky-now-divey Hollywood bar: specifically, the story of the alcoholic, pill popping bar back. It's all told in the second person, and I really have to hand it to deWitt – the way he writes, and his language – wow. He injects life and vitality into the Sad and Depressing, turns even the darkest events into amazing moments, makes the filth and grit into something truly beautiful...all while making you wince and ache and laugh More...

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Aug 23, 2009

Mike rated it:

I guess it's a testament to either the book or my own questionable moral character that about 2/3 of the way in I found myself vigorously rooting for the narrator.

Only complaint is that the whole "notes for a novel" conceit doesn't really do much. Seems like almost a weird apologetic move by the author for a book that doesn't really need an apologetic move. At times it's fragmentary, sure, but it's still a narrative, and no less a novel for its fragmentary structure. I don' More...

3 comments like

Sep 09, 2010

Robb rated it:

Short and enjoyable. Not many knock-you-down moments but it kept a steady pace the whole way, and managed to avoid the trap of writing a book about a bar and its inhabitants and not sounding too much like Bukowski and all his copiers. Maybe it was the dash of "Bright Lights Big City" that helped him turn the corner. Hard to pull off second person, but it worked.

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Jul 03, 2011

Zach rated it:

I wasn't too impressed until i got about halfway through, and then I realized how great this book really is. I found it interesting but also boring, basically until things started unraveling for the main character. I could tell at the end I felt so bad for him that I had fallen in love. Great book.

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May 20, 2011

Amy rated it:

In this novel, you get to know the bartender and all of the regulars for a seedy bar in Hollywood. This book does a great job of tapping into the depression specific to Los Angeles, while presenting some memorable fuckups. Things fall a part a little when the protagonist actually gets out of the bar...

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Jul 09, 2009

heel rated it:

Yeah, Patrick DeWitt is part of an emerging group of wonderfully downtrodden but comically playful voices that are making literature fun again. That is to say, he's reinventing the wheel by adding morose doodads and vile whozits, and this wheel is hell bent on rolling. It's awesome.

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