Scan barcode
A review by deedireads
Figure It Out by Wayne Koestenbaum
4.0
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/. Thank you to Soft Skull Press and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of this book! It will be published May 5, 2020.
I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book, although they net positive. There’s no doubt that Wayne Koestenbaum is whip smart, astute, and well written. The book’s not long, but it features quite a few essays, divided into several smaller sections. They have lots of different formats and structures, ranging from critique of culture to journal observations to artistic exercise instruction.
I just don’t necessarily think I was this book’s best reader. I wasn’t very familiar with a lot of the people Koestenbaum referenced or critiqued, so those essays were hard for me. I was also glad to be reading on an ereader with a dictionary functionality, because he uses a lot of intense vocabulary words. And yet other essays drew me in and held me there; I particularly liked the ones where he provided writing exercises, the opening essay about chance encounters with two people in NYC, the one about his piano, and the one about words and grammar.
I think ultimately, this book is worth picking up for the moments that will shine for you — and there will be some. Just don’t be afraid to bounce around from essay to essay if you need to.
I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book, although they net positive. There’s no doubt that Wayne Koestenbaum is whip smart, astute, and well written. The book’s not long, but it features quite a few essays, divided into several smaller sections. They have lots of different formats and structures, ranging from critique of culture to journal observations to artistic exercise instruction.
I just don’t necessarily think I was this book’s best reader. I wasn’t very familiar with a lot of the people Koestenbaum referenced or critiqued, so those essays were hard for me. I was also glad to be reading on an ereader with a dictionary functionality, because he uses a lot of intense vocabulary words. And yet other essays drew me in and held me there; I particularly liked the ones where he provided writing exercises, the opening essay about chance encounters with two people in NYC, the one about his piano, and the one about words and grammar.
I think ultimately, this book is worth picking up for the moments that will shine for you — and there will be some. Just don’t be afraid to bounce around from essay to essay if you need to.