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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Despite being one of Leavitt's first works and certainly bearing the marks of an immature writer, this book contains several stories I found very poignant, most especially "Territory" and "Danny in Transit." Leavitt has an uncanny ability to express the odd, awkward, inopportune thoughts and sensations that creep into the backs of our minds that we shrug away and pretend we aren't thinking, sure we are the only ones who would have such an inappropriate idea. On the other hand, several of the stories, particularly "Dedicated", tend strongly toward the melodramatic. In addition, Leavitt's prose style feels heavy-handed and blunt as often as it does insightful. All in all, a three star rating seems deserved - three for insight and good-heartedness, two docked for mild melodrama and sometimes clunky style.
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
There are only 4 characters in this book of essays, repeated with different names in only slightly different circumstances:
- cancer mom
- gay boy whose only personality trait is SHAME
- divorcee getting back at their ex-spouse by marrying someone very opposite
- child whose simple outlook on life highlights life’s true melancholy nature
None of these characters are particularly uninteresting but I’ve literally never read a more New Yorker Essays™️ collection in my life. Probably won’t revisit but at least it was breezy and the writing on a micro level was pretty.
- cancer mom
- gay boy whose only personality trait is SHAME
- divorcee getting back at their ex-spouse by marrying someone very opposite
- child whose simple outlook on life highlights life’s true melancholy nature
None of these characters are particularly uninteresting but I’ve literally never read a more New Yorker Essays™️ collection in my life. Probably won’t revisit but at least it was breezy and the writing on a micro level was pretty.