A review by kurtwombat
Silver Screen Fiend: Learning about Life from an Addiction to Film by Patton Oswalt

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

2.75

Expected to like this better than I did. I like Patton Oswalt and love movies but this didn’t really gel for me. Ostensibly, this was supposed to be about his becoming a movie maniac for a couple years in such a manner as to negatively affect the rest of his life. He discusses not being in a good space when he went into the mania and being in a better space when coming out but never satisfactorily discusses why he went in or came out or the underlying causes. He whips from one movie to another, maybe the point, but that is irksome to a movie fan. His writing is unsettled through these parts—forced and uncomfortable—like he is still trying to come to grips with it. Where he is at his best, is describing the world of stand-up and some of his personal relationships. These portions are crisp and brisk and too few. The narrative jumps around giving the feel of a loose wheel making a wagon wobble. Really liked a structure he has using Van Gogh’s NIGHT CAFÉ painting to represent pivotal moments in his life but after a promising start that too falls into disarray. A clear concept becomes muddled with repeated applications. Feels portions that didn’t fit into other books were cobbled together to form this one. Mildly enjoyable but mildly disappointing.