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Mystery Girl
When Sam Kornberg’s wife, Lala, walks out on him, he’s an unemployed used-book store clerk and failed experimental novelist with a broken heart. Desperate to win her back, he takes a job as assistant detective to the enigmatic Solar Lonsky, a private eye who might be an eccentric and morbid genius or just a morbidly obese madman.
It’s a simple tail job, following a beautiful and mysterious lady around L.A., but Sam soon finds himself helplessly falling for his quarry and hopelessly entangled in a murder case involving Satanists, succubi, underground filmmakers, Hollywood bigshots, Mexican shootouts, video-store geekery, and sexy doppelgangers from beyond the grave. A case that highlights the risks of hardcore reading and mourns the death of the novel—or perhaps just the decline of Western Civilization.
Mystery Girl is a thriller about the dangers of marriage and a detective story about the unsolvable mysteries of love, art, and other people.
It’s a simple tail job, following a beautiful and mysterious lady around L.A., but Sam soon finds himself helplessly falling for his quarry and hopelessly entangled in a murder case involving Satanists, succubi, underground filmmakers, Hollywood bigshots, Mexican shootouts, video-store geekery, and sexy doppelgangers from beyond the grave. A case that highlights the risks of hardcore reading and mourns the death of the novel—or perhaps just the decline of Western Civilization.
Mystery Girl is a thriller about the dangers of marriage and a detective story about the unsolvable mysteries of love, art, and other people.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
60 people are currently reading
850 people want to read
About the author
David Gordon
228 books177 followersDavid Gordon was born in New York City. He attended Sarah Lawrence College and holds an MA in English and Comparative Literature and an MFA in Writing, both from Columbia University, and has worked in film, fashion, publishing, and pornography. His first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, Purple, and Fence among other publications.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
July 23, 2013
(I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for this review.)
The main character in this book is a writer who spends all his time coming up with the kind of books that no one wants to read. Fortunately, David Gordon is very different from his creation in that he’s a writer that I very much enjoyed reading.
Sam Korberg has spent his adult life trying to do the kind of important novels that have no plot, and he’s had little success at it. His wife Lola has had enough and leaves with the ultimatum that unless he gets a real job and shows some more ambition, then they’re finished. Sam searches frantically for work, but there aren’t a lot of opportunities for failed novelists with no other skills until he gets an offer to be an assistant to a private investigator, eccentric Solar Lansky.
Lansky is an obese shut-in who lives with his mother, but he’s also a brilliant detective who needs help since he won‘t leave the house. He wants Kornberg to follow a woman named Mona and report on her activities. Kornberg bumbles through the assignment which seems unremarkable at first but soon turns into a twisted mess involving the missing films of a dead director with a cult following.
The story is pretty clear about it’s inspirations with a plot obviously based on Nero Wolfe and then taking several Vertigo style twists after the movie is mentioned. The whole thing is a little hard to pin down, but in a good way. It starts as out seeming as if it will be a comedy with Sam being a foolish twit who has wasted his time and alienated his wife by dedicating his life to writing nonsense, but the ground shifts constantly under your feet here. Eventually the story has Sam expressing genuinely touching thoughts of fear about his imploding marriage and regret at the way he has let down the woman he loves.
While there’s always a sense of humor, the story becomes darker, and the violence escalates beyond the cartoon level you’d expect after the first few chapters. What really sets it apart is the theme about creating art and if it’s even possible. Sam explains his love of reading dense books and how it inspired his writing in an especially poignant section while there’s a theory brought up several times that the real periods of human creativity have passed leaving only commercial hacks to prosper.
This book surprised me in all the right ways and what I thought would just be a mystery story played for laughs actually had a lot to say that any hard core reader will be interested in.
Also posted at Shelf Inflicted
The main character in this book is a writer who spends all his time coming up with the kind of books that no one wants to read. Fortunately, David Gordon is very different from his creation in that he’s a writer that I very much enjoyed reading.
