An adventurous exploration of the "I" in American culture, by the author of Neck Deep and Other Predicaments
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reviews
Aug 20, 2010
Nicola
rated it: 
This not-memoir has quite a bit to say about memoirs and their proliferation in today's world. As someone whose screened memoirs for a competition before, I appreciated many of Monson's rant(s) on the unmodified, un-crafted, solipsistic "I" that, yes, "one-on-one over a beer" is interesting, but not in book form. Don't just tell a story, craft it, have what Monson defines as an "awareness, a sense that the writer has reckoned with the self, the material, as well as what
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Jul 28, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
Making memorable points, for some wrong reasons
By Ethan Gilsdorf | Boston Globe June 9, 2010
If the memoir is a bruised, battered, and beleaguered genre, then “Vanishing Point’’ kicks it into the grave for good.
Not that Ander Monson has done anything particularly heinous. The author of another nonfiction book, “Neck Deep and Other Predicaments,’’ a novel, and two collections of poetry, Monson is not out to smash conventions or hammer manifestos on t More...
Making memorable points, for some wrong reasons
By Ethan Gilsdorf | Boston Globe June 9, 2010
If the memoir is a bruised, battered, and beleaguered genre, then “Vanishing Point’’ kicks it into the grave for good.
Not that Ander Monson has done anything particularly heinous. The author of another nonfiction book, “Neck Deep and Other Predicaments,’’ a novel, and two collections of poetry, Monson is not out to smash conventions or hammer manifestos on t More...
Jul 07, 2010
Dnicebear
rated it:
I learned about this book through a website devoted to writing memoirs, so I dutifully found it and began reading, intrigued by unusual formatting, obviously related to the author's being an experienced computer technician of some sort. As the plot (?) unfolds I learn that the author's experience includes being busted as a minor, involved in a felony credit card fraud. Then I look at his photograph on back and wonder if I really want to keep reading because he looks so angry, but I ignore my v
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May 05, 2010
Matt
rated it:
I'm a little bit at a loss about what needs to be said about this after D Shield's write up in the Times. I liked the book a lot, but, and this might just be because I'm kind of a jerk, I'm not going to talk too much about that. To me, there are more interesting things to say about this book than enumerating its virtues of intelligence, invention, and stylish writing (all of which it has in spades).
What struck me was the way this book is different than Neck Deep, and what that means f More...
What struck me was the way this book is different than Neck Deep, and what that means f More...
Jul 09, 2011
Sean
rated it: 
There seems to be this kind of obnoxious movement in contemporary fiction heralded by people like Tao Lin and Noah Cicero, and Ander Monson belongs in this neat little box. The box contains work that I'm pretty sure is largely going to mean nothing in the next decade, works that take after Catcher in the Rye and try to explore a kind of hyper-nihilist world crossed with drug use or alcohol abuse or, more recently, how the internet fucks with us. It's very difficult to do this kind of writing rig
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Apr 19, 2011
Holly
rated it:
The weird typography makes me think of the NYT article I just read about how reading/studying text in a difficult-to-read typography aids in memory-retrieval of the material. David Shields; David Foster Wallace; McSweeney's Believer; pop culture. From the first (and best) essay in the collection, on the popularity of memoir-writing:
I still don't want to read what most people have to say about themselves if it's just to tell their story. I want it to be art, meaning that I want it transformMore...
May 09, 2010
Eric
rated it: 
Vanishing Point is a truly outrageous book, unlike anything I've read before, with the possible exception of David Shields' Reality Hunger (Shields wrote an excellent review of Monson's book for the NYT). Monson fuses quirky essays about jury duty, Gerald Ford's funeral, Doritos, role-playing games, remodeling his old house, crafting literary broadsides, and the art of watching YouTube videos unironically with "assembloirs"--collages of bits of other peoples' memoirs--and meditations o
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Jan 17, 2011
Justin
rated it: 
imagine this: reading about the worlds largest ball of paint or the funeral service of gerald ford or dungeons and dragons is LESS interesting to read about than to listen to in conversation! who the fuck could have imagined?
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after all that, he continued on to talk about doritos that taste like mountain dew and attempted to tie it to something of importance. this whole book... i heard the bookworm interview Monson and the Reality Hunger author did and figured that they would have More...
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after all that, he continued on to talk about doritos that taste like mountain dew and attempted to tie it to something of importance. this whole book... i heard the bookworm interview Monson and the Reality Hunger author did and figured that they would have More...
