Things To Shout Out Loud At Parties

by Markus Almond

This is a collection of paraprose by author Markus Almond. Showcasing some of his most honest and personal writing, this compilation contains stories of love and redemption, sex and parties, tales of heartbreak and squinting in the morning sun. Things don’t always turn out the way we expect. But with the right attitude and some good friends, you can always find your way to the next adventure.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Essays, Short Stories, Adult

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2014

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars - probably because I am in my 30s, not my 20s. The overall style of paraprose/prose poetry/snippets really appeals to me, but I know there are others who just do it better. Some clever highlights, but mostly a lot of "meh".

[rachel z · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was unconventional and compulsively readable. It's made up of pages of rambling thoughts, loose retellings, things that form threads of an unidentified story. The writing style is lyrical yet raw, and also poetic in a subtle way. It reads easily like listening to a person speak or think out loud but it also has an air of detachment, like the person isn't talking directly to us but rather we are listening to him talk to himself. It's a quiet book, despite the title.

I love the freedom and feeling of youth that the book had captured so honestly in its fragmentary pages. I'll be picking this one up again.

(I received this book from Goodreads First Reads.)

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm disappointed with this book. I was drawn in by the title + cover and really wanted to like it because the concept seemed interesting and potentially brilliant. But many of the pages just left me feeling really dissatisfied; most of what I read seemed like stuff I'd already seen or heard plenty of times, all plainly recycled ideas. I could fill a small house with the amount of cigarette similes in here. A lot of it just didn't even seem worth writing down. Also, waaaaay too many spelling errors, which definitely took away from the experience and was super distracting.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Things to Shout Out Loud at Parties” captures the spirit of hope, self-discovery, wonder, and chaos in the heart of every 20 year old that’s ever escaped to NYC. Markus has certainly lived a way more ~*adventurous/fiery*~ life than I, but some of the vignettes still had the power to send me back in time to my younger years. The subject matter might not be high-brow enough for a Pulitzer, but I think the paraprose really nailed the transformative experience that most poets/writers aim for. I borrowed this book on interlibrary loan, but I kinda wished I owned it. It’s the sort of book you read 1 page at a time and only when the mood strikes.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not a coherent narrative, it’s a collection of thoughts, a lot of them about women and about life. Each page has between one sentence and a paragraph and some of them may strike you as true, or interesting, or banal, or outside your experience, or mirroring your experience. This is a hard book to review, so here’s one of my favourite bits; “I miss playing in a band. I miss PA systems and the back seats of vans. I miss trying to sell T-shirts, eating bad food and trying desperately to find a condom”.
It’s worth reading just to read a book in an unusual format. If anyone can tell me what band Markus Almond was in I’d be interested to know.

[Catriona Bone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping to feel inspired or comforted by this collection, yet it only served to annoy me through the pretentiousness I perceived. I felt as though it was incredibly repetitive - simply using differing metaphors to explain and describe the same situation. There were also a ridiculous number of grammatical errors and typos - although this may be due to the fact that I read this on my Kindle which are notorious for mistakes.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Will appeal only to coddled, self-absorbed Millennials. Douglas Coupland, Dave Eggers, and Donald Miller all write this kind of schtick infinitely better than ole Markus. Memo to Markus: Generation X is tired of your whining.

[Diego Müller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't stop reading it over and over again

[Nerissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little nuggets of nostalgia and observation and snippets of a life. Seems like a book you can pick up over and over again, not necessarily something for reading cover to cover. I loved it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just lovely at times.

Mostly, though, it was just a reminder that I'm definitely not in my 20s any more.

And thank God.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivid and powerful and amusing pieces of prose - just snippets of thoughts and moments, all written in a great, clear, sometimes quite arresting style. Really enjoyed this.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This personal paragraphs/ rambling genre or style is just so not my taste apparently because I really did not enjoy this whatsoever.

[Sasha Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book would be simpler when going into it but it makes me think of monologues. those voice-overs during short films. to claire, from sonny comes to mind. i get a certain kind of nostalgia from reading this book. going on the internet during school and reading poetry about drinking wine in the bathtub and that thirst for the good experience of young adulthood, that freedom, and passion with life lessons. this isn't the best book. at times it's dreamy, other time it makes me want to yell 'wanker'. all the sad young literary men comes to mind - i only read the prologue for that book. He has read Bukowski... I think this is what The Subsect , the well known yet unknown book from Gilmore Girls is like.