Sam Korberg has spent his adult life trying to do the kind of important novels that have no plot, and he’s had little success at it. His wife Lola has had enough and leaves with the ultimatum that unless he gets a real job and shows some more ambition, then they’re finished. Sam searches frantically for work, but there aren’t a lot of opportunities for failed novelists with no other skills until he gets an offer to be an assistant to a private investigator, eccentric Solar Lansky.
Lansky is an obese shut-in who lives with his mother, but he’s also a brilliant detective who needs help since he won‘t leave the house. He wants Kornberg to follow a woman named Mona and report on her activities. Kornberg bumbles through the assignment which seems unremarkable at first but soon turns into a twisted mess involving the missing films of a dead director with a cult following.
The story is pretty clear about it’s inspirations with a plot obviously based on Nero Wolfe and then taking several Vertigo style twists after the movie is mentioned. The whole thing is a little hard to pin down, but in a good way. It starts as out seeming as if it will be a comedy with Sam being a foolish twit who has wasted his time and alienated his wife by dedicating his life to writing nonsense, but the ground shifts constantly under your feet here. Eventually the story has Sam expressing genuinely touching thoughts of fear about his imploding marriage and regret at the way he has let down the woman he loves.
While there’s always a sense of humor, the story becomes darker, and the violence escalates beyond the cartoon level you’d expect after the first few chapters. What really sets it apart is the theme about creating art and if it’s even possible. Sam explains his love of reading dense books and how it inspired his writing in an especially poignant section while there’s a theory brought up several times that the real periods of human creativity have passed leaving only commercial hacks to prosper.
This book surprised me in all the right ways and what I thought would just be a mystery story played for laughs actually had a lot to say that any hard core reader will be interested in.
Also posted at Shelf Inflicted
December 10, 2013
I picked this book up on a whim. I saw it on Amazon for a decent price and was in the mood to try something new. A number of people had rated it highly; others had rated it poorly. One reviewer had called the book "an odd duck" and I think that fits. I struggled with the book, trying to figure out whether or not I liked it through most of the book. Some parts absolutely grabbed me; others not so much.
At its heart, Mystery Girl is a story about a crime that happened in the past and someone will do just about anything to keep the past buried. The reader follows the main character as he at first in unaware of the danger coiling at his feet and then as he actively tries to unravel the knot.
When the story stays focused on this mystery it is pretty good. This is what kept me going - trying to figure out how all these moving parts were related and what, exactly, the secret was. When the story veers off the rails it became a struggle for me. The author spends far too much time navel gazing in the world of avant-garde cinema and experimental literature. It just wasn't my thing and I found it hard not to lose interest.
And was it just me or was every significant woman in the story a terrible person - one was a, well, whore, and the other was not much better. And both were pretty deceitful. It would have been nice if one of the women (or perhaps a third character) could have exhibited better traits. Or maybe MJ could have been developed more?
On that note all of the characters were deeply flawed people. I guess this is true and reflects real life to some extent, but, I don't know, when I read fiction I don't know if I want to be reminded of that fact quite so intensely. The book opens up with the main character's wife running out on him and he spends maybe a quarter of the book psychoanalyzing himself. (I wondered if the author was pouring his own life experience into the story as a form of therapy.)
Two stars. The story line was intriguing, but my interest in the whole book waxed and waned.
At its heart, Mystery Girl is a story about a crime that happened in the past and someone will do just about anything to keep the past buried. The reader follows the main character as he at first in unaware of the danger coiling at his feet and then as he actively tries to unravel the knot.
When the story stays focused on this mystery it is pretty good. This is what kept me going - trying to figure out how all these moving parts were related and what, exactly, the secret was. When the story veers off the rails it became a struggle for me. The author spends far too much time navel gazing in the world of avant-garde cinema and experimental literature. It just wasn't my thing and I found it hard not to lose interest.
And was it just me or was every significant woman in the story a terrible person - one was a, well, whore, and the other was not much better. And both were pretty deceitful. It would have been nice if one of the women (or perhaps a third character) could have exhibited better traits. Or maybe MJ could have been developed more?
On that note all of the characters were deeply flawed people. I guess this is true and reflects real life to some extent, but, I don't know, when I read fiction I don't know if I want to be reminded of that fact quite so intensely. The book opens up with the main character's wife running out on him and he spends maybe a quarter of the book psychoanalyzing himself. (I wondered if the author was pouring his own life experience into the story as a form of therapy.)
Two stars. The story line was intriguing, but my interest in the whole book waxed and waned.
August 9, 2016
Gordon has written two novels that I know about. In each the main character is a failed or failing novelist with characteristics that range from gullible to gleefully, monstrously domineering. What am I supposed to think? About halfway through this second novel, [stomping about in rubber boots] deep in descriptions of satanic porn films, I get the distinct impression I am in some kind of weird therapy session—but not for me.
Gordon could probably write anything he wanted but he decided to write a mystery novel centered on a beautiful, sexy, and mysterious mixed-race woman who, after copulating with our narrator, disappears. I am not kidding. I am not going to tell you what to think about that, but he does spend much of the book alternately dreaming about her and looking for her. Along the way we get deep in [his subconscious] Black Arts films and murders and arson.
And oh, by the way, his wife is also beautiful, sexy, mysterious, and mixed race, and she has disappeared also. And no wonder. Our failed novelist, whose taste in literature has devolved to the “funny, violent, dirty, and fast…[of] crime novels, newspaper, fashion magazines, comics and porn” serves only as breeding material but not as provider or protector. It seems he doesn’t have the goods to hold onto a wench of her proportions.
“Why can’t you write normal stories, that people want to read?” queries one of the several mixed-race babes that our unpublished novelist fantasizes about: “Why not write regular realistic stories?” Ah, but life is not realistic, our novelist argues. “Does your life have a plot?” Does time shift and “does the past erupt into the present?” Good point.
But the argument continues, this time from another character: “Let’s face it. No one was ever going to read [your novels.] People need hope and comfort. Real stories that give them a sense of meaning. Boring books like yours just upset and confuse people…” The novelist concedes this character critic has a point, but concludes that one has “to do something to fill one’s time on this planet,” and since he would not do well doing anything else, some “suicidal car salesman or lonely oncologist…would come across something I wrote in a dusty, bankrupt used bookshop, and recognize the message I left just for them…”
Well, maybe not just for me, but I get the gist. And I like it. I like him. I like this writing. He’s crazy, and funny, and has some very strange tastes in movies, but sitting in on a therapy session with him, just me and the page, is a little like watching a peep show of the human heart…its weird desires and fears. We have here a man, a novelist, at his most vulnerable. He is published but not yet “successful” in the commercial sense. And he insists on telling us how it feels. It sounds pretty realistic to me.
Keep your eyes on David Gordon. He is sui generis.
"In A Difficulty in The Path of Psycho-Analysis (1917), Freud introduces the concept of the Third Wound to describe the repeated assaults that scientific knowledge had inflicted on human conceit: first, Copernicus discovered that the sun does not revolve around the earth and that man is not in fact the true center of the universe. The second blow was delivered by Darwin: man is not set apart from the animals, not formed by a creator in His image, but is in fact a creature among others, a variation on a theme, and no longer the center of life on earth either. The final, vanquishing blow, was of course Freud’s own: his discovery of the unconscious—that immense internal sea, full of fears and wishes, memories and fantasies, whose depths remain largely unsounded—revealed the truth, that our inner world is as alien as the universe without.”Amen to that.
Gordon could probably write anything he wanted but he decided to write a mystery novel centered on a beautiful, sexy, and mysterious mixed-race woman who, after copulating with our narrator, disappears. I am not kidding. I am not going to tell you what to think about that, but he does spend much of the book alternately dreaming about her and looking for her. Along the way we get deep in [his subconscious] Black Arts films and murders and arson.
And oh, by the way, his wife is also beautiful, sexy, mysterious, and mixed race, and she has disappeared also. And no wonder. Our failed novelist, whose taste in literature has devolved to the “funny, violent, dirty, and fast…[of] crime novels, newspaper, fashion magazines, comics and porn” serves only as breeding material but not as provider or protector. It seems he doesn’t have the goods to hold onto a wench of her proportions.
