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papertraildiary's review against another edition
3.0
A smart, witty and funny book! Here's my full review: http://papertraildiary.com/book-review-bream-gives-me-hiccups-by-jesse-eisenberg/ <3
janewhitehurst's review against another edition
3.0
It doesn't take more than a few pages for the reader to understand how intelligent Jesse Eisenberg is as a writer. His book of short stories is enjoyable and well-written, but a bit too overly pretentious for my liking. I liked a couple of the stories, but others dragged on and didn't hold my interest. I will definitely read more of what Eisenberg writes as I see his talent, but this one just wasn't my favorite.
judyapneeb's review against another edition
3.0
Jesse Eisenberg's collection of short stories are equal parts amazing and mediocre. For the stories that worked, they worked very well. For the stories that were mediocre, it worth pushing through to get to the meaty stuff. Fun, quick read. I'll be interested in his works if he decides to write a full-length novel in the future.
fischereads's review against another edition
3.0
successfully reread! :) surprising amount of nostalgia tied to this one
aishyreads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars **
this is genuinely a non bias review, despite how much i love him
this is genuinely a non bias review, despite how much i love him
clairebau's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
It should come as no surprise that Eisenberg writes well (and I do mean that. Not just passably, but well); a career spent poring over scripts to critically analyze word choice will give you a good eye for what works and what doesn't.
It's hard to say whether it was a wise decision to open with titular story Bream Gives Me Hiccups. I went in skeptically; attempts at adults-writing-from-a-child's-perspective-for-an-adult-audience are often made and rarely something I enjoy, but he nailed the earnest naivety of a nine-year-old making sense of the world and, more aptly, his family. Wannabe good writers will spoon-feed you exposition with off-putting vigor. Eisenberg hides it in Easter eggs you'll delight in plucking from the fertile grass of the lawn he delicately tends. This section was a delight. I would have loved a novel-length adaptation of these rich concepts and characters, but instead I was forced to immediately afterward trudge through his other - worse - stories.
As with any collection of unrelated stories, there will be hits (Bream Gives Me Hiccups, A Guy on Acid Tries to Pick up a Woman at a Bar) and misses (My Nephew has some Questions, A Post-Gender-Normative Man Tries to Pick Up a Woman at a Bar). This book feels a bit like an episode of SNL in that way and others, namely that most of the stories in the latter-half of the book feel like little more than extensions of a good idea for a bit. You read the title and you're like, okay, sure, got it, and you read the story to find it's exactly what you expected (A Bully Does his Research, particularly). That doesn't necessarily make them any less enjoyable, but it certainly fails to make them feel special, different, or interesting. It's clear that Eisenberg tries his very best to say something with this book, whether it be about new-age feminism or Marxism or society at large, but that messaging fell flat next to his frankly brilliant characterization of the mundane players in the more "vapid" stories (the titular and My Roommate Stole my Ramen), which he handled with obvious skill and care.
Tl;dr: I demand a fictional novel from Eisenberg!
It's hard to say whether it was a wise decision to open with titular story Bream Gives Me Hiccups. I went in skeptically; attempts at adults-writing-from-a-child's-perspective-for-an-adult-audience are often made and rarely something I enjoy, but he nailed the earnest naivety of a nine-year-old making sense of the world and, more aptly, his family. Wannabe good writers will spoon-feed you exposition with off-putting vigor. Eisenberg hides it in Easter eggs you'll delight in plucking from the fertile grass of the lawn he delicately tends. This section was a delight. I would have loved a novel-length adaptation of these rich concepts and characters, but instead I was forced to immediately afterward trudge through his other - worse - stories.
As with any collection of unrelated stories, there will be hits (Bream Gives Me Hiccups, A Guy on Acid Tries to Pick up a Woman at a Bar) and misses (My Nephew has some Questions, A Post-Gender-Normative Man Tries to Pick Up a Woman at a Bar). This book feels a bit like an episode of SNL in that way and others, namely that most of the stories in the latter-half of the book feel like little more than extensions of a good idea for a bit. You read the title and you're like, okay, sure, got it, and you read the story to find it's exactly what you expected (A Bully Does his Research, particularly). That doesn't necessarily make them any less enjoyable, but it certainly fails to make them feel special, different, or interesting. It's clear that Eisenberg tries his very best to say something with this book, whether it be about new-age feminism or Marxism or society at large, but that messaging fell flat next to his frankly brilliant characterization of the mundane players in the more "vapid" stories (the titular and My Roommate Stole my Ramen), which he handled with obvious skill and care.
