false 46 201 187 true 5638330 read 1 true 31102 currently-reading 13 true 31101 to-read 6 false 331955 mebbe_later 6 false 41328 batman 5 false 41856 swamp_thing 1 false 1722717 off_and_on http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40928935 2666 (Hardcover) by Roberto Bolaño
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13935267 to: Light in August (Paperback) by William Faulkner
Faulkner, accessible. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40928670 to: A Better Angel: Stories (Hardcover) by Chris Adrian
Adrian is a doctor of divinity and a doctor of medicine; both of those disciplines converge in his fiction. He's also a great storyteller. So that's a plus.

The title story in this collection is amazing. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27307743 to: Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories (Hardcover) by Steven Millhauser
Millhauser pisses me off. His stories have these brilliant build-ups that go nowhere. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28828880 Ryan's review of Doom Patrol Vol. 6: Planet Love
by Grant Morrison

Oh, that's the last one.

]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28828880 to: Doom Patrol Vol. 6: Planet Love (Paperback) by Grant Morrison
At this point, Morrison was completely bored with Doom Patrol. I'd stake your first born child on it.

Once the Candlemaker materializes, he becomes another boring villain wreaking a lot of havoc and making things get blowed up real good.

Having defeated the Candlemaker (was there ever any doubt), the chapter ends with a rousing cliffhanger in which the DP must again SAVE THE WORLD FROM A GLOBAL INFECTION!

How do they do it? I don't know. It happens OUT OF SCENE and literally over the course of SIX PAGES, most of which involve people STANDING AROUND TALKING. Dude. Grant. COME. ON. Afraid you were going to miss happy hour or something? ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28827938 to: Doom Patrol Vol. 5: Magic Bus (Paperback) by Grant Morrison
I lied, I continued reading. I really disliked the first arc, which sees Mr. Nobody run for president. It's pretty repetitive.

The Jack Kirby homage doesn't work. Neither does the Aenigma Regis chapter, which reminds me of Alan Moore's Blue Heaven chapter of Swamp Thing. But the Regis chapter is too abstracted and fragmented to really be successful.

However, the build-up to the final villain is great. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28446835 to: Doom Patrol Vol. 4: Musclebound (Paperback) by Grant Morrison
Here's where I'll probably stop reading.

Morrison strings up a bunch of clever concepts but forgets to link them with a coherent narrative. Whoops! At this point, I'm totally alienated.

The bright spot? Flex Mentallo, Man of Muscle Mystery! He distorts reality by flexing his muscles. And every time he does it, a halo appears over his head that reads Hero Of The Beach! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28446833 to: Doom Patrol Vol. 3: Down Paradise Way (Paperback) by Grant Morrison
Annnd now we begin to go downhill. The Doom Patrol in space. I'm sick of superheroes-in-space stories. They're such a chore to get through.

The saving grace is that Morrison introduces Danny the Street, a sentient, transvestite strip of road. ]]>