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maishalaforge's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Even though he was racist, homophonic, and whatever else he wrote a really compelling book that I felt encapsulated the Chicano experience. Sometimes I didn't know what he was saying because he was off a perc every second of the day, but when I did understand him I thought the writing was really good.
themahtin's review against another edition
4.0
Started reading this right after reading Tomas Moniz's Bellies and Buffalos (novella). I read some of the beat-era writers and this fits with that genre up until close to the end (but how can he remember the exact details of each conversation?). Then it becomes like a lot of Latin@ coming-of-age/finding out who you are stories that I've read.
syafa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
I'm not sure I'm a fan of the Beat generation style of writing...maybe it's uptight of me but it's a bit crass for my tastes. I've never been more uncomfortable in a class discussion than when my professor made us talk about the passage when Oscar learns how to masturbate. Also, this may be a stretch but the prose reminds me of Rushdie actually. And all those passages when Oscar is super high make absolutely no sense and reminded me of how I felt reading The Clockwork Orange
aneides's review against another edition
3.0
A set of recent drug adventures interspersed with more lucid episodes from the author's youth. I haven't read Cockroach People so it is difficult to gauge whether or not these tales provide the necessary background to understand Acosta's later involvement in the Chicano movement. It is too bad it is difficult to see Acosta except through one's preconceptions of him as HS Thompson's "Samoan" attorney.
cowgirltings's review against another edition
2.0
It's difficult to say what I think of this book...I have recently been trying to rate books holistically, not just based on the end. The end was satisfying, important, and beautiful, but it took me months to get to because of how many deep discomforts and questions about incongruities the book raised for me. Maybe those things are mostly good. Some of it was still just hard to read because it seemed repetitive, the supporting characters were constantly rotating but almost identical, and much of the plot felt stagnant. And yet the moments that shone shone brightly. Definitely a trudge of a book, but with vital and important moments. Big project, also interesting to have read this "autobiography" in conversation with other pieces of evidence of his lived experience his Uncollected Works. Overall, I wouldn't consider it a must-read, but valuable.