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Memoirs of My Writers Block by Jake Chapman
Following tthe success of his first novel The Marriage of Reason and Squalor, Jake Chapman now focuses his malice on the calloused underbelly of literature itself. Fragile amateur novelist Christabel Ludd has a bad case of writer's block, and hires self-proclaimed "professionals" to transform her novel into a they do so, spinning the tale of Bao Xishun, who saves the lives of some dolphins by using his extremely long arms to fish pieces of plastic flotsam from their stomachs. Working this tale into ever more bizarre incarnations, they finally cause Christabel to despairingly resort to poetry in order to break her block.
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First published May 31, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 6, 2013
I'm pretty sure it will take a certain kind of temperament to enjoy this book. Chapman's work as an artist is interesting and always controversial, but I was simply astounded by what kind of a writer he is. This is a book about bad writing in all its guises, yet it's done with such a fierce and unlikely mix of psychological subtlety and satirical bluntness that I'm forever sold on this guy. He's a writer as much as he is a visual artist, and deserves to be known for this kind of thing.
The whole narrative is developed by email exchange, which could be boring, but isn't.
The great pleasure of the book comes from seeing the same story rewritten over and over, which could be infuriating, but is actually just hilarious.
The "protagonist" is so beautifully repulsive, and made so grotesque on every damned page (seriously: every page made me despise her more) that you'd think it'd be unbearable to keep reading. But of course, it drives you on.
I do warn many readers that it has "WTF this is boring!" potential. I'd recommend this especially to people who have tried to be writers and failed, and to those who have been published and have any sense of self-irony. It's a vicious exercise in mocking the manipulative and incompetent budding writer. Such glory.
The whole narrative is developed by email exchange, which could be boring, but isn't.
The great pleasure of the book comes from seeing the same story rewritten over and over, which could be infuriating, but is actually just hilarious.
The "protagonist" is so beautifully repulsive, and made so grotesque on every damned page (seriously: every page made me despise her more) that you'd think it'd be unbearable to keep reading. But of course, it drives you on.
I do warn many readers that it has "WTF this is boring!" potential. I'd recommend this especially to people who have tried to be writers and failed, and to those who have been published and have any sense of self-irony. It's a vicious exercise in mocking the manipulative and incompetent budding writer. Such glory.
March 23, 2018
This is a lazy book.
I'm a writer, and I know how easy it is to fall into fillers. This book is just the most obvious of fillers- copy and paste the same text, different fonts, letters- all pulled together into an anthology. And it's all pointless. Yeah, I get it- it's a writer's block inside the writer's block hahaha. It is also pointless.
I'm a writer, and I know how easy it is to fall into fillers. This book is just the most obvious of fillers- copy and paste the same text, different fonts, letters- all pulled together into an anthology. And it's all pointless. Yeah, I get it- it's a writer's block inside the writer's block hahaha. It is also pointless.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews