false 39 143 133 true 5676566 read 1 true 227344 currently-reading 9 true 227343 to-read 13 false 373486 fantasyscifi 13 false 359569 philosophy 11 false 374154 blackdogleventhal http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56202089 to: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Paperback) by Seth Grahame-Smith
Yes, 5 stars for what it is, and the genius of juxtaposing this austere classic with brain slurping, limb tearing violence. Before I started it, I didn't think there was a way to weave zombies into Jane Austen that would work in any conceivable way, but it was practically flawless. Flawless and HILARIOUS. I don't think I could have gotten through the original book, but the addition of zombie mayhem made this a real page turner. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56200635 House of Leaves (Paperback) by Mark Z. Danielewski
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54134524 to: Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story (Paperback) by Chuck Klosterman
Chuck Klosterman is an engaging writer--easy to understand, explicit, and simplistic. But he's also a pretentious rock critic who basically threw together a book from the a lackluster journal that was published solely on the coattails of the success of his earlier book, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.
The premise of <Killing Yourself to Live</i> is that Chuck is going to travel to famous sites across America where rock 'n roll related deaths occurred: the Great White club fire, the crossroads where Duane Allman died on his motorcycle, that kind of stuff. And while that stuff is in there, it is almost a footnote. The book is predominantly the author pining over his lost and unrequited loves. His egotism and self-deprecation in order to avoid sounding egotistical was too much to take. Even his initial description of how he came to go on this ambulance chasing road trip smacked of egotism and affectations. He and his tall, thin, gorgeous editor at Spin think he should something "epic," yeah, really epic, but what's epic? What does it mean to be epic? Right then and there I wanted to start a small, yet epic fire in my wastebasket. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/51725446 to: Fear of Flying (Paperback) by Erica Jong
This book was meh for me. I get that at the time of publication it was probably a revolutionary look at the mind and of a woman, but I found the main character to be whiny and spoiled, and on top of that she treated people poorly. It was hard to sympathize with her constant indecision and self-pity. I did, however, think her total honesty was brave (and/or exhibitionist), especially since I'm pretty sure this was a thinly veiled memoir. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/51725300 to: Slaughterhouse-Five (Paperback) by Kurt Vonnegut
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45277050 to: The Electric Michelangelo (Paperback) by Sarah Hall
I didn't even bother finishing this book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/46153120 to: The Grift: A Novel (Hardcover) by Debra Ginsberg
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45279764 to: The Demolished Man (Paperback) by Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester is an award-winning sci-fi pioneer for a reason. Born out the birth of comic books, his writing is illustrative and can be pictured in the panes of a graphic novel. Unfortunately his prose aren't as eloquent as his ideas. His plot twists turn in on themselves and reveal really elegant ideas and closures when they come out the other side. But the writing, perhaps from his time and place, seems a little contrived. I'm not saying don't read him, because you absolutely should. Just know that you'll be floored by his genius plot contortions instead of his sentence structure and language (which is arguably better than heady writing). ]]>