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Bummed Out City
“I’m there with the characters as they move through their fictional lives with that special kind of purpose that only fictional characters get to have, where everything matters and each thing leads necessarily to the next thing and it all adds up to something, to some dramatic and fulfilling and satisfying and appropriate conclusion and it’s nothing at all like real life, where things just happen and you do one thing and then you do something else and the next day you do it again or maybe you don’t and none of it adds up to anything or goes anywhere, where you wake up the next morning and you’re still there and you still have to brush your teeth and trim your toenails and worry about money and pay for car insurance and all the other mundane pedestrian slogging shit you did the day before.” - from Bummed Out City
Readers are calling Scott Burr's "funny, sad, and urgent" debut novel "a surprisingly honest account of millennial angst" and a "bildungsroman for our age."
At almost thirty years old, aspiring writer David Moore is living the unremarkable life he always equated with failure: instead of going on book tours and giving readings he's scraping to pay his bills; instead of meeting with producers and selling the movie rights to his breakout novel he's arguing with his girlfriend about whether they should get a dog. When an unexpected visit from his deadbeat dad upsets David's fragile financial balancing act it sets in motion a series of domestic disagreements and ill-advised reactionary reprisals whose compounding repercussions threaten to unmake the tenuous structure of David's mundane life: the life that David, focused only on that life's disappointments, may not appreciate or fight to salvage until it's already too late...
"Bummed Out City is one of the most painfully honest books about the writing life that we've seen, and it's a credit to the technical skill of Mr. Burr that it's done with incredible grace--a bitter but surprisingly gentle picture of the constant quasi-Nietzschean revaluation of all values that is necessary for people in our day and age to function and thrive." - The Tailwinds Review
"It is always such a joy to feel that a book is distinctly of its time, and this one certainly is. The echoes of our current climate are redolent: recession, high unemployment rates, urban decay. And, above all, the belief of my generation - that we are all special little snowflakes - and the reality: That we are not." - SlightlyIgnorant
“Mesmerizing and intelligent, possessed of a powerful authenticity, Scott Burr’s Bummed Out City emanates out of the quiet desperation that is uniquely that of the writer at the beginning of the 21st Century.” - Steven Hayward, author of To Dance the Beginning of the World
Scott Burr is a graduate of the creative writing program at The Colorado College. His writing has appeared in Mildred, The Mayo Review, The Decades Review, and elsewhere. Bummed Out City is his first novel. He lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio.
Readers are calling Scott Burr's "funny, sad, and urgent" debut novel "a surprisingly honest account of millennial angst" and a "bildungsroman for our age."
At almost thirty years old, aspiring writer David Moore is living the unremarkable life he always equated with failure: instead of going on book tours and giving readings he's scraping to pay his bills; instead of meeting with producers and selling the movie rights to his breakout novel he's arguing with his girlfriend about whether they should get a dog. When an unexpected visit from his deadbeat dad upsets David's fragile financial balancing act it sets in motion a series of domestic disagreements and ill-advised reactionary reprisals whose compounding repercussions threaten to unmake the tenuous structure of David's mundane life: the life that David, focused only on that life's disappointments, may not appreciate or fight to salvage until it's already too late...
"Bummed Out City is one of the most painfully honest books about the writing life that we've seen, and it's a credit to the technical skill of Mr. Burr that it's done with incredible grace--a bitter but surprisingly gentle picture of the constant quasi-Nietzschean revaluation of all values that is necessary for people in our day and age to function and thrive." - The Tailwinds Review
"It is always such a joy to feel that a book is distinctly of its time, and this one certainly is. The echoes of our current climate are redolent: recession, high unemployment rates, urban decay. And, above all, the belief of my generation - that we are all special little snowflakes - and the reality: That we are not." - SlightlyIgnorant
“Mesmerizing and intelligent, possessed of a powerful authenticity, Scott Burr’s Bummed Out City emanates out of the quiet desperation that is uniquely that of the writer at the beginning of the 21st Century.” - Steven Hayward, author of To Dance the Beginning of the World
Scott Burr is a graduate of the creative writing program at The Colorado College. His writing has appeared in Mildred, The Mayo Review, The Decades Review, and elsewhere. Bummed Out City is his first novel. He lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio.
- GenresFiction
236 pages, Paperback
First published September 22, 2014
1 person is currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Scott Burr
9 books1 followerSCOTT BURR is a graduate of the creative writing program at The Colorado College, where he won the Ebey Prize for novella-length fiction and was a finalist for the Reville Prize in short fiction. He is the author of the novels Bummed Out City, which was one of Library Journal's top read books of 2015, and We Will Rid the World of You, the essay collection Superhero Simplified: Collected, Selected, Revised and Expanded, and the training manuals Suspend Your Disbelief: How to Build and Build Strength With the World's Most Rugged Suspension Training Device, and Get a Grip: A Practical Primer on Grip Strength and Endurance Training... and More. His short fiction and novel excerpts have appeared in Mildred, Metonym, The Mayo Review, and elsewhere. His non-fiction work has appeared in Climbing and Urban Climber magazines. He lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 26, 2015
Overall Rating: 9/10 (4.5/5 stars)
Plot: 8.5/10
Characters: 9/10
Writing: 8.5/10
Originality: 10/10
I can’t remember the last time I started and finished a book in a day. However, when I picked up Bummed Out City, slightly confused by what I saw on Goodreads (a lot of the reviews said the book had no plot. How can a book not have a plot?), I was expecting to finish it in maybe a few weeks. But I read 35 pages. And then came back to it. And then raced to finish it before I had to leave the house, and before I knew it, I was engulfed in the story which had a level of suspense that shouldn’t be attainable for a story supposedly not containing a plot. Bummed Out City is honest and raw. It’s realistic up until the very end. I got to this point when I was just waiting for the perfect ending, and when I finished I realized the ending was perfect due to it’s lack of resolution, which is something I don’t believe I’ve ever seen accomplished, let alone accomplished well. Thought-provoking and poignant, Bummed Out City is a great read.
This book is said not to have a plot. I disagree to an extent, but I also understand what other readers are talking about. This book is not so much a story as it is a life story. Bummed Out City doesn’t jump around to the good or meaningful parts of David’s journey, doesn’t skip the mundane tasks of the main character, rather it describes them as just as big a part of David’s life as the big moments, which are few. Not only does this enhance the first person narrative, but the writing style allows this “plot” to flow with ease and make it hard to put down. It’s a calming read, a character study in which the character misses the entire point multiple times. I understand why that isn’t for everyone. David is one of the least likable characters I’ve ever had to read about, and he’s supposed to be, though I can see few having the level of patience this book requires, which is that almost to a fault. It’s a novel where you’re not going to like it if you don’t “get it”, and it will be almost impossible to “get it” if you can’t relate to it.
Scott Burr definitely understands the cliches in contemporary fiction. Though David makes his bed, everything that could possibly go wrong for him does. As the pages run out, the time for a reasonable solution to be had lessens. This book doesn’t really have a reasonable solution. In fact, it’s up for debate exactly how much of David’s problems, due to them being caused largely by internal faults and conflict, were actually solved, how much David learned from his mistakes. But it’s refreshing and satisfying to read a “realistic fiction” novel that ends up being completely realistic. David would love for a fairy tale ending that he thinks he deserves, but even this novel proves him wrong. It’s a beautiful conclusion in a way, because it shows, especially in the last meeting between David and Carol, just how much our attitude and decisions affects our life rather than just chance or luck. However, I think this book could have gone deeper, especially in the case of David and Carol’s relationship. Bummed Out City, though a book full of value and insight, will be hard for most to enjoy.
Like I stated before, this book is more of a character study than a plot packed with action. All the characters are similar through the eyes of David, as in their dialect is similar, but they all have realistic, contrasting personalities. My heart ached for Carol the whole time, but I really respected her in the end during her last conversation with David. However, I’m not exactly sure why they were together in the first place. Some background would have been good there, because they seem so incompatible. Brad and Sarah add an interesting comparison to David and Carol, because when David discusses marriage with Brad, he doesn’t make it out to be the big milestone that most do. I would love to have learned more about David’s parents, particularly his dad. I thought the plot point with his father’s step family was kind of thrown in to make David’s life worse, but on the other hand his mother made a good point when she compared David to his father. The other side characters were interesting enough, but not all seemed to have significance.
