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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
i liked it a lot because of the subject matter and casual style, but it wasnt like super WELL written or anything. nonetheless, very special to have this culture and these ideas represented in this form of media
Cops in New Orleans have a reputation for arresting you for anything. One of those apocryphal charges is "leaning with intent to fall," from which the book gets its name. Clark delivers a memoir in the form of a series of short stories in which certain events often overlap, but are used for different purposes. It's nonlinear storytelling, but still quite easy to follow. His tales of living in punk flophouses, breaking into abandoned spaces, working odd jobs and an aborted attempt at hitchhiking not only kept me amused, but made me feel connected to his life and his friends. And it made me wonder what the hell I'm doing with my life. Where are my stories? Inspiration through desperation? My great-great-grandfather had stories about growing up on a reservation and getting hell out as soon as he could. My great-grandfather had stories about turning around and going back home when a black cat crossed his path and having two families at opposite ends of the parish. My grandfather has stories about moving from Arkansas to Louisiana in a covered wagon, about sharecropping on strawberry farms, about being the youngest tugboat engineer on the Intracoastal Canal and about taking a tugboat from New Orleans to Guam hoping to catch up with his brother, who was fighting in WWII. My father has stories of working on a ranch and riding cattle and how he preferred them to horses, of calling breaks for his construction crew so one of the guys could get out his guitar and sing and play for a while.
Their stories and Ethan's stories make me ask "What will my stories be? What will I risk to attain a little greatness or a little adventure?"
I read the entire book last night, and as I was coming home to start on it there was a train coming by the house. At the front were some shiny, new, graffiti-free tankers, followed by the usual line of boxcars. I wondered if anyone was in them. I wondered about all the stories and lives behind the art scrawled across them. And as I lay on the futon reading I could hear the foghorns on the tugboats, barges and ships in the river. I wondered about my own wanderlust.
I've always been a play-it-safe kind of guy, and the stories Ethan tells about his own life cast him as someone who jumps back and forth across the line between safety and risk. I want to learn from him.
The book is far from perfect. There's a classism pervading it, with him writing off groups of people (and the band Pantera) as "redneck" (a word that pisses me off when used derisively) or "corporate drones." The punk smugness and superiority never fails to get under my skin a bit. It's repeated throughout the book, but it's worth it to get Ethan's writing. He's got an immediacy and realness to his stories. His dialogue feels natural. And the guy is just plain funny when he wants to be. It's a good book. I recommend it.
Their stories and Ethan's stories make me ask "What will my stories be? What will I risk to attain a little greatness or a little adventure?"
I read the entire book last night, and as I was coming home to start on it there was a train coming by the house. At the front were some shiny, new, graffiti-free tankers, followed by the usual line of boxcars. I wondered if anyone was in them. I wondered about all the stories and lives behind the art scrawled across them. And as I lay on the futon reading I could hear the foghorns on the tugboats, barges and ships in the river. I wondered about my own wanderlust.
I've always been a play-it-safe kind of guy, and the stories Ethan tells about his own life cast him as someone who jumps back and forth across the line between safety and risk. I want to learn from him.
The book is far from perfect. There's a classism pervading it, with him writing off groups of people (and the band Pantera) as "redneck" (a word that pisses me off when used derisively) or "corporate drones." The punk smugness and superiority never fails to get under my skin a bit. It's repeated throughout the book, but it's worth it to get Ethan's writing. He's got an immediacy and realness to his stories. His dialogue feels natural. And the guy is just plain funny when he wants to be. It's a good book. I recommend it.
Ethan lived a punk lifestyle for years, wandering from job to job and house to house amidst a wild array of colorful friends and foes. He chronicles many stories from his life here, in this short volume.
He's a wonderful storyteller, and I frequently found myself literally laughing out loud at his tales (which I'm not wont to do with books). He lived for several years in New Orleans, and the stories he tells capture the spirit of the city and its hold on people quite well. Sometimes, the stories wander a little too long in the "And this one time, we all got drunk, and..." vein for my taste. Also, as I came to appreciate Ethan and his ideals and hopes, and identify with him, the chaotic nature of his life was sometimes a bit emotionally tiring. But overall, he inspired me to think about freedom and authenticity in my own life, and how to have more of it... and he spins a very fun yarn.
He's a wonderful storyteller, and I frequently found myself literally laughing out loud at his tales (which I'm not wont to do with books). He lived for several years in New Orleans, and the stories he tells capture the spirit of the city and its hold on people quite well. Sometimes, the stories wander a little too long in the "And this one time, we all got drunk, and..." vein for my taste. Also, as I came to appreciate Ethan and his ideals and hopes, and identify with him, the chaotic nature of his life was sometimes a bit emotionally tiring. But overall, he inspired me to think about freedom and authenticity in my own life, and how to have more of it... and he spins a very fun yarn.