A review by jnzllwgr
Speedboat by Renata Adler

4.0

Stumbled on this republishing from 1976. Looks like it was out of print up until 2013. It reads like a memoir, or entries in a diary…or early William Burroughs before he decided to deconstruct language with the cut-up. It’s modernism with warmth and feeling. I wondered if Eggers or Sedaris were influenced by Adler while reading this. The craftsmanship of every sentence is exquisite and yet it maintains this casual, relaxed, almost conversational style. It’s broken into 7 chapters that are comprised of short, incomplete — let’s call them narratives. Part of me was very frustrated because my mind was flooded with so many disparate trajectories, lacking a plot. But as I read on, the short tales looped and spiraled and became interconnected. You are left with impressions of a life, one lived but not fully recorded. Each segment (some are a few sentences, some a paragraph. A few extend a page or 2) had this quality where Adler appears to intentionally leave the reader hanging, leaving the action off the page and in the life of the persons living the experience. It’s feels a bit flippant, maybe a bit coy. It also feels like the best movies that leave things open ended at the conclusion. I could have read these short aphoristic observations in almost order. I certainly intend on keeping this book at the ready and, when in the mood, just pluck it off the shelf and amuse myself. Adler is incredibly funny and sarcastic.