Yeah. No. Totally.

by Lisa Wells

A searing portrait of a generation on the brink, Yeah. No. Totally. delivers the bad news. With a voice at once angry, soulful, fearless, and anarchistic, Lisa Wells pulls no punches. From the self-conscious nights at the bar to the shores of a river that no longer exists, from the internet message boards to the motel rooms after the show, Wells has seen herself, and she has seen us. This is what we look like.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction

127 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2011

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up in a bookshop in New York because the it has the material I like in covers—those really smooth ones that make that lovely sound when you wipe your hand across it. I'm a sucker for those covers. I try not to bend the spine in them, and usually I don't care (generally because I like my books to look worn with love).

I bought it because the author was from Portland, Oregon, and I love all things Oregon being an Oregonian myself.

I've lately become one of those people that doesn't buy books unless I've heard of them or read the synopsis on Goodreads or something. What a silly habit to get into, because if I hadn't bought this on impulse, I'd probably never know about it, and I really ended up loving it.

Wells has a fluid writing style; it's relaxed and easy and makes me think she's so good that she probably didn't have to edit much. The book made me smile, laugh a little, and be happy to poke fun at myself. It had wry wit and accurate self-reflection on all this hipster-bohemian-hippie bullshit a lot of us Oregonians simultaneously partake in and negatively critique. Even if I wasn't part of some of the cliques and types she mentioned, I knew exactly who she was talking about. I also found her writing to continually stay strong even when she tried out the different styles in the concluding fictional story.

Wells is sarcastic and sounds like someone I'd want to be friends with. I look forward to her putting out more work.

[G Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am loving Lisa Wells' book, "yeah.no.totally." Humorously irreverent, poetic, and a sort of commentary on the disjunctive lives of Portland's artist elite née hipsters. You should pick it up for sure. ♥ This!

[Brittany Wilmes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Waaaay too cool for me. I heard this author speak at a panel recently and thought, as I'm a Portlander in my 20s, I would dig this book. Wrong. I couldn't finish the last story - something about the cynicism, the hard edges, made it really tough for me to appreciate this book.

[Jaclyn Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharp insights by an astute observer of her generation. Moving personal histories in well-crafted and unlabored prose. Wells is a serious writer not short on charm and wit. I laughed. I cried. I rolled my eyes at younger versions of myself. I called my Dad.

[Blake Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I am perhaps lacking a bit of context for what would make this book a compelling or cohesive collection of essays. The only one that really did it for me was the book’s final piece, A Story, a Plathian short with a tenuous connection to the rest of the essays. But despite that, at least it was memorable.

[Philip Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how to feel about this book until I reached the end of it. The content of the essays which proceed the short story taking up about half the book's length vacillate wildly in form, content, and quality, to the point where I was initially regretful I had purchased this collection at all. The opening essay on music culture was one I read hot off the heels of A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, and it didn't even come close to standing with the same strength—moving forward, the short, unfocused vitriol about video games and warfare left a very sour taste in my mouth. Wells's conclusions regularly felt unsure of themselves, and often times weakened what would otherwise have been rewarding stories.

That all changed in The Body Autumnal, however. Wells is clearly more talented in the venue of poetry and short-fiction than non-fiction; while I found her prose to be engaging most of the time, the haymaker of the book's final story almost knocked me off my feet. Every sentence was dripping with wordplay, beautiful introspection, tangible emotion, and immersive imagery and poetics. I was at about a 3-star at the half-way point, but that story is worth a star in its own right. I'd immensely enjoy reading another collection by Wells focused on short stories, rather than meditative essays. While I found some of the topics she tackled to be supremely interesting (particularly her back-and-forth on feminism, relationships, and patriarchal culture), even they seemed to suffer from a sort of uncertainty; none of them had the 'oomph' of her short story, and I desperately want to see if she can pull that off more than once.

As is, this book was a great treat to read, and I'm glad I purchased it at random when I stumbled upon it in a small comic shop in Vancouver.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A promising and highly energetic collection of what you might call "creative non-fiction" in the John D'Agata school of thought. Wells in not afraid of lampooning her own scene and her own generation and that's the best thing about her voice. Some of her crystal clear vision becomes murky in the final (longest) story, The Body Autumnal, but up until that point, she's pretty impressive. Well worth checking out.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read...well paced, witty creative pieces of non-fiction. I enjoyed it, but I got the feeling some readers would be turned off by Wells' irreverent hip voice. She can come off as being too cool for school. However, I happen to be very hip and am also too cool for school most days...so I really enjoyed this. I've loved everything Perfect Day Publishing has put out thus far. Great stuff.

[Eli Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Wells' effortless deployment of topical humor is only the tip of the iceberg in this resounding debut of essays and fiction, under which lies the solid foundation of critical thinking that contemporary culture is too frequently bereft.

[LeeFrances · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the prose style and her snarky voice ringing throughout the essays, but my favorite by far was the last fiction piece, the Body Autumnal. I love any writing that leads to me to dive head first into my own craziness.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative writings on Portland, melancholy, and the strum und drang of Generation Y. I thought this was going to be insufferable, especially when I got to the "I-heard-Eliot-Smith-before-anybody-else" bit, but actually it's a wonderful book.