“Why can’t you write normal stories, that people want to read?” queries one of the several mixed-race babes that our unpublished novelist fantasizes about: “Why not write regular realistic stories?” Ah, but life is not realistic, our novelist argues. “Does your life have a plot?” Does time shift and “does the past erupt into the present?” Good point.
But the argument continues, this time from another character: “Let’s face it. No one was ever going to read [your novels.] People need hope and comfort. Real stories that give them a sense of meaning. Boring books like yours just upset and confuse people…” The novelist concedes this character critic has a point, but concludes that one has “to do something to fill one’s time on this planet,” and since he would not do well doing anything else, some “suicidal car salesman or lonely oncologist…would come across something I wrote in a dusty, bankrupt used bookshop, and recognize the message I left just for them…”
Well, maybe not just for me, but I get the gist. And I like it. I like him. I like this writing. He’s crazy, and funny, and has some very strange tastes in movies, but sitting in on a therapy session with him, just me and the page, is a little like watching a peep show of the human heart…its weird desires and fears. We have here a man, a novelist, at his most vulnerable. He is published but not yet “successful” in the commercial sense. And he insists on telling us how it feels. It sounds pretty realistic to me.
Keep your eyes on David Gordon. He is sui generis.
August 3, 2013
It's dark and noir and funny and indecent and insane and a lot like life and I loved it. If only cozies make you happy, this one's not for you, but if you love your mysteries gritty and laugh out loud crazy, this is it. David Gordon, I hope we don't have to wait another two years for the next book. Keep 'em coming, please.
October 21, 2013
Mystery Girl by David Gordon is a book that made me angry. Why? Because it had to end. Honestly, I couldn't put it down. It's that good. Very seldom do I want a novel to just keep going on and on and not finish. Gordon's book, which is his second published novel, is an outstanding success. I found out about it by reading the blog of another extraordinary writer, Anthony Neil Smith, who gave it a full recommendation. You see: this is why the Internet was invented, so the world could readily access such talent.
Sam Kornberg is having a very bad run of luck. His wife Lala has just dumped him, the book store where he used to work has closed, and the video store where he hangs out is going down in flames. But worst of all, Sam has real doubts about his choice of profession: novelist. And not just any kind of novelist, a non-linear experimental novelist whose books defy plot descriptions. Think: Kafka, William S Burroughs, etc. So what does Sam do? Why, look for a job, of course. And what does he find? An apprenticeship to a detective.
The detective turns out to be Solar Losky, a morbidly obese man who lives secluded in a house with his aging mother and house keeper. Solar can't leave the house as he is suffering from all sorts of psychiatric conditions. But his mind is a powerful analytic machine. He needs Sam to follow around a mysterious young woman and report back to him. Solar is willing to pay lots of money to keep her under surveillance. So Sam takes the job. And from this point the novel roars into the sky and to tell more of the plot would be spoiling the many surprises the book holds for a patient reader.
Most of the book is told from the viewpoint of Sam. But every time a significant character is introduced, you get to hear their story in form of a chapter-long monologue. It's these moments where the novel really shines. At times it can get a little long, such as the British actor who has seen to much of everything. But the other times, such as the fiery tirade by a femme fatale, it goes on just right.
There's also constant commentary on film, literature, and the meaning of existence. What might drag another book out turns this one into a real gem. The author has an encyclopedic knowledge of movies and book. Where else are you going to find pages expounding on the significance of The Treasure of Sierrra Madre's writer? And it all fits into the intricate plot of the book.
Here's a sample:
“Nothing’s next. It’s over. Turns out the story of literature does have an ending. It’s Facebook and reality TV. It’s video games on cell phones. No one has the attention span to read The Man Without Qualities. No one can sit still and focus hard enough to untangle Finnegan's Wake or develop the patience to face Gravity’s Rainbow. Who will ever open those books again? The late great novelists. It makes sense in retrospect. They were recording the death of their own art form. As a medium disappears, there’s always a final explosion of virtuosity. A kind of decadent, baroque eruption of style that no longer has any object or audience but itself. A last flower. So even if I didn't just completely suck, I was still born with a useless ability, like archery or taking shorthand. So it doesn't matter if my books were erased. No one was ever going to read them. It’s like I speak a dying language, Navajo or Yiddish. And the sad truth is: I have a hard time even remembering it myself."
