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Right Livelihoods: Three Novellas
RIGHT LIVELIHOODS begins with a cataclysmic vision of New York City after the leveling of 50 square blocks of Manhattan. Four million have died. Albertine, the "street name for the buzz of a lifetime," is a mind-altering drug that sets The Albertine Notes in motion. The collection's second novella, K & K, concerns a lonely young office manager at an insurance agency, where the office suggestion box is yielding unpleasant messages that escalate to a scary pitch. Ellie Knight-Cameron's responses to these random diatribes illuminate the toll that a lack of self-awareness can take. At the center of The Omega Force is a buffoonish former government official in rocky recovery. Dr. "Jamie" Van Deusen is determined to protect his habitat--its golf courses (and Bloody Marys), pizza places (and beers) from "dark-complected" foreign nationals. His patriotism and wild imagination are mainly fueled by a fall off the wagon. Only Rick Moody could lead us to feel affection for this man and the other misguided, earnestly striving characters in these alternately unsettling, warm, trio of stories.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
13 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Rick Moody
165 books348 followersHiram Frederick Moody III is an American novelist and short story writer best known for the 1994 novel The Ice Storm, a chronicle of the dissolution of two suburban Connecticut families over Thanksgiving weekend in 1973, which brought him widespread acclaim, became a bestseller, and was made into the film The Ice Storm. Many of his works have been praised by fellow writers and critics alike.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
October 25, 2010
I started reading the first novella and became bored with it.
I moved on to the third and final one which was worthy of a three star rating. Moody's only attempt at working within the (loosely defined version of the) sci-fi genre. In fact, the whole reason the story came about was that McSweeny's asked him to write a sci-fi story.
NYC has been decimated in a nuclear attack, the city is gripped by desperation and chaos and millions of people seeking to forget themselves or at least their selves of the present. A fictional chemical compound begins to proliferate throughout the city's illegal drug trade/consumption networks. This substance causes the user to vividly relive past memories, like, really relive them, with no ability to differentiate the artificially induced memory from "real life."
Many confusing and interesting social, psychological and philosophical implications follow. It reminded me a little bit of the mostly cheesy but conceptually great ("on paper" so to speak) film Strange Days featuring Ralph Fiennes in which he peddles other people's recorded experiences which you can pop into a minidisc looking thing strapped to your head and vividly relive as if you are that person having that experience.
I went back to the first novella and finished it. I liked the basic underlying ideas that seemed to bubble under the surface and the drunken, eldery and increasingly delusional central character has some hilarious moments (like in the way that senility can sometimes be funny) but I continued to get the feeling that something else should happen and was merely met with more mundane descriptions of mundane things.
Moody tends to do this to me: I get the feeling something revelatory is just around the corner but it rarely ever emerges. I find myself rereading the last paragraphs of his stories over and over, squinting my eyes for something I may have missed, something redemptive or interesting or meaningful—even in an "anti-sentimentalist" kind of way—and I rarely every see it. Consequently I can't even remember how most of his stories end even a day or two after finishing them.
I didn't start the second/middle "novella" before returning it to the library.
I will ¾-heartedly recommend the last one.
I moved on to the third and final one which was worthy of a three star rating. Moody's only attempt at working within the (loosely defined version of the) sci-fi genre. In fact, the whole reason the story came about was that McSweeny's asked him to write a sci-fi story.
NYC has been decimated in a nuclear attack, the city is gripped by desperation and chaos and millions of people seeking to forget themselves or at least their selves of the present. A fictional chemical compound begins to proliferate throughout the city's illegal drug trade/consumption networks. This substance causes the user to vividly relive past memories, like, really relive them, with no ability to differentiate the artificially induced memory from "real life."
Many confusing and interesting social, psychological and philosophical implications follow. It reminded me a little bit of the mostly cheesy but conceptually great ("on paper" so to speak) film Strange Days featuring Ralph Fiennes in which he peddles other people's recorded experiences which you can pop into a minidisc looking thing strapped to your head and vividly relive as if you are that person having that experience.
I went back to the first novella and finished it. I liked the basic underlying ideas that seemed to bubble under the surface and the drunken, eldery and increasingly delusional central character has some hilarious moments (like in the way that senility can sometimes be funny) but I continued to get the feeling that something else should happen and was merely met with more mundane descriptions of mundane things.
Moody tends to do this to me: I get the feeling something revelatory is just around the corner but it rarely ever emerges. I find myself rereading the last paragraphs of his stories over and over, squinting my eyes for something I may have missed, something redemptive or interesting or meaningful—even in an "anti-sentimentalist" kind of way—and I rarely every see it. Consequently I can't even remember how most of his stories end even a day or two after finishing them.
I didn't start the second/middle "novella" before returning it to the library.
I will ¾-heartedly recommend the last one.
January 30, 2011
This applies to the novella, "K&K" in this book.
Disappointment wouldn't really describe it. It was confusing to read, and the ending was inexplicable.
It was as though I were walking a dog, but instead of walking down the road, the dog moved according to a random movement algorithm. And then, after 3 hours of this, a scorching blue flame suddenly fired out of the dog's backsides, firing the dog heavenward in a cloud of singed butt-fur. As I said, disappointment wouldn't really describe it. Rather, I would be standing there wondering what in tarnation just happened. That's how this story leaves you feeling.
Disappointment wouldn't really describe it. It was confusing to read, and the ending was inexplicable.
It was as though I were walking a dog, but instead of walking down the road, the dog moved according to a random movement algorithm. And then, after 3 hours of this, a scorching blue flame suddenly fired out of the dog's backsides, firing the dog heavenward in a cloud of singed butt-fur. As I said, disappointment wouldn't really describe it. Rather, I would be standing there wondering what in tarnation just happened. That's how this story leaves you feeling.
August 1, 2008
In reading a review of another science fiction book, an Amazon commenter suggested this book as an example of excellent reading, in particular the third novella contained within this collection, entitled "Albertine Notes."
Moody describes a post-disaster New York in which typical Gothamite characters find a new way to deal with their grief: a drug called Albertine. One dose sends you on a vacation into your memories, and as a side effect, makes it harder for you to recall events without the drug. This is a play on the actual effects of heroin, and would have been an immensely clever trick on the part of the author had he not mentioned it outright. While our protagonist suffers to differentiate the real from the drug-induced memories, so too does the reader. I must give Moody credit for recreating the drug experience, but it makes for an unpleasant read. Without giving away anything, expect characters to appear from nowhere, change their name mid-paragraph, and then disappear just as rapidly. Seriously, one of the major characters goes by up to four different names on the same page.