Aug 16, 2010
David
rated it:
At 17, I had a job scraping paint for $5.25 an hour. I'd jab through layers of beige, back to original blue, through the strata of decades that had accrued on the colonial houses of the town where I grew up. This was utterly satisfying, tangible work. Most days—happy to have 44 dollars in my future pocket—I left with a grin (and a latex glob) on my face, with flecks of 1923 (and 1805) in my hair.
In his pleasingly peculiar new book, Vanishing Point: Not a Memoir, Ander Monson per More...
In his pleasingly peculiar new book, Vanishing Point: Not a Memoir, Ander Monson per More...
Sep 21, 2010
Schuyler
rated it: 
I've had Monson on my radar for a long time now, probably ever since he wrote Vacationland, which seems like a long time ago and I have a vague recollection of him visiting my college campus for a reading, probably promoting Vacationland. Am I making this up? Not remembering it correctly? Whose to say. Also, I never ended up reading Vacationland, or haven't yet anyway.
So, I was ready to enjoy Vanishing Point. I wanted to love it. I am excited about writers who choose to expand certai More...
So, I was ready to enjoy Vanishing Point. I wanted to love it. I am excited about writers who choose to expand certai More...
Jun 29, 2010
BeckyTalbot
rated it:
Vanishing Point has excellent cultural insights, especially about what can be done to stretch the creative nonfiction genre and redeem the solipsistic tendencies of memoir. Monson's voice is witty and his subject matter unexpected. He is following David Foster Wallace's path--there is even a brief reflection on Wallace's death in the closing essay--but even though the postmodern subversion/expansion of text was similar, I didn't feel I was reading the same old thing. There were a few times, e
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Sep 01, 2010
Martin
rated it:
Where are we now? An interesting look at culture through the lens of literary criticism--or whatever! A memoir, certainly, but not a memoir in the traditional sense. What may be nonfiction that passes for better writing than most fiction. I love the way everything gets mashed up. Genre bending. I read this after reading about it in Reality Hunger.
Mar 06, 2011
Scott
rated it:
I have been a fan on Ander Monson for a long time. This is his second book of essays, and while my favorite of his essays are still in his other book, this once achieves something greater, over all, then his other book did. A very enjoyable read.
Oct 20, 2011
katie
rated it:
Alright,
Ander Monson is a smart guy, but I just can't get past his egotistical tendencies. I just couldn't handle it. Maybe I'll try a little harder.
Don't get me wrong, there were parts about this book that I really enjoyed! I loved reading some of the darker parts, about vanishing, about rolling the car into the water. And I tend to love jumpy plot lines. I just couldn't deal with his self-pity any more.
Ander Monson is a smart guy, but I just can't get past his egotistical tendencies. I just couldn't handle it. Maybe I'll try a little harder.
Don't get me wrong, there were parts about this book that I really enjoyed! I loved reading some of the darker parts, about vanishing, about rolling the car into the water. And I tend to love jumpy plot lines. I just couldn't deal with his self-pity any more.
May 26, 2010
Sean
rated it:
Hell yes!
Spills over into the web, even.
A memoir about memoir and so much more.
Including Doritos.
Spills over into the web, even.
A memoir about memoir and so much more.
Including Doritos.
Apr 27, 2010
Eva
rated it:
Not my style of reading, but I'm sure there are some people who would enjoy this style of writing.
Mar 11, 2011
Rachel
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I got halfway through this and put it down. That is something that I almost never do. I'm ashamed of myself, but I just could not do it anymore.
Oct 20, 2011
Katie
rated it:
I was really excited about this book but I ended up not even finishing it. It was snarky in all the wrong ways for my taste. I love postmodernism and questions of selfhood in the 21st century but the book didn't seem to evolve for me even though the individual essays worked. I felt it hit the same note repeatedly.
Jul 23, 2010
Lindsay
rated it:
I can't say enough good things about this book. Each essay is a little different, but fascinating in its own way.
It really made me think, and I now want to read all of Ander's books.
It really made me think, and I now want to read all of Ander's books.
Aug 14, 2010
loved the introduction but by the third essay decided I needed to set it down for awhile. I love his stuff but this one isn't capturing me for some reason...at least not at this point.
Jun 05, 2011
René
rated it:
An amazing take on the art of the essay. Incredibly well written, challenging, odd and courageous, Vanish Point makes a necessary reflection about our notion of Self.
Jul 04, 2011
Couldn't finish. Felt the book was more flash than substance and the textual interplay was too reminiscent of Gass, Lethem, etc.
Jan 21, 2012
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Jan 11, 2012