So download or buy a physical copy of this books as soon as you can. You won't be disappointed.
Sam Kornberg is having a very bad run of luck. His wife Lala has just dumped him, the book store where he used to work has closed, and the video store where he hangs out is going down in flames. But worst of all, Sam has real doubts about his choice of profession: novelist. And not just any kind of novelist, a non-linear experimental novelist whose books defy plot descriptions. Think: Kafka, William S Burroughs, etc. So what does Sam do? Why, look for a job, of course. And what does he find? An apprenticeship to a detective.
The detective turns out to be Solar Losky, a morbidly obese man who lives secluded in a house with his aging mother and house keeper. Solar can't leave the house as he is suffering from all sorts of psychiatric conditions. But his mind is a powerful analytic machine. He needs Sam to follow around a mysterious young woman and report back to him. Solar is willing to pay lots of money to keep her under surveillance. So Sam takes the job. And from this point the novel roars into the sky and to tell more of the plot would be spoiling the many surprises the book holds for a patient reader.
Most of the book is told from the viewpoint of Sam. But every time a significant character is introduced, you get to hear their story in form of a chapter-long monologue. It's these moments where the novel really shines. At times it can get a little long, such as the British actor who has seen to much of everything. But the other times, such as the fiery tirade by a femme fatale, it goes on just right.
There's also constant commentary on film, literature, and the meaning of existence. What might drag another book out turns this one into a real gem. The author has an encyclopedic knowledge of movies and book. Where else are you going to find pages expounding on the significance of The Treasure of Sierrra Madre's writer? And it all fits into the intricate plot of the book.
Here's a sample:
“Nothing’s next. It’s over. Turns out the story of literature does have an ending. It’s Facebook and reality TV. It’s video games on cell phones. No one has the attention span to read The Man Without Qualities. No one can sit still and focus hard enough to untangle Finnegan's Wake or develop the patience to face Gravity’s Rainbow. Who will ever open those books again? The late great novelists. It makes sense in retrospect. They were recording the death of their own art form. As a medium disappears, there’s always a final explosion of virtuosity. A kind of decadent, baroque eruption of style that no longer has any object or audience but itself. A last flower. So even if I didn't just completely suck, I was still born with a useless ability, like archery or taking shorthand. So it doesn't matter if my books were erased. No one was ever going to read them. It’s like I speak a dying language, Navajo or Yiddish. And the sad truth is: I have a hard time even remembering it myself."
So download or buy a physical copy of this books as soon as you can. You won't be disappointed.
July 20, 2013
I REALLY loved this book! I did get it from Goodreads, but as you who read my reviews know, if I hate a book, I'm going to say so. I adored this book! At first I wasn't so sure... Obese genius needs a leg man...sounds like a Rex Stout knockoff...
It was not, however, you can see the influence of Rex Stout, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett in this novel. Having gone through the classic detectives novels like Lonsky through chocolate frosting, I have been hunting for my next noir fix. I found it here.
Along with a intriguing mystery comes a sort of soul searching. I think we can all relate to the main character and his time of driftlessness. I also really enjoyed the references to classic novels and cult movies. However, if you haven't read them, it won't hurt the story and I never felt that the author was being snobby about having such a wonderful education. It's been a while since I've read a work of fiction so well written.
The author does let his politics slip out a bit at a few places, something that annoys me to no end (I don't understand why they feel the need to do that). However, it doesn't really get in the way, so one can forgive him for that.
This comes highly recommended!
It was not, however, you can see the influence of Rex Stout, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett in this novel. Having gone through the classic detectives novels like Lonsky through chocolate frosting, I have been hunting for my next noir fix. I found it here.
Along with a intriguing mystery comes a sort of soul searching. I think we can all relate to the main character and his time of driftlessness. I also really enjoyed the references to classic novels and cult movies. However, if you haven't read them, it won't hurt the story and I never felt that the author was being snobby about having such a wonderful education. It's been a while since I've read a work of fiction so well written.
