i have had a lot going on since december, when i last posted book reviews on this blog, and for a brief time didn't read very much, or write much, but then started trying to more actively read and write this summer, which was a good decision and resulted in me being very productive in both things. these are all the complete books i read since december 2024. i noted having started and either abandoning or pausing several others, which i don't review here, in my recent email newsletter. versions of a couple of these reviews also appeared in beyond the last estate. i also read several print literary magazines and possibly 500 board books/children's chapter books. but you don't care about those as much, do you? didn't think so.
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (FSG, 2024): I enjoyed the
emphasis on staccato half-thought sentences and general stylistic
progress that Rooney brings here relative to her earlier books, but
plot-wise this one is more or less indistinguishable from a Hallmark
Channel rom-com. i felt like there was an above-average pandering emphasis on
lit-chick romance by way of to the interiority of the narration, which allows
us to marvel at a 22 autistic chess master virgin feeling like
he's virtuously "protective" of his partner during most of their fuck
sessions. mostly hated the polyamory b-plot with the brother, in which one
woman with a physical disability and another woman with just some kind
of general baseline stupidity merge Voltron-like into the perfect woman
vis-a-vis throupledom. would recommend for the writing, wouldn't recommend for the horrible aftertaste the plot left me with.
The Valeries by
Forrest Muelrath (Expat Press, 2024): an email-rant-as-slim-novel about
blackmail, transness, adrenochrome sex party conspiracies, and
synthesizers, among other things. enjoyed the Hannibal Lecter-esque of
our narrator, the smouldering tragic ironies, the moments of digression into less plot-central memories (like about the painting in the office building), and the diaristic temporal
structure. Ddidn't enjoy the pomo wrapper or some of the writing line by
line, where it's hard to tell how much is because of the character's
voice or the author's style. felt like more elements could have been
fleshed out and beefed up to really let the reader into our
interlocutors' intriguing histories, because the conceit is interesting and well-constructed. a rare case of a book that could have been longer and still be good/better. curious to see more by muelrath
that isn't locked into such an extreme character.
A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (1929): got this because crow recommended it, i think, but i associate it with sebastian castillo for some reason. a strangely paced, vaguely picaresque novel that follows a few children on a journey from jamaica to england by boat. i liked a lot of the phrasing and the general voice; it's from the end of that era where punctuation is all over the place, with lots of colons, semicolons, and dashes sort of intermingling and touching each other sensuously. structurally and stylistically i felt confused in a good way; it often reads alternately like a children-oriented adventure story and a work of great literary fiction; for a while i thought it was simply a children's book by a sort of outsider writer, or something. i greatly enjoyed the brief moments of extremely dark humor, the strange psychological analysis of the children, and the way he'll include interesting scenes that serve little 'purpose' for the greater plot. i didn't really care for what i imagine was some of the humor of the era, and felt frustrated and confused by some of the beginning chapters. felt like some of the passages dragged on. both enjoyed and didn't enjoy the ending – on one hand i liked the sort of profound and dark ending, but on the other hand i felt like it invests too much into emphasizing what felt like a sort of lesser plot point, thus making the whole arc feel imbalanced. would recommend.
Waiting for Godot by samuel becket (1952): i've previously read and enjoyed two of becket's novels and a portion of another, and had never read this despite its fame (i found it at the thrift store). a two-act, existentialist, vaguely absurd play about two old, destitute men waiting for godot. felt surprised and confused by the presence of pozzo and lucky, which made the play sort of different from what i had expected, i think. enjoyed a lot of the lines (e.g. "that's how it is on this bitch of an earth") primarily for their unexpected delivery. enjoyed the blocking and movement notation. enjoyed various other little aspects. feels like i will never be able to write anything as masterful. would recommend.
Woodswoman by anne labastille (penguin, 1976): purchased on a whim at a used book store. a memoir about a woman divorcing her husband and building/moving into a cabin on a remote lake in the adirondacks. enjoyed the vocabulary and nature writing, when it's there, but felt disappointed in how much of the book focuses on things other than just living in the woods, including a prolonged, romantic hike along a train track, a trip to washington dc, and extensive scenes of people visiting her and complimenting the cabin. didn't enjoy the many didactic, hamfistedly recreated conversations where people say that pollution is bad, especially in contrast with her prolonged love letter to snowmobiles. darkly enjoyed how much of her success could be attributed to people selflessly dedicating weeks of their time and use of their specialized tools and machinery for free. enjoyed various anecdotes about people dying or getting injured. felt frustrated by how little time she actually talks about living in and enjoying the wilderness compared to how much she talks about people and random historical fun facts. not sure i would recommend.