The prose is reminiscent of Edith Wharton, which is to say, wholly inappropriate for this setting. Perhaps only the most pretentious of the posthumans would indulge in french idioms in casual conversation, and even then, not REPEATEDLY. The Albertine Notes delivers a somewhat satisfying ending, and as mentioned previously, is told with some measure of skill. Because of this, I cannot dismiss it out-of-hand, however, it is a labor to finish, and I'm not sure it was worth it.
All that said, I started reading the first novella, something cloyingly titled "Omega Force." I couldn't get past twenty pages. The self-indulgent prose is offensive, and the banter of the protagonist (Jay Gatsby minus the charm or the money) is hard to swallow. I might try the last remaining novella in the book, K&K, but the dolorous chore that was reading Albertine, compounded by the slap in the face at the onset of Omega, the chances that I'll get through the rest of the book are slim.
Moody describes a post-disaster New York in which typical Gothamite characters find a new way to deal with their grief: a drug called Albertine. One dose sends you on a vacation into your memories, and as a side effect, makes it harder for you to recall events without the drug. This is a play on the actual effects of heroin, and would have been an immensely clever trick on the part of the author had he not mentioned it outright. While our protagonist suffers to differentiate the real from the drug-induced memories, so too does the reader. I must give Moody credit for recreating the drug experience, but it makes for an unpleasant read. Without giving away anything, expect characters to appear from nowhere, change their name mid-paragraph, and then disappear just as rapidly. Seriously, one of the major characters goes by up to four different names on the same page.
The prose is reminiscent of Edith Wharton, which is to say, wholly inappropriate for this setting. Perhaps only the most pretentious of the posthumans would indulge in french idioms in casual conversation, and even then, not REPEATEDLY. The Albertine Notes delivers a somewhat satisfying ending, and as mentioned previously, is told with some measure of skill. Because of this, I cannot dismiss it out-of-hand, however, it is a labor to finish, and I'm not sure it was worth it.
All that said, I started reading the first novella, something cloyingly titled "Omega Force." I couldn't get past twenty pages. The self-indulgent prose is offensive, and the banter of the protagonist (Jay Gatsby minus the charm or the money) is hard to swallow. I might try the last remaining novella in the book, K&K, but the dolorous chore that was reading Albertine, compounded by the slap in the face at the onset of Omega, the chances that I'll get through the rest of the book are slim.
January 11, 2012
"Right Livelihoods: Three Novellas" demonstrates that Rick Moody remains at the peak of his literary craft, drawing successfully on post-9/11 paranoia in these three elegant examinations of technologically-obsessed paranoia. Included in this terse volume is the amazing "The Albertine Notes", the last of the three novellas in "Right Livelihoods", which deserves ample recognition and praise of its own (To which I shall return later.). The dysfunctional surburban families so eloquently depicted by Moody in his classic 1990s novel "The Ice Storm" and the recent short story collection "Demonology" are brilliantly transmutated into three engrossing portraits of three vivid characters each lost in their own peculiar set of technologically-oriented phobias. In short, at least two of these tales should be regarded as among Moody's best efforts in short fiction.
"The Omega Force" is a spellbinding examination of how one person's twisted notions of reality and fiction lead inexorably to an irrational speculation that unexpectedly disrupts the placid existence of his friends and neighbors in a bucolic North Shore Long Island community. Dr. Van Deusen, retired from some secret government agency, conflates fact with the "mind-twisting" fiction gleamed from the pages of the thriller "Omega Force", and his deep-seated fears about the arrival of "dark-complected" emigrants to his community. Convinced that he has uncovered the "truth", Dr. Van Deusen believes he's become a contemporary Paul Revere, fearful of some vague terrorist plot against the Plum Island animal research center, which, if successful, will unleash untold numbers of virulent diseases and plagues upon his community. In his typically riveting, expansive prose, Moody leads us on a personal trek through Dr. Van Deusen's swift descent into madness, in a compelling tale that many will regard as among his best, which concludes on a surprising, most unexpected, note. "The Omega Force" is written in a literary style which I find surprisingly similar to some of cyberpunk science fiction writer Bruce Sterling's work, most recently his post-9/11 novel, "The Zenith Angle".
"K&K", the second and shortest, of the three novellas, follows one Ellie Knight-Cameron, an administrative manager at Kolodny and Kolodny ("K&K"), a small insurance brokerage firm, as she deals with the unexpected arrivals of bizarre messages meant for her in the suggestion box she manages. She undergoes her own descent into madness, trying to cope not only with the arrival of these messages and their meanings, but also becoming obsessed into attempting to discover the identities of their senders. This is a fine tale in its own right, but one which may leave readers a bit unsatisfied, since it does end on a rather abrupt note.
With the last, and longest, of the three novellas, "The Albertine Notes", Rick Moody has boldly gone - with no pun intended, invoking a famous split infinitive whose artistic source some readers of this review may recognize - where few major mainstream fiction writers have gone before, writing what must be regarded as his most remarkable, most impressive work of short fiction to date. Relying once more on his characteristic expansive prose, Rick Moody's "The Albertine Notes" is not just a fine short story, but a fine work of science fiction too, whose vivid imagery easily conjurs up references to Philip K. Dick and J. G. Ballard, and, I would argue too, paying homage to such classic American science fiction writers as Samuel Delany and Octavia Butler in his intelligent depiction of race relations set in a dystopian near-future New York City; or rather, its surviving remnant, following a "suitcase nuke" nuclear detonation which has obliterated most of Manhattan south of 53rd Street, and exterminated four million of its residents. In "The Albertine Notes", Kevin Lee, a young Chinese-American journalist, searches for Albertine drug cartel chieftain Eduardo Cortez and traces the history of the drug "Albertine", an addictive mind-altering drug which appeared suddenly soon after "the blast", which allows its users to remember their past vividly, with ample clarity. Lee wrestles with his addiction and his vivid rememberance of things past, leading to a poignant, closing scene, which seems lifted straight from Greek mythology, as though Lee is Orpheus accompanying Charon, the ferryman, on a one-way trip to the Hades that is the nuclear wasteland of Manhattan. Lee takes us on a nocturnal, nightmarish trek across Brooklyn and Queens which is quite reminiscent of Delany's classic 1960s extraterrestrial urban dystopias like "Dhalgren" and "Nova", meeting prostitutes and bikers resembling those in Butler's novels and, in some respects, William Gibson's early classic cyberpunk novels too. "The Albertine Notes" is a most notable, memorable departure for Moody - and one that was recognized by its publication in a 2004 anthology of that year's best science fiction - which demonstrates his longstanding familiarity with and appreciation of science fiction - but one that is also a logical extension of his interest in dysfunctional suburban families as I have noted previously.