Tl;dr: I demand a fictional novel from Eisenberg!
krissyfied's review against another edition
5.0
I only have the time, energy, and attention span for short stories nowadays and this book really delivered. I'm a fan of Jesse Eisenberg as an actor and as a person, and now I'm a fan of his as an author. I loved this book's cleverness, sarcasm, and biting wit. My favorite story is "Nick Garrett's Review of Rachel Lowenstein's New Book, Getting Away". I loved it so much because I didn't even see the ending coming. Much recommended.
karenleagermain's review against another edition
2.0
I like Jesse Eisenberg as an actor, so I was curious to see how he would do as a writer. Thank You to Grove Press for an advanced copy of Bream Gives Me Hiccups, in exchange for an honest review.
PLOT- In Eisenberg's debut short-story collection, he offers a mix of a traditional short-story format and theatrical writing. The subjects of his pieces are vast, from pop-culture to historical figures and all types of fictional characters thrown into the mix.
LIKE- Bream Gives Me Hiccups started out strong, with the title story, which follows a privileged nine-year old, as he reviews the places that he visits with his parents, who are divorced. This story was funny and affecting, with the kid trying to make sense of his world, which includes a heavy dose of dysfunction via a manipulative and vengeful mother.
I also appreciated Eisenberg's play with the format of his stories. This collection could as easily be found in fiction, as it could be in the theatre section of a bookstore. Many of the stories are in the format of a monologue or a dialogue scene. As I was expecting something more traditional, this was a refreshing change of pace and a fitting format for many of the stories. A lot of the characters are young and I kept thinking that this would be a good resource for teenage drama students.
DISLIKE- After the first story, the collection takes a huge nose dive. An often stated piece of writing advice, is to make sure that your protagonist is a minimum of one of the following;
1. Smart.
2. Likable.
3. Funny.
Unfortunately, Eisenberg failed to include at least one of these traits in most of his characters. He certainly was not trying to include likable, as these are a miserable bunch of people. When he tried to go for smart, it rang as pretentious and most of the time, the funny fell flat. The title story had all three of these elements, but the rest, failed to measure up to the initial story.
The worst of the bunch was a sluggish tale of an unhappy college freshman, which is told through the letters that she writes to her former high school guidance counselor. Harper Jablonski is such an unlikeable protagonist, that it a painful read. This story comes about mid-way through the book and it derailed my interest entirely. I trudged on, but only because I was committed to writing a review.
RECOMMEND - No. If you have a chance to read the first story, Bream Gives Me Hiccups, do so, but skip the rest of the collection.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
PLOT- In Eisenberg's debut short-story collection, he offers a mix of a traditional short-story format and theatrical writing. The subjects of his pieces are vast, from pop-culture to historical figures and all types of fictional characters thrown into the mix.
LIKE- Bream Gives Me Hiccups started out strong, with the title story, which follows a privileged nine-year old, as he reviews the places that he visits with his parents, who are divorced. This story was funny and affecting, with the kid trying to make sense of his world, which includes a heavy dose of dysfunction via a manipulative and vengeful mother.
I also appreciated Eisenberg's play with the format of his stories. This collection could as easily be found in fiction, as it could be in the theatre section of a bookstore. Many of the stories are in the format of a monologue or a dialogue scene. As I was expecting something more traditional, this was a refreshing change of pace and a fitting format for many of the stories. A lot of the characters are young and I kept thinking that this would be a good resource for teenage drama students.
DISLIKE- After the first story, the collection takes a huge nose dive. An often stated piece of writing advice, is to make sure that your protagonist is a minimum of one of the following;
1. Smart.
2. Likable.
3. Funny.
Unfortunately, Eisenberg failed to include at least one of these traits in most of his characters. He certainly was not trying to include likable, as these are a miserable bunch of people. When he tried to go for smart, it rang as pretentious and most of the time, the funny fell flat. The title story had all three of these elements, but the rest, failed to measure up to the initial story.
The worst of the bunch was a sluggish tale of an unhappy college freshman, which is told through the letters that she writes to her former high school guidance counselor. Harper Jablonski is such an unlikeable protagonist, that it a painful read. This story comes about mid-way through the book and it derailed my interest entirely. I trudged on, but only because I was committed to writing a review.
RECOMMEND - No. If you have a chance to read the first story, Bream Gives Me Hiccups, do so, but skip the rest of the collection.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
glowbird's review against another edition
4.0
Shocked at how much I liked this collection. There are some very well crafted monologues here. You can feel Eisenberg's theater background. His neurotic East Coast characters will either grate on your nerves or endear themselves. In my case it was the latter.