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loriewalsh's review against another edition
3.0
This is a painful read. There were several times that I almost gave up. A stand up comedian is weaving jokes into an accounting of his life and at first the telling was disjointed and hard to stay with. As the routine progresses though, his life story takes over and I found the story compelling.
erebus25's review against another edition
2.0
Read this for a book club, otherwise I probably wouldn't have finished it. It was incredibely boring and hard to read. I felt like one of the audience, waiting for the point of the story while someone tries to make me quit. There isn't one.
danahaa's review against another edition
3.0
I didn’t put it down, though I wanted to a number of times. The stand up premise, described in other reviews, could’ve worked well but I felt that it dragged and got repetitive in his self deprecation.
In the end I was glad I stuck it out, to remember the horrors of survivors and the generational trauma that affects everyone around them.
In the end I was glad I stuck it out, to remember the horrors of survivors and the generational trauma that affects everyone around them.
elizabeth_paige's review against another edition
3.0
This was an addictive read that unfortunately fell a little flat for me. At first, I really liked the quippy nature of Dovaleh. I settled myself in for a comedic fest, and like the audience I felt like leaving and that I hadn't gotten what I expected. This is really the story of how Dovaleh coerces an old childhood friend to come to his stand-up show to reveal the reason behind why they hadn't seen each other in years. There is this overarching narrative that pisses off patrons because it's not comedic, however, he intersperses comedy into his performance. Nothing that actually made me laugh but that's alright; the comedic effect of stand-up is lost when translated to text. Dovaleh's performance style got on my nerves towards the ending because he kept interrupting his story or saying things like "I'm being serious now" which was over used and got annoying. Or the fact that he only "comedically" attacked women in the audience. I did enjoy the pacing of the narrative and the narrator who was semi-analysing the show as it went on. On the whole, I enjoyed it despite being annoyed through the second half of the novel. I will be very shocked if this wins the Man Booker International Prize.
readgina_la_987's review against another edition
3.0
I do not know how to rate this book.
Only 200 pages, which I can normally finish in one sitting, but didn’t. This definitely not an easy read.
Only 200 pages, which I can normally finish in one sitting, but didn’t. This definitely not an easy read.
kseniia_xenia's review against another edition
2.0
if you want to experience being forced to watch the most obnoxious standup show for 2 hours while also learning about a sad backstory of some guy you don't give two fucks about, this is one of your better options
colingermany's review against another edition
4.0
Very satisfying read, although not quite the masterpiece that the critics would lead you to expect.
colinlusk's review against another edition
5.0
I'm glad I didn't notice this guy had written "Be My Knife" too. I read that years and years and years ago and it left me cold. This one was much better though. The whole book is an account of one long, rambling stand-up routine of a comedian who's having some sort of breakdown or crisis. It's narrated by an old acquaintance, who is sitting in the audience. As the routine settles into a single long story, the audience begins to complain and to leave and he has to soothe them with more conventional jokes. Finally we get to the reason for his unhappiness, the single event, years ago, that caused his guilt and self-loathing. It's a simple idea butI found it quite powerful and affecting.
I got off the train yesterday and had 12 pages left so I sat down and read it in the park because I had to finish it and digest it a little before I got home.
I got off the train yesterday and had 12 pages left so I sat down and read it in the park because I had to finish it and digest it a little before I got home.