Customer Reviews

Talk: A Novel in Dialogue

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

...or Nicholson Baker writing a Rabbit Angstrom novel. A solid, playful debut.

In an age where most novels seem the same, Talk stands out. The novel skillfully explores human relationships. In particular, Corey Mesler does a really great job in writing about the relationship between the father and son. The influence of Walt Whitman and Mark Twain are found in Talk. However, their influences do not overtake Corey Mesler's own unique style. The novel has the best display of dialogue since I read Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. If you are a fan of Whitman and Wolfe, then TAlk will not disappoint.

Talk: A Novel In Dialogue by Corey Mesler (owner of one of the country's oldest (127 years) indepdenent bookstores, Burke's Book Store, Memphis, Tennessee) is the uniquely presented and compelling tale of a bookstore owner undergoing a mid-life crisis. Spiralling fears, impulses, and out-of-control demands all weave a story in dialogue in this no-frills narrative, which reads much like an old time radio play. A singularly fascinating and unique account, Talk: A Novel In Dialogue takes the reader from beginning to end through a full-attention, literary whirlwind! Highly recommended reading.

For fans of contemporary fiction, this adventurous and charming novel is a must-read. Mesler tells this story of midlife meltdown entirely in dialogue, recording the conversations between the main character, Jim, and his wife, children, customers, friends, and would-be mistress. It's alternately funny and devastating, light and serious, but the dialogue is always dynamically rendered and the characters are always believable. Mesler writes with great empathy and authority on subjects as varied as pop culture, family life, sex, and the confusion of emotion and regret. I think we can expect great things from him in the future.

(Also, if I could, I'd give it an extra star just for introducing me to the President's Analysis, starring James Coburn.)

Corey Mesler's TALK takes the all-dialogue technique pioneered first by Henry Green and later (and more famously) by William Gaddis and reshapes it for the lovely and dirty New South. Reading the book is like eating amphetamines, and yet the conclusion still detonates a number of unexpected surprises. Another reviewer mentioned VOX, and yet TALK is so much warmer: the lovers in Mesler's book actually share a bed, and this brand of intimacy extends to the reader.

This is the best novel I've ever written.

Mesler is truly a talent to be praised. TALK: A NOVEL IN DIALOGUE is an exceptional piece of Literature that allows the reader a fantastic view of a provocative married life, faithful or not. Any person who enjoys reading sultry narration (dialogue) needs to pick up this book and feast. The people who write novels like this belong to the ages. Mesler is a magician of words.