David is a very strong first person narrator, particularly because he must be one of the most unlikable brats ever written. He is a horrifying prediction of the future, one who feels entitled to something just because they were born, or just because they produce something. That’s the raw part of this book, the scary part. Some may already have grown up thinking this way, and Bummed Out City is a good catalyst to take a long look at your life. He never really redeems himself; what he does accomplish or do for people is literally the least he can do, and somehow that’s comforting. It shows that not everything is out of our hands, it shows that we have control, it shows that we cannot just sit back and let the universe work itself out. I hope that after reading Bummed Out City people will walk away with the fact that David is a wake-up call for our generation, and within his horrific egotistical personality lies thought-provoking themes and lessons.
The writing style is something I feel could have been wonderful. I sense a lot of potential in the form of linguistic beauty, but that’s not what we receive in Bummed Out City. I would have loved to see complex and beautiful words flow effortlessly, but that would have conflicted with David’s personality. The writing is very simple, and along with enhancing the first person narrative, it can be read very quickly because it’s in conversational form. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and it can definitely be irritating at slow parts in the book, but there’s also something enjoyable about reading philosophical ideas in a non-philosophical manner. However, though the conversationalist tone makes for a quick read, it doesn’t leave many good one-liners or memorable passages that represent ideas in an artful manner.
Originality is one thing Bummed Out City nails. The entire novel is about things we’ve all heard about or seen in real life, but have never read about. The no-resolution aspect of this novel is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen done before, and makes for an interesting experiment. I really appreciate the choice Burr made of avoiding almost every single cliche found in contemporary fiction.
Overall: Though Bummed Out City by Scott Burr features an unlikable character and offers no clear resolution, it is thought-provoking, offers a unique perspective on life, and is fast-paced, though patience is definitely required to enjoy and get the full value of this novel.
www.goodbadanduglybooks.net
Plot: 8.5/10
Characters: 9/10
Writing: 8.5/10
Originality: 10/10
I can’t remember the last time I started and finished a book in a day. However, when I picked up Bummed Out City, slightly confused by what I saw on Goodreads (a lot of the reviews said the book had no plot. How can a book not have a plot?), I was expecting to finish it in maybe a few weeks. But I read 35 pages. And then came back to it. And then raced to finish it before I had to leave the house, and before I knew it, I was engulfed in the story which had a level of suspense that shouldn’t be attainable for a story supposedly not containing a plot. Bummed Out City is honest and raw. It’s realistic up until the very end. I got to this point when I was just waiting for the perfect ending, and when I finished I realized the ending was perfect due to it’s lack of resolution, which is something I don’t believe I’ve ever seen accomplished, let alone accomplished well. Thought-provoking and poignant, Bummed Out City is a great read.
This book is said not to have a plot. I disagree to an extent, but I also understand what other readers are talking about. This book is not so much a story as it is a life story. Bummed Out City doesn’t jump around to the good or meaningful parts of David’s journey, doesn’t skip the mundane tasks of the main character, rather it describes them as just as big a part of David’s life as the big moments, which are few. Not only does this enhance the first person narrative, but the writing style allows this “plot” to flow with ease and make it hard to put down. It’s a calming read, a character study in which the character misses the entire point multiple times. I understand why that isn’t for everyone. David is one of the least likable characters I’ve ever had to read about, and he’s supposed to be, though I can see few having the level of patience this book requires, which is that almost to a fault. It’s a novel where you’re not going to like it if you don’t “get it”, and it will be almost impossible to “get it” if you can’t relate to it.
Scott Burr definitely understands the cliches in contemporary fiction. Though David makes his bed, everything that could possibly go wrong for him does. As the pages run out, the time for a reasonable solution to be had lessens. This book doesn’t really have a reasonable solution. In fact, it’s up for debate exactly how much of David’s problems, due to them being caused largely by internal faults and conflict, were actually solved, how much David learned from his mistakes. But it’s refreshing and satisfying to read a “realistic fiction” novel that ends up being completely realistic. David would love for a fairy tale ending that he thinks he deserves, but even this novel proves him wrong. It’s a beautiful conclusion in a way, because it shows, especially in the last meeting between David and Carol, just how much our attitude and decisions affects our life rather than just chance or luck. However, I think this book could have gone deeper, especially in the case of David and Carol’s relationship. Bummed Out City, though a book full of value and insight, will be hard for most to enjoy.
Like I stated before, this book is more of a character study than a plot packed with action. All the characters are similar through the eyes of David, as in their dialect is similar, but they all have realistic, contrasting personalities. My heart ached for Carol the whole time, but I really respected her in the end during her last conversation with David. However, I’m not exactly sure why they were together in the first place. Some background would have been good there, because they seem so incompatible. Brad and Sarah add an interesting comparison to David and Carol, because when David discusses marriage with Brad, he doesn’t make it out to be the big milestone that most do. I would love to have learned more about David’s parents, particularly his dad. I thought the plot point with his father’s step family was kind of thrown in to make David’s life worse, but on the other hand his mother made a good point when she compared David to his father. The other side characters were interesting enough, but not all seemed to have significance.
David is a very strong first person narrator, particularly because he must be one of the most unlikable brats ever written. He is a horrifying prediction of the future, one who feels entitled to something just because they were born, or just because they produce something. That’s the raw part of this book, the scary part. Some may already have grown up thinking this way, and Bummed Out City is a good catalyst to take a long look at your life. He never really redeems himself; what he does accomplish or do for people is literally the least he can do, and somehow that’s comforting. It shows that not everything is out of our hands, it shows that we have control, it shows that we cannot just sit back and let the universe work itself out. I hope that after reading Bummed Out City people will walk away with the fact that David is a wake-up call for our generation, and within his horrific egotistical personality lies thought-provoking themes and lessons.
The writing style is something I feel could have been wonderful. I sense a lot of potential in the form of linguistic beauty, but that’s not what we receive in Bummed Out City. I would have loved to see complex and beautiful words flow effortlessly, but that would have conflicted with David’s personality. The writing is very simple, and along with enhancing the first person narrative, it can be read very quickly because it’s in conversational form. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and it can definitely be irritating at slow parts in the book, but there’s also something enjoyable about reading philosophical ideas in a non-philosophical manner. However, though the conversationalist tone makes for a quick read, it doesn’t leave many good one-liners or memorable passages that represent ideas in an artful manner.
Originality is one thing Bummed Out City nails. The entire novel is about things we’ve all heard about or seen in real life, but have never read about. The no-resolution aspect of this novel is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen done before, and makes for an interesting experiment. I really appreciate the choice Burr made of avoiding almost every single cliche found in contemporary fiction.
Overall: Though Bummed Out City by Scott Burr features an unlikable character and offers no clear resolution, it is thought-provoking, offers a unique perspective on life, and is fast-paced, though patience is definitely required to enjoy and get the full value of this novel.
www.goodbadanduglybooks.net
December 6, 2018
4.5. Finished in one sitting. This is by far the best book I've read this year. Granted we're only nearing the end of January, but I was getting concerned that I hadn't fallen in love with a book yet. Glad that my concerns have been assuaged with this one. I will gladly make this my Staff Rec at work when I can get my hands on some physical copies!
November 3, 2014
BUMMED OUT CITY, by Scott Burr - Review
Having just reviewed Ben Lerner’s first novel, it’s strange to be reviewing one that is both so similar and so different. Similar, because it is about a young, probably white, male writer who is somewhat lost in life. Different, because unlike Ben Lerner’s main character and narrator Adam Gordon, I felt something like empathy for David Moore.
David is 29, depressed, basically unemployed and trying to come to terms with the fact that he might never get published. He is a familiar figure - he reminded me of someone I see in the mirror rather a lot. That is not to say that Bummed Out City will only resonate with struggling artists and writers; David’s frustration and confusion are symptoms of many a modern young adult.
