Customer Reviews

If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ms. Loh undeniably writes with a crisp, witty style. At her best, she can be a real pleasure to read. This novel is far from her best. It's the old problem--how does one write about the sheer banality of fame and self-expression without seeming hopelessly banal oneself (i.e., merely stylistically banal, and not endearingly, wittily droll)? Ms. Loh does not solve the problem. Here we are treated to all the "usual suspects" of LA pop culture as we've seen them in dozens of novels and indie films for decades--the "poor me" suburban artiste, the "gosh what does our desire for fame do to us" couple, the "things are pretty darn artificial and plastic among people who want to be paid huge sums of money to share their creative musings" riffs. I suppose that because Ms. Loh writes beautifully and has a fine sense of humor, I kept wishing she had something to say....but every time I kept wishing for a bit of spiritual epiphany, or perhaps even a little common humanity, I perceived instead another cliche or cheap shot joke. It's a bit like listening to Celine Dion sing--the voice may be golden, but the words should be parked across the street someplace. While one might suggest that Ms. Dion try a better lyricist (somebody with a truly spiritual streak or at least a wicked sense of humor--Bill Nelson, Ron Mael<g>?), it is difficult to know what to suggest to Ms. Loh. One can't help but wonder (not only as to this novel, but in other contexts as well) if this great comic gift might not be better used in pursuit of something a little less mean-spirited. As for the reader, I suggest you read instead Depth Takes a Holiday, her much more effective collection from her Buzz Magazine days. Sandra Tsing Loh may have a real novel in her someday, but this one is not that novel.

I read this book for my monthly book group and I was surprised at how fast it was! I read the book in two short nights and laughed to myself several times. I often noticed similaries between Bronwyn and myself especially with the Trader Joe's phenomenon. As a twenty-something, I found Bronwyn's 'boho' lifestyle much more appealing than the one she aspired to achieve. I laughed out loud as Bronwyn not so subtlely demanded recognition for her efforts to climb the social ladder. Where in the world does that silly ladder lead anyway? I was a little disappointed with the ending. I wanted Bronwyn and Paul to sell their Geo and reclaim their decrepid VW!

Bronwyn and her hussband Paul and his brother Jonathan are idealistic but ambitious intellectuals living in Los Angeles. They become involved in series of ventures that fail and trends that prove disappointing. Attempts to complete a PhD, get a tenured academic post, write a novel, sell a screen play, make money in real estate, and start a computer software company each end in failure. Each new fashion becomes outmoded.
They are contrasted with Paul's parents who live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and winter in Florida in steady unglamorous prosperity. The parents work and save, celebrate a fiftieth wedding anniversary, and go to church on Sundays.
The satire is sharp but not savage, and most of the characters are nice people. The book culminates in the liberal ambivalence produced by the Watts riots and drifts to an inconclusive ending. I'm glad she resisted the temptation to a dramatic tragic ending but would have liked to have known more of what became of Paul and Bronwyn.

I couldn't put this book down. It is everything that I want in a novel: characters who remind me of myself, beautiful prose, hilarious satire of contemporary mores, and a story that hooks me in and doesn't give up. Loh is like a funnier, less mannered Tom Wolfe. Spectacular.

Perhaps this book speaks to you more if you've lived it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this treatment of a grad student's rather bumpy transition to the "real world" (to the extent that LA is the real world). The heroine, ground down by years of genteel poverty, succumbs to the buried longing we all have for life as depicted in upscale catalogs, with predictable but hilarious consequences. She also experiences the rather rude realization that most of us have to make, that life often does not work out as planned, and manages to achieve something like a state of grace as a result.

Some of the LA characters and events seem like cardboardy stereotypes, but in general there is a depth of feeling here that is absent in the author's rather brittle NPR commentaries.

If Sandra Tsing Loh lives up to her potential, she could be the Jane Austen of our day. She is capable of viewing her characters and our society with a rare and wonderful mix of irony and compassion; I'm hopeful that she will not succumb to the temptation of the one-liner, but will continue to develop her genuine talents in her forthcoming novel and novels to come.

Were you hip in college? Did you throw wine tastings with eclectic groups of people and broaden your mind while discussing politics? What happened since then, since everyone else started living in the middle of the LA scene, having private chefs, serving gourmet food, and owning exclusive lofts in excellent neighborhoods? When did everyone learn to schmooze and network and climb the LA writing and acting ladder, while you are still stuck living in a cheap rental at an undesirble address in the Valley?

If this sounds like your life, if you ever thought Trader Joe's was your personal secret indie find-of-a-lifetime, only to be dismayed that everyone but you has known about it for years, then this book is for you. Bronwyn is a funny woman trying to hold her own post-graduate school in LA with her writer husband. She imagines that on the other side of the country, everyone not in LA is in clapboard Connecticut farmhouses, teaching American Studies to students who come over and prepare communal corn and lentil soup. She's in neither scene.

This is a time capsule of Los Angeles during the early 90's, with the political events that shaped the city, and is a must-read for Los Angelenos who lived through that time.

I found this book both funny and touching, a poignant story that drew a vivid picture of Los Angeles. It's set in the time of the Rodney King-related riots, so it might seem a little dated by now, but I still find it a lovely story.

Despite suffering a little bit by being so tied to current events that it now seems dated, "If You Lived Here" is hilarious...because it rings true. For every 30-something whose friends have abandoned the city for the suburbs, for every 20-something who thinks it is taking too damn long to get what you want, Loh is able to give you food for thought and entertain. The end is too neat and tidy, but it's a forgiveable flaw.

I only give such a bad review because my expectations were so built up (on my copy, David Sedaris, an idol of mine, deems this book "a riot". It is not). I didn't have one revelation, didn't find any of the stuff she talked about interesting, and found it especially irritating how the main character (who if she tells me she's a bohemian again I may have to kill myself - why can't she leave it at the description? I will know enough by her lifestyle without her spelling it out!) was constantly in new settings and there's no lead in to how she got there. One minute she's in a new car, then she's at a black-tie affair. What? I don't remember her getting ready or discussing this event! Save your money.

Allegedly "wickedly witty", this is a tiresome attempt at satirizing the obvious targets of LA's population. The main character is a 30-year-old PhD candidate in women's studies who comes to realize that she is not living they way she wants to be. Shacked up in a shabby grad-schoolish house the Valley with her longtime (unsuccessful) writer boyfriend, she longs for upscale living, and a designer kitchen. She begins to question her lifestyle and choices, and then thanks to an unexpected windfall, the couple can start living the dream life, with a new car, condo in downtown LA, etc. Predictably, these things are exposed as being empty, blah blah blah. Although short, it's not worth the time.