Perfection by vincenzo latronico (NYRB, 2025): originally published in italian in 2021, this is a short novel about two
italian freelance graphic designers living in Berlin. it is mostly an empathetic critique of gentrifying eurohipsters, opening with a 4 page
description of an immaculately inviting apartment rental (full of monstera
plants & turntables) and ending with a similarly inviting bed and
breakfast resort (natural wines, custom furniture), but the two
protagonists are insecure, overworked, and embarrassed by their failure
to enjoy having everything they want. i like the stylistic play of tense
and aspect – early chapters are plotlessly in the imperfect (they would
go here, they would do this) while the final chapter is in the future
(they will do this, they will go here) – but didn't feel like it offered
much beside the surface critique of cyclical hipsterdom, (already outdated) social media usage,
and the role of gentrifying tech expats in hip cities. the characters are formless and vague by
design – as stand ins for presumably any number of italian hipsters in berlin – but this makes it hard to root for them, or even hate them, which
maybe is the point, although it ends up feeling as impersonal as the
helvetica neau-tinged websites the protagonists make on their macbooks. as such it serves more of a svelte and hip, surface-level critique of something that doesn't really even matter enough to merit critique.
All Fours by Miranda July (Penguin Randomhouse, 2024): I've read
and enjoyed two of July's previous books and watched and enjoyed at
least one of her movies before. this is a new autofictional novel about
miranda july emotionally cheating on her husband (part 1) and then
physically cheating on her husband (part 2) and then more or less
dissolving her marriage to have a bunch of sloppy sex with people and
cry to her husband when they dump her (part 3). i enjoyed aspects of
july's eye for insightful, strange imagery, which i think are reflected
in her films well, but found the story overall to be frustrating and
uninteresting and the prose to be generically action-oriented and
style-less. i had a hard time finding anything redeeming about the
character of july and i don't really find her journey into
perimenopausal lesbian sex particularly liberating. the character feels
like a narcissistic, selfish black hole, which i think has the potential
to be interesting, but you can tell the author supports and identifies
as the character in such a way that there is no real takeaway or
insightful commentary on this aspect of the plot, or really anything the
book covers. the recurring panic flashbacks about a scary birthing
story, in my read of it, reads as a manipulative motif to create a sense
of empathy in the reader, and is hamfistedly breadcrumbed as a b-plot
the entire book in a way that feels hopelessly "big press literary
fiction". enjoyed the moments of gender-bending sex scene writing, e.g.
when she describes masturbating as "jerking off", such that the end
results reads almost identically to some bad erotica a 14 year old boy
would write. enjoyed other random snippets of scenes or the occasional
turn of phrase and, like i mentioned, intriguing physical imagery and
description, like the spraypainted chair. disliked the imbalanced
structure, with part 1 comprising half the whole book (slow,
weariness-inducing), and part 4 only being like 5 pages (rushed,
pointless-feeling). would not recommend.
moth girl by calvin westra (expat press, 2025): have read and enjoyed westra's previous two novels. this one is told mostly via short paragraphs describing text message exchanges filled with patented westraesque references to strange circumstances/in-world-pop-culture via slow reveal (e.g. a breakfast skillet that can kill you, bird-operated fighting mech battles) and a john darnielle-style ominous horror subplot. enjoyed the narrative device of quoting and summarizing text messages, the humor of the characters, the setting (mostly in shittown colorado), the slow drip of the explanation of bewildering references, and the audacity of such a solid non-sequitur ending. quite liked the way the conversations via text message include a natural messiness for comedic effect - people talking past each other, getting confused, etc. felt like the first two sections got a little repetitive by the end, and i mostly enjoyed the metafictional third section for its narrative ambition/cleverness, but vaguely felt like it also sort of undermines/over-explains the intriguing narrative of the first two sections, and also frustratingly reframes the book as autofiction (albeit possibly not real autofiction) than something more progressive/experimental. felt like the typesetting included too much white space/large font, so the book is needlessly physically big, but i like the cover a lot. overall i think it's good, readable, compelling, and unique. would recommend.
rejection by tony tulathimutte (william morrow and company, 2024): never read anything by him prior to reading this, but got it due to it being a widely praised, alt-adjacent big press collection; the internet/press materials seem unclear whether this is a story collection or novel, but in any case i feel like it fails at either/both, so maybe it doesn't matter. it's composed mostly of long, 1st person diatribes by caricatures of contemporary life people, with strong emphasis on social media/internet shit, politics/culture war bullshit, and sexual/racial identity. my biggest complaint is that the stories/chapters never really surprise or delight: each starts as an obvious, mean-spirited caricature of some loser asshole and then just makes the same caricaturizing joke over and over again until it ends (albeit sometimes in a pointlessly slapstick way). as such there never feels like any narrative propulsion or reveal to any of the stories - most stories/chapters just protractedly bludgeon you with their 'comedic' thesis statement over and over again, often based on trying to ridicule some particular amalgam of contemporary stereotype (social justice warrior guy, lgbtq poly people, instagram addict chick, startup entrepreneur dude) and 'showing off' how much random internet-brained jargon and references he knows. i was having a hard time understanding why i didn't even feel compelled by the super long, absurd, fantastical description of a ridiculous, cartoonish porn video request, but i think it's because there's still so little development throughout, the same gag more or less repeated in slight variations for fifty pages with no character or plot development, reflection, or even interaction between characters. there's then a needlessly melodramatic and 'clever' mfa-workshop-style list poem about rejection, and some shoehorned in jokey nod toward metafiction (an invented internet conspiracy about timothy being the author of an in-fiction story) and then – jesus christ, really – a fake rejection letter about the book you're reading that, again, doesn't do anything novel after the first page, but goes on for some ungodly number of pages anyway, trying to preclude itself from serious criticism by self-consciously listing problems with the book you just read, as if trying to manipulate you into thinking it's better than it is. wouldn't recommend.