"The Omega Force" is a spellbinding examination of how one person's twisted notions of reality and fiction lead inexorably to an irrational speculation that unexpectedly disrupts the placid existence of his friends and neighbors in a bucolic North Shore Long Island community. Dr. Van Deusen, retired from some secret government agency, conflates fact with the "mind-twisting" fiction gleamed from the pages of the thriller "Omega Force", and his deep-seated fears about the arrival of "dark-complected" emigrants to his community. Convinced that he has uncovered the "truth", Dr. Van Deusen believes he's become a contemporary Paul Revere, fearful of some vague terrorist plot against the Plum Island animal research center, which, if successful, will unleash untold numbers of virulent diseases and plagues upon his community. In his typically riveting, expansive prose, Moody leads us on a personal trek through Dr. Van Deusen's swift descent into madness, in a compelling tale that many will regard as among his best, which concludes on a surprising, most unexpected, note. "The Omega Force" is written in a literary style which I find surprisingly similar to some of cyberpunk science fiction writer Bruce Sterling's work, most recently his post-9/11 novel, "The Zenith Angle".
"K&K", the second and shortest, of the three novellas, follows one Ellie Knight-Cameron, an administrative manager at Kolodny and Kolodny ("K&K"), a small insurance brokerage firm, as she deals with the unexpected arrivals of bizarre messages meant for her in the suggestion box she manages. She undergoes her own descent into madness, trying to cope not only with the arrival of these messages and their meanings, but also becoming obsessed into attempting to discover the identities of their senders. This is a fine tale in its own right, but one which may leave readers a bit unsatisfied, since it does end on a rather abrupt note.
With the last, and longest, of the three novellas, "The Albertine Notes", Rick Moody has boldly gone - with no pun intended, invoking a famous split infinitive whose artistic source some readers of this review may recognize - where few major mainstream fiction writers have gone before, writing what must be regarded as his most remarkable, most impressive work of short fiction to date. Relying once more on his characteristic expansive prose, Rick Moody's "The Albertine Notes" is not just a fine short story, but a fine work of science fiction too, whose vivid imagery easily conjurs up references to Philip K. Dick and J. G. Ballard, and, I would argue too, paying homage to such classic American science fiction writers as Samuel Delany and Octavia Butler in his intelligent depiction of race relations set in a dystopian near-future New York City; or rather, its surviving remnant, following a "suitcase nuke" nuclear detonation which has obliterated most of Manhattan south of 53rd Street, and exterminated four million of its residents. In "The Albertine Notes", Kevin Lee, a young Chinese-American journalist, searches for Albertine drug cartel chieftain Eduardo Cortez and traces the history of the drug "Albertine", an addictive mind-altering drug which appeared suddenly soon after "the blast", which allows its users to remember their past vividly, with ample clarity. Lee wrestles with his addiction and his vivid rememberance of things past, leading to a poignant, closing scene, which seems lifted straight from Greek mythology, as though Lee is Orpheus accompanying Charon, the ferryman, on a one-way trip to the Hades that is the nuclear wasteland of Manhattan. Lee takes us on a nocturnal, nightmarish trek across Brooklyn and Queens which is quite reminiscent of Delany's classic 1960s extraterrestrial urban dystopias like "Dhalgren" and "Nova", meeting prostitutes and bikers resembling those in Butler's novels and, in some respects, William Gibson's early classic cyberpunk novels too. "The Albertine Notes" is a most notable, memorable departure for Moody - and one that was recognized by its publication in a 2004 anthology of that year's best science fiction - which demonstrates his longstanding familiarity with and appreciation of science fiction - but one that is also a logical extension of his interest in dysfunctional suburban families as I have noted previously.
April 19, 2008
I'm rounding up to 4 stars from 3.5. As my tags show, I heard about this book on NPR. In the radio interview, I believe they talked mainly about the third story: The Albertine Notes. I actually liked the first two better, although once I started understanding what was going on, I enjoyed 'Albertine' too.
The Albertine Notes is about a drug where the 'high' is memory. It gives you extremely detailed, vivid recollections of your memories. Some people are able to shoot up and then change things in their memories, affecting 'real' life. It's all about drugs, consciousness, reality/memory, and time travel in a not-too-distant futuristic setting.
The first few pages were kind of confusing, and I wasn't that interested initially, especially since it seemed to launch into a history of the drug, and I wasn't sure why I should care. But then once I 'got' the world of the story, it became exciting. The story has a futuristic feel a la Bourne Identity or Fight Club, or other similar stories.
The second story, K & K, involves the office politics and drama in a small insurance company. The "office manager" aka secretary aka go-fer discovers some disturbing notes in the suggestion box and tries to figure out who could have written them. Moody's writing is hilarious in a subtle understated sort of way where if the reader gets the jokes, he gets the feeling that the characters in the story don't.
The first story, The Omega Force, was my favorite. The main character is a wealthy-ish retiree on a small island who does his darnedest to figure out the mysterious conspiracy of the Omega Force. He's delightfully eccentric, and Moody is hilarious as he slowly unfolds the story, leading the reader to understand the depths of Dr. Van Deusen's dementia. My favorite moment: the dance of the stick.
Each of the three stories has a central character that is largely unaware of the truth about his/her situation. It's "The Unreliable Narrator." The humour and suspense comes from this disconnect: you first see things the way the character sees them, then you begin to piece together another perspective. The Omega force does this best, and is the strongest of the stories, although they are all enjoyable and worth reading.
Recommended. Occasional swearing and/or sexual references.