David has written several novels, all unpublished, though not for lack of trying. He has a girlfriend he loves but whose vision for their future life together diverges from his own. He has a mother going through chemotherapy, a father who’s entered and exited his life several times and usually just to hit him up for money, and even a few friends. While there actually is a plot, the novel does a great impression of lacking one, hiding the inciting incident and conflicts within David’s narration, which is what carries the book along. One moment in a movie-theater is particularly illuminating
I’m there with the characters as they move through their fictional lives with that special kind of purpose that only fictional characters get to have, where everything matters and each thing leads necessarily to the next thing and it al adds up to something, to some dramatic and fulfilling and satisfying and appropriate conclusion and it’s nothing at all like real life, where things just happen and you do one thing and then you do something else and the next day you do it again or maybe you don’t and none of it adds up to anything or goes anywhere, where you wake up the next morning and you’re still there and you still have to brush your teeth and trim your toenails and worry about money and pay for car insurance and all the other mundane pedestrian slogging shit you did the day before.
David is basically an angsty teenager inside a man’s body and hasn’t yet caught up to the responsibility he owes to other people as well as himself. By the time he begins to understand that he is actually grown up, he has both fallen naturally into adulthood and royally screwed up his first phase in it.
Whether he is writing a blog post, fighting with his girlfriend or getting drunk at a bar, David’s voice is monotone - not monotonous, mind you - and gray. His voice is flavored with the apathy of true clinical depression as well as the ashy taste of dying dreams. It is refreshingly honest in that David manages to lie to himself while the reader sees through his convenient truths to the actual consequences that must eventually follow his behavior and his attitude. There is a self-conscious nod to this when David comes to realize things and feels no need to explain them to us; he just tells us that he gets it, and as a reader, I knew just what he meant. It was refreshing, actually, not to slog through a paragraph of what exactly was illuminated, since it had always been startlingly obvious to me, though not to him. The lack of expository fluff is one of the reasons this book works so well.
What really struck me, though, is what made Bummed Out City different than most books about artistic young men who don’t make it. Scott Burr manages to convey the absolute viability of a different styles of living rather than trashing all of them except for the bohemian author’s dream. Even while David wallows in his own self-pity, even while he cynically criticizes the American Dream of a house, a dog and 2.2 kids, I never felt as if the desire for such things was being truly undermined. When David is criticized by Carol, his girlfriend, for his passivity in their relationship, I agreed with her completely while also feeling she was being unfair. I was reading all sides of each situation through the subtly of Burr’s writing, which is a rare thing to experience in the depths of a first-person narrative.
It is always such a joy to feel that a book is distinctly of its time, and this one certainly is. The echoes of our currant climate are redolent: recession, high unemployment rates, urban decay. And, above all, the belief of my generation - that we are all special little snowflakes - and the reality. That we are not. And that’s okay.
Having just reviewed Ben Lerner’s first novel, it’s strange to be reviewing one that is both so similar and so different. Similar, because it is about a young, probably white, male writer who is somewhat lost in life. Different, because unlike Ben Lerner’s main character and narrator Adam Gordon, I felt something like empathy for David Moore.
David is 29, depressed, basically unemployed and trying to come to terms with the fact that he might never get published. He is a familiar figure - he reminded me of someone I see in the mirror rather a lot. That is not to say that Bummed Out City will only resonate with struggling artists and writers; David’s frustration and confusion are symptoms of many a modern young adult.
David has written several novels, all unpublished, though not for lack of trying. He has a girlfriend he loves but whose vision for their future life together diverges from his own. He has a mother going through chemotherapy, a father who’s entered and exited his life several times and usually just to hit him up for money, and even a few friends. While there actually is a plot, the novel does a great impression of lacking one, hiding the inciting incident and conflicts within David’s narration, which is what carries the book along. One moment in a movie-theater is particularly illuminating
I’m there with the characters as they move through their fictional lives with that special kind of purpose that only fictional characters get to have, where everything matters and each thing leads necessarily to the next thing and it al adds up to something, to some dramatic and fulfilling and satisfying and appropriate conclusion and it’s nothing at all like real life, where things just happen and you do one thing and then you do something else and the next day you do it again or maybe you don’t and none of it adds up to anything or goes anywhere, where you wake up the next morning and you’re still there and you still have to brush your teeth and trim your toenails and worry about money and pay for car insurance and all the other mundane pedestrian slogging shit you did the day before.
David is basically an angsty teenager inside a man’s body and hasn’t yet caught up to the responsibility he owes to other people as well as himself. By the time he begins to understand that he is actually grown up, he has both fallen naturally into adulthood and royally screwed up his first phase in it.
Whether he is writing a blog post, fighting with his girlfriend or getting drunk at a bar, David’s voice is monotone - not monotonous, mind you - and gray. His voice is flavored with the apathy of true clinical depression as well as the ashy taste of dying dreams. It is refreshingly honest in that David manages to lie to himself while the reader sees through his convenient truths to the actual consequences that must eventually follow his behavior and his attitude. There is a self-conscious nod to this when David comes to realize things and feels no need to explain them to us; he just tells us that he gets it, and as a reader, I knew just what he meant. It was refreshing, actually, not to slog through a paragraph of what exactly was illuminated, since it had always been startlingly obvious to me, though not to him. The lack of expository fluff is one of the reasons this book works so well.
What really struck me, though, is what made Bummed Out City different than most books about artistic young men who don’t make it. Scott Burr manages to convey the absolute viability of a different styles of living rather than trashing all of them except for the bohemian author’s dream. Even while David wallows in his own self-pity, even while he cynically criticizes the American Dream of a house, a dog and 2.2 kids, I never felt as if the desire for such things was being truly undermined. When David is criticized by Carol, his girlfriend, for his passivity in their relationship, I agreed with her completely while also feeling she was being unfair. I was reading all sides of each situation through the subtly of Burr’s writing, which is a rare thing to experience in the depths of a first-person narrative.
It is always such a joy to feel that a book is distinctly of its time, and this one certainly is. The echoes of our currant climate are redolent: recession, high unemployment rates, urban decay. And, above all, the belief of my generation - that we are all special little snowflakes - and the reality. That we are not. And that’s okay.
April 21, 2017
Normally, I’m not a big fan of writers who write about writers, because it just seems a little too self-aware. But Scott Burr makes it work – possibly because he hasn’t romanticized the reality of writing in any way. In fact, he’s done kind of exactly the opposite. David Moore, the sort-of, almost, not-all-that-heroic hero of Bummed Out City, is almost thirty, trapped in a lackluster relationship with his longtime girlfriend Carol, and unfailingly bitter about the fact that nobody ever wanted to publish his books. What’s really interesting is that David’s kind of a loser and he makes a lot of poor choices, but I as a reader still managed to really like him. Sure, there were times I wanted Carol to just haul off and clock him and yell at him to get his sh*t together, but I also felt for the guy on a very real level. There are few things more disappointing and harder to overcome than life not working out at all how you planned. And I think it’s even harder for people who dared to dream really big in the first place. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Through the course of Bummed Out City, David screws up over and over and over again. He lets Carol down, he lets his cancer-stricken mom down, he lets his friends down, and more than anything else he lets himself down. From where you’re sitting, that might sound pretty miserable. But it’s not. Bummed Out City, though aptly titled, stays buoyant with the help of hope and humor. David certainly has a capacity for moping and moaning and groaning, but he’s funny. His fights with Carol are simultaneously depressing and hilarious. Where Burr really excels is in capturing the agony of everyday life and showing it intimate detail. His portrait of a slowly failing romantic relationship is so on point that it’s sad and funny at the same time, and you’ll probably find yourself reading sentences like, “And Carol just stares at me for a second, and then she says, ‘Quit riding your ass? Quit riding your ass?’ She’s repeating it so I can hear how dumb and out of line it sounds. It’s one of the things she does when she’s mad at me,” and laughing to yourself because you’ve definitely done that, or your girlfriend has definitely done it to you.
With Bummed Out City, Scott Burr took something as average and mundane as a struggling writer and a screwed up relationship and made it compulsively readable. David is a character you totally identify with, even if you don’t really want to admit it. And because you totally identify with him, you’re totally rooting for him to pull himself together and get to a kind of happy ending.
