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challenging
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Tulathimutte’s characters are shoe gazers. They’re snails that have been emotionally salted.” -NYT, Dwight Garner
“a lot” is a phrase I’ve used to describe recent reading. This book is the most “a lot” so far and that’s saying… a lot. So let me say more.
The visceral quality of these stories makes them more uncomfortable than the provocative list in my recent review of The World According to Garp. I don’t want even write it out. Writing it would require pulling back the curtain on why exactly it was “a year of damp feet.” It would demand spending a paragraph or more to convey how un-dope DöpeSauce truly is. Nope. Nuh uh.
Rejection is arm’s length feelings at your fingertips. It is one of those looonnnnggg aita posts that you read despite knowing from the first sentence that the answer is yes. It is a “solo debate club” consisting of one lone devil’s advocate.
Ultimately, it is terribly dark, smart, and funny; definitely up there as one of my best reads this year so far. That said, I wish that recommending the book, talking, or thinking about it felt less like condemning myself to it. I get the sense that adopting its perspective wholesale is a conflict of interest. As if doing so could co-sign my acceptance of living in the world Tulathimutte describes. And yet, it’s his brand of pessimism that has me asking “do I even have the choice?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria