Lenny Bruce is Dead

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Anybody who's ever heard this author on This American Life would have high hopes for any novel he writes, but unfortunately Lenny Bruce is Dead just doesn't live up to his potential.

However, I recently read his second book, "Schmelvis", and it's extraordinary. It's not a novel but rather a sort of road trip memoir. It's about a documentary Goldstein worked on about Elvis Presley's Jewish roots (yes, believe it or not, the King was a Hebe) and it is brilliant. He and a film crew, a chassidic jewish Elvis impersonator named Schmelvis and a wacky Rabbi went to Memphis and Israel looking for evidence. Hilarious, touching, fascinating, all at the same time. I'd recommend that Jonathan's fans run, don't walk, and pick up "Schmelvis". Much more in the spirit of This American life than Lenny Bruce is dead, although his novel does have its moments so you might want to read that as well.

Rating:
Summary: There's something in it 4 everyone...
Review: I almost didn't read this book when I first picked it up. I was like, "'Lenny Bruce is Dead' well yeah, and the sky is blue, so what!" But despite it's unimaginative title, I went ahead and took a chance on it. And by about page 30 I was hooked. Suprisingly this book isn't even about Lenny Bruce, instead its about sex and death. Oh, and it takes place in Canada, if you are into that sort of thing.

Rating:
Summary: A very different and wonderful discovery
Review: I picked it up this book because my friends were raving about it and I had heard Goldstein's hilarious radio pieces on This American Life. The narrative voice makes this novel so original and distinct. Goldstein's imagery made me stop reading at times and just think about the power of language. He is a very talented man. He notices everything so tenderly, from a dirty napkin on a table to a girl's funny face. This is an introspective novel about the reflections a man has when his mother dies. It is fragmented, but it almost has to be. It's so beautiful, I could only take it one paragraph at a time. For those who love literature only!

Rating:
Summary: Painful, thoroughly inadequate style
Review: Interesting, experimental novel by one of my favorite "This American Life" essayists. Folks familiar with that show will recognize the storytelling style: three- or four-sentence paragraph/chapters, each presenting a new idea, are bounced off each other in very rapid succession. The effect is sometimes ironic, sometimes not. Unfortunately, this device may be better suited to radio than it is to the page, and while there are some powerful moments the book comes off as more of a gimmicky exercise than anything else. The relentless cleverness (although the writing isn't terribly funny) make the book seem pretty far removed from actual human experience. It's also bogged down by an undergraduate sensibility about sex, and by a lot of odd metaphors that don't go anywhere. I can imagine this style being successfully applied to the novel form, but I don't think Goldstein's done it here.

Rating:
Summary: What was that about?
Review: Many times I wanted to put this book down but kept telling myself it would get better. It never did. This book was one of the most confusing and perplexing peices I have ever read.
It tells the story of a young man's life and experiences with his parents, religion and girlfriends by throwing disjointed paragraphs together. In one paragraph Goldstein may be describing a moment with a girlfriend while in the next paragraph he jumps to some totally unrelated topic. These unconnected snipets of memory go on for 200 pages and causes much frustration for the reader. It is a book that has nothing to offer as the ending is unconclusive. A waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books.
Review: Poignant, hilarious, and original. Jonathan Goldstein, where have you been all my life! Not only did I find myself laughing my head off over the sexual antics of the main character, Josh, but his touching interactions with his widowed father brought a few tears to my eyes as well. Truly unlike anything I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking and perfect.
Review: The reviews this book's receiving here are inexcusable.

Rating:
Summary: Painful, thoroughly inadequate style
Review: This author is well known for his radio writing and I was curious what the novel would be like. It is simply so light weight and smirking as to be hard to endure. I realize one shouldn't expect much from a book like this, but it seems to me novel writing must take more effort than was expended here. I also can't help but note that the Open Letters review excerpted here seems to me a bit incestuous. Nothing wrong with having friends give you rave reviews, mind. What are friends for, no?

Rating:
Summary: Hypnotic, beautiful, sad and sweet
Review: This novel was sent across the continent to me by my best friend, and it's a perfect example of why we get along so well.

Like Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son, Barry Hannah's Geronimo Rex and very few others, the protagonist here is a solitary, emotional boy who can't express his emotions outwardly.

His voice is one that moves from narrative to something like poetry without interrupting the feel and flow of the story. Every girl he falls for is guaranteed to be a disaster, but he let's it happen anyway, and you'll fall for them too.

I'm not jewish and not from the north, but i felt every word of his mangled thoughts like they were my very own.

A STUNNING first novel for Goldstein. I can't WAIT for another!!