Thanks so much for your reviews but funnily enough I've read all those books!!!!
Except
JPod. I told you guys I'm always on the lookout for comedic books or workplace books......
Then We Came to An End by Joshua Ferris
This is an incredibly hyped/hip book right now. It won some kind of award and critics just love it. One unique thing about this book is the narration, the point of view is "We" rather than "I" or "He/She". The entire book is told from the point of view of a collective, and as far as I know, you don't ever get to know the specifics about this collective, beyond that they are employers of an ad agency, while every employee surrounding them is either getting laid off or going through some kind of life crisis.
The tone is also somewhat unique, in that you think the book will be light-hearted fare about the workplace, but it delves into darker material, most notably about one of the higher-ups and her struggle with cancer. I didn't really understand the hype about this book. I just didn't find it that interesting. It was somewhat funny at times, but not nearly as funny as other books I've read. The reason I think critics are going nuts over it is simply because it's timely, in that it's dealing with the recession and layoffs (like the 2009 film, Up in the Air) but so what? That doesn't make it exactly 'good' for me. About 2/3rds of the way through -- somewhere during the cancer interlude -- I put the book down and stopped reading. I'd give it a 2.5 out of 5.
how i became a famous novelist by steve hely
I actually love this one. It's creative, it's hilarious, it's innovative, it's witty, it's sardonic, it's well-written ... what else can I say? It's an incredibly interesting idea for a fictional novel, in that the narrator is outlining his quest to make the Great American Fiction Novel -- not the ones that are respected, like Everything is Illuminated, or The Corrections, but rather the trite, treacly, heartwarming 'crappy' books that nobody respects but people like Oprah or stereotypical bookclubs might push -- "Middle America" -- no offense to anyone meant by using that term! The author sets out to create one of these hugely profitable 'crappy' non-respectable books and tries to figure out the perfect formula to do so. I thought it was great, and very funny, so I'd give it a 5 out of 5.
He's a Canadian author who is credited with coining the term "Generation X" and as a Canadian I so want to like his books, but so far, it hasn't worked.
I've tried
Microserfs (thought while some themes were of interest, it was sooooooooooo dull) and I've tried
All Families are Psychotic (again, I like the idea of dysfunctional families, but it was a bit on the gross side for me, kind of disturbing and the tone didn't make me feel good, and basically, I have no idea how I'm better off after having read it). The thing is, I read the backcovers and his books always SOUND like they're going to be of huge interest to me, and then I read them and I am just so not moved. It's like books totally devoid of emotion. Like a robot has written them. They're just words on the page. I don't get him! But yet again, his book covers/titles/descriptions have pulled me in, and I recently bought
Generation A (but haven't read it yet). I can't believe I'm giving him ANOTHER chance. I'd give
Microserfs 2 out of 5. I'd give
All Families are Psychotic 1 out of 5.
Hope these can be of use to someone
Again, thanks for the recommendations, more are always welcome.
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