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kleonard's review against another edition
4.0
Any book by Koestenbaum is a dip into his kaleidoscopic mind, where we might encounter anything from musings on size queens to anecdotes about encounters on the subway to beards to art to music to celebrities to fashion to imaginary events and dreams. This collection brings together essays, lists, journal entries, and other short writings that provide the reader with an excellent overview of Koestenbaum's mostly omnivorous thoughts (although there is a definite focus on white people, Jewishness, men, and gay idols) about his life and life in general. If you can overlook what is omitted and revel in what he does think about and how he does it, this latest entry into the Koestenbaum library is dazzling and thoughtful and entertaining and frustrating and a good sampler of his work.
sirhe's review against another edition
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
I picked Figure it Out by Wayne Koestenbaum because his other book My 1980's was not available. This is his most recent book, and it has the second highest rating on Goodreads, so I was like why not.
In this book, Koestenbaum reflects on art, literature, life, pop culture, and writing. He also provides prompts for writing, art, and spirituality. I found the essays on writing, translation, celebrities, porn, and smells interesting. I also noted some of the prompts. That is about a quarter of the book, mostly part two.
The other three parts of the book are too intellectual and inaccessible to most readers. There are also a lot of references to works of literature that are common knowledge to only to Ivy League students. Maybe in 20 years, this CUNY Graduate might become familiar of the content Koestenbaum ruminates on.
In short, I don't want to "figure it out". I should have waited to get the other book, which has essays that focus on Andy Warhol, Susan Sontag, and Frank O'Hara. Robert Downey Jr. rolls eyes meme.
khelemer's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to Soft Skull for the ARC!
Koestenbaum's meandering writings are, as usual, highly affecting. From thoughtful to cringey (Koestenbaum's way of talking about the body and using bodily metaphors is very much not my cup of tea, but is successful nonetheless), the essays in this collection cover a variety of topics that each serve as an epicenter for a blossoming of the author's thoughts, opening up the space for relections that make things complex seem simple, and things simple, complex.
Koestenbaum's meandering writings are, as usual, highly affecting. From thoughtful to cringey (Koestenbaum's way of talking about the body and using bodily metaphors is very much not my cup of tea, but is successful nonetheless), the essays in this collection cover a variety of topics that each serve as an epicenter for a blossoming of the author's thoughts, opening up the space for relections that make things complex seem simple, and things simple, complex.
armandilloh's review against another edition
1.0
I wasn't able to get into a single one of his essays, it seemed to be a jumbled set of unrelated ideas put together haphazardly to try to convey some point that probably flew over my head. Some reflections were interesting but most of the time he lost me and it was a struggle to get through the entire book. And trust me, I tried to "Figure It Out" to no avail.
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