A review by lilydoyle6
The Material by Camille Bordas

emotional funny medium-paced

3.5

i liked the writing style of this book and also the fact that it’s set in chicago - always makes me feel homey & like i can immerse myself in the story, since i get all the references. 

there’s a brilliance about this book. how it examines people getting an mfa in standup comedy, the identities of comedians, what they do to get “material,” the cast of characters & personalities it takes to be a comedian. it’s a bit perfect in its absurdity. they’re all walking around, observing life and people, recording random moments in their notes app to mine for material. and the irony is they all get up there and it’s not that great. 

the only thing is the perspective shifts in the book made it feel difficult to follow sometimes where you’d be switching back and forth between people in a specific point in time. but other than that it was pretty good for what it was. i feel like i wanted it to take off a bit more but i liked it overall.