kellykferguson 's review for:

Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan

4.0

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Pulphead functions much the way of The Braindead Megaphone by George Saunders, a series of essays written for GQ and other publications now put together in an collection. The difference might be that I can sense that Sullivan's heart lies closer to narrative journalism, where Saunders is clearly wedded to the short story. Standouts for me were "Mr. Lytle: An Essay" (so weird that elderly, iconic Southern writers—who seem to have all since deceased in the past decade—always had a "boy") and "Michael," in which Sullivan finds a fresh take on MJ,one that reaches out for the young boy with the pure voice. Sullivan's observations are fresh, and I sense his sincere desire to so not try be the asshole journalist who is, basically, observing the ravages of Katrina or attending a Christian Music Festival to get the story for which he will be paid. Sullivan's semi-Southerness (he's from southern Indiana) helps him fry up frogs with West Virginians in a way that works. We (I include myself) agnostic liberals can be oh, so annoying and that Sullivan was once an Evangelical lends an authenticity to "Upon this Rock."(Although I suppose "lends" still implies "borrowed"). Anyway, hooray that Pulphead has done well, so that NYC publishing can see that readers DO want interesting, well-written stories, well told, that aren't just the ramblings of some celebrity.