(This is a guest review by Heather. To submit your own, use the button in the column to the right.)
Link: amzn.to/yHmMDW
Grade: B+
L/C Ratio: 30/70
(This means Heather estimates the author devoted 30% of his effort to creating a literary work of art and 70% of his effort to creating a commercial bestseller.)
Thematic Breakdown:
50% - Writing
30% - Humor
10% - Revenge
10% - Food
Although Bennett is usually the literary nerd in our relationship who reads books about other books, he convinced me to give this one a shot. Initially, I didn’t know what to make of the dramatic narrator, random clips of literature and eccentric writing style. And frankly, it took me a little while to figure out if I was reading a novel or an actual memoir. But at the very least, it was humorous material – and I was surprisingly compelled to continue reading.
Hely’s narrative on the process of writing and the inevitability of procrastination will resonate with anyone who has ever tried to write anything, from a school essay to an actual novel. Many of the passages in the book were laugh-out-loud funny, and others were rather insightful (and various parts were both!).
My biggest complaint is that, at times, the novel felt too much like pure satire and had too many themes squished together (ironically, that’s the same problem with the protagonist’s novel, The Tornado Ashes Club). However if you want a quick, hilarious read with great commentary on our society (I particularly enjoyed the perspectives on Oprah and Amazon) and the current literary world, I would definitely recommend this novel.
