Customer Reviews

Little New York Bastard: A Memoir

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

After the death of his dog, and then of his father, the 20-something author of this memoir leaves Queens for Chicago, hoping to find authenticity but instead finding just another city. Original.

LITTLE NEW YORK BASTARD just hit me right. To describe it: it's a sort of book-on-the-road novel, told from the point of view of a raving (but always funny), wacky malcontent. And the author nails the "voice" completely: think of an updated Holden Caulfield/younger Archie Bunker: in a word -- Hilarious. He's also nailed the dreariness of places he writes about with great ease, particularly Flushing Queens, where this reviewer lives. (Will I ever get out of here? I keep praying.) Anyway, I purchased this novel along with THE LOSERS CLUB (part of some Amazon 2-fer package - good deal). Both books are terrific small press novels, displaying differing viewpoints. Both are manic and highly entertaining (once you've opened your mind enough to allow them in): I'm glad I picked them up! Forget about TV re-runs for a while and give these novels a whirl. You'll be in for an entertaining ride -- I guarantee you.

I got more than I bargained for with this book. I purchased it because I was told it contained a gazillion references to the movie "Halloween" which is one of my favorites. At first I thought I'd just flip through it to check for the Halloween stuff, but after reading the first page I couldn't bring myself to skip anything; Raskin's narrative voice is more conversational and engaging than any other I've encountered, and his tendency to occasionally deviate from that style when describing his walk through midtown Manhattan or when describing his mother is the only thing that kept me reminded that this was a literary book I was reading.

Raskin's rhetorical devices do not age, or in fact change at all, throughout the 200 and some pages of this odd little book: There's the cascade of adjectives ("low, hideous, disgusting pieces of human excrement who polluted that school,") the parade of nicknames ("little Miss Gold Digger," "some fat-assed Napoleanic midget named Frank," "the android,")and a wealth of undisguised paranoia ("Everyone was looking at me like I was insane, but I didn't care. To hell with them.")Anybody who differs, intentionally or not, from Raskin's hilarious but razor-thin idealogy is immediately declared a Nazi or a Bolshevik: The Days Inn becomes the "Days-Nazi-Inn," Tinley Park becomes "Tinley-Nazi-Park," a young woman who works as a receptionist at an expensive hotel is "the front desk Nazi;" even some poor Chicago bookstore, whose political beliefs we can safely say are not known, becomes "some Bolshevik bookstore." At the same time, "wonderful people like Dr. Wohl," and others involved for any reason in catering to Raskin's hypersensitive needs, get unqualified praise. In review form, this language may lose some of its effect when given Raskin's speedy delivery.

Even if you don't appreciate sarcasm and hypersensitivity for its own sake, Little New York Bastard is worth looking at, not least for its demonstration of the circular nature of extreme narcissism. The book was prominent enough in the back end of 2003 to warrant coverage in The New York Daily News and The Village Voice, and its unusual ideas continue to play to a wide audience of Chicago-based book clubs.

I've never heard of M. Dylan Raskin before. I bought this book because I saw a review of it in a magazine and thought it sounded interesting. Well I can honestly say that it is my new favorite. I've never read anything like it before...it is weird, it is sad, it is unbelievably funny and it is so true! From the opening page the narrator had me in a trance, like I was completely engulfed in his world, and he didn't let me go until the very end. I wish I knew him personally. I feel like I do sort of know him personally after reading this. I felt like he was talking to me the whole time I was reading. Very unique experience. I will cherish this book. Ten stars.

WARNING: This book is not for the humorless or the wannabe writers of the world who hate anybody who gets there first ... it is not for the "sophisticated" literature apes who enjoy reading Simon and Schuster releases that are about as unique as the Ford Taurus ... and it is not for the yuppies or the offspring of yuppies ... you will not understand it and I doubt it was meant for you to understand. To put it plainly, Little New York Bastard is for the working class young common man or woman who isn't impressed by the semicolon or the Mercedes Benz.