The Albertine Notes is about a drug where the 'high' is memory. It gives you extremely detailed, vivid recollections of your memories. Some people are able to shoot up and then change things in their memories, affecting 'real' life. It's all about drugs, consciousness, reality/memory, and time travel in a not-too-distant futuristic setting.
The first few pages were kind of confusing, and I wasn't that interested initially, especially since it seemed to launch into a history of the drug, and I wasn't sure why I should care. But then once I 'got' the world of the story, it became exciting. The story has a futuristic feel a la Bourne Identity or Fight Club, or other similar stories.
The second story, K & K, involves the office politics and drama in a small insurance company. The "office manager" aka secretary aka go-fer discovers some disturbing notes in the suggestion box and tries to figure out who could have written them. Moody's writing is hilarious in a subtle understated sort of way where if the reader gets the jokes, he gets the feeling that the characters in the story don't.
The first story, The Omega Force, was my favorite. The main character is a wealthy-ish retiree on a small island who does his darnedest to figure out the mysterious conspiracy of the Omega Force. He's delightfully eccentric, and Moody is hilarious as he slowly unfolds the story, leading the reader to understand the depths of Dr. Van Deusen's dementia. My favorite moment: the dance of the stick.
Each of the three stories has a central character that is largely unaware of the truth about his/her situation. It's "The Unreliable Narrator." The humour and suspense comes from this disconnect: you first see things the way the character sees them, then you begin to piece together another perspective. The Omega force does this best, and is the strongest of the stories, although they are all enjoyable and worth reading.
Recommended. Occasional swearing and/or sexual references.
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February 5, 2009The expression "right livelihood" refers to a Buddhist's duty to reject any occupation that causes harm to other living beings; Moody uses it as a satirical reference to the paranoia and confusion perpetuated by the main characters in Right Livelihoods. Critics found the novellas uneven, pronouncing the predictable, unconvincing "K&K" the least successful of the three, while claiming that the acerbic political parody in "The Omega Force" compensated for the unlikable Dr. Van Deusen. However, they agreed that "The Albertine Notes," a dark and imaginative tour de force, more than made up for any earlier shortcomings. By turns humorous and chilling, Rick Moody has crafted a disturbing picture of contemporary America in what the Chicago Tribune calls "his subtlest and most darkly comical performance yet."
This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
November 27, 2015
Okay, I must admit, I slogged through the first two stories and thought everything was OKAY, but nothing great....
Until the last of the three Novellas: "The Albertine Notes". Again, things that resonate and resound and rebound and there you are and there it is. It is a crucial, rocking a fat ass, awesome fucking story that I founf totally foreign and yet uncomfortably familiar.
Then I reread the whole damn collection two more times. And the first story? IS HILARIOUS! The feebleness of the upper classes, the island putrefacation of our leaders and the thousand whose back they stand on by name dropping and cash cropping.
The 2nd Story is Office politics, a bit more tragi-comedy.
But "Albertine"; that's the shit.
Until the last of the three Novellas: "The Albertine Notes". Again, things that resonate and resound and rebound and there you are and there it is. It is a crucial, rocking a fat ass, awesome fucking story that I founf totally foreign and yet uncomfortably familiar.
Then I reread the whole damn collection two more times. And the first story? IS HILARIOUS! The feebleness of the upper classes, the island putrefacation of our leaders and the thousand whose back they stand on by name dropping and cash cropping.
The 2nd Story is Office politics, a bit more tragi-comedy.
But "Albertine"; that's the shit.
November 12, 2007
i guess i just need to stop reading rick moody. i always feel like he's joking or winking or being tongue-in-cheek and will switch tones or perspectives or characters soon, but then it lasts the duration. i can't say what it is that strikes me as so insincere, even dishonest, about his narratives but it leaves me cold even when the 'facts' of the story interest me.
August 29, 2012
Not one of Moody's best. The stories took a while to get in to, once you got into the first and the third and saw where it was going it got easier to stick with. The second seemed to have no real point at all in context with the others and I felt it was just a waste. As usual his writing style is great, just the subject matter didn't have me clamouring for more.
July 23, 2011
I wrote a review of this on my Tumblr instead of here. It's a little different from the kind of reviews I tend to write here. You'll see what I mean: http://outlaw.tumblr.com/post/7965304...
January 29, 2011
wtf?
they'll publish anything these days won't they?
the blurb about the book is the best part - then, blammo, nothing.
they'll publish anything these days won't they?
the blurb about the book is the best part - then, blammo, nothing.
July 12, 2012
Stiff, forced, annoying, and trite. The last novella, The Albertine Notes, was much more interesting than the first two, but not enough that I'd recommend reading this.
October 19, 2017
Superbly written, but not to my taste. These three stories about paranoia and conspiracy theories are too intricate and complicated to be enjoyed by this leisure reader. If you enjoy solving complex Math problems during your time 'off', this book may be for you. If you're super-smart and not prone to dull your senses with alcoholic beverages as soon as you're home safe, this book may be for you. Dr Van Deusen, the protagonist of the first story, is certainly a memorable character - compulsed to perform a 'dance with sticks' when he sees stay sticks bobbing in the ocean, he is also a protective father to his mentally handicapped son and a 'communist'-sniffing racist. 'Nough said.It's all lovely if you have the mind for it.Good for you.
November 15, 2021
I didn't think much of the other two, but "Albertine Notes" is the best novella I've read, just ahead of "Rita Hayward and the Shawshank Redemption."
The way it smears the narrative across time, and how that gets murkier the further the protagonist gets into the drug, is just a master class.
I've read and enjoyed Moody for a long time, but always with some distance. "Demonology" for example has a number of great stories, including the titular one, but none have that emotional punch to get you over the top. "Albertine Notes" takes all of his amazing language play, deadpan humor, and acerbic timing and blows it through the roof.
The way it smears the narrative across time, and how that gets murkier the further the protagonist gets into the drug, is just a master class.
I've read and enjoyed Moody for a long time, but always with some distance. "Demonology" for example has a number of great stories, including the titular one, but none have that emotional punch to get you over the top. "Albertine Notes" takes all of his amazing language play, deadpan humor, and acerbic timing and blows it through the roof.
April 12, 2025
Raccolta di 3 racconti lunghi (potremmo definirli novelle).
Elemento comune a tutte e 3 è la tendenza al complottismo di una certa America, o quantomeno l'incapacità di leggere la complessità del reale, filtrando tutto con una lenta che distorce.