A word about the end: It’s weird. It’s weird and abrupt and not at all ideal, and honestly, that’s exactly why I liked it. It fits, and it makes sense, and it’s just hopeful enough.
Four stars! If you want to read a pretty damn good book and do a solid for an up and coming press, be sure to check this one out. You can find it on Goodreads here, and you can buy a copy (paperback, eBook, your choice) here.
Through the course of Bummed Out City, David screws up over and over and over again. He lets Carol down, he lets his cancer-stricken mom down, he lets his friends down, and more than anything else he lets himself down. From where you’re sitting, that might sound pretty miserable. But it’s not. Bummed Out City, though aptly titled, stays buoyant with the help of hope and humor. David certainly has a capacity for moping and moaning and groaning, but he’s funny. His fights with Carol are simultaneously depressing and hilarious. Where Burr really excels is in capturing the agony of everyday life and showing it intimate detail. His portrait of a slowly failing romantic relationship is so on point that it’s sad and funny at the same time, and you’ll probably find yourself reading sentences like, “And Carol just stares at me for a second, and then she says, ‘Quit riding your ass? Quit riding your ass?’ She’s repeating it so I can hear how dumb and out of line it sounds. It’s one of the things she does when she’s mad at me,” and laughing to yourself because you’ve definitely done that, or your girlfriend has definitely done it to you.
With Bummed Out City, Scott Burr took something as average and mundane as a struggling writer and a screwed up relationship and made it compulsively readable. David is a character you totally identify with, even if you don’t really want to admit it. And because you totally identify with him, you’re totally rooting for him to pull himself together and get to a kind of happy ending.
A word about the end: It’s weird. It’s weird and abrupt and not at all ideal, and honestly, that’s exactly why I liked it. It fits, and it makes sense, and it’s just hopeful enough.
Four stars! If you want to read a pretty damn good book and do a solid for an up and coming press, be sure to check this one out. You can find it on Goodreads here, and you can buy a copy (paperback, eBook, your choice) here.
December 12, 2014
Disclaimer: a rep from the Artless Dodges Press contacted me about a review for this book and sent me a free e-copy.
Bummed Out City is about a writer in his late twenties in Cleveland struggling with everything that life throws at him. In description, it might sound boring. In actuality, it was anything but boring.
From the publisher:
At almost thirty years old David Moore is living the unremarkable life he always equated with failure: instead of going on book tours and giving readings he’s scraping to pay his bills; instead of meeting with producers and selling the movie rights to his breakout novel he’s arguing with his girlfriend about whether they should get a dog. When an unexpected visit from his deadbeat dad upsets David’s fragile financial balancing act it sets in motion a series of domestic disagreements and ill-advised reactionary reprisals whose compounding repercussions threaten to unmake the tenuous structure of David’s mundane life: the life that David, focused only on that life’s disappointments, may not appreciate or fight to salvage until it’s already too late…
A lot happens in this book and there isn’t just one plotline, or a big climax, but it moves forward very quickly. I would have read this in one or two sittings if I had been reading it on something other than my computer.
Where Scott Burr really excels is in his characters. I found myself thinking that David, the protagonist, and Carol, his girlfriend, were both assholes and yet I could relate to both of them, sometimes even in the same scene. I had such a clear picture of them within just a couple of pages, and the same goes for all of the other characters too. These all felt like real people, and they were very clearly written.
The reason I knocked off a star in my rating is that at times the writing seemed a bit clunky. If a character spoke more than one sentence, it would look something like this:
I say, “Yeah, but seriously, though.” I say, “That’s like one of those things that just feels like it could be true because Detroit feels like the kind of place where packs of feral dogs could be roaming around.” I say, “I mean, you could probably say the same thing about Cleveland, and have people believe you. […]”
It’s a stylistic choice. It’s not one that I prefer, but I get it. After about forty pages I got used to it, and it never really interfered with my enjoyment of the book.
It doesn’t really matter, because I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. I was really glad to see a piece of fiction giving a voice to our specific generation and our unique struggles: having trouble making ends meet even with a job, having a job and not getting enough hours, trying to behave the way “adults” are meant to by buying houses and getting married even without the financial resources that make these things viable, and many more. It’s a unique book and would appeal especially to readers between the ages of 22 and 30. (I’m 24 and some of it was just so painfully realistic. I feel ya, David.)
Bummed Out City is about a writer in his late twenties in Cleveland struggling with everything that life throws at him. In description, it might sound boring. In actuality, it was anything but boring.
From the publisher:
At almost thirty years old David Moore is living the unremarkable life he always equated with failure: instead of going on book tours and giving readings he’s scraping to pay his bills; instead of meeting with producers and selling the movie rights to his breakout novel he’s arguing with his girlfriend about whether they should get a dog. When an unexpected visit from his deadbeat dad upsets David’s fragile financial balancing act it sets in motion a series of domestic disagreements and ill-advised reactionary reprisals whose compounding repercussions threaten to unmake the tenuous structure of David’s mundane life: the life that David, focused only on that life’s disappointments, may not appreciate or fight to salvage until it’s already too late…
A lot happens in this book and there isn’t just one plotline, or a big climax, but it moves forward very quickly. I would have read this in one or two sittings if I had been reading it on something other than my computer.
Where Scott Burr really excels is in his characters. I found myself thinking that David, the protagonist, and Carol, his girlfriend, were both assholes and yet I could relate to both of them, sometimes even in the same scene. I had such a clear picture of them within just a couple of pages, and the same goes for all of the other characters too. These all felt like real people, and they were very clearly written.
The reason I knocked off a star in my rating is that at times the writing seemed a bit clunky. If a character spoke more than one sentence, it would look something like this:
I say, “Yeah, but seriously, though.” I say, “That’s like one of those things that just feels like it could be true because Detroit feels like the kind of place where packs of feral dogs could be roaming around.” I say, “I mean, you could probably say the same thing about Cleveland, and have people believe you. […]”
It’s a stylistic choice. It’s not one that I prefer, but I get it. After about forty pages I got used to it, and it never really interfered with my enjoyment of the book.
It doesn’t really matter, because I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. I was really glad to see a piece of fiction giving a voice to our specific generation and our unique struggles: having trouble making ends meet even with a job, having a job and not getting enough hours, trying to behave the way “adults” are meant to by buying houses and getting married even without the financial resources that make these things viable, and many more. It’s a unique book and would appeal especially to readers between the ages of 22 and 30. (I’m 24 and some of it was just so painfully realistic. I feel ya, David.)
December 23, 2014
This book review first appeared on http://www.bookshelves-infinity.tumbl...
I was contacted by a representative from the Artless Dodges Press for an honest review in exchange for a free ebook copy of the novel.
Bummed Out City is a story with a lot of potential. It provides an honest take on the life of the average writer, how success always seems so far away. However, I do believe this story could have been much better.
In summary, the novel is about a man named David who is a writer. He does not have a college degree. He’s written many novels that have been rejected and this sets him off by making him lose all hope. To support himself he has more than one job and, to make matters more complicated, he has a shaky relationship with his girlfriend Carol.
In all honesty, David isn’t really a likable character, which made it hard for me to sympathize with his situation. He always seemed to be pissed off about the world rather than moving forward. I understand that this is a major part of his character flaw that is meant to get remedied after the climax, but I still thought he should have had some quality that made me root him on. As a writer myself, I understand that rejections definitely beat at your morale, but that doesn’t mean they should make my problems become the problems of the people around me.
I also thought there should have been some flashbacks regarding his relationship with Carol, something to make the reader understand how these two people who seem so incompatible from the start of the novel were able to be together and love each other before all the problems began. It would also help explain why Carol didn’t just leave David and vice versa, since he was always annoyed whenever she tried to move their relationship forward.
Aside from these two issues, I have never read a book where the word “say” or “said” were so bothersome or noticeable until now. The word “say” is used repeatedly, every time there is any dialogue. I thought there could have been some variation on the term. “And” was also probably used more than four times in a sentence repeatedly through the books, which was also distracting.
Anyway, other than these issues, I thought the book was decent. It had an interesting plot that was different from your average novel about a writer.
I was contacted by a representative from the Artless Dodges Press for an honest review in exchange for a free ebook copy of the novel.
