chaoticbibliophile's reviews
624 reviews

Brilliant collection; every short story is a gem.

No sin fallas y clichés estilísticos, pero interesante en general. Recomendado.

I'm doing this TBR clear-out project because I am shipping my books across an ocean (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYwtv3MwDFU in case anyone's interested), and I quickly stopped logging the books I'm not keeping as DNFs because it seems beyond the intended spirit of tracking my reading here. 

HOWEVER, I wanted to log this one because the terrible prose caused me physical grievance and I am very much DNFIng it. Convoluted flights and dilated thoughts? No thanks. Pick up (almost) any other queer book instead. 

I mean, I get that the book is supposed to be making fun of the douche protagonist (at least I hope so), but he's unlikeable in this now mega-tired failed-writer straight(ish?) dude that I don't have time for (especially in a first person narrative). I will give Kavalier & Clay a shot (maybe, when I find a secondhand copy), but for now this is it for me and Mr Chabon.

Also I did not appreciate the "transvestigating" scene at the beginning, which then became a recurring element. Once again, the narrative may make up for this later in the book, but alas, I shall not be finding out. 

Shon Faye is brilliant, and even if you’re skeptical about yet another book on love, you should be picking up this one. 

This is great, the imagery especially. However, I've borrowed it from a friend for a long time and it's become one of those that I picked up at first quite often then terribly sporadically and now I just want it to be over. That's no way to feel about a book you're reading for enjoyment, so I'm parting ways with it and giving it back to my friend. 

New favorite. 

This was SO meandering with waaaay too much personal anecdotes, though it made some interesting points so I was plowing ahead… until bro started talking about how games is art for nerds in the most random irrelevant way. How the chapters are broken up and things are explained also makes the book feel shallow. I know it’s meant to be accessible for the general public but it felt patronizing and honestly a bit like a good essay endlessly padded out.

This is a strange one; it has plenty of insightful moments but when it comes to tying together all its elements, it falls so short. The writing is alright with glimpses of greatness, but it definitely could have used tighter editing.