Miss Wyoming73 reviews Douglas Coupland Vintage, 2001 Not Microserfs Dennis Coupland's Miss Wyoming was not at all what I expected, but it was well worth the wild read. Part social commentary on the cult of celebrity and part gonzo Hollywood buddy book, this is a fun story that has some very poignant moments. From the aging movie producer in recovery to the crazy ...             The Brief History of the Dead123 reviews Kevin Brockmeier Vintage, 2007 One of the best books I have read in a while + Engrossing and thought-provoking + Stunningly imaginative With the world spinning around series like Twilight and Harry Potter, it is rare that one hears about a single book that is worth reading. I came across this book at the bookstore, drawn in by the title and cover. I started reading and instantly fell in love. The idea of multiple narrators is a ...             Lightning on the Sun: A Novel26 reviews Robert Bingham Anchor, 2001 Underrated Novel + Lightning on the Sun - Bingham + Been there, done that, got the heroin. I just read this and I loved this book. And I have also read all of the other writers to whom Bingham has been unfavorably compared. I have to say that the ability to recognize crushingly simple bits of convergence -- oh hey look, this is about an expatriate in Southeast Asia and that was too! -- ...             The Center of Things (Ballantine Reader's Circle)16 reviews Jenny Mcphee Ballantine Books, 2002 A Book to Linger Over + Celebrity death and Cosmology + Fun Read Marie Brown is a tabloid writer in search of the explosive story about a dying movie star idol. Marie Brown is a too-tall half-deaf woman who hasn't spoken with her brother Michael in fifteen years. And Marie Brown is an aficionado of quantum mechanics who has been writing her philosophy of ...             Revolutionary Road102 reviews Richard Yates Vintage, 2000 Classic tale of the suburban nightmare. + Revolutionary Writing + Makes Mad Men look like Happy Days Richard Yates' 1961 novel, "Revolutionary Road", is a classic that has taken far too long to get the recognition it deserves (considering Yates died in 1992). With the Hollywood version coming out the best way to describe this haunting novel in cinematic terms would be: "American Beauty" meets ...             White Jazz: A Novel67 reviews James Ellroy Vintage, 2001 Not to be taken too seriously + Cream of the Quartet Apparently this book is on the hit list of policemen across the nation. That alone caused me to read it. Policemen like to read dimestore novels while enduring the boredom of the beat. This book depicts police officers as corrupt, willing to slice the truth in half for their own purposes, and ...             The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven: A Novella and Stories21 reviews Rick Moody Back Bay Books, 2002 Interesting first novel Garden State bears many of the hallmarks of a typical first novel - somewhat autobigraphical, straining a little to find that elusive, distinctive voice that sets out the writer's stall as a force in literature, short in length. These aspects can often become flaws in a novel, but they can be ...             Less Than Zero223 reviews Bret Easton Ellis Vintage, 1998 Ignore the movie version, read the book, it's (unfortunately) pitch-perfect Ellis is an expert at chronicling the callow consumerism and nihilism of a particular breed of American wealth. He hits it here. These characters aren't at all overblown. They are incredibly shallow. They are exactly as shallow as they would be if they were actually alive. If you don't know people ...             Depth Takes a Holiday46 reviews Sandra Tsing Loh Riverhead Trade, 1997 I know of whence she speaks + Life in Los Angeles during the Internet boom + Sandra Tsing Loh is hilarious! + Wannabe in L.A.             Middlesex: A Novel854 reviews Jeffrey Eugenides Picador, 2002 You Are Such a Flirt + One of my favorites! + A Wonderfuf Read + From a pediatric Urology Nurse's view point, well done             Samaritan50 reviews Richard Price Vintage, 2004 This is the third of his - - - + Unsentimental but Humane + Solid and Engaging Novel + Dialogue Rings             Purple America: A Novel42 reviews Rick Moody Back Bay Books, 1998 Dazzling, a tremendous accomplishment + Big Weekend + A nuclear family explodes There are a number of valid complaints to make about the rigmarole that characterizes Rick Moody's distinctive type of writing - it's long-winded, it's morose, it's prone to sometimes arbitrary shifts into italics. Yet after finishing Purple America in record time, I realize that Moody's baroque ...             Eleven kinds of loneliness: Short stories5 reviews Richard Yates Delta/Seymour Lawrence, 1982 Only the Lonely + A Masterful Collection + A Writer's Writer + "Eleven Kinds of Loneliness" is a delicious work. + Yeats has got it down             If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now10 reviews Sandra Tsing Loh Riverhead Trade, 1998 Wannabees are disillusioned + Captures post-graduate life in California + Funny and insightful look at the "scene" post-college + From grad student to grownup: a perceptive, witty treatment             World's End (Contemporary American Fiction)30 reviews T.C. Boyle Penguin (Non-Classics), 1990 book review + Brilliant Love this book despite the number of characters to follow and the different time frames. Boyle is a really interesting writer who paints a great picture of the times and the particular part of America that is not often written about.             Dreams from Bunker Hill12 reviews John Fante Harper Perennial, 2002 They don't write like this anymore + Bandini!!! The great Bandini!!! + This guy is too much!! This is the second Fante novel I've read and it was a beauty. I just recenlty discovered Fante, too, and all I can say is I'll be reading more of him. The novel follows Arturo Bandini, a twenty-something from Colorado who's struggling to make it as a writer in Los Angeles. He meets all kinds of ...             Purple America: A Novel42 reviews Rick Moody Back Bay Books, 1998 Dazzling, a tremendous accomplishment + Big Weekend + A nuclear family explodes There are a number of valid complaints to make about the rigmarole that characterizes Rick Moody's distinctive type of writing - it's long-winded, it's morose, it's prone to sometimes arbitrary shifts into italics. Yet after finishing Purple America in record time, I realize that Moody's baroque ...             Samaritan50 reviews Richard Price Vintage, 2004 This is the third of his - - - + Unsentimental but Humane + Solid and Engaging Novel + Dialogue Rings             Revolutionary Road102 reviews Richard Yates Vintage, 2000 Classic tale of the suburban nightmare. + Revolutionary Writing + Makes Mad Men look like Happy Days Richard Yates' 1961 novel, "Revolutionary Road", is a classic that has taken far too long to get the recognition it deserves (considering Yates died in 1992). With the Hollywood version coming out the best way to describe this haunting novel in cinematic terms would be: "American Beauty" meets ...             The Brief History of the Dead123 reviews Kevin Brockmeier Vintage, 2007 One of the best books I have read in a while + Engrossing and thought-provoking + Stunningly imaginative With the world spinning around series like Twilight and Harry Potter, it is rare that one hears about a single book that is worth reading. I came across this book at the bookstore, drawn in by the title and cover. I started reading and instantly fell in love. The idea of multiple narrators is a ...