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31st out of 121 books
—
96 voters
I Love You More Than You Know
Jonathan Ames has drawn comparisons across the literary spectrum, from David Sedaris to F. Scott Fitzgerald to Woody Allen to P.G. Wodehouse, and his books, as well as his abilities as a performer, have made him a favorite on the Late Show with David Letterman. Whether he's chasing deranged cockroaches around his apartment, kissing a beautiful actress on the set of an avan...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
December 16th 2005
by Grove Press, Black Cat
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After furiously cramming for the New York bar exam like a maniac for two months, I decided to start this a week before the exam, as I was in desperate need of a light palate cleanser and some comic relief. And it was just that. Light, sometimes funny and sweet, (but not overly twee) but also sometimes kind of boring - hence the three stars. Yes, he’s self-deprecating, but at times it seems a bit disingenuous - like it’s a ploy to make you like him. Thus, I vacillated between rolling my eyes at h...more
Feb 16, 2010
Lobstergirl
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Dick Button
Recommended to Lobstergirl by:
Marabel Morgan
Visits to prostitutes, dominatrices, swingers clubs, tranny clubs, the Tyson-Lewis fight, and the Banana Bar in Amsterdam (non-culinary innovations with bananas); cockroaches in bathtubs; an adorable farting English child in the next bathroom stall; and endless discussions of bodily effluvia, irritable bowel syndrome, and ass-itch - such are the topics of these essays by the man who once called himself "the George Plimpton of the colon." There is some extremely funny stuff here, and there is no...more
I have no idea how I feel about this.
a) I was upset to find out how much of my life resembles his in ways I do not want it to (credit card useage, life station, being cheap)
b) I was upset that related to a) (because of a?) he like...sees hookers and talks about his ass?
c) There was a point that I hated this book and felt like humankind is a despicable pile of garbage and I should be a hooker and everyone goes to hookers and no one is responsible for their bad habits or anything and "well, I gues...more
a) I was upset to find out how much of my life resembles his in ways I do not want it to (credit card useage, life station, being cheap)
b) I was upset that related to a) (because of a?) he like...sees hookers and talks about his ass?
c) There was a point that I hated this book and felt like humankind is a despicable pile of garbage and I should be a hooker and everyone goes to hookers and no one is responsible for their bad habits or anything and "well, I gues...more
The blurb on the back cover of Jonathan Ames’ essay collection, I Love You More Than You Know, reads “Whether it’s chasing deranged cockroaches around his apartment, kissing a beautiful actress on the set of an avant-garde film, finding himself stuck perilously on top of a fence in Memphis in the middle of the night, or provoking fights with scarred German men, Jonathan Ames has an uncanny knack for getting himself into outlandish situations. He’s also quite good at finding himself in banal situ...more
I picked this book up on a whim. I was searching for a birthday present for my mother. We had recently discussed our love of essays, mostly our admiration of Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris, so when I saw the blurb on the front of this book that claimed Ames was an edgier Sedaris, I bought the book.
Ames is not an edgier Sedaris. He is a competent writer who fills his diary with sentimental drivel and name-dropping. On top of that, his musings on sexuality are "edgy" only in the sense that they m...more
Ames is not an edgier Sedaris. He is a competent writer who fills his diary with sentimental drivel and name-dropping. On top of that, his musings on sexuality are "edgy" only in the sense that they m...more
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Most book covers don’t reveal a helluva lot about the contents but one look at Jonathan Ames on the cover of this ILYMTYK and you have a fairly good idea that the guys is at least a half bubble off-center. 30 short essays, some published previously others apparently not – the unifying theme of the book if you could call it that is Mr. Ames willingness to reveal any and everything about his anxieties, fetishes, fascination with transsexuals and more. It’s a bit of a hodgepodge of short works by t...more
Heheheeee!
This book made me laugh so much...embarrassingly out loud... like a crazy person... in public. Really, really funny. I picked it up randomly, Ames' name having been on my radar screen for some time, and I will definitely seek out his other books.
The essays here are perverse, funny, even at moments touching (when writing about his grandmother or his child, for instance). His humor sometimes veers toward puerile scatological humor, but for the most part even these moments are amusing. A...more
This book made me laugh so much...embarrassingly out loud... like a crazy person... in public. Really, really funny. I picked it up randomly, Ames' name having been on my radar screen for some time, and I will definitely seek out his other books.