Tematica sicuramente molto interessante e di certo ancora molto attuale.
Molto bello e divertente il primo racconto, che ha quasi il tono della commedia; il secondo inizia bene poi si perde un po'; il terzo, probabilmente il più ambizioso, ho fatto una fatica mostruosa a terminarlo: Sarà che non amo la sci-fi, sarà la prosa, ma proprio no per me.
Nel complesso, quindi, una raccolta apprezzabile ma non certo imperdibile.
Elemento comune a tutte e 3 è la tendenza al complottismo di una certa America, o quantomeno l'incapacità di leggere la complessità del reale, filtrando tutto con una lenta che distorce.
Tematica sicuramente molto interessante e di certo ancora molto attuale.
Molto bello e divertente il primo racconto, che ha quasi il tono della commedia; il secondo inizia bene poi si perde un po'; il terzo, probabilmente il più ambizioso, ho fatto una fatica mostruosa a terminarlo: Sarà che non amo la sci-fi, sarà la prosa, ma proprio no per me.
Nel complesso, quindi, una raccolta apprezzabile ma non certo imperdibile.
July 23, 2020
Tre racconti molto diversi tra loro per stile di narrazione e struttura della storia, narrano vicende simili.
La penna di Moody è estremamente abile, sa destreggiarsi nella mente di uno schizotipico alto borghese, nelle elucubrazioni di una fragile impiegata di una compagnia assicurativa e nella folle e a tratti virtuosa ricostruzione dei fatti nella storia di una New York rasa al suolo il cui filo conduttore sembra essere una droga di nome Albertine.
Geniale.
La penna di Moody è estremamente abile, sa destreggiarsi nella mente di uno schizotipico alto borghese, nelle elucubrazioni di una fragile impiegata di una compagnia assicurativa e nella folle e a tratti virtuosa ricostruzione dei fatti nella storia di una New York rasa al suolo il cui filo conduttore sembra essere una droga di nome Albertine.
Geniale.
April 20, 2021
I think Rick Moody is a gorgeous writer. He is so truly gifted with words and his sentences are sometimes so perfect in the kind of way that someone in a writing class sharing their work would leave the entire group in silent awe. His prose in this work is no exception - though I definitely marveled at less sentences - but I just did not enjoy reading this and found it boring. Read Hotels of North America or The Ice Storm instead.
April 8, 2022
Prior to this, I'd only read Moody's novels, and I was curious how I would enjoy some of his shorter fiction. The author's affinity for average (or even somewhat pathetic) characters, unreliable narration, and surreal circumstances are really given air and space to roam here. Admittedly, I did not enjoy the final novella as much as the first two (the first being my absolute favourite), but nonetheless I recommend the collection as a whole.
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July 30, 2024After a bomb destroys Manhattan and former bike courier Eddie Cortes sets up a drug empire dealing “Albertine,” a Proustian hallucinogen that allows you to access buried memories, a Resistance led by university professors explores ways to subvert Cortes’s hegemony: “we employ a lot of teaching assistants, keep them comfortable and intoxicated for a long time and see what happens.”
Man, I’ve been there.
Man, I’ve been there.
December 15, 2017
2/3 stories truly shine, with “The Albertine Notes” being worth the price of admission alone; a twisting looping memory trip.
February 27, 2019
Two out of three 'ain't' bad.
January 27, 2009
Sad to say that this book was almost painful to read. Rick Moody's character sketches are confusing and unnecessarily complicated. When I eventually manage to figure out what's going on, I usually don't like it, and I don't feel any reason to identify with the protagonist. None of the three novellas left me yearning for more. Worse still, none left me with the vaguest impression that I'd absorbed some sort of narrative. They mostly gave me a headache.
In "The Omega Force," the protagonist is a retired doctor who may-or-may-not be senile and who may-or-may-not be in the middle of a government/foreign conspiracy that may-or-may-not exist. As he spirals deeper into megalomania, only the reader is around to watch him give into his basest urges--to conduct an invisible orchestra via the "Dance of the Stick."
My trouble with "The Omega Force" stems from the lack of a focal point of conflict. Should I feel sorry for Dr. Van Deusen because he's delusional, and this is causing trouble for his marriage and his relationship with his son? Should I feel tense because no one will believe him about the convoluted conspiracy only he thinks he has discovered?
The second novella, "K & K", is the only one told from a third person perspective. It's third person limited, though, so we're still treated to the thoughts of the deranged main character. I actually liked the story at the beginning; I thought it would be a delightful descent into officeplace humour--who's stuffing the suggestion box?! Ultimately, however, Moody treats us to a postmodernist ending that takes all of the delight out of deduction (not that he had put much in there in the first place).
"The Albertine Notes" was perhaps the best novella of the three, but I won't go so far as to say it was good or even great. The concept of a memory recall-enhancing drug that actually allows one to change the past through quantum indeterminacy is intriguing, for sure. Unfortunately, the use of the first person perspective meant we experienced everything from a drug addict's point of view. While that was interesting, it was also confusing. Time travel and quantum theory is confusing enough when you don't have drugs involved. And while I realize I'm disregarding the fact that "The Albertine Notes" has, buried deep within it, the skeleton of a profound theme, that's only because the narrative was confusing enough that I lost the thread of the theme every time it surfaced for air.
I'm not going to apologize if it turns out that these were incredibly simple and their points just managed to fly over my head. It's not that I dislike having to work to comprehend a story's point. I trudged through The Name of the Rose one page at a time--and I loved it. On the other hand, Right Livelihoods was not enjoyable. The book's cover copy says, "Only Rick Moody could lead us to feel affection for the misguided, earnestly striving characters in this alternately unsettling and warm, always remarkable trio of novellas." I don't feel that affection? In fact, looking back at many of my reviews, a lack of sympathy for the main character seems to be one of my most common complaints. Am I actually a sociopath? If so, and it's this book that finally made me realize it, what does that mean?
If I ever write a long, confusingly-narrated novella about it, I'll let you know....
In "The Omega Force," the protagonist is a retired doctor who may-or-may-not be senile and who may-or-may-not be in the middle of a government/foreign conspiracy that may-or-may-not exist. As he spirals deeper into megalomania, only the reader is around to watch him give into his basest urges--to conduct an invisible orchestra via the "Dance of the Stick."
