A review by reallivejim
Omensetter's Luck by William H. Gass

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I suspect I may give this one a higher mark after a re-read one day. Gass is an entrancing, vexing author, and though I'm still relatively new to him, I find his mode and spirit incredibly compelling, while admittedly a fair portion of what I've read of his thus far falls somewhat askew from the mark. As for Omensetter's Luck, this is a work replete with incendiary, memorable passages that build into a fever dream. As many will point out, a considerable portion of the book is borderline incomprehensible, but this is clearly intentional that makes the action itself far greater than the sum of its parts. How much one might enjoy this book inspite of or because of this I suppose is contingent upon one's tolerance for deliberate chaos in tandem with one's capacity for joy on a simple sentence-to-sentence level.