The essays here are perverse, funny, even at moments touching (when writing about his grandmother or his child, for instance). His humor sometimes veers toward puerile scatological humor, but for the most part even these moments are amusing. A...more
Extremely funny and touching. Especially the descriptions of newly invented concepts "to make America a better place". Ames gives elaborate definitions of ideas like 'the-nearly-pain-free-breakup' or 'Truespaper' (a newspaper in which the honest truth is told). The best one is 'Pro-Semitism': He describes a world in which all religions live peacefully together. Quote: "Things were really good. The only people who still got under everyone's skin were the English, because of their nutty devotion t...more
I'm a Jonathan Ames fan. I love his novels and his essays. The guy just flat-out cracks me up. I haven't read him in a while, so I really enjoyed this collection (Black Cat, Grove/Atlantic 2006). It was somehow comforting to know he is still obsessed with certain things about himself--his itchy ass, his baldness, his bathroom problems, his "cataloging of his ruination" as he moves into middle age. His self-deprecating humor is blunt, bawdy, outrageous, and hilarious. It appeals to my 12 year-old...more
This book, and Ames himself, grew on me. The tone and topic of many of these essays are akin to David Sedaris' work, but as a blurb on the book's cover notes, there is something edgier to Ames (and also more masochistic). As with any collection of (mostly) previously published works, some essays are better than others. The most joyful contributions are actually the entries from the "Dictionary of the Future" that punctuate the book in various places. Overall, this collection was easy and pleasan...more
I didn't really know what I was getting into when I read this, I just liked the title and the cover, which is a nice thing about paperbackswap. I just order whatever tickles my fancy. The book is actually a collection of essays and not my usual style. I did enjoy it, but the last couple of essays were glanced at mostly, as I had posted it thinking I had finished (a bad side effect of books that have short stories for me, sometimes I think I have finished when I haven't because I got distracted b...more
Season two made me a big fan of Jonathan Ames' "Bored to Death" TV series, and also made me eager to check out some of his prose work. I didn't so much pick this one as it was the only one Borders had, so there we go.
Being a collection of short stories, it's not too surprising that I liked some stories more than others, but I really found this one uneven. There was a lot of variety here, but it wasn't necessarily that I liked one type of story more than another -- the stories of Ames' loving rel...more
Being a collection of short stories, it's not too surprising that I liked some stories more than others, but I really found this one uneven. There was a lot of variety here, but it wasn't necessarily that I liked one type of story more than another -- the stories of Ames' loving rel...more
What did I think? I thought hard about this collection of humorous essays for this post. Ames is a character that is so painfully honest--about everything-- he appears to be the most self-absorbed person ever. However the situations he finds himself in are laugh out loud funny. He can take on topics so out of the ordinary, i.e. visiting a prostitute in Amsterdam and being afraid of asking her to keep her glasses on because that might be too kinky! He is always finding himself in bizarre situatio...more
Jun 15, 2011
J.C.
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to J.C. by:
Samantha Valdez
Shelves:
need-to-own
I was drunk at my friend Sam's place one time. We were drinking and having a merry time as usual, and also as usual I was glancing through her book collection.
"You should read this." She hands me this random book with a guy running in his boxers. I thought the cover looked like some long forgotten memoir from the eighties.
"Why's that? I'm reading Vonnegut, can't you tell?" I say to her. And it's true I was, I believe it was Cat's Cradle.
"Ok, for one, you should never read while you're drunk....more
"You should read this." She hands me this random book with a guy running in his boxers. I thought the cover looked like some long forgotten memoir from the eighties.
"Why's that? I'm reading Vonnegut, can't you tell?" I say to her. And it's true I was, I believe it was Cat's Cradle.
"Ok, for one, you should never read while you're drunk....more
The dirty fun of Ames' irreverent personal essays does not make up for shiteous writing.
The book is full of amusing/awkward/annoying essays about Ames's life. I liked the title of the book, and I was hoping for a read that would leaving me feeling that unexpected love for others abounds. That didn't happen. I found his writing to be honest and somewhat entertaining. Ames relates that his son believes he makes his fortune by making fun of himself, and that comes across in the book. He isn't pretentious, and he reinforced my ideas of what it would be like to be an author. I didn't en...more
Maybe because I too am an obsessive/depressive, I got into Jonathan Ames' world and felt very comfortable there. I wanted to be his friend, to be there for the fun and the floundering. I love it, as I've said a zillion times before, when smart people make foolish choices, even if many of Ames' choices were as much for their storytelling potential as for his own needs. Maybe.
It seems to easy to compare him to Sedaris, but he is like Sedaris for people who watch South Park instead of listening to...more
It seems to easy to compare him to Sedaris, but he is like Sedaris for people who watch South Park instead of listening to...more
Overall, I loved this book. I found Jonathan Ames because I love his show, Bored to Death on HBO. I had never heard of him before I saw the show and I bought several of his books of collections of short stories and essays and liked this one by far the best. So many times I laughed at loud at this man's musings and in this particular collection of essays and stories, I even cried. He is so tender and real about his son and parents and great aunt who always told him, "I love you more than you know...more
A quick read that offers a few laughs.
