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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
an american tradition, December 13, 2005
Tracing the genealogy of Sam Lipsyte's 'Homeland' would lead you back eventually to Frederick Exley's 'A Fan's Notes.'The prototypical book concerning middle-aged substance abuse addicts too well-read for their own good; their literateness serving as a kind of gauntlet as they stumble through a world governed by their illiterate, successful, yet somehow more brutish, less sympathetic peerage. Though the format is highly orginal (the book takes the form of notes written to ones high school alumni newsletter) the protagonist certainly is not, as many other reviewers seem to point out. Something that several reviewers seem to ask as well is 'why should I care about such a self-destructive looser?'
Well, these are the people that probably put down 'A Fan's Notes,' which, whether they are sympathetic to Exley or not, was one of the best American novels of the second half of the century. So what if the obese, over-read and balding looser is a stock character? Such a figure is an ameican icon. An institution, and increasingly resembles the only remaining enclave of literate amercian male citizenry outside of acadamia.
I hear Lipsyte getting compared to a lot of other cynical contamporaries: Chuck Paulinuk, David Sedaris and others. The difference being that unlike many of these writers Lipyte loves, and is a master of, language. This is some of the most skillful, hilarious, and impressive writing to have come along since 'A Fan's Notes.' those of you that can't appreciate Lipsyte's dark wit, and his epic failure of a protagonist Lewis 'Teabag' Minor, well you can just go order yourself a copy of "Tuesdays with Morrie," or sit down with some Tony Robbins motivational tapes and some decaf coffee. Leave Lipsyte to the big boys. A more accurate comparison would be to Barry Hannah; the only other contemporary writer that comes to mind as possesing an equally masterful, hyperbolic and dark humor.
Why only four stars you may ask? Well, towards the latter half the book begins to loose the format of 'notes to an alumni magazine,' and becomes a bit more of a straight-forward narrative- albeit it an interesting, hilarious narrative. Perhaps this is inevitable given the need for characters to develope more fully. So the book maintains its hilarity, its tone, and its razor sharp language, if not entirely its premise.
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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I wanted to like this..., February 28, 2005
I really did. In the (glowing) review I read, it sounded clever and original, and at first, it was, but unfortunately, it quickly ran out of steam. The main character in this book reminded me a lot of Ethan Hawke's character in "Reality Bites", and I didn't like that movie for the same reason I didn't like this book.
As any adolescent knows, it's very easy to criticize society and those who play by it's rules. It's a lot harder to turn that criticism into insight. Pointing out how foolish the "norms" are doesn't, in and of itself, make you better than them or make you more profound. And ultimately, that's what annoyed me the most about this book- it ended up playing out like some kind of adolescent fantasy, like "It's cool to have sex and do drugs and hang out with degenerates and have no responsibility". Unfortunately, that sentiment is neither new nor novel, and the author offers no new insight into either that lifestyle or those who choose to live it.
Still, I'm giving this 3 stars. It reads quickly, and there are enough funny scenes scattered through out that it will at least keep you interested and entertained, if not enlightened.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lipsyte Has Arrived, January 28, 2005
Sam Lipsyte sees things more clearly than most writers, and he doesn't flinch. What is portrayed by even his admirers as over-the-top satire strikes me as a dead-on adumbration of every value Americans hold dear, every piety we utter, every meaningless counter that marks our status. While the marvelous conceit of this book--letters to a alumni newsletter--has been recognized and applauded, what hasn't really been remarked upon is that in firing off his jeremiads, Lewis Miner's is a voice speaking into a void. There is no wise and simple man in his Connemara clothes waiting for Lewis's epistles. This book is funny, yes: laugh out loud funny. But it is also dark, a blending of the intense and somber tones of VENUS DRIVE with the brighter and more detached comedy of THE SUBJECT STEVE. It is also very wise: Lipsyte posits no solution to the waste he portrays, no utopian ideal to which his book serves as an illustration of its dystopic opposite. Yet Lewis Miner leaves us with hope, he threads his way through the sheer, glittering, noisy, cacophanously glorious surface of Lipsyte's book to find his way to a sort of self-knowledge. Buy the book.
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