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etienne02's review
3.0
Un roman de débauche, consommation de drogues et d’alcool en grande quantité ici. Un roman sur la misère du pauvre monde et leur vice qui les fait tourner en rond. Pas mauvais, mais un peu vide. J’ai aimé L’écriture et les personnages, le côté réaliste de cet univers, mais c’est un roman dont on retire bien peu de chose et qui ne procure pas un plaisir de lecture si incroyable non plus.
reader_drinker's review against another edition
4.0
This was one dark, grim, gruesome, and grimy read full of booze, drugs, alcoholics, addiction, and withdrawal. Written interestingly in 2nd person, the prose is also at times somewhat poetic and at other's is quite funny. Definitely a sad book where all the characters are struggling with life has on offer for them. I can see why this book was little read initially due to the subject matter, but DeWitt's talent is on offer to the extent that I'm not surprised he had a breakout hit with his next book The Sisters Brothers, which I look forward to reading sometime soon.
moreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a doozy. It's one that I hesitate to give four stars, since I felt unclean after I read it, but dammit, I also loved it a lot. Brilliant writing, depravity, darkness, hilarity, all the good stuff. Also can be read in about two straight hours. No complaints.
thethinwomanreads's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe I'll appreciate this book more once I've had time to think about it.
The good news is that I enjoy deWitt's writing style and I also enjoyed how it was written in the second person. It's been a while since I've experienced that type of narration.
The good news is that I enjoy deWitt's writing style and I also enjoyed how it was written in the second person. It's been a while since I've experienced that type of narration.
darkshuffle's review against another edition
4.0
Incorporating deWitt humour this book sheds a twisted look on a sad story of addiction and downfall. At times both horrible and heart wrenching. A little darker than the authors more recent work but an absorbing read all the same.
theliteraryhooker's review against another edition
1.0
I don't know who the target audience for this book is supposed to be, but I'm definitely not part of it. I went in expecting something along the lines of [b:American Whiskey Bar|460909|American Whiskey Bar|Michael Turner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328760786s/460909.jpg|449367]. Instead, I got the second-person (first strike) ramblings of an unlikable, and worse, uninteresting (second strike) bartender in Hollywood as he details his misadventures, most of which just involve him drinking and taking pills in different venues until he throws up and starts over (third strike). Absolutely nothing happens in this book, apart from bad decisions. Mostly though, it's just this unnamed bartender outlining his customers, coworkers and sexual conquests and why he's so much better than them and why he hates them, even though he also, at some points, acknowledges that he's just as bad.
There's one point in the novel where it seems things are taking a turn and the bartender will stop drinking and get his life on track. That would have maybe actually been interesting. But no, that lasted all of about 3 pages before he was back to the drugs and alcohol. Best three pages in the book, and that truly isn't saying much.
There's one point in the novel where it seems things are taking a turn and the bartender will stop drinking and get his life on track. That would have maybe actually been interesting. But no, that lasted all of about 3 pages before he was back to the drugs and alcohol. Best three pages in the book, and that truly isn't saying much.
darwin8u's review against another edition
4.0
This is a novel equally about hating work and loving booze. No. That isn't true. This is a novel that is about hating work and drinking booze and hating yourself. It belongs on your untidy shelf next to [b:Under the Volcano|31072|Under the Volcano|Malcolm Lowry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266455027s/31072.jpg|1321805], [b:Leaving Las Vegas|824078|Leaving Las Vegas|John O'Brien|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348197548s/824078.jpg|264307], [b:Appointment in Samarra|126583|Appointment in Samarra|John O'Hara|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320446769s/126583.jpg|2555382] and [b:Tender is the Night|46164|Tender is the Night|F. Scott Fitzgerald|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1347573947s/46164.jpg|8272]. IT is a fuzzy, high-energy migrane of a novel and that is part of its clouded brilliance.
mmathis's review against another edition
Darkly humorous vignettes about a barworker with a drinking problem