A review on the cover likens him to an edgier David Sedaris. I do agree, however edgier doesn't necessarily mean better. This guy is way too perverted. I pray his thoughts don't reflect the thoughts of an average male. No wonder he's so self-deprecating. When you have nothing but sex on your mind, how could you manage to live a fulfilling life? This guy is in his 40s and seems to be in the same exact place he was in his 20s. I find it pretty sad. But at lea...more
A review on the cover likens him to an edgier David Sedaris. I do agree, however edgier doesn't necessarily mean better. This guy is way too perverted. I pray his thoughts don't reflect the thoughts of an average male. No wonder he's so self-deprecating. When you have nothing but sex on your mind, how could you manage to live a fulfilling life? This guy is in his 40s and seems to be in the same exact place he was in his 20s. I find it pretty sad. But at lea...more
i liked it a lot. but then again, it has a lot of scatological humor, which i suppose is not for everyone. it did make me laugh out loud a few times, which is rare, and i read it in two days during the course of the weekend where there was to be NO READING FOR PLEASURE due to the insane amount of schoolwork i have, which just goes to show you: this book is worth breaking some rules for.
Two stars feels so stingy, but I just felt kind of aggravated by this . . . I didn't think he was funny, is I guess a big part of the problem--reading purportedly humorous essays that one does not find humorous doesn't work very well. I hate the use of the word "tranny," too, which kind of aggravated me enough to almost not give him a second chance.
Read for the Atomic Books book club, which meets February 24. I started this book on the first, not knowing how long it might take me (more boring books tend to spend a lot of time gathering dust on my night stand because I'm loath to admit defeat). Ames is good. In the same neighborhood as David Sedaris and David Rakoff. A quick and entertaining read.
Another talented modern literary Jonathan (others: Lethem, Safran Foer, Franzen) writes about his hilarious career, his mostly disasterous love life and the strangeness of being an "alternative" dad in this collection of essays. If you like David Sedaris, try Jonathan Ames.
Emily
Emily
I like his novels more than his essays, and Bored to Death more than his novels and essays.
There are a couple of great essays in here, and there's a lot for me to identify with, esp. being a perverted writer who doesn't always like the way he thinks about women and constantly does things he regrets etc. But he hates smoke and likes trannies more than I do. He also is more entertained by shit and pimples. I'm not proud of the comparisons with Jonathan Ames (the non-Bored to Death version; I love...more
There are a couple of great essays in here, and there's a lot for me to identify with, esp. being a perverted writer who doesn't always like the way he thinks about women and constantly does things he regrets etc. But he hates smoke and likes trannies more than I do. He also is more entertained by shit and pimples. I'm not proud of the comparisons with Jonathan Ames (the non-Bored to Death version; I love...more
I'm fine with essay collections generally, especially when they're billed as "edgier david sedaris" - why, I thought david sedaris WAS edgy! I must be in store for a wild romp!
But there's neither the salaciousness of awful, perverse activities which inevitably go sour revealed (though Ames gestures at his own perversity often enough), nor is there much in the way of wry self-and-other-awareness. It reads almost like a diary most of the time, a diary where you recount the fact that today you had...more
But there's neither the salaciousness of awful, perverse activities which inevitably go sour revealed (though Ames gestures at his own perversity often enough), nor is there much in the way of wry self-and-other-awareness. It reads almost like a diary most of the time, a diary where you recount the fact that today you had...more
20.01 April Fool...read three 1000+ page books and write reviews of each without using your computer...April Fool! Read a humorous book of any type and write a short review.
It had moments of funny, but more scatological references than I needed.
It had moments of funny, but more scatological references than I needed.
Chicago Public Library says "Jonathan Ames could possibly be funnier than David Sedaris." Could it be? I must find out...
False. Not funnier. Just raunchier. Although, one of the essays is about being on a book tour with Sedaris. That was probably my favorite one because he told a story about going to a bar in Amsterdam with Sedaris and Hugh. I was jealous.
I guess I get the Sedaris comparisons, but I found the majority of Ames' essays too scatological and lacking charm. Maybe because for most of...more
False. Not funnier. Just raunchier. Although, one of the essays is about being on a book tour with Sedaris. That was probably my favorite one because he told a story about going to a bar in Amsterdam with Sedaris and Hugh. I was jealous.
I guess I get the Sedaris comparisons, but I found the majority of Ames' essays too scatological and lacking charm. Maybe because for most of...more
I really wanted to like this book because of the comparisons to David Sedaris, one of my all time loves. I think there is something to him.....so I'll likely give one of his other books a chance. But, I didn't love this book.
I picked this up because he was compared to David Sedaris...uhm no. This book was awful. He is inconsistent and is constantly plugging his other books. I didnt laugh once.
Very enjoyable and he let's you really get into his head. I agree with the blurb on the cover that he's like a better version of Sedaris.
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Jonathan Ames is the author of the books The Double Life is Twice As Good, I Pass Like Night, The Extra Man, What's Not to Love?, My Less Than Secret Life, Wake Up, Sir!, I Love You More Than You Know, and The Alcoholic (a graphic novel illustrated by Dean Haspiel). He is the editor of Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs.
He is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a f...more
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He is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a f...more
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