This is not really a sequel, as it has nothing at all to do with the first Dirk Gently book. This is a totally new adventure: one that makes slightly more sense than the first one, but still isn’t as good as the Hitchhiker series. That seems unfair, though – what could possibly be as good as Hitchhiker? Kate is an American living in London who becomes embroiled with a large blond man who claims to be Thor. Why Thor takes a shine to her […]
This book had some great elements that just did not come together in any cohesive way
Rob Delaney is apparently the funniest man on Twitter. I am not on Twitter, but I recognized some of the tweets in this book, so he must be funny enough to register on my non-Twitter radar. He acts, some. He’s also a decent writer, with a very sad and painful history of alcoholism that has led him to some very bad decision-making. Unfortunately, he combines all these elements (humor, career, alcoholism, stupid stunts) into one short collection of stories, with no sense of direction or cohesion. “I […]
I’ve been looking forward to this one, and it did not disappoint
I remember seeing Anna Kendrick in the first Twilight movie, and loving her. She was such a fun, bright spot in a really terrible movie. Then I saw her in Up in the Air, and thought, this one will be a star. Since then, I mainly associate her with Pitch Perfect, and her amazing Twitter account. This book is basically an expanded version of her Twitter — awkward stories that will make you cringe and crack up. “I lost a Tony award to Broadway legend Audra McDonald when I was […]
Coyote, the trickster god, is not someone you want in your life
This was the perfect book to bring to the beach a couple weekends ago. I could read a chapter, yell at my kids, read another chapter, chat with my mom, pick it back up and never lose the plot. It was simple and fun. “Religion was supposed to be a matter of faith. Gods were not supposed to jump on your desk and snarl at you. They weren’t supposed to sit in your office smoking cigarettes. God’s didn’t do anything. They were supposed to ignore […]
“This was when I learned one of the biggest secrets of being a woman, which is that much of the time, we don’t feel like we’re women at all.”
When you’re name checked in someone else’s review of a particular book you’re somewhat obligated to track it down. “I was a woman sobbing in a hotel corridor, which is kind of incredible, because when I was little I thought I was going to be a senator.” Jessi Klein was a tom boy growing up, often confused for a budding lesbian, who grew into what she refers to as a “tom man.” As an adult she continues to feel like an outsider looking in on […]
“Barrel Fever” is the DTs, FYI
I’ve only ever read non-fiction by David Sedaris, and generally really enjoyed it. This book is primarily fiction, with a few non-fiction stories thrown in at the end. Maybe I’m just hopeless, but I hated the fiction stories in this book. I thought they were mean and not funny. The non-fiction at the end is pretty typical of what I expect from Sedaris, and saved this book from a 1 star rating. The short stories, most if not all written from first person view, generally tell stories about […]