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A review by violetpretty5
Not That You Asked: Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions by Steve Almond
5.0
Steve Almond achieves the self-obsessed, self-deprecating postmodern tone Dave Eggers and Chuck Klosterman endlessly fail to deliver. Where those two waffle in tone and tweeishness, Steve pushes forward with confident, lithe prose. Like the best episodes of Arrested Development or 30 Rock, humor exists in almost every line of the funniest essays:
"My [television] appearance lasted five minutes. I was paired with a host whose on-camera persona called to mind a particularly frightening anxiety attack I'd suffered in college. At one point, he stuck his mic inside his mouth so viewers could hear the Pop Rocks he had just inhaled. I know that at least one person saw this segment, because the guy who manages the bar where I go to drink off such experiences told me his wife had seen me. This is what's known, in the writing game, as fame." (p.146)
Almond's other strength is in presenting his underlying messages clearly but without preaching...to avoid excessive fangirling, let me just say I read this in one day because I loved it so much, and the sense of total honesty lets me over look any flaws I might otherwise gripe about.
"My [television] appearance lasted five minutes. I was paired with a host whose on-camera persona called to mind a particularly frightening anxiety attack I'd suffered in college. At one point, he stuck his mic inside his mouth so viewers could hear the Pop Rocks he had just inhaled. I know that at least one person saw this segment, because the guy who manages the bar where I go to drink off such experiences told me his wife had seen me. This is what's known, in the writing game, as fame." (p.146)
Almond's other strength is in presenting his underlying messages clearly but without preaching...to avoid excessive fangirling, let me just say I read this in one day because I loved it so much, and the sense of total honesty lets me over look any flaws I might otherwise gripe about.