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kellymce's review
2.0
Mixed bag. A few gems, but also a few more masturbation jokes than seemed really necessary.
hollowspine's review
4.0
A collection of stories, featuring themes of awkwardness, the absurdity of American culture, coming-of-age, being different...being the same...and did I mention the awkwardness?
Even though the stories often made me remember my own awkward moments and cringe in embarrassment, I really enjoyed reading each story. His writing was very insightful (just as in the Eternal Smile) and goes beyond storytelling to ask readers to question and to remember and to connect with the characters in his work.
My favorite section, of course, was the autobio section, I could really sympathize with some parts, especially feeling as if "someone" was out to make everything go wrong and in Island, the question at the end is also one I might ask, being someone who prefers to be alone as well, is it that I like it or that I'm just trying to protect myself from pain by pretending I'm happier alone? I also do not know, I can't tell the difference.
I will definitely look forward to reading more!
Even though the stories often made me remember my own awkward moments and cringe in embarrassment, I really enjoyed reading each story. His writing was very insightful (just as in the Eternal Smile) and goes beyond storytelling to ask readers to question and to remember and to connect with the characters in his work.
My favorite section, of course, was the autobio section, I could really sympathize with some parts, especially feeling as if "someone" was out to make everything go wrong and in Island, the question at the end is also one I might ask, being someone who prefers to be alone as well, is it that I like it or that I'm just trying to protect myself from pain by pretending I'm happier alone? I also do not know, I can't tell the difference.
I will definitely look forward to reading more!
geriatricgretch's review
5.0
Jesus, this book fucking spoke to me. As a post-college graduate who's pretty sure (at this point), that I never want to get married, this book was so spot on and heartbreaking that it was ridiculous. Not that it's all about those ideas, but they feature prominently. Especially the idea of going back to your high school town and seeing people you know but don't really want to see. I'm not expressing this very well, so you should probably just read it. The main story, "Same Difference," was by far my favorite (and features a library staff member, hurrah!), but the other short stories at the end were also fantastic.
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