first snow on fuji by yasunari kawabata (1958): a collection of short stories. i don't really remember much about any of them in particular, aside from one of them actually being a vaguely incomprehensible play, but i remember liking them. very much standard kawabatan fair; i think one was about a flower that bloomed in a small divot in a large boulder. would recommend, i think.
beauty and sadness by yasunari kawabata (1964): a short-ish novel that continually surprised me in terms of the plot development but ends in a sort of silly way. it's about a novelist visiting kyoto and thinking about getting in touch with a beautiful female artist he knows from his past. enjoyed the slow reveal about their relationship, him being kind of a huge piece of shit with an idiot son, the rumination on autofiction, the lesbian subplot, and the denouement hamfistedly using a man-made lakeside resort as a symbol for japan's modernization. never really knew what would happen next in both a literary and thriller-y way. not sure it stands out in terms of his nature writing or interpersonal drama writing, so unsure i would recommend relative to his other novels.
breath by james nestor (2020): a nonfiction book about breathing, with emphasis on the negative health effects of mouth breathing and consuming processed foods (lack of time/effort spent chewing). explores a mix of contemporary scientific study, first-hand experimentation (starts with him plugging his nose completely so he can solely mouth-breathe for two weeks, then does the reverse for two weeks), and historical curios (catacombs, nepalese yoga, mewing, psychedelics, a theory about reciting the rosary as breathing exercise). found it mostly engaging, curious, non-preachy, and informative, and have been personally inspired by it to tape my mouth at night (and use a magnetic nostril expander), which seems to have cured the severe sleep apnea i unexpectedly developed in the spring (highly recommend doing this). would have enjoyed more advice on practical application of some of the discussed exercises and practices, but i think - in a good way - it's designed not to be be a "this is how you fix your life" self-help books but instead a series of open-ended questions based on a number of interesting observations. found it readable, albeit occasionally confusingly written, with rushed endings in most chapters. would recommend.
american lit by jennifer greidus (querelle press, 2025): jenn is my friend (mark kozelek voice) and editor/founder of x-ray lit. this is a novel about a gay teenage boy who navigates blossoming high school romance, marijuana/sex addiction (due to the trauma of his father dying before the novel starts), and trying to seduce his american literature teacher. i found it competently-written, readable, moody, horny, well-paced, unpredictable (positive), and engaging, despite realizing that it is more or less definitionally a young adult romance book with a light dennis cooperian turn in the second half. found it interesting that all the (living) adults are absent, stupid, manipulative, and/or evil, while all the teenagers are friendly, supportive, and kind. laughed imagining a school where 99% of the boys are gay, due to the frequency with which the protagonist mentions having hooked up with every male background character. enjoyed the very fat, heart-of-gold drug dealer character who constantly rubs and pats his big fact belly. would have enjoyed more about tennis (and the associated trips to play tennis) and less about the teacher. would recommend.
fresh, green life by sebastian castillo (soft skull, 2025): sebastian is my friend (mark kozelek voice), but even is he wasn't, i would still have enjoyed this book. it's a short novel about a silly, self-serious adjunct professor who goes on a brief, ill-fated adventure to the philadelphian suburbs. enjoyed the voice/style and the misanthropic demeanor of the idiot protagonist and the slow, comedic reveal of certain plot points/context. really enjoyed and laughed at lot at the scene with the old advisor, which i think is the highlight of the book. didn't care for the longish, detached/oblique description of social media websites. enjoyed the various small and comedic scenes, like seeing people watch tv through a front window and the lecture. found it overall a strange, clever, funny, and absurd book that takes many refreshing structural and narrative risks, despite the way most reviewers seem bent on discussing it just in terms of culture war bullshit and inceldom/masculinity. would recommend.
