Customer Reviews

Mall

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

What initially piqued my interest in this book were the reviews written on the back cover by other published authors that promised action and intensity. While I found both of these elements in the plot, I felt somewhat cheated by the author's choppy writing style. Each time a new character is introduced, or a new scene takes place, Bogosian leads the reader to the edge of the cliff, and then...ends the chapter. He makes it difficult to really become engrossed in the characters or their surroundings. While this style is likely used (effectively, by the way) by the author to keep the reader reading, and to create the "couldn't put it down" effect, it leaves the reader with an uneasy, insatiated feeling.

Another disappointment was the superficiality with which the author touched on the narcotics underworld. While I credit the author for having what seems to be more than just a textbook knowledge of the substances used by his characters, I found myself hoping he would dramatize this abusive element of his characters' behavior more so than he did.

In an apparent attempt to voice a commentary on the state of affairs in Sububia, USA, he fails to include his thesis. Too many times, the characters question things without ever really resolving anything. Further, the points that were made clear, were trite and boring, and already hashed out in many a "session" in college dorms across the country.

Ultimately, I think a reccomendation on this book all depends on the reccomendee. Adolescents and young twentysomethings struggling to find their identity might find this book entertaining, but I would advise against it for the sophisticated adult reader.

With an overdose of fast-paced energy and killer verocity, Eric Bogosian's new book, MALL, takes it's readers into a whirlpool of non-stop, thought-provoking, well done suspense. While Bogosian keeps the reader engorged with powerful social and cultural rhetoric; humorous AND anxiety-prone passages are strung throughout the chapters-keeping the reader "laughing out loud" while remaining fearful of "what happens next."

Bogosian utilizes a technique of well-crafted parallel story-telling, thus allowing the reader to experience the story through six different characters almost simultaneously, WITHOUT reducing the tension from chapter to chapter. Wrapping the story in circles intertwines the six characters live's in humorous, and often unsuspecting ways.

Although critics of this book might argue the lack of character development, I would wholeheartedly disagree. Given the literary constraints on writing a book of this style and format, Bogosian gives adequate character development considering the rapidly moving rising action of the plot. With too much "Stephen King-style character development", the book Mall would lack the tension that Bogosian illustrates in short development. Bogosian follows his old style of "play writing" in creating a story that jumps to the action....leaving the reader "sitting on the edge of their seat."

Once again, Bogosian drops several socially satirical comments and passages throughout the book, hoping to spark a socially rhetorical thought. Much like his earlier works, Bogosian taps a human nerve that unleash disguised sentiments of a disgusted American culture. Whereas "SubUrbia" circumvented the modern day convenience store, and "Talk Radio" hit the unheard and unseen voices of the American air waves, "Mall" unravels the fiber of America's contemporary social fabric, the shopping mall.

I highly recommend this book to avid fans of Bogosian and would encourage new readers to possibly pick up earlier Bogosian work, as well as his current work, Mall.

This is one of my favorite books of all time that I think tests the limits of what we call literature, it is probably one of the best contemporary novels that I would put into the catagory of postmodernism. We literally mind-surf into several characters heads and see whats going on, the characters all interlink through a story of a much larger scope and Bogosian creates a satire of American culture rival to that of American Beauty or anything in recent memory. This would make a great film, do not believe the naysayers, Bogosian is a very talented writer and I cannot wait until his next novel comes out.

Bogosian is creepy, smart, rebellious and brilliant. I truly enjoyed watching the video of his one-man show Funhouse. Also enjoyed reading Pounding Nails In The Floor With My Forehead, and Notes From Underground. He is a very, very good writer. You can tell that he hones his material. He is the type of writer who works very hard on making each sentence run smoothly & quickly.

This book, Mall, is not meant to be anything other than a fast paced action-adventure. It's just a bit of fun and a means for Bogosian to express various aspects of his personality. He realizes that this mortal world---especially the American part of it---is a totally misleading, misinforming, two-faced, selfish-minded sham full of lies, disappointments and quiet desperation. The result of this realization is cynicism & rage and therefore much of Bogosian's work expresses the darker aspects of his personality---and thank goodness! But don't get me wrong, he is not the least bit heavy-handed regarding his anger and sick, twisted fantasies. He knows how to make a point without going over the top.

Mall is an easy-read. It's not meant to be the novel of the century. It's not meant to enlighten anyone. It's just a good old fashioned action-adventure about a speedfreak who goes on a killing spree. It reads like it was written with the intention of making it ready-made for conversion to a screenplay. Is that a crime? Is it a crime that Bogosian wants to make money from his writing? No. He works hard for his money and it shows. So what if he poo-poos shallow materialism while also wanting to become materially successful by doing so? Consistency, or lack of hypocrisy, is the stuff of small-minded, idiotic, know-nothing mortals who have been brainwashed by college.

