Scan barcode
A review by readers_block
Cyclorama by Adam Langer
3.0
a little more than a 3ish
so: this is told in two halves. the first takes place in the late 80s as a group of teenagers are performing a high school theater production of Anne Frank. the second, shorter half, takes place in 2020ish, revisiting those same kids.
the first part of this book I genuinely enjoyed. at the center is the lecherous drama teacher and a cast of characters who are quite fun to read about. there is some real darkness in this, and I appreciated how realistic it felt. the second half, however, was a HUGE let down. I'm so so sick of reading books that turn into a political commentary on Donald Trump, with the author's ego at the center. It's an excuse to stick all their own political opinions in, and often comes out as a flat, black and white portrayal with no nuance. this is exactly the case here. It's SO clear who the villains are, and man are they villainy. They have the wrong political opinions of course, and they're rendered in outsized fashion, a cartoonish version of reality. Every single thing was political in the second half. And I do understand what the author was trying to do with the Anne Frank connection, but I was extremely bummed that was the direction in which it went.
so: this is told in two halves. the first takes place in the late 80s as a group of teenagers are performing a high school theater production of Anne Frank. the second, shorter half, takes place in 2020ish, revisiting those same kids.
the first part of this book I genuinely enjoyed. at the center is the lecherous drama teacher and a cast of characters who are quite fun to read about. there is some real darkness in this, and I appreciated how realistic it felt. the second half, however, was a HUGE let down. I'm so so sick of reading books that turn into a political commentary on Donald Trump, with the author's ego at the center. It's an excuse to stick all their own political opinions in, and often comes out as a flat, black and white portrayal with no nuance. this is exactly the case here. It's SO clear who the villains are, and man are they villainy. They have the wrong political opinions of course, and they're rendered in outsized fashion, a cartoonish version of reality. Every single thing was political in the second half. And I do understand what the author was trying to do with the Anne Frank connection, but I was extremely bummed that was the direction in which it went.