Happy Sunday!
The Jays lost, spooky season is over, and nothing matters.
Expect some lacklustre reviews today because I am simply not in the mood.
Onto the books
The theme of my October reading was ‘holy shit, do you remember the pandemic?”
If that sounds bleak to you, you’re not wrong!
The books below include a lockdown love story, work-from-home drama, and a portrait of incel culture.
Was I ready to be thrust back into a 2020 mindset? Absolutely not!
🖼️ The Art of Vanishing, Morgan Pager (2.5)
A love story between a woman and a piece of art. No, not figuratively.
The Art of Vanishing was magical realism done to the most ‘meh’ degree.
The mustached man from Matisse’s The Music Lesson (below) falls in love with a down-on-her-luck janitor. A Harold and the Purple Crayon-style romance ensues. It could have been cute (who wouldn’t love to run through famous paintings all night???), but I was mostly bored. A LOT of the plot was lamenting, yearning, and generally not communicating.
The audiobook also suffered from an unfortunate French accent… I know that’s not the author’s fault, but it kind of is for choosing this leading man. Why not the statue of David? Why not a Greek God? Surely art is filled with more bonified hoties than this dude with the sausage fingers???
Anyway… I’m giving this 2.5 stars purely because of the pandemic section. I enjoyed reading about lockdown from the perspective of famous artworks who grappled with not being seen or admired.
👁️ Of The Flesh, (3)
A collection of modern horror stories, including a child with an eel in his belly who craves broccoli and an African immigrant attaining citizenship via violent trials.
Rating short story collections is tricky. I liked some, I disliked some, and based on the Goodreads synopsis, I forgot the majority…not a great sign! Was the book uninteresting, or am I just forgetful? A question we simply cannot answer in the time we have today.
🎤 Harriet Tubman Live in Concert Bob The Drag Queen (3)
Historical figures have come back to life, and Harriet Tubman teams up with a music producer to make a hip-hop album
If there’s one thing I love, it’s a batshit crazy premise. Bob delivered; however, I don’t think this went far enough! I never felt like I really got inside the main character’s mind and emotions, which I could have overlooked with more wacky antics. Who is Harriet following on Instagram? How does she feel about Labubus?? Facelifts?? The WNBA?!? Ultimately, this felt more like a screenplay than a novel, especially since Bob produced two original songs as Harriet Tubman for the audiobook. Hello!?! Put this on Broadway ASAP!
Wanted a chance to write some good music
I mean some hood music
I’m talking ’bout I wish a motherfucker would music
Liberate my people through the swamps and the woods music
Never would have made it if I didn’t know I could music💻 Several People Are Typing, Calvin Kalsuke (4.5)
A work-from-home comedy told entirely through Slack messages.
The plot starts when an employee accidentally uploads his consciousness into Slack. That sentence alone should be enough for you to buy this book.
This was delightful! Weird!!! Existential!!!
Calvin wrote a novel for people who like Severance, but also want to giggle. This is for the girlies who create gossip side Slacks. This is for anyone who’s had futile conversations with Slackbot (a pivotal character). This is for professionals who’ve bullshitted their way through a directionless brief. This is for anyone who’s looked at their computer screen and felt like it would be better to howl into the void than spend another day online.
Several People Are Typing lost .5 stars because there was a weird body-swapping thing at the end that I didn’t love, but I’m willing to overlook it for the sheer joy this story brought me! :dustystick:
🙅♀️Rejection, Tony Tulathimutte (5)
A collection of interconnected short stories that have moved me, changed me, completely ripped apart and rebuilt my understanding of the world.
Holy shit. I don’t even know what to say. This is a Millennial fiction masterpiece! I listened to the entire thing in one sitting. I was transfixed. Gobsmacked! Flabbergasted!!
I simply cannot comprehend how Tony conceptualized and executed this level of satire. This is genius. This is perfection from top to bottom. The end?!! TONY!! I BOW DOWN TO YOU, MY LITERARY KING!!
I will be buying a physical copy and re-reading ASAP, to do a better review with annotations. Right now, I am too stunned to provide any commentary beyond “wowzers.”
Also, he left himself this 5-star rating, and I love that:
Last Thought:
Epilogue
What did you read this month?
Anything I should add to my TBR?