Customer Reviews

Wake Up, Sir!: A Novel

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jon Ames' Wake Up, Sir is very, very funny and in the end, I have to say, it is the humor of the novel that makes me recommend it. Alan Blair, the novel's narrator, is a 30-year old in-denial alcoholic goofball mooching off his aunt and uncle in Montclair, New Jersey and he may or may not have a valet named Jeeves (I'll let you decide that one for yourself). Alan has worn out his welcome with his family, and just as they are about to kick him out, embarks on a little journey to New York state--Sharon Springs, followed by Saratoga Springs. Alan is an intelligent Princeton grad and a writer of one published novel, but clueless about many of life's essentials. It is his cluelessness, combined with his wry observations of life that make this novel so funny. Ames' dry humor is unique--I can't think of another novelist to compare him with (perhaps because so few are talented enough to make a reader laugh out loud, to still remember witticisms days after reading them), so if you are looking for a humorous novel, Wake Up, Sir is an excellent choice. The one thing I found lacking in the novel was the lack of any real plot--the novel is more like an extended road trip. That shortcoming is pretty minor, especially because this is such an intelligently written comic novel. Enjoy.

This novel is a pleasure on all levels-extremely well written and hilarious. The characters are both ludicrous (as people are) and believable at the same time. Mr. Ames is successful in capturing the unique essence of each of his (wide array of) odd characters. I was impressed by the overall product, but chose to write the review because this book was so FUNNY. The main character's neurosis, aggravated by an alcohol problem, is tempered by his optimism and desire to be liked; his nervous interactions with others and his histrionic reactions to the world around him will make you squeal. The author so captures the mindset of this well-intentioned alcoholic that his observations might well be of use to the medical profession. Something honest about all of us is distinctively revealed in these pages and Mr. Ames' style makes every moment worthwhile.

This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. When I wasn't laughing out loud, I was, at least, chuckling or smiling. As a true fan of Wodehouse and his Wooster/Jeeves creation, I went into this book somewhat skeptically. But Ames does a perfect sendup with Alan Blair and his "companion," Jeeves. There is one humorous vignette after another within this book, and, as in Wodehouse, no true overriding action. But action is not the point... it's the silliness of the antics, situations, and conversation that Blair gets into that makes this a pleasure to read.

This book belongs in the genre of helpless first-person lead male characters, who are able to somehow rationalize their troublesome actions to themselves, if not to others. Read Tim O'Brien's "Tomcat in Love" and Michael Frayn's "Headlong" for other excellent contributions to this category.

I suppose it would be too much to ask Ames for a sequel... I suspect he's got his literary sites set on higher goals than repeating oneself would allow for. But if you haven't yet read this book, you've got a treat in front of you.

Laughing hysterically while reading is extremely rare. Your body may not be accustom to the physical process. It causes a shift of the torso and convulsions. Depending on how a person holds the book and how long it take the brain to process the hilarity can have strange consequences, in my case choking on food and then needing to use my son's asthma inhaler to re-establish normal breathing.

In addition to his astonishing ability to capture human conditions and emotions; disgust at others while being incredibly needy, terror of facial features, actual depression, insecurity at one's own physical characteristics, Jonathan Ames surreptitiously lead me into a fondness, bordering on love, for his characters.

This kind of talent makes the world go round.

To call this book 100 times funnier than its new release competition would be a disservice, we all know what 100 times ZERO is, but the point of the matter is Mr. Ames' latest work is perhaps his best, and is no doubt his most humorous to date.

While not long on story, the book is crammed with action, interesting characters, snappy dialogue and hysterical internal monologues. As always is the case, Ames' narration is non-judgmental but his content pushes the envelope. Despite the setting and the eccentricity of the characters, he still manages a more interesting, honest, and entertaining delve into human relationships and sexuality than most other moderns out there!

His self-deprecating style overcomes any unlikability his character might have and I think that this is one of the rare contemporary comedic books that will equally appeal to both men and women. And while parts of the plot are no doubt silly, taken in the framework of a parody of Wodehouse, they make perfect sense.

Wake up, Sir is the perfect compliment to his previous masterpiece, The Extra Man, and before many inside jokes, some obvious, some not so. But don't think you need to read them in any order, they both stand on their own.

One area where Sir excels it is allows the reader to see what pseudo insane personalities go through to create art. Sufficed it to say there is some explaining to his fans as to why he goes so long between novels!

Finally, threre are 2 distinctions between this book and its predecessors. 1)The invention of Jeeves allows Ames' narrator to be the star and not the straight man (comedically not sexually) which I think suits his writing style quite nicely. 2) While the narrator may seem obsesed with answering the alternative lifestyle question and may claim to fantasize about being prison raped, this tome is decidedly Heterosexual in content and includes one of the great man/woman/nose lovemaking scenes to ever appear in modern American Literature!