My trouble with "The Omega Force" stems from the lack of a focal point of conflict. Should I feel sorry for Dr. Van Deusen because he's delusional, and this is causing trouble for his marriage and his relationship with his son? Should I feel tense because no one will believe him about the convoluted conspiracy only he thinks he has discovered?
The second novella, "K & K", is the only one told from a third person perspective. It's third person limited, though, so we're still treated to the thoughts of the deranged main character. I actually liked the story at the beginning; I thought it would be a delightful descent into officeplace humour--who's stuffing the suggestion box?! Ultimately, however, Moody treats us to a postmodernist ending that takes all of the delight out of deduction (not that he had put much in there in the first place).
"The Albertine Notes" was perhaps the best novella of the three, but I won't go so far as to say it was good or even great. The concept of a memory recall-enhancing drug that actually allows one to change the past through quantum indeterminacy is intriguing, for sure. Unfortunately, the use of the first person perspective meant we experienced everything from a drug addict's point of view. While that was interesting, it was also confusing. Time travel and quantum theory is confusing enough when you don't have drugs involved. And while I realize I'm disregarding the fact that "The Albertine Notes" has, buried deep within it, the skeleton of a profound theme, that's only because the narrative was confusing enough that I lost the thread of the theme every time it surfaced for air.
I'm not going to apologize if it turns out that these were incredibly simple and their points just managed to fly over my head. It's not that I dislike having to work to comprehend a story's point. I trudged through The Name of the Rose one page at a time--and I loved it. On the other hand, Right Livelihoods was not enjoyable. The book's cover copy says, "Only Rick Moody could lead us to feel affection for the misguided, earnestly striving characters in this alternately unsettling and warm, always remarkable trio of novellas." I don't feel that affection? In fact, looking back at many of my reviews, a lack of sympathy for the main character seems to be one of my most common complaints. Am I actually a sociopath? If so, and it's this book that finally made me realize it, what does that mean?
If I ever write a long, confusingly-narrated novella about it, I'll let you know....
March 17, 2021
3 racconti: uno bello uno gne uno bomba, nell'ordine.
Del terzo, Albertine (sci fi/New York apocalittica/ memoria/ tempo quantico/ realtà modulare), dirò che è scritto così bene che la sera, quando passeggiavo il cane e riflettevo sull'esistenza, mi sembrava che l'ottica di Moody fosse la corretta per spremere dal particolare la verità.
Del terzo, Albertine (sci fi/New York apocalittica/ memoria/ tempo quantico/ realtà modulare), dirò che è scritto così bene che la sera, quando passeggiavo il cane e riflettevo sull'esistenza, mi sembrava che l'ottica di Moody fosse la corretta per spremere dal particolare la verità.
March 2, 2017
L’ultimo racconto è molto bello, il primo non è niente male, quello centrale invece non mi è piaciuto, soprattutto per la brutta e frettolosa chiusura. Moody, seppur ancora distante dalle sue prove migliori, con questo libro prosegue abbastanza bene il tentativo fatto con il romanzo precedente a questa sua ultima raccolta, descrivere l’America in un momento particolare di paure confusionarie e spesso fobiche.
January 9, 2009
Once upon a time, I considered Rick Moody to be one of my favorite contemporary authors. It was all because of his first collection of short stories, The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven, where his prose left me breathless and inspired. That collection, as well as his handful of early novels that were all about people just trying to DEAL with life's chaos, seemed to be paving a brilliant path for this writer.
And then something happened. Around Demonology, I think, Moody's writing just sort of lost something, some vital electrical current that had made his earlier words jump off the page like live wires. It was as if he had disconnected from the reality where his best characters lived, and instead retired to a faraway world where no one would interrupt his tangential thoughts as he traced the outlines of characters' shadows. I should have stopped reading him after The Black Veil, which may be the worst book I've ever forced myself to read all the way through (and I did, dutifully, page by awful page, because I believed in Rick Moody's writing prowess that much). If not then, I should have stopped reading after The Diviners, not quite as horrid as Black Veil's attempt at memoir but still pretty damn unreadable.
This latest work, Right Livelihoods, is not actually as awful as the previous two. Moody seems to have regained some clue about character development, at least, and has returned to his familiar territory of lost people in a lost world. There is an aging, delusional public official on a quixotic quest to rid his upscale community of terrorism; a lonely office worker bent on eradicating conspiracy in her midst; and a shell-shocked writer trying to navigate the drug-crazed landscape of post-apocalyptic New York City.
But instead of renewing my faith, this may be the book that actually finally gets me to stop reading him. Not because it's so bad, but because it's so mediocre. After I closed the book, I realized there is nothing to recommend it: it was neither good nor bad, just completely unremarkable and forgettable. And of all the literary sins Rick Moody has committed, mediocrity is the one I can never forgive.
And then something happened. Around Demonology, I think, Moody's writing just sort of lost something, some vital electrical current that had made his earlier words jump off the page like live wires. It was as if he had disconnected from the reality where his best characters lived, and instead retired to a faraway world where no one would interrupt his tangential thoughts as he traced the outlines of characters' shadows. I should have stopped reading him after The Black Veil, which may be the worst book I've ever forced myself to read all the way through (and I did, dutifully, page by awful page, because I believed in Rick Moody's writing prowess that much). If not then, I should have stopped reading after The Diviners, not quite as horrid as Black Veil's attempt at memoir but still pretty damn unreadable.
This latest work, Right Livelihoods, is not actually as awful as the previous two. Moody seems to have regained some clue about character development, at least, and has returned to his familiar territory of lost people in a lost world. There is an aging, delusional public official on a quixotic quest to rid his upscale community of terrorism; a lonely office worker bent on eradicating conspiracy in her midst; and a shell-shocked writer trying to navigate the drug-crazed landscape of post-apocalyptic New York City.
But instead of renewing my faith, this may be the book that actually finally gets me to stop reading him. Not because it's so bad, but because it's so mediocre. After I closed the book, I realized there is nothing to recommend it: it was neither good nor bad, just completely unremarkable and forgettable. And of all the literary sins Rick Moody has committed, mediocrity is the one I can never forgive.
