a movie...and a book

by Daniel Wagner

“Life is a it's a movie and it's a book. It's not always easy, but there is always a way. You just have to look at it the right way.” In this stunning debut, Daniel Wagner delivers a soulful examination of the forces that both drive us and oppose us. Jim Frazier is a writer with very little to show for it. He worries that the only way to achieve success is to lower the bar, sell out, and pander to commercialism. Meanwhile, somewhere far away, a woman named Liz and a man named Lou are stranded on a desert island. While they are faced with an obviously serious problem, the two have some more important issues to discuss. As these two seemingly separate stories converge, Wagner presents a meditation on the worlds we inhabit that will resonate long after the credits roll and the last page has been turned.

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 13, 2004

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great for people with short attention spans because there are only 110 pages and each chapter is over before you realize you've finished reading it (some chapters are one sentence; others take up to three pages).

For some reason I was captivated by the seemingly disconnected stories, of which there are two. In the end, both come together in one of those eureka! moments that you sometimes get in reading a good novel.

I think the characters, particularly what I'd call the main personage, are very relateable, specifically the situations, as minute as they may seem, in which they find themselves. But it's really about the small things that most of us take for granted, a subject in which the main character (an author) doesn't feel the general reading public would take interest. He could be right, but this book is a testament to the contrary.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

a movie...and a book...and a really shitty story. I wouldn't even insult my drinks by using this book as a coaster.

[Millie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A self-consciously meta attempt at poignancy that clumsily attempts to weave seemingly unrelated plots together via a philosophical idiom likely coined by author himself.

[Glenette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit hard to follow.......