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A review by jdintr
The Fun Parts by Sam Lipsyte
2.0
I've never been to Brooklyn.
I have seen Brooklyn from across the East River several times on visits to The City that never lasted longer than two days, walking along the riverfront, posing for touristy photos with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background.
But I've never been to Brooklyn. I don't claim to be a history or even garden-variety sophisticate in any manner other than some of the [ages of books that fly past my eyeballs.
This is just to say that I didn't get the humor in this book. I could see it from afar--and I stood amazed at the dexterity with which Lipsyte crafted his sentences, and I could see the tropes he was sending up in his plots. But the depth was missing. It's like a painter whose skill you find impressive, but whose work you wouldn't hang up in your living room--or walk-in closet, for that matter. I picked it up, I put it down for months, I finally finished it after 15 months.
I'm sure that it's my fault. There's hope, right? Someday I'll make it to Brooklyn.
I have seen Brooklyn from across the East River several times on visits to The City that never lasted longer than two days, walking along the riverfront, posing for touristy photos with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background.
But I've never been to Brooklyn. I don't claim to be a history or even garden-variety sophisticate in any manner other than some of the [ages of books that fly past my eyeballs.
This is just to say that I didn't get the humor in this book. I could see it from afar--and I stood amazed at the dexterity with which Lipsyte crafted his sentences, and I could see the tropes he was sending up in his plots. But the depth was missing. It's like a painter whose skill you find impressive, but whose work you wouldn't hang up in your living room--or walk-in closet, for that matter. I picked it up, I put it down for months, I finally finished it after 15 months.
I'm sure that it's my fault. There's hope, right? Someday I'll make it to Brooklyn.