• Rated 3 stars

“While the book seems to search for a cohesive structure -- feeling at times like a collection of hastily-strung-together memories -- Kimmel's alternately hilarious and beautifully poignant writing makes even a rather abrupt (and somewhat dissatisfying) ending forgiveable. An easy and fun read. ”

readjulia wrote this review Tuesday, September 11 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Took me a couple of tries to get into this book, which was recommend as a memoir "must read" by Dave Eggers during a recent workshop. (Traig's part of that mythical McSweeney's gang.) Once I got going, it was a breezy read -- great for passing time, but not much that stuck to my ribs after the fact. Some very funny stuff, but also a number of places where it felt like the author was trying TOO hard -- where a heavier editing hand and a "less is more" approach would have lent it the subtlety I think it's crying for.

In eschewing self-pity, Traig maybe errs too much on the side of levity and while you get a glimpse at the nightmare that is an OCD childhood, there isn't really a strong conclusion or any sense of the true impact of the disease, which I suspect is greater than the author lets on. ”

readjulia wrote this review Thursday, August 23 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I know I'm supposed to LOVE this book because, well, it's Dave Eggers and it's GENIUS. And I liked it. I did. I think it did brave things and tried hard and was successful at what it aimed to be. I understand how it has changed the way we read and think about memoir and I think Dave Eggers has a fascinating, strange brain.

That said, a lot of it was simply too long, too indulgent to keep my attention. In fact, it took me several stabs over the course of a few months to finish the thing and, by the end, it felt more like a task than a pleasure. But what do I know?”

readjulia wrote this review Sunday, August 5 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I liked, but did not love, this book. The story centers on Jacob Jankowski, beginning with his life as a 90- or 93-year-old (he can't remember) in a nursing home and flashing back to his previous existence as a vet for a traveling circus during the 1930s.

The story's interesting enough to propel you through it: Just as Jacob is sitting his final exams at Cornell to become a vet, his parents are killed back home in a car accident. In his grief, Jacob leaves the university, walks for miles and winds up hopping a train car belonging to the Benzini Bros Circus. Jacob learns the ropes, joins the gang and falls in love (of course, of course).

What's fascinating about the book is the amount of research that clearly went into it -- from the lingo to the equipment to the actions, you get a glimpse inside the dying world of the family-owned traveling circus. It's not all fun and games, either. There's a dark side to it all.

That said, I didn't find the book very satisfying. Perhaps it's because I didn't believe Jacob's choices from the very beginning and none of the characters really made me root for them. I especially got hung up on the dialogue and action sometimes as it was cliche to the point of being distracting. (How many times can the heroine press her hand to her mouth to avoid crying?)”

readjulia wrote this review Sunday, August 5 2007. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Spare and haunting tale, written with great precision and a lyrical grace. It purports to be the tale of two sisters whose lives are irreversably affected by the appearance of a young man at their Saskatchewan home during the dust bowl days of the 1930s. However, the story really belongs to the younger, darker and stranger of the two sisters, Norma Joyce, whose life it follows over the course of four decades.

The sisters have already suffered their share of tragedy -- losing a brother and their mother -- when Maurice Dove appears. He is a student of plants and weather, in the area to do research. Initially he is drawn to Lucinda, the older and more beautiful sister, but Norma Joyce soon engages him with her intensity and intelligence. The book follows Norma Joyce's interactions with Dove which take her from the relentless hardships of Saskatchewan to Ontaria to New York City in her pursuit in becoming something close to whole.

It's a book about relationships, family, betrayals, art, education, self-worth and obsession. You might also pick up a few things about prairie grasses and weather, if that's what you're into.

From a writer's point of view, this is an extremely interesting work, eschewing all the "rules" -- shifting from present to past tense in places, dancing through viewpoints with selective omniscience. It's the kind of book you want to read once for the story, then dive back into again for the writing. ”

readjulia wrote this review Sunday, August 5 2007. ( reply | permalink )