October 4, 2011
How Not to Captivate an Audience
“Right Livelihoods” by Rick Moody
Published by Back Bay Books
It is clear from this book that Rick Moody is not, by any means, a bad writer. The failing in this book may not come from the diction or style, but instead from the stories themselves. In an attempt to write three different novellas, Moody seems to have successfully written between one and a half, and two different stories. The first two novellas in the book, “The Omega Force” and “K&K” are very much the same story, while the third novella, “The Albertine Notes” only varies slightly. As soon as the reader realizes the overall similarities between the first two novellas, the whole book becomes a much more boring, predictable read. The biggest issue though arises between “The Omega Force” and “K&K” whose main characters are too similar for clear, individual stories.
While Dr. Van Deusen of “The Omega Force” is an elderly man, with deep running xenophobia, and possible dementia and Ellie from “K&K” is a seemingly sweet, but equally distrusting and entirely neurotic younger woman, as characters they are too similar for each story to be unique. In both cases, the story is driven by the protagonist’s distrust over one group or another. In “The Omega Force”, Dr. Van Deusen’s distrust of, as he describes, “the dark complected people” drives the story. Meanwhile, in “K&K”, Ellie fears that the person leaving bad words on suggestions in the suggestion box is trying to start a revolution against the office as a whole.
Due to the similarity in character of focus between the two novellas, there is very little difference to the stories besides details of setting and specific facts. In both stories, a point of interest for each character is raised. For Dr. Van Deusen, he is interesting in protecting his home from the people with dark skin tones that a fisherman told him about, and for Ellie, she is searching for whoever it was that put dirty words in the suggestion box. Both of them then proceed on a quest to find the truth, only to reveal shocking truths about themselves, such as their own age taking its toll, or that their neurosis might be stronger than they thought.
It is in this overwhelming similarity that the two novellas fail, neither one standing out, because both feel like, and read like the same exact story. Further, because these stories make up over half of the total length of the book, it begins to feel like half of the book is wasted, dragging down what little “The Albertine Notes” had to offer on its own. The stories would most likely have worked separately in separate volumes, without the other around to affect it, but together they do nothing for the book as a whole and resulted in a boring reading experience. Mr. Moody is not a bad writer, but his choice of grouping these two stories together was his downfall.
“Right Livelihoods” by Rick Moody
Published by Back Bay Books
It is clear from this book that Rick Moody is not, by any means, a bad writer. The failing in this book may not come from the diction or style, but instead from the stories themselves. In an attempt to write three different novellas, Moody seems to have successfully written between one and a half, and two different stories. The first two novellas in the book, “The Omega Force” and “K&K” are very much the same story, while the third novella, “The Albertine Notes” only varies slightly. As soon as the reader realizes the overall similarities between the first two novellas, the whole book becomes a much more boring, predictable read. The biggest issue though arises between “The Omega Force” and “K&K” whose main characters are too similar for clear, individual stories.
While Dr. Van Deusen of “The Omega Force” is an elderly man, with deep running xenophobia, and possible dementia and Ellie from “K&K” is a seemingly sweet, but equally distrusting and entirely neurotic younger woman, as characters they are too similar for each story to be unique. In both cases, the story is driven by the protagonist’s distrust over one group or another. In “The Omega Force”, Dr. Van Deusen’s distrust of, as he describes, “the dark complected people” drives the story. Meanwhile, in “K&K”, Ellie fears that the person leaving bad words on suggestions in the suggestion box is trying to start a revolution against the office as a whole.
Due to the similarity in character of focus between the two novellas, there is very little difference to the stories besides details of setting and specific facts. In both stories, a point of interest for each character is raised. For Dr. Van Deusen, he is interesting in protecting his home from the people with dark skin tones that a fisherman told him about, and for Ellie, she is searching for whoever it was that put dirty words in the suggestion box. Both of them then proceed on a quest to find the truth, only to reveal shocking truths about themselves, such as their own age taking its toll, or that their neurosis might be stronger than they thought.
It is in this overwhelming similarity that the two novellas fail, neither one standing out, because both feel like, and read like the same exact story. Further, because these stories make up over half of the total length of the book, it begins to feel like half of the book is wasted, dragging down what little “The Albertine Notes” had to offer on its own. The stories would most likely have worked separately in separate volumes, without the other around to affect it, but together they do nothing for the book as a whole and resulted in a boring reading experience. Mr. Moody is not a bad writer, but his choice of grouping these two stories together was his downfall.
December 10, 2007
This is a difficult book to write about because its three novellas are so very different. Their distinctness allows them to stand alone as separate works but jumping from one to another proves difficult because there is no cohesion. Even in a good collection of short stories, the characters and elements change, but there is some strand--a voice or tone--that stays constant, or the experience can be jarring. Reading Right Livelihoods felt like Moody was, genius-ly in some cases, experimenting via following avenues of no return. The one idea that ties them all together is a sense of the mood change in post-911 America, and because of that, a near-apocalyptic undercurrent.
The first novella was for me the least compelling. It's written in the droll voice of wealthy, upper class retiree who's steadily losing his mind. Being inside the mind of someone losing their sanity can be confusing and the by the end the narrative becomes a bit incomprehensible.
As per usual, there is a great sense of humor throughout though and Moody manages to make the most obnoxious characters worthy of your unlikely sympathy. The second novella, "K&K," while also a character study involving a severely deluded person, is much more readable. Detailing the pathetic and lonely life of office manager Ellie, the novella flashes to scenes reminiscent of "The Office," but in a more modest, solemn way.
The third part crowns the collection. Called "The Albertine Notes," it features a blown-up, desolated New York City. The entire population is hooked on a memory-inducing drug, which main character, Kevin Lee, researches the roots of for an article that he has been commissioned to write by a magazine. The labyrinthine plot emerges as Kevin chases down the convoluted network of people that are pulling the strings behind the past and present of this scary future world. This is Moody's imagination and wit on overdrive, and ends up being a very clever and timely read.
The first novella was for me the least compelling. It's written in the droll voice of wealthy, upper class retiree who's steadily losing his mind. Being inside the mind of someone losing their sanity can be confusing and the by the end the narrative becomes a bit incomprehensible.
As per usual, there is a great sense of humor throughout though and Moody manages to make the most obnoxious characters worthy of your unlikely sympathy. The second novella, "K&K," while also a character study involving a severely deluded person, is much more readable. Detailing the pathetic and lonely life of office manager Ellie, the novella flashes to scenes reminiscent of "The Office," but in a more modest, solemn way.