Bottom line: Mall is a good book. Not great, but definitely worth reading if you are already a fan of Bogosian's other stuff. Right from the start you will recognize and appreciate his unique voice, perspective, and writing style.

This speedy book moves like a well-edited music video or television commercial: quick cuts, deft point-of-view changes, short intense character profiles. Like a good TV spot, we're with each character for a very short time before we move on to someone else. Like a good music video, I was drawn in and hooked in the first seconds and interested both in the message and the entertainment value. Each of Bogosian's well-drawn and memorable characters feels cut off from suburban mall culture, each considers himself or herself somehow above the mall masses, but each has different reasons for feeling superior. The violent stew created as everyone comes together on the fateful night makes for a great read - and I'm sure will eventually become a successful movie too.

Bogosian did a great job in a story that encompasses philosophy, sex, and drugs. The book is about a boy named Mal who is a tweeker going on a rampage in order that he may truly feel alive. The book also brings together another group of people who bring their own flavor to the story. The book is worth the short amount of time it takes to read and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for some entertainment.

I read this book in two nights and it worked for me very nicely. Sex, drugs and existential thinking and a pretty good plot. Bogosian comes from the theater and his characters reflect that. I especially liked the psychotic speed freak Mal. Bogosian (as I've said in my other review of his solo book) comes off as kind of simple, but at the end of the day, I think his ideas are complex. It's the way the whole thing is hung together. Long and short of it is that the book is a hot read and has a couple of good nasty sex scenes in it. I guess he's a genius, but on the other hand, who cares?

Actor/playwright Eric Bogosian is a very talented artist, and I've admired his work for well over a decade. However, he had never written a novel before, until now. Bogosian has concocted a dark, disturbing tale with his first novel, "Mall," telling the story of five people whose lives intertwine on a very violent, bloody day at the shopping mall: Mal is a speed freak who kills his mother at home and then causes more violence & mayhem at the mall, Michel is the widowed immigrant security guard who goes after Mal, Donna is a lonely housewife looking for sex & adventure, Danny is a married businessman with a huge weakness for beautiful underwear models, and Jeff is a teenager on acid who goes off on a philosophical quest.The book takes a little while to get going---about 50 pages or so---as Bogosian sets things up and introduces us to the characters, and it's a bit of a slow read. But once Mal gets to the shopping mall and begins his rampage, "Mall" finally hits the ground running and becomes a riveting book you can't put down, filled with lots of unexpected twists & turns. The book is mostly narrated, with only occasional dialogue from the characters here & there, but nonetheless, Bogosian is a very commanding tour guide as he takes you into the minds of these stressed-out souls (to say the least). Unfortunately, after taking the reader on a bravura ride through a suburban nightmare, the book's ending is a bit unsatisfying & inconclusive, as if Bogosian couldn't quite figure out how to end the story. It doesn't ruin the book for me, but it is disappointing.I don't think you could make a movie out of this book (nor would I want to see one), but for the most part, "Mall" is a very engrossing read. For his first stab at novel writing, Eric Bogosian has created a very good, disturbing dark tale.

Mall is a quick read. The social commentary is biting, and it certainly is fascinating. On the one hand I enjoyed reading the book. I fled through it in a few days. I was curious as to how it would end, but I can't agree as to being surprised. Given the all too numerous mass killings by individuals that seem to have no other purpose than fantastic endings, this one could be taken straight from today's headlines. In fact, that's really the problem I see with a book like this. I can just see some misguided person someday reading Mall, deciding that some elemental truth exists within its pages, summoning up hatred for everything suburban (it wouldn't be a coincidence that Bogosian lives in New York, now is it?). Said deranged lunatic uses Mall as his guide to saying something relevant about modern society, kills as many people as he can, meanwhile Bogosian will rightly contend that he can't control how some moron chooses to interpret his masterpiece. I fail to see how social commentary such as this is particularly helpful. Sure, there are deranged lunatics, sex deprived housewives, chillingly nihilistic teenagers, and general misfits everywhere, not too mention in the suburbs of America. However, in the end, the book strikes me as a longer way of paraphrasing Mellencamp: Nothing matters, and so what if it did?

As a whole I found the book quite interesting but to agreee with a previous reviewer, I never got to know the characters. The author would give a glimpse and never follow up. Other characters were just pointless. The book held my interest and the observations made me laugh at times but it never passed a book that was trying to show me "look how diffrent this is"