Bummed Out City is a story with a lot of potential. It provides an honest take on the life of the average writer, how success always seems so far away. However, I do believe this story could have been much better.
In summary, the novel is about a man named David who is a writer. He does not have a college degree. He’s written many novels that have been rejected and this sets him off by making him lose all hope. To support himself he has more than one job and, to make matters more complicated, he has a shaky relationship with his girlfriend Carol.
In all honesty, David isn’t really a likable character, which made it hard for me to sympathize with his situation. He always seemed to be pissed off about the world rather than moving forward. I understand that this is a major part of his character flaw that is meant to get remedied after the climax, but I still thought he should have had some quality that made me root him on. As a writer myself, I understand that rejections definitely beat at your morale, but that doesn’t mean they should make my problems become the problems of the people around me.
I also thought there should have been some flashbacks regarding his relationship with Carol, something to make the reader understand how these two people who seem so incompatible from the start of the novel were able to be together and love each other before all the problems began. It would also help explain why Carol didn’t just leave David and vice versa, since he was always annoyed whenever she tried to move their relationship forward.
Aside from these two issues, I have never read a book where the word “say” or “said” were so bothersome or noticeable until now. The word “say” is used repeatedly, every time there is any dialogue. I thought there could have been some variation on the term. “And” was also probably used more than four times in a sentence repeatedly through the books, which was also distracting.
Anyway, other than these issues, I thought the book was decent. It had an interesting plot that was different from your average novel about a writer.
November 25, 2014
Boy, did this book surprise me. I don’t read many contemporary novels but now I’m happy I decided to give Bummed Out City a chance.
I think the main reason why I liked this book is that it was honest and I could relate to the situations that certain characters found themselves involved in. Not necessarily because I once went through situations like those, but because they were life-like and I can imagine them happen to me or to anyone around me.
Virtually there is no plot in this book. Our protagonist, the not so successful writer, David Moore, is struggling to find his place in the world, to find his goal in life and to find answers to his questions. He thinks his life is already over, even though it hasn’t even started yet.
Bummed Out City is a coming of age novel. This statement might sound weird after you find out that the main character is 29 years old, but this fact makes it no less true. David hates the idea of responsibility and since he cannot deal with any amount of it, he’s stuck. He rather sinks in self-pity than lift a finger in order to move forward. And of course as a result of his behaviour things go wrong: his girlfriend is mad at him all the time, he finds himself without a job and thus he runs out of money; he’s drifting.
To be frank, I can’t say I liked David in the first half of the book. I felt sorry for him, yes, and wanted to be on his side, but most of the time his inability to change things, his negativity and passivity annoyed me. However, later, when everything fell apart around him I started rooting for him and wished he would make it. The ending didn’t disappoint, I liked how realistic it was.
With Bummed Out City I stepped out of my comfort zone, but I didn’t regret it for a moment. I recommend this novel to everyone who would like to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The review was originally posted on Paradise Found
I think the main reason why I liked this book is that it was honest and I could relate to the situations that certain characters found themselves involved in. Not necessarily because I once went through situations like those, but because they were life-like and I can imagine them happen to me or to anyone around me.
Virtually there is no plot in this book. Our protagonist, the not so successful writer, David Moore, is struggling to find his place in the world, to find his goal in life and to find answers to his questions. He thinks his life is already over, even though it hasn’t even started yet.
Bummed Out City is a coming of age novel. This statement might sound weird after you find out that the main character is 29 years old, but this fact makes it no less true. David hates the idea of responsibility and since he cannot deal with any amount of it, he’s stuck. He rather sinks in self-pity than lift a finger in order to move forward. And of course as a result of his behaviour things go wrong: his girlfriend is mad at him all the time, he finds himself without a job and thus he runs out of money; he’s drifting.
To be frank, I can’t say I liked David in the first half of the book. I felt sorry for him, yes, and wanted to be on his side, but most of the time his inability to change things, his negativity and passivity annoyed me. However, later, when everything fell apart around him I started rooting for him and wished he would make it. The ending didn’t disappoint, I liked how realistic it was.
With Bummed Out City I stepped out of my comfort zone, but I didn’t regret it for a moment. I recommend this novel to everyone who would like to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The review was originally posted on Paradise Found
December 8, 2014
This book hits close to home and is undeniably relatable, whether we like it or not. We all know somebody like David or Carol, or have admittedly been one of them ourselves. Burr perfectly describes those uncomfortable moments in life when we are helplessly exposed to misunderstanding, disloyalty, and dishonesty, and the obligation to work through a losing battle. All this against a backdrop of unrealized expectations and the painful 21st century habit of comparing our lives with everyone else's.
Sometimes we like David, sometimes we don't... but he's believable. Where Burr excels are the moments when we're thrown into David's thought processes, experiencing things as he does, and almost in a "Being John Malkovich" sort of way, are held captive for the ride and then left with a mess that we feel just as responsible to resolve as he does. And in that sense, we can rarely blame him, as life is just plain unavoidable.
Sometimes we like David, sometimes we don't... but he's believable. Where Burr excels are the moments when we're thrown into David's thought processes, experiencing things as he does, and almost in a "Being John Malkovich" sort of way, are held captive for the ride and then left with a mess that we feel just as responsible to resolve as he does. And in that sense, we can rarely blame him, as life is just plain unavoidable.
January 23, 2021
*I was provided a copy of the book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
I just woke up one morning and I still wasn’t famous and I still wasn’t successful and it felt somehow like the verdict was in, like there was no use arguing with it. I’d tried my best and I hadn’t made it and now I was and always would be just another nobody, another loser who’d spent ten years kidding himself, another local kid who hadn’t managed to do very much with his life.
It took me for ever to get through this book. To make reading it bearable, I had to read it during history class because I had no desire to read it in one sitting or just pick it up just because. I was making excuses to not read it, so history class it was.
For me, characters make or break a book. Even if the plot is weak, most of the time the characters can pull through and make the book at least a little enjoyable. In Bummed Out City, there wasn’t a character I cared for to invest myself completely. David is probably the whiniest character I’ve ever read about. He expected to be famous for writing novels, and just because he was rejected by all of them the first time around he wallows around in self-pity and refuses to grow up. When his girlfriend, Carol, brings up thinking about getting a house and wants to make a plan for the next five years, he throws a fit. He is ashamed at working at a grocery store like it’s below him or something, but he’s barely making rent! He barely changes by the end of the book, and that’s because of events in the last chapter that really shake up his life like he deserves. Even when everything happens to him, I didn’t even feel bad. If that’s what it takes for him to get off his high horse and act like an adult, then fine.
Honestly, I don’t know why Carol and David dated in the first place or at least why they were together still. Carol wants to work on the next step of their lives so they can feel stable, but David keeps holding them back as he mopes about the fact he’s not some big name author. It was frustrating to watch their relationship. I would say “watch their relationship develop” but there was no development at all. Carol grows a backbone at the last minute of the book, but it was still irritating to see these two people be together when they obviously weren’t on the same page anymore (if they ever were).
Other than David and Carol, all of the other characters were hardly noticeable. They all seemed the same as there wasn’t any development. They were all literally background characters to David’s “poor pitiful me” life story. Burr introduces David’s dad who comes in and out of David’s life sporadically, and I perked up. I was prepared to finally relate to David as my dad isn’t around much either and seems similar to David’s dad. Unfortunately, there’s hardly anything about his dad for almost the entirety of the book which was a great disappointment.
Above all, the straw that broke the camel’s back and caused me to decide I really did not like this book was the writing style. The only dialogue tag that was used was “say(s).” Sometimes each sentence got its own dialogue tag. An unabridged example: I say, “Ok.” I say, “I know.” I say, “Just.” I say, “I hear you. I am hearing you.”
It drove me insane. And this is coming from the person who enjoyed All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. It was obviously an intentional stylistic choice, and it’s nice he tried something different, but it turned me off pretty much immediately.
I refrained from giving Bummed Out City one star and gave it two instead because the one thing that did go right was that it really is realistic. David cares about bills and rent like a real person, he worries about real-life things. Real-life situations happen, and I don’t see that often in books. I enjoyed the real things and Burr’s choice to shy away from cliches. It’s neat it was done here, but I don’t think I’ll want to read something this realistic again if the narrator is anything like David.
