Thursday, December 8, 2022

briefer book reviews

(lots of smouldering drama in the small press world lately, thought i'd throw some kindling at it)

 

Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (dalkey): read and enjoyed her debut book, which is a short novel about a scared/depressed old woman. this is a large (~450 page) autofictional book about an author named kjersti skomsvold writing, publishing, and struggling to write a follow-up to her debut book, which is a short novel about a scared/depressed old woman. style-wise this one is heavy on the insecure daily minutia and intrusive thoughts/memories of the narrator and vacillates between present, past, and future tense in a hazy way, merging her obsession with wanting to publish a book, writing the book, and actually publishing the book, referencing things in the future, referencing the writing of this book, and so on, creating a unique, i felt, throughline of expanding or contracting the anxieties of each moment in time. felt like a unique way to write but often not entirely gripping -- started out slower/more boring but then felt more interested once she started attending writing school(s), then less interested when she started studying literary criticism and working on the second book. i was still consistently curious throughout to see what would happen, but didn't feel like the writing style or voice was particularly engaging and instead relied on the plot to pull me in. i did notice and enjoyed a common refrain of referencing/subverting a cliched expression, similar in execution to another theme of people misunderstanding or confusing intentions/terms/expressions, which felt interesting, a cool way of showing, i think, the narrator's deep-set anxieties and lack of social awareness, and also to create humor. made me briefly yearn for the romanticized MFA-type lifestyle until i realized it is basically the same as getting a phd in another field, but perhaps worse. felt like, for as much as it emphasized writing honestly about everything, very little is actually shown/exposed regarding her relationship with Hilde and the guy at the end, which makes me wonder whether this book is as successful, ultimately, as it describes its own criteria for success. still enjoyed it, wished it had more knausgaard in it (she describes meeting him only very briefly, i think describing him as 'wily' or some other word similar to 'mangy'). have had no success figuring out who 'Hilde' is; would like to read her work (i tweeted about this to no avail, googled for a while, and DM'd dalkey archive, but they ignored me).

Goon Dog by Jon Berger (Gob Pile): have read and enjoyed stories by jon on the internet. these are mostly short, sam pinkian, plainly written slice-of-life stories about broke/poor people in michigan doing drugs, dropping out of community college, and fucking around. lots of cumulative heartbreak and looking for escape but with a fun emphasis on people getting (petty) revenge (usually against rich assholes). good descriptions of midwestern things that felt familiar to me, like winter slush and blue salt and shitty cars. felt like the book as a collection suffers from not being coherent enough, in that several stories redundantly describe the same places/characters/ideas, so the book functions as a compilation of similar stories and not so much a unified work; i considered throughout that it could have been reworked into a great, meandering, image-heavy novel. also felt like some of the stories ended too soon, where the content was effectively intended, i think, to convey a particular emotion related to a situation or experience, but includes a lot of backstory, setting you up for a longer story that simply seems to ends too early. more positively, some stories entertain fantastical/sci-fi things in a humorous way, which i considered fun and innovative for this type of writing, and often function as a form of catharsis. found myself laughing sometimes, grimacing other times. enjoyed the sequencing choice of the first story possibly being implemented to turn off some readers intentionally with its very graphic and fucked up deep wound and deep wound care scenes. laughed a lot throughout the bookstore slime story and thought the ending's phrasing was innovative, beautiful, and powerful. enjoyed the emphasis on humanity and empathy for characters and the direct, non-self-pitying description of negative thoughts/feelings. consistently enjoyed every story, would recommend. mad at bram for the C- copy editing.

Naive. Super by Erland Loe: a norwegian book in translation that christian utigard sent me. a short, 'droll' novel about a 20 something man facing an existential crisis from like 1996. a large amount of the book is spent summarizing other things, specifically a book about relativity/physics, television commercials, excerpts from emails/faxes, lists of things the narrator encounters/sees, and library catalog searches. feeling like its main selling point is its decidedly 'european/british' type of dry humor that doesn't appeal to me too much -- my main critique is in how he overworks the humor a little bit, although sometimes it still works pretty well. my other critique is the extensive summarization of other texts and simplistic/reductive plot, including the romantic interest subplot. felt interested in the book seeming 'uncomplicated' -- he faces a minor crisis, engages in self-directed healing, goes to new york and gains some perspective, ends up feeling ok and optimistic, the end. mostly enjoyed the short arc about hanging out with a kid and running errands. had a vague thesis pop into my head concerning gen x in their 20s in the late nineties and their relationships with brands and media, based on having read no logo at some point and the wikipedia article about OK Cola and this book's chapter dedicated to how the narrator loves certain brands, that i don't care enough about to write. wondering if the emphasis on brand loyalty and consumption is meant to be earnest in an 'acceptable' or earnest in a 'subversive' way. the last page of the book made me laugh a good deal, probably the best 'joke' in the book.

Fucko by Lucas Restivo (bullshit lit): traded books with lucas for this. he lives really close to where i used to live in somerville. collection of humorous poetry with emphasis on daily life/work at a restaurant. felt surprised by how 'normal poetry' much of it felt with poetic/complicated/evocative metaphor or word play (lines like "i was raised / to be beside myself") while it seems designed/marketed/promoted to be more conversational and 'fun/silly' (based on e.g. the title, cover, and excerpts posted on the publisher's website). enjoyed moments throughout -- lines like "good god i am so lonely / and swagalicious" remind me of roggenbuck in a good way. made me think more about what appeals to me in poetry, possibly more concrete imagery/ideas instead of more cerebral or linguistic things. felt curious about which printer the publisher uses, based on the feel of the cover/paper and lack of amazon kdp or ingramspark information on the last page. enjoyed that lucas's bio includes his venmo.

the boy scouts handbook from 1911: have enjoyed skimming through and enjoying both practical (and impractical) camping/adventure-related tips as well as early 1900s-era culture stuff, like the ideas for fun games for kids (several were variations on memorizing things and quizzing each other, others involve protracted methods of hide and seek). enjoyed learning that part of the requirements for earning the agriculture badge in 1911 was growing an entire acre of wheat. have found myself in general enjoying the niche topic of "plainly written handbooks about how to live" that include things like how to bathe and brush your teeth, which i've seen in this and other old books. this one includes a comical page about not jerking off because it prevents your semen from going into your blood(?). haven't read in its entirety, probably will never, but will probably enjoy skimming it further. would enjoy playing a particular game based on cockfights, where you have to hold broomsticks with your knees and elbows and knock the opponent out of a ring, or something.

room temperature by nicholas baker: bought this used because crow has recommended him often. read the first two pages while peeing/brushing my teeth, thought "this is a lot of adjectives and adverbs" while confusedly trying to visualize a sweater, and put it on my bedside table four days ago. if i'm being truly honest with myself, open to my own whims and passions in this brief, ludicrous life of mine, then i should admit that i will most likely not continue reading.


(haha, tricked you, you drama-seeking bitch)