The third part crowns the collection. Called "The Albertine Notes," it features a blown-up, desolated New York City. The entire population is hooked on a memory-inducing drug, which main character, Kevin Lee, researches the roots of for an article that he has been commissioned to write by a magazine. The labyrinthine plot emerges as Kevin chases down the convoluted network of people that are pulling the strings behind the past and present of this scary future world. This is Moody's imagination and wit on overdrive, and ends up being a very clever and timely read.
August 28, 2007
(The much longer full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)
As long as there's been artists, there's been fans of artists; and as long as there's been fans of artists, there's been the question of artists' oeuvres, a fancy French term for "body of work." You see, we nerdy fans of the arts love not only ingesting the latest book or movie or CD by our favorite artists, and judging its worth on its own terms, but also comparing it to the rest of the projects they've released over the years, even combining it with what we know about their personal lives if we're nerdy enough, noting the ways it not only reflects that artist's mindset at that point in their lives but also the mindset of society at that point in history.
And thus do we arrive at the latest commercial book by geek hero and nerd sex symbol Rick Moody, an absurdly thin volume entitled Right Livelihoods: 3 Novellas. And you have to ask after reading this, of course, and before doing online research (like I haven't done yet), the following question -- er, the point? I loved one of these stories, to tell you the truth, one that would last roughly 75 pages if published in a normal font size and margin width; but it seems that this book was then saddled with two other semi-crappy stories as well, little abortions with all the long-term appeal of a truncated Saturday Night Live sketch that could never find a satisfying ending, done simply so that this could be sold as a standalone book, the requisite 224 pages that gives Borders an excuse to charge you US$23.99 (12 pounds, 18 euros) for the f--king thing.
And for anyone with a college education...
As long as there's been artists, there's been fans of artists; and as long as there's been fans of artists, there's been the question of artists' oeuvres, a fancy French term for "body of work." You see, we nerdy fans of the arts love not only ingesting the latest book or movie or CD by our favorite artists, and judging its worth on its own terms, but also comparing it to the rest of the projects they've released over the years, even combining it with what we know about their personal lives if we're nerdy enough, noting the ways it not only reflects that artist's mindset at that point in their lives but also the mindset of society at that point in history.
And thus do we arrive at the latest commercial book by geek hero and nerd sex symbol Rick Moody, an absurdly thin volume entitled Right Livelihoods: 3 Novellas. And you have to ask after reading this, of course, and before doing online research (like I haven't done yet), the following question -- er, the point? I loved one of these stories, to tell you the truth, one that would last roughly 75 pages if published in a normal font size and margin width; but it seems that this book was then saddled with two other semi-crappy stories as well, little abortions with all the long-term appeal of a truncated Saturday Night Live sketch that could never find a satisfying ending, done simply so that this could be sold as a standalone book, the requisite 224 pages that gives Borders an excuse to charge you US$23.99 (12 pounds, 18 euros) for the f--king thing.
And for anyone with a college education...
April 1, 2016
Rick Moody straddles the line between pretentious and artistic. He knows how to use language, his hyperbole is restrained and I find that the "pretentious" aspect of his writing is actually more tongue-in-cheek humour than pompous prose - for me, he goes to the point of being a twat with his writing but stops just before, in a way that is quite often hilarious. That being said, these novellas were not on par with The Four Fingers of Death (which I adored), but they were entertaining, amusing and interesting. They shared similar themes: death hangs around all three stories to a lesser or greater degree, all three characters are confused (whether due to dementia, drug or mental breakdown) and all three stories are about take-overs. In the first, it's the imagined terrorism, in the second it's the mysteriously underhanded maliciousness of the new hire, and in the third it's the drug itself. These stories weren't amazing to me but they all had their merits. I think I actually liked Omega Force the best, because it didn't turn out that the old man was correct and etc; it simply showed the onset of his dementia and how everything made sense to him; I thought it was well done. K & K was ok - it ended predictably to me and I found the premise a little weak. Albertine was confusing and convoluted, but I believe that was the intention; it's mimetic to what Kevin was experiencing. I didn't love it, but it definitely kept me interested.
Overall, while I understand all reviews are subjective, I think the 1-star ratings are a little harsh for this collection. I can't give it a 4, but 3.5 is where I'm sitting with it.
Overall, while I understand all reviews are subjective, I think the 1-star ratings are a little harsh for this collection. I can't give it a 4, but 3.5 is where I'm sitting with it.
Read
December 5, 2023One forgettable novella, one series of missteps in a novella, and one novella with promise, lacking from execution. This is a collection of novella also from Rick Moody and the effect of the three together is that they get better as we go along, but they never get good. The first story involves a man obsessed with architecture who finds himself lounging around vacation homes and reading (perhaps living) the cheap spy thriller he finds tossed aside.
The second, which has an interesting amount promise, is about a woman who works as an office manager for an insurance company who finds increasingly severe complaints in the suggestion box. The complaints are almost never dangerous feeling enough or unsettling enough to feel like a thriller, curious or funny enough to provide commentary, and the writing itself is frustratingly, I guess, playful?
The last novella apparently came about as a kind of dare to write a genre story — this time science fiction. It’s about a writer looking into a new drug in the aftermath of some sort of calamity that allows users to relive memories in near perfect detail. This is really good (although it’s a LOT like the Kathryn Bigelow movie Strange Days in tone and execution. And to borrow from Ursula Le Guin, while the premise is interesting, this feels like a [self] “serious” writer slumming it in genre fiction. It’s Philip K Dick cosplay as much as anything original.
The second, which has an interesting amount promise, is about a woman who works as an office manager for an insurance company who finds increasingly severe complaints in the suggestion box. The complaints are almost never dangerous feeling enough or unsettling enough to feel like a thriller, curious or funny enough to provide commentary, and the writing itself is frustratingly, I guess, playful?
The last novella apparently came about as a kind of dare to write a genre story — this time science fiction. It’s about a writer looking into a new drug in the aftermath of some sort of calamity that allows users to relive memories in near perfect detail. This is really good (although it’s a LOT like the Kathryn Bigelow movie Strange Days in tone and execution. And to borrow from Ursula Le Guin, while the premise is interesting, this feels like a [self] “serious” writer slumming it in genre fiction. It’s Philip K Dick cosplay as much as anything original.
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