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haia_929's review
3.0
This is a trimmed down version of my review, to view the full review visit The Book Ramble.
I received a copy of this book from Grove Atlantic on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This collection of short stories and humor piece by Jesse Eisenberg features work he has already published in other sources, like McSweeney's, and some new content that was previously unreleased. Eisenberg's writing features social commentary that mostly reflects a certain lifestyle in New York but also various other social commentaries can be seen.
I was a big fan of Eisenberg's Bream Gives Me Hiccups series over on McSweeney's so I got really excited when I saw this was coming out in a book. I generally enjoyed Eisenberg's sort of dry sense of humor and really enjoy his social commentaries, though I'm not always certain I'm understanding everything he's commenting on because it's often a specific sort of New York commentary that I'm not super familiar with. I found this book pretty funny, it was divided into 9 parts. To me the strongest was the first part, and after that things sort of slid a bit which left me a little disappointed.
For me the order of the pieces left the book in kind of a weird place. The whole book was funny but the order of things left things feeling a little flat and disappointing because the strongest stuff opened the book and a lot of the weaker stuff was at the end. I still really enjoyed and recommend this book, I just think it could have used a little reordering and editing.
I received a copy of this book from Grove Atlantic on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This collection of short stories and humor piece by Jesse Eisenberg features work he has already published in other sources, like McSweeney's, and some new content that was previously unreleased. Eisenberg's writing features social commentary that mostly reflects a certain lifestyle in New York but also various other social commentaries can be seen.
I was a big fan of Eisenberg's Bream Gives Me Hiccups series over on McSweeney's so I got really excited when I saw this was coming out in a book. I generally enjoyed Eisenberg's sort of dry sense of humor and really enjoy his social commentaries, though I'm not always certain I'm understanding everything he's commenting on because it's often a specific sort of New York commentary that I'm not super familiar with. I found this book pretty funny, it was divided into 9 parts. To me the strongest was the first part, and after that things sort of slid a bit which left me a little disappointed.
For me the order of the pieces left the book in kind of a weird place. The whole book was funny but the order of things left things feeling a little flat and disappointing because the strongest stuff opened the book and a lot of the weaker stuff was at the end. I still really enjoyed and recommend this book, I just think it could have used a little reordering and editing.
bealittlebrave's review against another edition
3.0
Some really original stories in this, but sadly also a lot of Woody Allen wannabe ick.
raincityreads's review
3.0
When I heard that he was coming out with a book, my curiosity was piqued. How much of the humour he portrayed on screen was the writing, and how much was it because he’s a genuinely funny guy? And if he can portray humorous and likable characters so well, how would that translate to the page? What would it be like to spend some time in that curly-haired head of his? These are the questions that drove me, with no small measure of excitement, to dive into his new book head-first.
First, the most important question: Is it funny? Yes. Yes, it is undoubtedly funny. It’s also quirky, eclectic and has some truly squirm-inducingly awkward moments and characters. So pretty much what you’d expect from Eisenberg’s on-screen persona. The book consists of a bunch of different stories, told in different ways. Some are straight narrative, others are a series of letters or text messages or emails. The format variation definitely keeps things interesting, and there were some truly great ideas here. In addition to the humour, there were some unexpected emotional undertones. I ended up feeling quite strongly for some of the characters (others I felt quite strongly that I wanted to punch in the face).
Now for the difficult part. What did I think of the book overall? I went into this really wanting to love it. And there were elements I did love. Eisenberg’s characters on the page, much like the characters he has portrayed on the screen, are awkward and often misunderstood, yet compelling for their foibles and faults. He has a knack for opening their lives to us with an occasionally off-putting transparency, and he had some truly awesome comedic ideas behind many of the stories.
If I had to pick favourites from the actual set of stories, I’d have to go with “Restaurant Reviews from a Privileged Nine-Year-Old” for its concept and main character, who reminded me of Sue Townsend’s famous diarist, Adrian Mole. I also appreciated his ability to take complex social and political references and weave them into humorous stories, in particular the story entitled, “An Email Exchange With My First Girlfriend, Which at a Certain Point Is Taken Over By My Older Sister, a College Student Studying the Bosnian Genocide,” which thoroughly impressed me.
Weirdly, though, the part I enjoyed most in this book was the acknowledgments page, which felt more genuine and un-selfconscious than any of the stories. He dropped the cynicism he seemed to hide behind for the meat of the book, and I found myself wishing this voice had been present in the body of the book. Though the formats and topics of the stories varied hugely, the voice remained consistent – cutting, sarcastic, and somewhat snide at times. While excellent for a short stand-up set, an entire book in this tone left me feeling a bit burned out.
I also had trouble with his female characters. They’re almost universally unpleasant – selfish, unkind, unreasonable, anti-male, fickle. Of course, these portrayals were purposely overdone to be humorous, but by the end of the book my patience wore a little thin.
Now, to be fair, his male characters didn’t fare all that much better – he certainly poked fun at their expense as well, if to a slightly lesser extent. And this is not new ground. Much comedy (particularly of this type) is carefully composed to toe the line between funny and offensive, and which side it comes down on is often more to do with the audience than the material. So I’m trying not to over-react. I’m sure he intended it to fall on the humorous side of the line. But still, I kept noticing the unpleasantness of the female characters as I read, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it difficult.