I just woke up one morning and I still wasn’t famous and I still wasn’t successful and it felt somehow like the verdict was in, like there was no use arguing with it. I’d tried my best and I hadn’t made it and now I was and always would be just another nobody, another loser who’d spent ten years kidding himself, another local kid who hadn’t managed to do very much with his life.
It took me for ever to get through this book. To make reading it bearable, I had to read it during history class because I had no desire to read it in one sitting or just pick it up just because. I was making excuses to not read it, so history class it was.
For me, characters make or break a book. Even if the plot is weak, most of the time the characters can pull through and make the book at least a little enjoyable. In Bummed Out City, there wasn’t a character I cared for to invest myself completely. David is probably the whiniest character I’ve ever read about. He expected to be famous for writing novels, and just because he was rejected by all of them the first time around he wallows around in self-pity and refuses to grow up. When his girlfriend, Carol, brings up thinking about getting a house and wants to make a plan for the next five years, he throws a fit. He is ashamed at working at a grocery store like it’s below him or something, but he’s barely making rent! He barely changes by the end of the book, and that’s because of events in the last chapter that really shake up his life like he deserves. Even when everything happens to him, I didn’t even feel bad. If that’s what it takes for him to get off his high horse and act like an adult, then fine.
Honestly, I don’t know why Carol and David dated in the first place or at least why they were together still. Carol wants to work on the next step of their lives so they can feel stable, but David keeps holding them back as he mopes about the fact he’s not some big name author. It was frustrating to watch their relationship. I would say “watch their relationship develop” but there was no development at all. Carol grows a backbone at the last minute of the book, but it was still irritating to see these two people be together when they obviously weren’t on the same page anymore (if they ever were).
Other than David and Carol, all of the other characters were hardly noticeable. They all seemed the same as there wasn’t any development. They were all literally background characters to David’s “poor pitiful me” life story. Burr introduces David’s dad who comes in and out of David’s life sporadically, and I perked up. I was prepared to finally relate to David as my dad isn’t around much either and seems similar to David’s dad. Unfortunately, there’s hardly anything about his dad for almost the entirety of the book which was a great disappointment.
Above all, the straw that broke the camel’s back and caused me to decide I really did not like this book was the writing style. The only dialogue tag that was used was “say(s).” Sometimes each sentence got its own dialogue tag. An unabridged example: I say, “Ok.” I say, “I know.” I say, “Just.” I say, “I hear you. I am hearing you.”
It drove me insane. And this is coming from the person who enjoyed All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. It was obviously an intentional stylistic choice, and it’s nice he tried something different, but it turned me off pretty much immediately.
I refrained from giving Bummed Out City one star and gave it two instead because the one thing that did go right was that it really is realistic. David cares about bills and rent like a real person, he worries about real-life things. Real-life situations happen, and I don’t see that often in books. I enjoyed the real things and Burr’s choice to shy away from cliches. It’s neat it was done here, but I don’t think I’ll want to read something this realistic again if the narrator is anything like David.
September 2, 2021
First of all, let me point out that I was given this book for review and in exchange to give my honest opinion.
With that said, this book bothered me quite a bit and it took me a long time to get through it. The main character, David, is this unlikeable character that doesn't have much going for himself. He is mad at the world, depressed, and barely doing anything to change. Throughout the entire book, he didn't seem to change. In the beginning, he was very much against any type of change. He would argue against it with his girlfriend, Carol. Then about two thirds into the book, he decided to play adult. Act like one kind of and do what Carol wanted even though that isn't what he wants. He seemed lost for pretty much the entire book. That was one sad character.
I didn't see any character development till about the last chapter of the book. The way he spoke also annoyed me because he never seemed sure of himself. There were a lot of "whatever", "I mean", "um", "I don't know"'s after literally everything he said. It was very hard to read. The author wrote the dialogue like most people talk but that is not always the best for a book. For a main character, I would of liked to see a lot more of character development by at least half way in. He did somewhat but you could tell it was all fake. That he was just doing it for the sake of his relationship.
By the end of the book, things seem to be getting slowly better for him despite what happened to him. He had to deal with a lot of bad luck and it seemed like he would give up. He doesn't though and he gets some breaks here and there. He doesn't seem to do anything for himself though. Everyone is handing him all these opportunities and he is just like "ok maybe". Like come on, do something about it! He had no confidence at all and I think that is what hurt him the most as a main character, an author, and a person overall. It was just a really frustrating character to read.
For the other characters, I would say that there wasn't a lot of description and background story for them. You just got about a paragraph of description and were back reading the present dialogue. I would of liked to see how Carol and David got together. They seemed to put up with each others problems too much to make me personally want to stick around in that relationship. The character development for the story is just what bothered me the most. I felt no connection for any of the characters.
Overall, this book was alright. I wouldn't of picked it up myself if I wasn't given it for review. I was excited to read about it and hoped that it would be a good book outside of my usual comfort zone, but I was wrong. Maybe it just wasn't the right book for me and what I enjoy to read.
With that said, this book bothered me quite a bit and it took me a long time to get through it. The main character, David, is this unlikeable character that doesn't have much going for himself. He is mad at the world, depressed, and barely doing anything to change. Throughout the entire book, he didn't seem to change. In the beginning, he was very much against any type of change. He would argue against it with his girlfriend, Carol. Then about two thirds into the book, he decided to play adult. Act like one kind of and do what Carol wanted even though that isn't what he wants. He seemed lost for pretty much the entire book. That was one sad character.
I didn't see any character development till about the last chapter of the book. The way he spoke also annoyed me because he never seemed sure of himself. There were a lot of "whatever", "I mean", "um", "I don't know"'s after literally everything he said. It was very hard to read. The author wrote the dialogue like most people talk but that is not always the best for a book. For a main character, I would of liked to see a lot more of character development by at least half way in. He did somewhat but you could tell it was all fake. That he was just doing it for the sake of his relationship.
By the end of the book, things seem to be getting slowly better for him despite what happened to him. He had to deal with a lot of bad luck and it seemed like he would give up. He doesn't though and he gets some breaks here and there. He doesn't seem to do anything for himself though. Everyone is handing him all these opportunities and he is just like "ok maybe". Like come on, do something about it! He had no confidence at all and I think that is what hurt him the most as a main character, an author, and a person overall. It was just a really frustrating character to read.
For the other characters, I would say that there wasn't a lot of description and background story for them. You just got about a paragraph of description and were back reading the present dialogue. I would of liked to see how Carol and David got together. They seemed to put up with each others problems too much to make me personally want to stick around in that relationship. The character development for the story is just what bothered me the most. I felt no connection for any of the characters.
Overall, this book was alright. I wouldn't of picked it up myself if I wasn't given it for review. I was excited to read about it and hoped that it would be a good book outside of my usual comfort zone, but I was wrong. Maybe it just wasn't the right book for me and what I enjoy to read.
May 31, 2019
Disclaimer: I was contacted by a representative from The Artless Dodges Press to read and review this book!
Admittedly, the description didn’t WOW me or make me think, “Tori, where has this book been all your life?” But upon finishing the book, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by Scott Burr’s Bummed Out City.
The book follows David Moore, a struggling writer in his late twenties who is going through the motions of life and believing that mundane things like working and washing dishes deserves praise and recognition. And yet, Bummed Out City is so much more than that. David had a life imagined for himself where he goes on book tours and has important meetings with his agent and film producers. His actual life, however, is far less glamorous, and I was blown away by the honesty in this book.
Already down on your luck, where do you find the strength to keep going when your car always has trouble starting but you don’t have the money to fix it? When your rent is due but you can’t pay it until your shady father gives you back the money you loaned him? When your girlfriend won’t let you concentrate on your work because she keeps nagging you about getting a dog? I really felt for David in these moments, and the culmination of events and many others make him feel like he’s been dealt life’s most unfortunate hand.
