Customer Reviews

Mourning Wood: A Novel

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This is a great book. A real surprise. What a treat.
On the one hand, this is a tale of reinvention. It's a story about having (or having had) everything you wanted - and then still wanting to call a do-over.
On the other hand, it is hysterical. Sometimes it's hysterical in a laugh-out-loud sort of a way. Sometimes in a sneak-up-on-you-the-next-day-in-the-shower sort of a way. It is a biting, insightful look at pop culture through the lens of a one-time A-list Hollywood leading man who sees the opportunity to make himself relevant again - to himself and to the world, by dying. Sort of.

From the writer's bio it seems that he has written a number of books with celebrities. And that inside feel really comes across when you read this book. You have the feeling of getting into the mind and culture of someone who has lived his life under the watchful eye of the media and his adoring public. There's a kind of Being John Malkovich thing going here - as the writer brings you into the head of a Jack Nicholson kind of guy, and he's got the street cred and the chops to really pull it off. On the other side of the story is this kind of hapless, deadbeat newspaper obit writer - and the vivid accounts of his life and perspective, to often bitingly hilarious result.
I highly recommend this book.

Paisner is consistently good. Whether he is writing one of his numerous celebrity biographies or a novel, his style and story keep you interested from page one. The characters in Mourning Wood are so innovative and interesting; they are a breath of fresh air from your standard pop culture fare. I believe this is the second novel of Paisner's and I can only hope that he turns more of his attention to fiction as both of these have been treats.

"mourning wood". surly this guy realizes the joke. make sure to get the HARDcover version.