Unfortunately, by the end of the book, the things that bothered me had begun to outweigh the positives. While the core ideas of each piece were creative and varied from interesting to brilliant, the delivery ultimately fell a bit flat. In some instances the writing needed a bit more punch and slightly better timing to really push the story into snort-beer-out-my-nose-funny territory. Other sections just went on too long while essentially repeating the same content with variations in detail, and by the time I got near the end of these sections I was getting bored.
As I mentioned earlier, and I think bears repeating, my areas of disappointment in this book are at least partly (if not totally) subjective. I know many other bloggers and reviewers have absolutely raved about Bream, and I’m sure many of you will find exactly what you were looking for in these pages.
If you’re a fan of Eisenberg and have been eagerly anticipating his first literary foray, by all means give it a shot. This book is my literary equivalent of The Office – I’m not a fan, but a hell of a lot of other people really, really are. If nothing else, it’s an easy, fun read (even if it doesn’t quite tickle that funny bone into beer-snorting laughter), and if Eisenberg keeps writing, I’ll definitely read his next book.
Read the full review on Rain City Read.
Thanks to Random House Canada for the review copy!
First, the most important question: Is it funny? Yes. Yes, it is undoubtedly funny. It’s also quirky, eclectic and has some truly squirm-inducingly awkward moments and characters. So pretty much what you’d expect from Eisenberg’s on-screen persona. The book consists of a bunch of different stories, told in different ways. Some are straight narrative, others are a series of letters or text messages or emails. The format variation definitely keeps things interesting, and there were some truly great ideas here. In addition to the humour, there were some unexpected emotional undertones. I ended up feeling quite strongly for some of the characters (others I felt quite strongly that I wanted to punch in the face).
Now for the difficult part. What did I think of the book overall? I went into this really wanting to love it. And there were elements I did love. Eisenberg’s characters on the page, much like the characters he has portrayed on the screen, are awkward and often misunderstood, yet compelling for their foibles and faults. He has a knack for opening their lives to us with an occasionally off-putting transparency, and he had some truly awesome comedic ideas behind many of the stories.
If I had to pick favourites from the actual set of stories, I’d have to go with “Restaurant Reviews from a Privileged Nine-Year-Old” for its concept and main character, who reminded me of Sue Townsend’s famous diarist, Adrian Mole. I also appreciated his ability to take complex social and political references and weave them into humorous stories, in particular the story entitled, “An Email Exchange With My First Girlfriend, Which at a Certain Point Is Taken Over By My Older Sister, a College Student Studying the Bosnian Genocide,” which thoroughly impressed me.
Weirdly, though, the part I enjoyed most in this book was the acknowledgments page, which felt more genuine and un-selfconscious than any of the stories. He dropped the cynicism he seemed to hide behind for the meat of the book, and I found myself wishing this voice had been present in the body of the book. Though the formats and topics of the stories varied hugely, the voice remained consistent – cutting, sarcastic, and somewhat snide at times. While excellent for a short stand-up set, an entire book in this tone left me feeling a bit burned out.
I also had trouble with his female characters. They’re almost universally unpleasant – selfish, unkind, unreasonable, anti-male, fickle. Of course, these portrayals were purposely overdone to be humorous, but by the end of the book my patience wore a little thin.
Now, to be fair, his male characters didn’t fare all that much better – he certainly poked fun at their expense as well, if to a slightly lesser extent. And this is not new ground. Much comedy (particularly of this type) is carefully composed to toe the line between funny and offensive, and which side it comes down on is often more to do with the audience than the material. So I’m trying not to over-react. I’m sure he intended it to fall on the humorous side of the line. But still, I kept noticing the unpleasantness of the female characters as I read, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it difficult.
Unfortunately, by the end of the book, the things that bothered me had begun to outweigh the positives. While the core ideas of each piece were creative and varied from interesting to brilliant, the delivery ultimately fell a bit flat. In some instances the writing needed a bit more punch and slightly better timing to really push the story into snort-beer-out-my-nose-funny territory. Other sections just went on too long while essentially repeating the same content with variations in detail, and by the time I got near the end of these sections I was getting bored.
As I mentioned earlier, and I think bears repeating, my areas of disappointment in this book are at least partly (if not totally) subjective. I know many other bloggers and reviewers have absolutely raved about Bream, and I’m sure many of you will find exactly what you were looking for in these pages.
If you’re a fan of Eisenberg and have been eagerly anticipating his first literary foray, by all means give it a shot. This book is my literary equivalent of The Office – I’m not a fan, but a hell of a lot of other people really, really are. If nothing else, it’s an easy, fun read (even if it doesn’t quite tickle that funny bone into beer-snorting laughter), and if Eisenberg keeps writing, I’ll definitely read his next book.
Read the full review on Rain City Read.
Thanks to Random House Canada for the review copy!
zaheerah's review
3.0
I enjoyed the doses of humor and heart, Eisenberg covers a lots of topics such as family, mental and social issues in these short pieces, and I was particularly impressed with Eisenberg's ability to capture the voice of a 9 year old dealing with divorce, rejection and confusion.
Jesse Eisenberg certainly has writing capabilities, but personally this book wasn't for me.
Jesse Eisenberg certainly has writing capabilities, but personally this book wasn't for me.
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