Bummed Out City has many events propelling the story forward, making it a fast-paced read. I had my qualms with the writing style at particular moments, and yet I believe it’s one of the book’s strengths. Scott Burr writes many of David’s thoughts in what could be considered run-on sentences, but I felt this added to the anxiousness of David’s character. It also gave a great perspective on the secondary characters, because during interactions between David and his girlfriend, I found myself understanding and sympathizing with both of their opinions.
Even as a young adult, I can see pieces of myself in David, and I’m sure the book will resonate with many others. The real world is a scary place, and sometimes it’s daunting trying to find out where you fit and trying to learn what it means to be an “adult” when it seems like everyone around you has it together, whatever that means. Bummed Out City makes you think, ‘who, if anyone, really has life figured out’?
3.5/5
Admittedly, the description didn’t WOW me or make me think, “Tori, where has this book been all your life?” But upon finishing the book, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by Scott Burr’s Bummed Out City.
The book follows David Moore, a struggling writer in his late twenties who is going through the motions of life and believing that mundane things like working and washing dishes deserves praise and recognition. And yet, Bummed Out City is so much more than that. David had a life imagined for himself where he goes on book tours and has important meetings with his agent and film producers. His actual life, however, is far less glamorous, and I was blown away by the honesty in this book.
Already down on your luck, where do you find the strength to keep going when your car always has trouble starting but you don’t have the money to fix it? When your rent is due but you can’t pay it until your shady father gives you back the money you loaned him? When your girlfriend won’t let you concentrate on your work because she keeps nagging you about getting a dog? I really felt for David in these moments, and the culmination of events and many others make him feel like he’s been dealt life’s most unfortunate hand.
Bummed Out City has many events propelling the story forward, making it a fast-paced read. I had my qualms with the writing style at particular moments, and yet I believe it’s one of the book’s strengths. Scott Burr writes many of David’s thoughts in what could be considered run-on sentences, but I felt this added to the anxiousness of David’s character. It also gave a great perspective on the secondary characters, because during interactions between David and his girlfriend, I found myself understanding and sympathizing with both of their opinions.
Even as a young adult, I can see pieces of myself in David, and I’m sure the book will resonate with many others. The real world is a scary place, and sometimes it’s daunting trying to find out where you fit and trying to learn what it means to be an “adult” when it seems like everyone around you has it together, whatever that means. Bummed Out City makes you think, ‘who, if anyone, really has life figured out’?
3.5/5
December 23, 2014
(Review thanks to an Ebook copy from The Artless Dodges Press)
David is an aspiring writer trying to make ends meet in Cleveland. He never went to college because he thought having a few works published in high school was enough indicator that all he needed to do was to write the next big thing and he would be published. Now he is almost thirty years old, has a struggling relationship with his girlfriend and has not been published. He has given up on life. He has nothing going for him and he knows it.
There really is not much to say about this book because nothing happens. There is no plot whatsoever. There was not much to expect. At many points throughout the book, I just wanted to stop reading and forget about this book. It’s really that bad.
David is not a likable character. At the beginning, I tried to be sympathetic because he is pretty much going through a crisis and trying to figure out what he wants to do next. After awhile though, he just became very unlikeable. He expected everything to work out without him even trying and working for what he wanted. It is as if he expected to one day wake up and everything would be like he always dreamed of it being. And that is just not how life works. Also, whenever people tried to help him, like giving him a job at a grocery store because he lost his former job, instead of humbly accepting, he accepts it with such an ungrateful attitude. David really hates his life and you know it.
Other characters were also very annoying. For example, David’s girlfriend, Carol. She was very pushy and would pout and complain when things would not go her way. There were also other characters that were also extremely unlikeable and some that I don’t even remember how they are connected to the story.
Another thing that I did not like was how it was writing. I understand that it was a stylistic choice to write it in the way that it was written but, the dialogue was chunky and nothing really stood out to me. It was just very poorly written.
Nothing really special about this book. I feel it was trying to make a statement of what it is like to live today in this kind of society and economic state but, it was very poorly executed.
David is an aspiring writer trying to make ends meet in Cleveland. He never went to college because he thought having a few works published in high school was enough indicator that all he needed to do was to write the next big thing and he would be published. Now he is almost thirty years old, has a struggling relationship with his girlfriend and has not been published. He has given up on life. He has nothing going for him and he knows it.
There really is not much to say about this book because nothing happens. There is no plot whatsoever. There was not much to expect. At many points throughout the book, I just wanted to stop reading and forget about this book. It’s really that bad.
David is not a likable character. At the beginning, I tried to be sympathetic because he is pretty much going through a crisis and trying to figure out what he wants to do next. After awhile though, he just became very unlikeable. He expected everything to work out without him even trying and working for what he wanted. It is as if he expected to one day wake up and everything would be like he always dreamed of it being. And that is just not how life works. Also, whenever people tried to help him, like giving him a job at a grocery store because he lost his former job, instead of humbly accepting, he accepts it with such an ungrateful attitude. David really hates his life and you know it.
Other characters were also very annoying. For example, David’s girlfriend, Carol. She was very pushy and would pout and complain when things would not go her way. There were also other characters that were also extremely unlikeable and some that I don’t even remember how they are connected to the story.
Another thing that I did not like was how it was writing. I understand that it was a stylistic choice to write it in the way that it was written but, the dialogue was chunky and nothing really stood out to me. It was just very poorly written.
Nothing really special about this book. I feel it was trying to make a statement of what it is like to live today in this kind of society and economic state but, it was very poorly executed.
November 13, 2014
'Bummed Out City' is original and aware of the cliches it avoids. Books/movies about writers are a tightrope walk and this one takes it in style--to the tune of Joe Strummer no less. The main character David gets more punishment than a Coen Brothers hero--but hey, the narrative feels a helluva lot more real and authentic than a Hollywood hit also. Burr deftly maintains multiple storylines and relationships in a pace that assures you he's in control.
At first, Artless Dodges Press released the "My Girlfriend Wants a Dog" selection and I rolled my eyes at such a seemingly simple metaphor for big-boy choices. Fortunately, I was delighted the role this small episode played within the greater context of the work. Burr uses this early episode as a solid foundation for his characters' struggles but thankfully for the reader's sake, he doesn't overwrite it or keep it around too long. His characters even reference it with a bit of a wink later in the book.
The action accelerates in tremendously in the second half, all while keeping characters true to form and sneaky authorial rants to a minimum (they're awesomely present though).
I don't think Burr's David has as much innate talent as the Coen's Llewyn Davis, but he does take the punishments of a working artist and the roller coaster of male pride and expectation in a similar way (but one fit for the 2014 crowd and not 60s NYC). I've never been to Cleveland, but I can appreciate Burr's reach in creating a sense of place and identity with this work. I read Scott Raab's outrageous"The Whore of Akron" in about a day and a half because of how blatantly Ohio he wanted to be in that book. Burr is not Scott Raab and doesn't want to be--his approach has couth and a more authentic desire to create pride. I see it more in a category with Phillip Meyer's "American Rust" and a quasi-Catcher in the Rye. This is definitely a worthwhile read, hope Burr continues to write.
At first, Artless Dodges Press released the "My Girlfriend Wants a Dog" selection and I rolled my eyes at such a seemingly simple metaphor for big-boy choices. Fortunately, I was delighted the role this small episode played within the greater context of the work. Burr uses this early episode as a solid foundation for his characters' struggles but thankfully for the reader's sake, he doesn't overwrite it or keep it around too long. His characters even reference it with a bit of a wink later in the book.
The action accelerates in tremendously in the second half, all while keeping characters true to form and sneaky authorial rants to a minimum (they're awesomely present though).
I don't think Burr's David has as much innate talent as the Coen's Llewyn Davis, but he does take the punishments of a working artist and the roller coaster of male pride and expectation in a similar way (but one fit for the 2014 crowd and not 60s NYC). I've never been to Cleveland, but I can appreciate Burr's reach in creating a sense of place and identity with this work. I read Scott Raab's outrageous"The Whore of Akron" in about a day and a half because of how blatantly Ohio he wanted to be in that book. Burr is not Scott Raab and doesn't want to be--his approach has couth and a more authentic desire to create pride. I see it more in a category with Phillip Meyer's "American Rust" and a quasi-Catcher in the Rye. This is definitely a worthwhile read, hope Burr continues to write.