Since this book is genuine, reviews like the one from "Erin" who viciously try to tear it apart, and which are mean just for the sake of being mean and even go so low as to exploit 9/11, do not surprise ... in fact, it's all too obvious by the vitriol in such reviews that the reason they hate the book so much is because much of Raskin's anger is directed at them and people like them! They see themselves in what Raskin is saying and it frustrates the hell out of them ... nice try though, honey. Sorry, but not all of us are so blind we can't see through your self-loathing jealousy.

(...)Little New York Bastard is one of those books you're either going "to get" or a book you won't "get" at all. I "get it" and so does the rest of my book club ... fortunately for us, we have a sense of humor and our skimpy panties don't make us start doing the twitch each time a raw scrappy book comes around ... all of us at the Write or Wrong Book Club highly recommend this one of a kind memoir.

Yee Haw,
Tina(...)

While this book doesn't have the rawness of other similar down-and-out underground urban classics like Arthur Nesesian's The F**k-up or The Losers' Club by Richard Perez, it remains a wonderful, passionately written, totally entertaining coming-of-age story of a 'loser' who realizes he can't escape from himself no matter which city he winds up in: New York or Chicago. The main character, with all his ranting and raving, psuedo-intellectual posturing, petty likes and dislikes, and half-baked ideas, certainly comes across as very familiar -- and is always engaging. In the end, I truly enjoyed this novel, found it hilarious, and would certainly recommend it to all my friends. One up for M. Dylan Raskin! Also recommended: Dogrun, WILL@epicqwest.com by Tom Grimes

MDR shows up like a maelstrom of madness ready to take over your eyes, your ears, and your fleece-- better rest up because this guy stays up way past his bedtime.

customer note: pillows and blankets not included with purchase.

I took a chance on 'Little New York Bastard'. From the reviews, it's obviously a book you're either going to totally adore or a book you're going to totally hate; that quality alone sold me on it. All good literature has stalwart supporters and avid detractors. I'm an adorer, and perhaps this is because I read beyond page 30, which apparently was too much for some other readers. Where reviewers who claim this book has no plot lose their credibility is somewhere about midway through it. In reality, the story is quite rich and more layered than ninety-nine percent of the books I read.
Do not hold this book against 'The Catcher in the Rye' as a few uninformed reviewers have, because 'Little New York Bastard' is a personal memoir, whereas we all know 'The Catcher in the Rye' is a fictional novel. Certainly Neal Pollack is entitled to his opinion. And for that matter so is The New York Daily News, Seattle Weekly, MSNBC, The Village Voice, Publishers Weekly, Altar Magazine and Library Journal. But to get the most out of this book, it should be judged on its own merit. For me, this book has it all: weirdness, sadness, humor and some in-between. I'm glad I bought it and I highly recommend it, as it is truly a manic New York book told from the point of view of the quintessential manic New Yorker.

is it me or are all new yorkers great at telling stories? this is some of the best contemporary literature you'll find....it's funny, sad, angry and genuine. raskin avoids being tossed into the teen-beat mix with the likes of nersesian, perez and grimes, with who amazon links him. unlike these novelists, raskin seems unconcerned with catering to the tastes of the mass public, and avoids the mish-mosh of cliches that the others use far too often, like drugs, drinking, sex, loserdom. raskin's debut is weightier and clearly more sincere....which makes its impact all the more striking. i'm hoping to read more from this young american soon, and less from the above mentioned tean-beat mix. raskin may have come along just in time to save american literature.

There are a lot of books that don't stick with you; books that you never really think about again after reading. I read a lot of those books, and sadly, they are the majority. LITTLE NEW YORK BASTARD is a good example of a book that sticks with you over time, and one you think about in your head constantly after reading. The author does a fine job of taking a simplistic story and making it much more in depth and interesting than it should be. It should be noted that the subject matter with which this book deals has been tackled many times on paper before: Ahead of his time, too intelligent for the rest of the world, neurotic, romantic, lonely young man flees home only to realize that he can't find what he's looking for anywhere else, and ultimately decides that home is where he's most happiest after all. But the voice and passion with which Raskin writes is unparalleled by any contemporary writer writing today. This book is certainly not the most polished nor sophisticated work in print, far from it, but that's where its magic lies. It's gritty, mean, raw and unapologetic, just as its title implies.

Highly recommended.