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<![CDATA[Josh added 'Snuff']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68734980
to: Snuff (Hardcover)byChuck Palahniuk
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<![CDATA[Josh added 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/35145010
to: The Ground Beneath Her Feet (Paperback)bySalman Rushdie
I didn't finish it. I got to about page 300 and lost all of the wind out of my sales. I could not engage with one character or situation. I had to slog through as much as I did, and can honestly say I got nothing out of this book. The anachronisms were something that I could not get over, I didn't see the point of the re-writing of history. I finally had to abandon it.
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<![CDATA[Josh made a comment on Josh's recommendation of Running with Scissors: A Memoir to Bailey]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/book/recommendation/446871
Josh
made a comment on
Josh's
recommendation of
Running with Scissors: A Memoir
to
Bailey:
Bailey wrote: "I tried reading this after I got through "Dry", and after the second chapter just kind of gave up. Does it get better later on?"
Can't really answer that. I haven't read "Dry"
I would go so far as to say it was mildly interesting, but in the end, not a whole lot. I am glad I read it, but I don't see myself re-reading it anytime soon.
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<![CDATA[Josh added 'Animal Crackers']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20735492
to: Animal Crackers (Paperback)byHannah Tinti
I am always a sucker for short stories, and this collection is surreal and touching, beautiful and bizarre all at once. (It doesn't hurt that Hannah Tinti is HOT!)
6/29/09
I had forgotten how good these stories really are. Tinti has such a confident hand and sure writing style. She just boldy charges into these stories, and dares you to try to keep up. Nothing is spelled out, nothing is certain, nothing is explained, and yet everything is. In two sparse lines, she say so much about the character in each story.
And dark! Talk about a series of dark stories; Mental illness, abuse, oppression, loneliness. I really enjoyed my second read of this book. I really want to read "The Good Theif" now, to see if she is just as adept at writing a full length novel as she is at short stories.
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<![CDATA[Josh recommended the book
Running with Scissors: A Memoir to
Bailey]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/book/recommendation/446871
Josh recommended the book Running with Scissors: A Memoir to Bailey
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<![CDATA[Josh added 'Running with Scissors: A Memoir']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22802141
to: Running with Scissors: A Memoir (Paperback)byAugusten Burroughs
How does one review a memoir? Seriously, I really have no idea.
First of all, the very fact that it's a memoir - i.e. the author's emotional recollection of events in his or her life- rather than an autobiography - an author recalls facts about his or her life- really renders it immune to scrutiny of the material. Who are we to criticize how the author felt about or interpreted events of their life that we were not privy to? That seems wholly unfair. Whether the events outlined in the book are verbatim recollections of what actually transpired isn't the point. How many of us remember major events in our life with pin point accuracy? It's the impression that they leave that is important.
Secondly, you can't be offended by the happenings within the book if they in fact happened to the person. I've read several reviews of this book where people are whining about the shocking images, the sexual depravity, and how this book depressed them. Get over yourselves people!!! These things happened! It's like getting offended by the idea of a heliocentric universe, or the Spanish Inquisition. If you don't like reading about uncomfortable things, DON'T BUY AN F-ING MEMOIR!!!!! You know damn well that memoirs talking about puppies and lollipops and the best day of school ever, do not sell!
So, you can't fairly review content, and you can't judge on validity, so what are you left with? I suppose execution.
So, that's where my rating is based. How interestingly does Mr. Burroughs give his account of his very depraved life? It was good, not great. It kept me interested, and I read it to find out more. In the end that's what a book is supposed to do. If I use Frank McCourt's books as the golden standard of memoirs (and I do) this book falls somewhat short of that, but is still very readable.
As for content, I can only shake my head, and thank whomever that I did not have a childhood like his.
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<![CDATA[Josh added 'The Time Traveler's Wife']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18607981
to: The Time Traveler's Wife (Paperback)byAudrey Niffenegger
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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<![CDATA[Josh added 'High Fidelity']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57734456
to: High Fidelity (Paperback)byNick Hornby
I really enjoyed this book. I have never read or seen anything that more truly and unashamedly chronicles the male condition. Hornby speaks with a sure handed knowingness of all of the black little nooks and crannies that are tucked into the male ego when facing a devastating break up, and the total and complete life reflection that the experience inspires. This could only be written by someone who has been there, who is both immature and insecure enough to suffer at the hands of thier own self- doubt, and yet wise enough to articulate it so eloquently.
I admit to having seen the movie first, which is one of my favorites, and in my mind captures the spirit of this book almost perfectly. They are simultaneously faithful to one another, and yet unique enough to make each piece of media an experience worth having completely independant of the other.
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<![CDATA[Josh added 'Replay']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56718104
Replay (Paperback)
byKen Grimwood bookshelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Josh added 'Everything That Rises Must Converge']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56154818
Everything That Rises Must Converge (Paperback)
byFlannery O'Connor bookshelves: to-read
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