Scan barcode
A review by willwork4airfare
Love & Profanity: A Collection of True, Tortured, Wild, Hilarious, Concise, and Intense Tales of Teenage Life by Steve Brezenoff
4.0
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was very excited to be able to read this book as soon as I saw it, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Love and Profanity is a collection of essays from various writers from different backgrounds about their teenage years. Think, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, but with a cover and title like this, maybe one teens wouldn’t be a little shy about reading in public. My biggest issue with the book is probably just a function of reading an uncorrected proof.
The cover had me under the impression that this would be a contemporary collection, but you actually have an unpredictable range from high school seniors in the twenty-first century to “eleven almost twelve” year olds in 1976. Although it was probably intended to make the point that the experiences and feelings of being a teen are universal and timeless, some of the stories don’t set the stage very well and the uncorrected proof did not include many of the author bios. A longer piece might’ve been able to get away with a little ambiguity, but getting halfway through an eight page piece before finding out the context was unsettling and led to a lot of confused re-reads. While the book is geared towards teens and even suggested for as late as 14+, there were quite a few stories about younger kids which seems alienating towards high schoolers trying to find some connection with their peers.
As for the stories themselves, the quality was generally good and with such a variety, there should be something for everyone. There were a few awesome reads, a few that were well-written but anti-climactic or a little pointless, and even one that I think should be taken out entirely. I would be interested in seeing which pieces were written by established authors and which were current teens on the rise, which should be included in the final edition. The editing was not very tight with either the concept or content—for instance, I didn’t see how a lot of the stories fit their headings (the book was divided into three sections “Love and Profanity,” “Love and Physics,” “Love and Madness”and "Love and Apologies") or how the distinction really contributed to anything.
I haven’t found that this is a genre that many young adults are interested in, but if personal essays are your style, this collection may be worth a read.
I would give it a 3.5 if possible but the potential for improvement before the March 2 publication date will kick it over for now.
I was very excited to be able to read this book as soon as I saw it, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Love and Profanity is a collection of essays from various writers from different backgrounds about their teenage years. Think, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, but with a cover and title like this, maybe one teens wouldn’t be a little shy about reading in public. My biggest issue with the book is probably just a function of reading an uncorrected proof.
The cover had me under the impression that this would be a contemporary collection, but you actually have an unpredictable range from high school seniors in the twenty-first century to “eleven almost twelve” year olds in 1976. Although it was probably intended to make the point that the experiences and feelings of being a teen are universal and timeless, some of the stories don’t set the stage very well and the uncorrected proof did not include many of the author bios. A longer piece might’ve been able to get away with a little ambiguity, but getting halfway through an eight page piece before finding out the context was unsettling and led to a lot of confused re-reads. While the book is geared towards teens and even suggested for as late as 14+, there were quite a few stories about younger kids which seems alienating towards high schoolers trying to find some connection with their peers.
As for the stories themselves, the quality was generally good and with such a variety, there should be something for everyone. There were a few awesome reads, a few that were well-written but anti-climactic or a little pointless, and even one that I think should be taken out entirely. I would be interested in seeing which pieces were written by established authors and which were current teens on the rise, which should be included in the final edition. The editing was not very tight with either the concept or content—for instance, I didn’t see how a lot of the stories fit their headings (the book was divided into three sections “Love and Profanity,” “Love and Physics,” “Love and Madness”and "Love and Apologies") or how the distinction really contributed to anything.
I haven’t found that this is a genre that many young adults are interested in, but if personal essays are your style, this collection may be worth a read.
I would give it a 3.5 if possible but the potential for improvement before the March 2 publication date will kick it over for now.