[Theunis Duminy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the para-prose style of the book and I also enjoyed how different it was from anything else I've ever read. The content is like an encapsulation of thoughts, feelings, tribulation, dreams and (cringe-worthy) fantasies of a 16-23 year old person. I felt a lot of nostalgia for more care free times while reading this book. Didn't enjoy his constant referencing to woman in his past, and other views that seemed to be very self absorbed. At least he's honest.

[Heather Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff

Though beautifully written, someone should have edited better. It was distracting. But I do want to read his other writings anyway.

[Kira S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would’ve been amazing to read when I was in my edgy middle school phase

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like journal entries of an early/mid twenties guy figuring out life. Very readable but the copyedit errors drove me crazy.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big MPDG vibes, but reminded me of being in New York in my 20s. A lot of cliches but some real moments of beauty in this book.

[Jamie Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much captures the essence of 2014 New York 20-something. A nice bit of nostalgia, like the book version of “some nights” by fun.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for everyone

The writings are very short, not poems but prose musings, most of which are not connected. The author seems to have a devoted following (thus the many 5-star ratings), but I thought that there should be an alternate rating in the mid-range because that's where it lands for me.

If you don't like or haven't acquired a taste for poetry, and long-form reading isn't your thing either, you might enjoy this. The writing isn't bad; some of the pieces set a vivid scene and some are mildly inspiring. The reason I give it 3 stars though is that it is highly forgettable and overall there's nothing really substantial here to sink your teeth into.

The short form is very fitting for the age of Twitter and Facebook, and these musings seem to be made for sharing via social media, but you could just as easily not buy the book and read something better and maybe follow the author on Twitter.

[Bridgette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting something more comedic, something you would laugh about with your friends at a party when you randomly select a page and read it out loud. This book is not that, it is more of random thoughts and things overheard by the author and written down - one thought per page. I feel like the title is misleading. The pages feel thoughtful and like the author is really opening his personal thoughts to the public.

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.

[Annie Hobbs]

Markus Almond calls his style of writing in this book "para-prose". It was a collection of things that he thought and then put on paper. Everyone can relate to his thoughts and feelings, but I couldn't get over the bad spellings and grammar. Plus, it was kind of cheesy. It's cool if you want to get nostalgic and think about your past.

[Martina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to pick up and read a few pages at a time. Each page made me think about a different aspect of life and I often set the book down to contemplate what I had just read and how it applied to me and my own experiences.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants something quick to pick up occasionally and gather some insights about life's crazy ride.

[Steve Lively · Rating 5 out of 5]

genius in its simplicity (format-wise) Mr. Almond presents pages of text that read like tweets and status updates. Though it seems autobiographical, the work often reads as fiction or at leadt that of a fiction author who is wrestling with those wicked voices that are just battling to emerge onto a page.

[Charlene Xiaolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick light read.

There are some interesting paragraphs, nothing very original but mostly very personal as if it could be anybody's facebook status update or a random thought in a diary entry. Although I might not relate to most of the life scenes mentioned but I like the detatched casual style.

[Magnolia]

The format is interesting, and many of the snippets gave me food for thought, or at least a feeling of longing for my twenties. Can’t decide if the many typos are intentional, as a way of being edgy or just lazy editing, and I found them a bit distracting. Overall, not extraordinary, but not bad either.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some anecdotes and quips were better than others. There were a few I actually quite liked. However, the gross amount of copy errors in this book was so painful that it made me like it much less. Get a better editor, dude.

[jaines figueroa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thing to shout out at parties is a good thing to use a parties cause i used it and it really works

I didn't like this book I love this book like it useful and it amazing and it very loveable book

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short book of spoken word or paraprose as the author himself calls his work. I enjoyed the book and I'm now moving on to his other book called This Book Will Break A Window if You Throw it Hard Enough.

[Megan Schleicher · Rating 5 out of 5]

a brilliant collection of quips, fleeting moments, mini-stories, soul, and feelings. Relatable in college years & your early 20s; now it brings waves of nostalgia. My marked favorites from reading this in college: 32, 33, 57, 77, 108, 147, 168