Reviews

Spy of the First Person by Sam Shepard

nickdleblanc's review against another edition

4.0

I can’t say I always enjoy reading Sam Shepard, but I definitely know that I understand him. Some part of my consciousness occupies the same stark and lonely place that his writing does. A place where atrocity and images from childhood balance on a razor’s edge. This book is pretty sad and sort of beautiful. It’s a man who has clearly always been a “watcher” watching his own demise (literally and metaphorically). Memories, plots from movies, confessions, and observations from the moment and memory swirl around in a semi-stream of consciousness flow. Kind of like talking to an old man whose mind has started to go, but you can tell that at one time he was very bright, very lonely, and maybe an artist.

brookewestcarr's review against another edition

I'm heartbroken. The memory of Sam, the life of Sam, the truth of Sam are all still so very real to me and brutal. I've had goose-pimpled skin for the last twelve minutes and I feel so broken by these words. Perfectly imperfect. Sam.

This was oddly inspirational. I'm devastated and yet, I'm amazed at the mastery, at the point of view(s). The ending leaves me with a strange sense of want, and fever, and shakiness.

It's Sam Shepard.

btmarino84's review against another edition

5.0

Listened to as an audiobook. Read by the great Michael Shannon who is a perfect voice for both narrators of this. I definitely will need to read this again on the page, where I can more easily go back and reread certain segments. It has a loose and dreamy feel, which was sometimes difficult to follow as audiobook. That being said, Shepard does seem to write even his prose to be read out loud. The playwright, actor and musician is always there even when not working in those fields. This finds him working in a more melancholy and elegiac mode. All of his work has those qualities, and this still has disturbing or nightmarish moments, but it's clear he's working from a warmer place than usual. At times almost overwhelming in emotion as he describes his family and his own decline in health. It's also very short, I was able to finish the whole audiobook on my morning commute.

christynhoover's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I was looking for something short to listen to as I was cooking this evening and, wow is this a quiet and humble yet powerful reckoning of a life.

gingercatreads's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

thecatbehemoth's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

rastephe's review against another edition

4.0

Vivid and sad, written by the author as he was dying from ALS.

"I'm not trying to prove anything to you. I'm not trying to prove that I was the father you believed me to be when you were very young. I've made some mistakes but I have no idea what they were. And I've never desired to start over again. I have no desire. Maybe we should meet as complete strangers and talk deep into the night as though we'd never seen each other before. All we know is that there is something reminiscent, something mysteriously connected. Sometimes."

jaqieackie's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

aricarri8's review against another edition

“One year ago he could hear the walnuts drop. He could hear the walnuts crush. He could scratch the belly of his Catahoula who had too many puppies. Who his youngest son, his skinny boy, insisted on keeping.
One year ago exactly he could drive across the great divide. He could drive down the coastline. The rugged coast. He could yawn at the desert. One year ago exactly more or less, he could walk with his head up. He could see through the air. He could wipe his own ass.”

It’s strange reading Shepard’s last book, So focused around his death as my first introduction to him. Read it in one sitting which made it flow even sweeter.

msand3's review against another edition

3.0

Shepard’s final work is a brief collection of various voices and perspectives on the approach of death, written in his sparse, straight-forward, staccato prose style. Despite its label as fiction, it feels deeply personal. The fractured narrative transforms Shepard’s observations into something more than a diary of dying, such as one might find in Daudet’s [b:In the Land of Pain|110988|In the Land of Pain|Alphonse Daudet|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402552612s/110988.jpg|106913]. It’s hard for me to review this work, knowing that Shepard spent his final weeks crafting it (first by hand, then through dictation). It’s not a great piece of fiction, but sometimes writing doesn’t have to be great to get across truth. This is an honest, real, and unflinching portrait of the last days of the artist coming to terms with the end of his days. It was worth a read just for that.