February 21, 2015
I got interested in this book the moment I read the synopsis. I'm very thankful to Artless Dodges Press for giving me the opportunity not only to read and review this book, but also to get to know this book. I would probably not have contact with this work otherwise. Thank you, and sorry for taking me so long to get to reading it.
It may have taken me long to pick up the book and start reading it, but when I did pick it up I read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down before I finished it.
The book tells the story of David, a struggling author. David had many dreams. None of them came true. His book are still not a success. More than that, he cannot find a single publisher that would accept to publish them. I thought this discussion, of life not being able to keep up with one's expactations and dreams, to be really interesting and poignant. We have all those dreams and images of what the future will be like and, most of the times, none of these dreams come true. David took it really badly, which is what leads to all his problems.
I David as a main character. He is completely annoying and self-centered. And, because of his selfishness and self-centeredness, he was a totally unreliable narrator. We could see he was trying his best to make us understand his suffering and problems and see the others as 'enemies' of his progress. And we could see him trying and failing to do so.
I didn't think this book was plotless. I believe the mundane tasks were essential to understand David as a character and what he was trying to accomplish.
As for the ending, I really liked it. I felt it fit with the general mood of the story, making it all raw and powerful, I think any other ending would have made the story a disservice and would not have rung as true.
It may have taken me long to pick up the book and start reading it, but when I did pick it up I read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down before I finished it.
The book tells the story of David, a struggling author. David had many dreams. None of them came true. His book are still not a success. More than that, he cannot find a single publisher that would accept to publish them. I thought this discussion, of life not being able to keep up with one's expactations and dreams, to be really interesting and poignant. We have all those dreams and images of what the future will be like and, most of the times, none of these dreams come true. David took it really badly, which is what leads to all his problems.
I David as a main character. He is completely annoying and self-centered. And, because of his selfishness and self-centeredness, he was a totally unreliable narrator. We could see he was trying his best to make us understand his suffering and problems and see the others as 'enemies' of his progress. And we could see him trying and failing to do so.
I didn't think this book was plotless. I believe the mundane tasks were essential to understand David as a character and what he was trying to accomplish.
As for the ending, I really liked it. I felt it fit with the general mood of the story, making it all raw and powerful, I think any other ending would have made the story a disservice and would not have rung as true.
February 18, 2015
Thanks to artlessdodges for providing a free e-copy for review, I sincerely apologize for this taking so long! (please don’t hate me)
Just to start off, Bummed Out City is completely outside of my reading comfort zone, being neither YA, fantasy, or sci-fi, so I don’t really have a lot of comparison points when rating or talking about it. But now that I’ve mulled over it for a month…and a half (SO SORRY) I’ll keep it short and sweet. All of the characters, even David, I’m afraid, felt pretty flat and one sided – pretty much everyone was there to play one role and one role only, which wasn’t super interesting. Second, every line of dialogue (I mean every) included I say/he says/she says without variation or pause, and it drove me crazy because it kept making my brain skip. It’s too consistent to not be a deliberate choice, but it’s uber distracting.
BUT THE STORY. The failing, twenty-something wannabe author who has no idea what to do with his life? SPOT ON. Count me as both impressed and very terrified at how well Burr managed to translate that to the page (which admittedly slowed my reading down a bit because it was kind of painful). He managed to perfectly play on all of the fears I harbor about graduating and being shoved out into the big, scary world on my own. While the aspiring author angle did feel a little more relevant to me than it may to others, I think the feelings of inadequacy are common enough that other people will probably feel that same emotional punch I did.
TL;DR - A pretty decent book, but not really my thing (or a great comfort read)
Just to start off, Bummed Out City is completely outside of my reading comfort zone, being neither YA, fantasy, or sci-fi, so I don’t really have a lot of comparison points when rating or talking about it. But now that I’ve mulled over it for a month…and a half (SO SORRY) I’ll keep it short and sweet. All of the characters, even David, I’m afraid, felt pretty flat and one sided – pretty much everyone was there to play one role and one role only, which wasn’t super interesting. Second, every line of dialogue (I mean every) included I say/he says/she says without variation or pause, and it drove me crazy because it kept making my brain skip. It’s too consistent to not be a deliberate choice, but it’s uber distracting.
BUT THE STORY. The failing, twenty-something wannabe author who has no idea what to do with his life? SPOT ON. Count me as both impressed and very terrified at how well Burr managed to translate that to the page (which admittedly slowed my reading down a bit because it was kind of painful). He managed to perfectly play on all of the fears I harbor about graduating and being shoved out into the big, scary world on my own. While the aspiring author angle did feel a little more relevant to me than it may to others, I think the feelings of inadequacy are common enough that other people will probably feel that same emotional punch I did.
TL;DR - A pretty decent book, but not really my thing (or a great comfort read)
November 7, 2015
I don't usually do book reviews, but the writing style on this one is such that I felt like I needed to add to the plethora of "What did I just read?" that I am seeing in the other reviews. While I agree that the story, overall, lacked plot, for me that's what it made it a worthwhile read. I've been the 20-something, stuck in my life, not sure what came next- so I can relate to a plotless existence with more sincerity than I care to admit. I don't even hate David or Carol, I actually pity both of them because I have known those people on a personal level and they are, usually, pitiable. Hating them is a relative waste of time and, given their circumstances, will likely make you feel like an awful person who lacks empathy.
For me, the killer was the writing style. I've seen some reviews that stated that it was "clunky" on purpose; WHY? Why would anyone write something in such a deplorable fashion on purpose? I felt strangely like I was reading a play that someone attempted, poorly, to convert to a novel. If I never see/hear the word "say" or one of its derivatives (saying, said, says, so forth) again, it will be too soon. I wanted to throw a thesaurus at this author by the time the book was done.
TL,DR:
Story, plotless but not bad.
Characters, pitiable, especially if you're of that age group.
Writing style, frustratingly awful.
For me, the killer was the writing style. I've seen some reviews that stated that it was "clunky" on purpose; WHY? Why would anyone write something in such a deplorable fashion on purpose? I felt strangely like I was reading a play that someone attempted, poorly, to convert to a novel. If I never see/hear the word "say" or one of its derivatives (saying, said, says, so forth) again, it will be too soon. I wanted to throw a thesaurus at this author by the time the book was done.
TL,DR:
Story, plotless but not bad.
Characters, pitiable, especially if you're of that age group.
Writing style, frustratingly awful.
December 20, 2014
A rep from the Artless Dodges Press contacted me about a review for this book and gave it a chance and hoped for a little different reading material after finished school. It was definitely different and something I would never read again or even recommend.
I found myself just waiting for something big to happen and actually get the book going and then I looked down and realized I was two-thirds of the way done and nothing had happened, there was no plot. The main character, David, complained and complained and I wanted to throw the book at him. His girlfriend was equality annoying and the one time I was excited is when she finally discovered her backbone towards the end.
Personally, I think it came down to the stylistic choices by the author that I couldn’t get behind. The writing is very spacey and clunky. Most of the story was pure dialogue. I missed the descriptive language and adjectives to make me feel like I’m in the book with the characters. I imagine this could be something you could adjust to but I couldn’t get my head around it, I felt like I was reading someone’s diary instead of a book.
In the end it’s a very particular book that wasn’t too my liking, but maybe at 21 I’m just too optimistic about life and growing up to appreciate such “realism.”
I found myself just waiting for something big to happen and actually get the book going and then I looked down and realized I was two-thirds of the way done and nothing had happened, there was no plot. The main character, David, complained and complained and I wanted to throw the book at him. His girlfriend was equality annoying and the one time I was excited is when she finally discovered her backbone towards the end.
Personally, I think it came down to the stylistic choices by the author that I couldn’t get behind. The writing is very spacey and clunky. Most of the story was pure dialogue. I missed the descriptive language and adjectives to make me feel like I’m in the book with the characters. I imagine this could be something you could adjust to but I couldn’t get my head around it, I felt like I was reading someone’s diary instead of a book.
In the end it’s a very particular book that wasn’t too my liking, but maybe at 21 I’m just too optimistic about life and growing up to appreciate such “realism.”
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