Customer Reviews

Sleeveless

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Reading this first novel by Brozek in one sitting was not good for my mind. It has left me feeling as though I have been standing barefoot on an oversized razor blade and slowly split in two by my own weight. Half of me is real and the other half I can only assume exists in some other place where darkness and light have reversed roles and everything exists in shocking negative. Sleeveless is a deeply affecting book. A book of the car crash on the freeway variety but, rather than slowing down and taking discreet sidelong glances, it is pedal to the floor as there's another one coming up and then another, tearing full on through the pages from one fascination to the next and wondering where it is all going to end.

The story of Sleeveless is told by Lisha, a twisted slice of the teenage America of the late 80's, who is attempting to come to terms with the accidental death of her younger sister following a disastrous DIY abortion. She turns her creativity towards her own body and begins to carve designs into her skin. This self-abuse becomes a school trend leaving Lisha uneasy in the role of trend setter as her original vision is hijacked and transformed into something she never intended. Lisha shows the world her detached disdain but internally she is desperately attempting to deal with the cancerous guilt she feels from her part in the death of her sister and the mock religious fervour of her needy mother.

Brozek adopts a number of different styles and methods throughout the book which give the voyeuristic feeling of reading excerpts of a personal journal, stolen from beneath a pillow and poured over before being slipped back at the sound of approaching footsteps. Lisha's mind is slowly revealed like a flap of skin being pulled back over muscle, it is equally captivating and revolting and impossible to turn away from as we sink beneath the skin and enter her blood stream on a mission to examine the unravelling threads of her mind. Here is where the boundaries between what is real and what is not merge into each other in psychotic acid trip narrative.

This is hard and dark book, disturbed, disturbing, gripping.

It is also extremely clever and perceptive, playing by its own rules and succeeding in taking the reader on a guided tour of dark hearts and darker minds. It is an always uncomfortable but strangely appealing place to travel.

The blurb on the back cover of Sleeveless states, "a stunning debut by this gifted writer." For once, I have to agree.

This is one of the rare books about adolescents and mental illness that isn't cloying, smarmy, or obvious in its approach. Joi Brozek has a poet's ear and a painter's eye in describing the world of Lisha, a tormented teenager on Long Island in the late 80s. The "David Lynchian Brainrack" (to quote a friend) elements in the book are impressively handled. But what I really responded to was the lack of either sentimentality or cynicism (the latter of which is really just another form of sentimentality). Brozek is wise enough to realize that not everything can be fixed, closure is a myth, our minds play tricks on us...and we have to keep chugging along to our own weird muses. I look forward to reading more from this singularly gifted writer.

P.S. It's actually quite funny in a lot of ways, too.

This book blew me away. It's ferocious, original, weird, and heartbreaking, and written in prose that's both kaleidoscopic and elegantly stripped down. It felt more like an experience than a great read--like going through a war, a love affair, a tragedy. I don't think I've read anything quite like it. Be prepared to be hit right in the heart and gut.

Joi Brozek, Sleeleveless (Phony Lid Books, 2002)

The first thing you need to know about Sleeveless is that it's a difficult book to read. Not in the way Henry James is difficult to read, but rather it's the kind of book that, periodically, you'll need to put down and walk away from for a while. Thankfully, it is also the kind of book that, once your head's back on straight, will draw you back to pick it up again.

Lisha is a high school girl in New York in the late eighties. She's chock full of emotional problems anyway, but as the book opens, we're treated to the spectacle of a DIY abortion performed on her younger sister which goes fatally wrong. From there, Lisha goes pretty much completely over the edge. The end result of this is that she turns cutting (one does not speculate as to whether she was a cutter before the incident, which is actually a pretty important point) into art-- which becomes the new fad at her school.

It's not nearly as linear as that synopsis (or the synopsis on the back of the book) makes it sound; it's far more a character study than a plot-driven novel. This, of course, is a good thing, especially as Lisha is not, in any way, a likable character. Identifiable, yes, but Brozek hasn't invested her with a single shred of likability. Lisha's treading of the line between sanity and insanity and the line between art and murder turn the book into an odd, appealing amalgam of William Herrick's ...kill memory... and Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island, but without the plot-driven feel of the latter novel.

Good stuff, definitely worth your time. ****

This book is a whirlwind, an avalanche, an express train hurtling through the psyche of a teenage girl. Brozek shifts styles fluidly from chapter to chapter, never letting you find a groove, keeping your mind engaged. Each page is a fresh twist of the knife.

This is not an easy book to read. If you're looking for quiet contemplation or relaxing escapism, look elsewhere. But if you'd rather find tortured truths, razorblade kisses, and a bomb in the watermelon, look no further.

Harrowing, raw and painful in its sheer honesty, Sleeveless is The Bell Jar for this generation - at times cringe-worthy to read (Many women and girls can find themselves echoed through Lisha, almost like a shattered mirror we can see our own adolescence reflected in) , at other timers, deeply, blackly funny. Joi Brozek doesn't take us quietly through her debut novel, she slams us to a wall of consciousness, forcing us to question what is real, what is imaginary, and what it means to be a teenage girl. I wish I could have read this book when I was 16, listening to Joy Division and Nick Cave, smoking clove cigarettes and drinking black coffee with fake sugar -- Then I could have spent the last 16 years of my life recommending it to everyone I know. A fierce, brave and stunning first novel, I wait in anticipation to see what she writes next....

Well... I have never before read a novel such as this. The way that the author writes and describes situations is truly unique. As I started reading the first few pages, I thought that this book was going to be another one of those novels that are scattered, unorganized and confusing, but I realized that as you dig deeper into the pages of this gripping book, it all comes together quite easily. This book describes to you what needs to be portrayed, and leaves a lot up to the imagination. But I believe this is the goal that the author wished to achieve. Sleevless was a haunting and challenging novel that is definately not for the squeemish, as mentioned in previous reviews. Its truly a book of discriptions and I have never before seen such a physcological book written in this manner. I really have nothing else to say except that Joi Brozek truly has a gift and anyone should definately give this book a read. Don't give up reading it on the first few pages, and even though there are a few dry spots throughout the novel, continue on reading, and it will all come together in the end. It is one of those books that leaves you thinking about the main charectar, Lisha and her situation, and the overall story even after you have closed the back cover and put the book back away on the shelf.

I must admit, I had a hard time getting into this book at first. After the first two chapters though, it was easy to see just how wonderfully written it is.
*Not recommended for young readers who are looking for support when it comes to self-mutilation.*

This book is honest, intense, and quite a wild ride. I finished it in two sittings because I just couldn't let it go.
There are no pat answers, no Hollywood endings, and the book is certainly not for the sqeamish. That said, it is an incredible view inside the psyche of a girl who most people would never even try to understand. Sleeveless relentlessly questions perception and reality in a way that will have you squirming in your seat.

I picked up Sleeveless with many ideas from people talking about it around me. I have to say the writing style is brilliant. It is a great reflection of a lot of teenagers growing up in America and how they see their surroundings. It answers why kids are the way they are in today's society because of all of the craziness of the world. `
The decadent imagery reminds me of "Maldoror" by Comte de Lautreamont. Rich in image as well in mood, the powerful scenarios makes quite an impression on ones mind and makes you realize what western culture might be doing to younger minds.