If you enjoy SMART and CREATIVE stream of conscious writing! If you applaud RICHLY developed characters and settings! If you love quick and HYSTERICAL stories! If you appreciate and marvel at FABULOUS word choice and phrasing! Then my friend...this is a MUST HAVE book! Not only a MUST HAVE for you BUT a GREAT gift for ALL your witty friends!!!! I have given away nine copies so far!!!!!!!

This book is as hard to put down as the bottomless libations consumed by our fearless (well, fearful but occasionally reckless) narrator, Alan Blair. Once again, Jonathan Ames packs us up in the Caprice and takes us on a trip through his florid imagination, with surreal and amusing roadside attractions, beautiful vistas, and achingly familiar checkpoints of deep longing, ill-advised ventures, frustration and self-reproach along the way.

But I should leave the metaphors to the masters like our author, who's one step closer to establishing himself in the literary pantheon with _Wake Up, Sir!_. Alan Blair is an aspiring writer (who also aspires to be a teetotaler, with limited success). With the windfall from a legal settlement he employs a personal valet--aptly named Jeeves--to aid him in sartorial decisions, offer editorial critiques, engage in philosophical discourse, and provide relief from the loneliness and dissolution that gives rise to his many fiascos. The kindly Jeeves is a brilliant concoction, acting as an unflappably supportive and rational foil to Blair's Id/Superego tumult.

Together they make their harrowing way to the prestigious Rose Colony wherein Blair meets many crazed creative types, most notably his statuesque muse with a nose that could launch a thousand ships. The narrator's tryst with Ava (she of the pulchritudinous proboscis) is at turns hilarious and tender, and is persuasive enough to make one wonder how there could only be one documented nose fetishist in the world. Well, two, counting this book.

Rounding out the colourful cast of characters are Blair's two main cohorts at the Colony, a pathologically depressed noir writer with an eye patch of mysterious origin, and a dimunitive novelist with an unfortunate surname and a smorgasbord of neuroses; and the melodramatic artist Beaubien, who proves to be as divisive as she is seductive.

But the real star of the show is the empathetic Alan Blair, whose insights and observations are as compelling to read as his erotic exploits and train-wreck misadventures. And the prose is more effervescent than ever. A delight from start to finish!

Alan Blair is a thirty-year-old eccentric, terribly alcoholic, neurotic, solipsistic, agnostic-Jewish writer who, with the money from a personal injury suit, has hired a valet named Jeeves to ease life's daily rigors. (At least, I think he has. If not, one can add delusional to the above list.) With such an assortment of issues, any move Alan makes is almost certain to produce turmoil and/or hilarity; and *Wake Up, Sir!* brims with both as Alan narrates a madcap week during which he (and Jeeves) leave the relatively safe but confining home of his aunt and uncle and arrive at a prestigious artists' colony whose denizens are almost as cracked-up as he is.

This is the first of Mr. Ames's books that I've read, and I was impressed by his clear, brisk style and intelligent, observant, off-beat sense of humor. (I recently read Michael Chabon's *Wonder Boys*, another first-person account of a short but eventful period in the life of a writer-addict; and although Mr. Ames is not the "stylist" Mr. Chabon is--though perhaps the former isn't aspiring to "style"--*Wake Up, Sir!* drew many, many more smiles and laughs from me than *Wonder Boys*.) I would love to give this book five stars; however, the simple fact is that it ultimately proves to be a series of sketches and vignettes rather than a completed story of change (either personal growth or ruin) in the face of conflict (here, a man versus himself). The plot is more or less episodic and concludes ... well, it doesn't, really. Is Mr. Ames secreted in a colony even now, diligently typing up a sequel? One could hope so.

The bottom line: come along for a fast, bumpy ride with Alan (and Jeeves) if you dare. You'll probably enjoy it, but don't expect a life-changing or enlightening experience. I have absolutely no qualms about recommending this as a library loan, but I'd hesitate before purchasing it brand new. Four impressive but slightly disappointing stars.

I l-o-v-e-d this book. So did the friend I recommneded it to. Ames does not overreach. The plot is compact. The language is superb. The ending works. I laughed out loud a number of times and when I finished I groped around for anything else Ames had written and read that. The other stuff was good; this is his best so far. Something about his brand of humor hit me right in the funny bone. Another novel that struck me the same way was Michael Frayn's Headlong. Both are two of the best comic novels I've ever read, and I read a lot.

I can't wait until Ames comes out with his next novel. It's been awhile!

Jonathan Ames at his most inspired, most hilarious best. I rarely, and I mean rarely, laugh out loud and this book had me doing it page after page. I actually gave this book to a friend who liked the new Sedaris, but wanted something that would, in her words, '"have her doubled over laughing." She read "Wake up Sir" in a weekend and said it was the funniest thing she'd read in as long as she could remember.
Go out right now and get it. It's that good.