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A review by kimdenise
Stay Up with Hugo Best by Erin Somers
2.0
The Amazon promotional email suggested this book would remind me of Carl Hiaasen, so I bought it right away. I expected it to be bitter, cynical, and witty, and it is. But it isn't a bit funny. There isn't a trace of Hiaasen's riotous, gleeful absurdity. Hiaasen's bitter cynicism is both fueled and redeemed by his incandescent love for the natural world, while this novel's bitter cynicism isn't offset by anything remotely redemptive. In fact, this novel can't quite rouse itself to bitterness. The best it can do is a sort of agitated ennui.
Still, I'll read Erin Somers again. The writing sparkles. Despite the fact that she spends 272 pages chronicling a depressed and depressing 3-day weekend, the pacing is terrific. She performs the fascinating feat of filling a book with events small and large but leaving the reader feeling as if nothing happened at all. So while I didn't much like this book...I can't wait to read her next one.
Still, I'll read Erin Somers again. The writing sparkles. Despite the fact that she spends 272 pages chronicling a depressed and depressing 3-day weekend, the pacing is terrific. She performs the fascinating feat of filling a book with events small and large but leaving the reader feeling as if nothing happened at all. So while I didn't much like this book...I can't wait to read her next one.