I read it for a class and it connected with me to some degree. i think I liked it more because I had read it after reading “Ordinary Light” by Tracy K Smith, which sucked ass. The reason why it sucked ass is because every other line, Smith is either talking about God or going into the microfibers of details on a simple thing. She will write about how she got a boo-boo on her toe and how it re-shaped her life as a whole and then somehow relating back to God. Like, bitch please, when I got an injury when I was 8 I was wondering why i hadn’t broken my bone. Burroughs keeps the simple simple and uses pop-culture and media to describe things and it makes sense. When I see a friend make a piece of art, I wouldn’t say something of the lines, ”those lines strike and shine across the paper like birds in the horizon“ no bitch I would be saying, “hey its better than what Zun can draw and also if you want to make money, rule 34 is the place!” also Burroughs doesn’t shy away from showing the ugly sides of himself, he steals money and manipulates a 34 year old man to fuck his 13 year old self. Shits crazy and not close to my life, but it’s more relatable somehow.
I picked up a couple from the library, but this will be the next one. Just by reading the plot summary it sounds like exactly what I would’ve wanted as a kid, but in reality should not be how children live
A great novel that’s quick (if a little "difficult") to read. Brutal and cautionary, it feels like Sam is looking at an alternate path he *could* have taken, but where he zigged, his main character zagged and we are left with the real, funny Sam Tallent and the fictional, equally funny but twice as doomed Billy Ray Schafer
i’ve read a few of his novels this year, and in the current state of the world, i appreciate his grimy rawness. it’s refreshing to see how different things were, but also in a biologically human way, exactly the same. there so much relatability to bukowski and a carnal need to channel his “don’t give a single fuck” energy.
I don’t know why I would recommend it to be honest. The other two classics I would recommend from my heart would be The Catcher and the Rye or 100 Years of Solitude. Issue is that Rye is like the first “incelcore” book and I legit didn’t understand anything from Solitude but it was a ride. When I did read Catch-22 over the summer in high school, I just tried to get it done because I have a shitty brain that functions on porn and video games, but after I was done reading it, I tried living my life with the thought that everything was illogical, which worked for the most part, until I started to lose my mental health. so idk, it’s like a crack pipe, terrible for those who can’t control it, great for those who can.
