A review by laurensalisbury
Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman

2.0

As much as I wanted to enjoy this novel it was nearly impossible to the point of being hardly readable. I love Chuck Klosterman and his previous non-fiction works but his novelist fiction style leaves something to be desired. The story as a whole is weak and trite, but this is not the reason the book fails. The characters are interesting enough and likable, but the book lacks clarity and a driven plot. When the reader reaches the end of the book suddenly they are thrown into a whirlwind of activity and a tragedy they were not expecting due to the tone throughout the rest of the book. The novel ineffectively leads the reader through the story and shoves a tragic ending into the mix unexpectedly. That being said, the ending was what made this book worth the read and the two star rating. Without the ending the book is a complete flop, but the tragedy works for Klosterman enough to keep me reading.