Take a photo of a barcode or cover
melissasarahrobinson 's review for:
Larry and the Meaning of Life
by Janet Tashjian
Janet Tashjian’s The Gospel According to Larry is one of the top five books that I recommend to teens looking for something good to read. So naturally, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Larry and the Meaning of Life.
18 year old Josh Swenson has had an eventful few years. At 16, he started a website that made him a world-wide star, and at 17 he ran for President of the United States. It’s little wonder that at 18, Josh (who created his website under the pseudonym “Larry”), is suffering from depression and wondering where he fits in the world now. Looking for answers, Larry goes to a special place of inspiration: Walden Pond. At the pond he meets Gus, a spiritual guru, who leads classes for young people. Josh somewhat reluctantly joins Gus’s followers, hoping to find a way out of his funk.
From there, the plot is far too convoluted to summarize, but suffice to say that it involves paint by number sets, land mines and decapitated dogs (unrelated to the land mines). Part of the appeal of Larry’s stories has always been their quirkiness, but unfortunately, Tashjian seems to have wandered out past quirkiness and into simply odd. While neither The Gospel According to Larry or Vote for Larry would be labeled “slice of life” novels, Larry and the Meaning of Life strains credulity a bit too far. This one will disappoint fans of Larry and is unlikely to attract newcomers.
18 year old Josh Swenson has had an eventful few years. At 16, he started a website that made him a world-wide star, and at 17 he ran for President of the United States. It’s little wonder that at 18, Josh (who created his website under the pseudonym “Larry”), is suffering from depression and wondering where he fits in the world now. Looking for answers, Larry goes to a special place of inspiration: Walden Pond. At the pond he meets Gus, a spiritual guru, who leads classes for young people. Josh somewhat reluctantly joins Gus’s followers, hoping to find a way out of his funk.
From there, the plot is far too convoluted to summarize, but suffice to say that it involves paint by number sets, land mines and decapitated dogs (unrelated to the land mines). Part of the appeal of Larry’s stories has always been their quirkiness, but unfortunately, Tashjian seems to have wandered out past quirkiness and into simply odd. While neither The Gospel According to Larry or Vote for Larry would be labeled “slice of life” novels, Larry and the Meaning of Life strains credulity a bit too far. This one will disappoint fans of Larry and is unlikely to attract newcomers.