spring tides by jacques poulin (archipelago press, originally published 1986): a short, kind of funny, kind of cozy novel about an autistic-seeming comic strip translator whose boss sends him to a deserted quebecan island, but then the island slowly fills up with silly characters (and two cats). in this sense it's vaguely kafkaesque, but much more calm, silly, and romantic. i enjoyed its simplicity, mood and tone, humor, elements of nature writing, and the brief digressions about translation. enjoyed the different characters, such as the lazy/shitty novelist, the slight ambiguity in interpersonal action and relationships, and the general arc of the story. includes some full reprints of shitty old newspaper comic strips, like the one about a viking, which i've never seen before in a novel. enjoyed a lot and asked for another one of his other books-in-translation for my birthday. would recommend.
autumn rounds by jacques poulin (archipelago press, originally published 2002): a short, cute, wistful, meloncholic, and romantic novel about a near-elderly driver of a bookmobile touring northern quebec and falling in love with another near-elderly woman. enjoyed the emphasis on nature writing, the simple day-to-day minutia, the amount of coffee and hot chocolate consumed, the emphasis on people loving books and music, the inclusion of short nonsequitur-seeming scenes, and the straightforward, earnest progression of the story. would recommend. ordered two more poulin novels after finishing these two.
self-romancing by l scully (dopamine, 2025): i have done several readings with L and enjoy their poetry in a general way. this is a collection of affirmations culled from their instagram, as i understand it, and presented as a poetry collection. as such the poems are blocks of text, with each sentence often starting with "i will" or "i don't", etc., but, instead of what you'd expect from typical affirmations, these leverage enough oblique references to specific, personal events, feelings, and situations so as to function like a form of list poetry. enjoyed the structure/format and effect of the affirmation format to do poetry in general, the juxtaposition of certain ideas and topics, the humor, the refrain of certain elements, and the moments when they break the format to continue a thought across multiple sentences.
alone with other people by gabby bess (civil coping mechanisms, 2013): a collection of short prose and poetry by someone i see mentioned re:
Alt Lit a lot but who i've never read. enjoyed unironically the alt
litness of it, such as the Tao Lin-y "ingesting caffeine"-erisms and
minimalist affectation, didn't enjoy the pretentious chapter headers and subheaders, from both content and design perspectives. enjoyed the stories more, where depressed 20
somethings with shitty jobs make droll observations about America
and Love, although the poems offer some great moments of interpersonal
insight and bleak wisdom. would have enjoyed two separate, fuller collections of each form. would recommend.
kill rudy johnson by rudy johnson (pig roast publishing, 2025): a collection of poetry (and some MS Paint art) lightly framed in a choose-your-own-adventure format paired with an intentionally-broken-seeming website accessible via QR codes. the poems are more or less all multipage pieces with internal narrative arcs, focusing on video games, mental illness, the military industrial complex, childhood, race, and self-loathing. enjoyed the incredibly bleak, dark humor present throughout, the free-associative connection of elements within each piece, the moments of unironic introspection/autobiography, and the over-the-top sci-fi-style conceits used by some of the poems. didn't enjoy the choose-your-own-adventure framing of the book as a whole, since the choices seemed jokey and the results arbitrary - also felt like i would end up in a loop sometimes, which was frustrating. didn't feel compelled by the interactive website element, which again seemed jokey and with arbitrary linkage between the particular book page/text/section and webpage (and probably not optimized for cell phone). didn't like the choice of font (plain times new roman) or cheap white paper (gotta go creme, baby); i have a personal beef with the proprietor of pig roast publishing and consider him beneath me in all ways, and thus relish in whatever petty means i have of dumping on him and his press. but i like rudy's poems. would recommend.
phallic symbols by cletus crow (pig roast publishing, 2024): a collection of mostly short poems revolving around penises, primarily from the lens of homosexuality. i like cletus and his poetry, and published some of these poems on the back patio website. the individual poems are frequently funny and intriguing, and have hints of both classic and contemporary influence, but it sometimes felt a little scattershot as a collection; felt like it would have benefited more from a narrative or stylistic through-line instead of just relying on the penis theme to make it cohere. unrelated to the text, the front cover seems riddled with jpeg artifacts (somehow) and the back cover is the laziest excuse for a back cover i've ever seen. as such one could argue that the pig roast design team should be executed and dumped in a pit before they are allowed to ruin any more nice books. but i like cletus's poems. would recommend.
bipolar cowboy by noah cicero (civil coping mechanisms, 2015): a collection of poetry that is very explicitly about a failed relationship with someone; includes a timeline of events (though few seem relevant to the text) as a sort of preface. really enjoyed it for its often bare, vulnerable, emotionally volatile style which emphasizes explicit events, memories, locations, and people, thought felt it sometimes dwells too much in self-pity and borders on obsession. enjoyed the structure/conceit of the book as a raw-emotion retrospective of a break-up without hiding behind shitty metaphor overall. i have always liked noah's unselfconscious approach to writing and this scratches the same itch as his other books. would recommend (there seems to be a new edition out now, from a different press).
