Superbad

Rating:
Summary: Somehow It Makes People Angry
Review: I have not bought this book or even read it, but I have heard great things about it. A friend of mine (well actually a friend of a friend) told me that he had read it and that it was excellent. Actually, now that I think about it, he told me that he had read a review of the book and the reviewer had nothing but good things to say about it. I'm not sure if he has read it since then, but I would imagine he has. Anyway, with a ringing endorsement like that I will certainly be picking up this book the next time I go to the bookstore for a latte and biscotti.

Rating:
Summary: Moved to write
Review: I never planned to write a review of this book, but I read the Joan Finaly review and a few things about it outraged me. I don't know if this other reviewer has followed Ben Greenman's work on the McSweeney's Website, but so much of what he does is about breaking down expectations exactly like this: that stories have to be a certain length, or that attention spans have to begin and end within a single story. There are are longer stories in this book, but I don't think that's the point. Neither is some old lady's concept of unity or coherentness. I'm not saying the book is perfect. It's annoying lots of the time. But there are too few books like this, and too many readers like that.

Rating:
Summary: Family Business
Review: I noticed that the first review of this book was supposedly written by the author's mother, which is both funny and probably not true. I have followed Ben Greenman's work on McSweeneys since he started publishing, and I can say with some confidence that he is one of the twistiest writers I have ever read. Sometimes this is slightly annoying -- there's so much trickery built into every piece that it can be exhausting. But sometimes it can be exhilarating. I have been really looking forward to this book for months, both because it collects some of my favorite pieces from the McSweeneys site, and because there seem to be lots of new pieces. One of them, a story called "Snapshot," is one of the best short stories I have ever read, and it's not a humor piece at all. This is the least boring book I have read in years.

Rating:
Summary: I'm Not Sure This Works
Review: I posted a review of this book earlier today, in which I said that I am a longtime fan of Ben Greenman's work. I also said that I think that his mother didn't reall write the other review on this page: that kind of clever self-referencing is exactly what Ben Greenman's work is all about, at least the things he has published on McSweeneys. I'm not sure that it posted correctly. Am I doing something wrong?

Rating:
Summary: He's trying too hard!
Review: If Mr. Greenman wouldn't try so hard to be clever and witty, this could be a fantastic book. Unfortunately, much of the humor seems to forced and is at times, painful to read. I can almost feel him over my shoulder, telling me "Look, isn't that a clever twist. Oh! That's so funny! You should be laughing now!" I did laugh after the first few stories, but then when I knew I was supposed to be laughing, I didn't.

There are a few real gems in these stories, but many fall short of greatness. I feel they were just included to fatten up the book. Oh, and those "musicals" need to go.

I really wanted to like all the pieces in this book, but I just couldn't. The writing didn't seem sincere to me. Don't try so hard to be clever, and make me laugh. I can figure that out myself.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Writing and Thinking
Review: It wasn't the humor pieces that I liked best in this book but rather the more moving, genuinely emotional short stories. The author has a penchant for characters who are trapped in lives where they are forced to catalog, or keep lists, and they sometimes seem close to suicidal. For anyone who has ever worked in an office, this hits close to home.

Rating:
Summary: EN201 -- Intro to Creative Writing
Review: Superbad is, in part, inspired and, regretfully, often tired. It reads like the results of a college semester-long introduction to Creative Writing, the assignments of which lie within the bound pages of this book. Mr. Greenman has some true gems here, and as a prose essayist he excels (read the interview with the founder of Nearism for proof). However, too often the short pieces in Superbad ask, "Is this really writing? Is there a plot?" The reader begins to ask these same questions, and too often the work becomes tiresome in its quest to challenge and redefine contemporary fiction and prose writing styles.
Toward the end of this book, I began to wonder if Mr. Greenman could sit still long enough to compose a complete work of prose, either in novel form or a continous narrative, or if he becomes too bored or disinterested to do so. There is great merit in writing the short story, which is a true talent indeed, but even Mr. Greenman's short pieces seem incomplete.
A frustrating piece, that shines in parts, but is unrealized in others.

Rating:
Summary: The Dolores Story is Great
Review: There are some piece in here I don't understand, like one that's just a long list of items, but the last story, "What 100 People, Real and Fake, Believe About Dolores," is one of the best stories I have ever read. I thought so when it came out on the McSweeneys site, and I still think so now. It's not like any other story that i know.