Tag: book reviews

Criticism, Essay

Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash: Another Bret Easton Ellis-Style “Romp” That Examines the Guilt of Privilege—and How That Guilt Ultimately Serves Nothing But the Status Quo

If Christian Kracht’s debut novel, Faserland, was considered a “rip-off” of Bret Easton Ellis’ general style, Eurotrash would also like to submit itself for consideration. After all, its autofiction genre is very much in keeping with what Easton Ellis did for 2005’s Lunar Park (back when “metafiction” was the chicer word to use). And while most people associate BEE with Less Than Zero (which also, … Continue reading Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash: Another Bret Easton Ellis-Style “Romp” That Examines the Guilt of Privilege—and How That Guilt Ultimately Serves Nothing But the Status Quo

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Book Review, Criticism

Perfection: Not So Much an Attack on Millennials as the Things That Shaped Their Formative Years—In Other Words, the Internet

From the very outset of Vincenzo Latronico’s fourth novel (and the first to be translated to English), Perfection, there is a simmering contempt that’s always waiting to boil to the surface, but never does in quite the direct way one might have ordinarily expected before emotional suppression and passive aggression became de rigeur. A description that can, in effect, describe what it means to be … Continue reading Perfection: Not So Much an Attack on Millennials as the Things That Shaped Their Formative Years—In Other Words, the Internet

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Book Review

Getting it Down on the Page, Fearlessly: Madeline McDonnell’s Lonesome Ballroom by Charles Holdefer

Sometimes, an image can perfectly illustrate a narrative while leaving itself open to ambiguities. Think Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter, or Jay Gatsby’s green light. In Madeline McDonnell’s Lonesome Ballroom, the protagonist, Betty Block (née Bird), lives in the shadow of her formidable artist mother, Violet Flowers, whose famous work, The Creation of Violet, is based on an exact replica of Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling … Continue reading Getting it Down on the Page, Fearlessly: Madeline McDonnell’s Lonesome Ballroom by Charles Holdefer

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Book Review, Criticism

Bad Blood: Intermezzo Explores the Complexities of Brotherly Bonds, Broken or Otherwise

Sally Rooney is no stranger to exploring the complexities of the (monogamous) romantic relationship, but with her fourth novel, Intermezzo, the author challenges herself to explore the even more particular emotional intricacies of the sibling dynamic. Namely, among two brothers, Ivan (the youngest at twenty-two) and Peter (the eldest at thirty-two). The Koubek brothers, if you will. Although normally “estranged” (for all intents and purposes), … Continue reading Bad Blood: Intermezzo Explores the Complexities of Brotherly Bonds, Broken or Otherwise

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Book Review

Kat Giordano’s Thumbsucker Gives Permission to Be Otherwise by Charles Holdefer

One possible scenario for this book review could go as follows: 1) old boomer guy reads poetry collection called Thumbsucker; 2) it is highly personal work, written by a millennial; 3) old boomer guy is perplexed or downright annoyed by the preoccupations of the poet; 4) He just doesn’t get it. This review respects the first half of that scenario—but, happily, the second half does … Continue reading Kat Giordano’s Thumbsucker Gives Permission to Be Otherwise by Charles Holdefer

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