The author does let his politics slip out a bit at a few places, something that annoys me to no end (I don't understand why they feel the need to do that). However, it doesn't really get in the way, so one can forgive him for that.
This comes highly recommended!
February 26, 2014
This turned disgusting half-way through and worse, the plot lost momentum and the mystery became just a slog. I really didn't care at all anymore, which is a shame because the first few chapters had some well-written sentences here and there. Very profane and without depth. Not recommended
January 30, 2014
What a strange little book. It was a mystery, that was comical, but with twists, and silly. I don't know. That's the best I can do.
August 4, 2013
This novel is awesome, phenomenal, incredible, mind-blowing, and overwhelming. It's the kind of novel that you read as a fellow writer and wonder whether or not you should continue writing at all because it leaves you feeling inadequate, under-read, and vocabulary impaired. I liken it to being someone who plays guitar in a local band who makes the mistake of seeing Joe Bonomassa, Steve Vai or Yngwie Malmsteen. Yes you can pick out a few songs, but those guys produce sounds out of that guitar that you could barely even imagine, let alone play, and after seeing them you feel like giving up. But you won't, and neither will I, because while those artists may be technically incredible, their music doesn't appeal to everyone. Usually when I do a review I write it first, and then I go check what other people had to say. But this time I felt so run over after reading Mystery Girl that i had to consult the outside universe to see if it was just me. It wasn't. The reviews were either pure love, or pure hate. Pure love from people like me who recognize the sheer brilliance of what they were reading, and pure hate from those who just couldn't get it.
What exactly makes this books so amazing? That is a really difficult question to answer. From a story standpoint, it's a good murder mystery. From a narrative standpoint, it's unconventional. From a descriptive standpoint, it's incredible. From a reference standpoint, it's overwhelming. The story is basically about an unemployed, recently separated, novelist, who gets a job as an assistant detective, and is assigned the job of following a mystery girl. But within that framework David Gordon tells stories, within stories, within stories. He takes turns that you can't see coming, and fills your head with so many images along the way that you feel like your drowning in words. The narrative turns from first person, to omnipotent, to filmed, to confessional, which can at points be jarring and difficult to follow, but ads to the overall intelligence with which the book is written. The descriptions within the are lush and meaty. Where other authors might give you one descriptive word, Gordon will give you three or six or ten. Where anyone else might use one analogy to describe a character, Gordon will use three or five. Then there are the references which run ocean deep. I like to think of myself as a well read individual with a broad knowledge of the world, but then Gordon starts spitting out references at such a broad expansive clip that I found myself having to jump over to Google and Bing just to make sure I got them all. And even after doing that I was still left with the feeling that I was severely under read in a few areas.
Is this book for everyone? No. There will be a lot of people who attempt to read this and start getting dizzy at the denseness of the descriptions and references. There will be others who might be able to handle the rapid fire diction, but will get offended by the pornographic references, or the occult subject matter.
Who should read this? Other writers, like myself, who will find a completely different level of storytelling to aspire to. We all can't play guitar like Steve Vai, but we can find a phrase or two within one of his solos that we might be able to pull off, that might in turn help your overall presentation.
Who else should read this? Readers, like myself, who sometimes find themselves bored with those normal novels that present everything in simple, straight forward, easy-to-read way that allows you to see through to the conclusion long before you ever get there.
So if your ready to give your mind a little workout, have Google easily accessible, and aren't easily offended, please read this book.
July 22, 2013
Mystery Girl proves humor can be sophisticated. In this smart, witty novel by David Gordon you can expect to be taken on a ride not only in plot, but by a style that is delivered with authentic prose and perfectly placed comedic timing. The main character's sense of humor, self-deploring behavior and 'the world is a weird place' observations will make pulp fiction fans snort with glee. This is a wonderful journey into the imagined artistic world of L.A. where struggle and fame are constantly dirty neighbors.
For those looking for improved character development in novels, Mystery Girl provides an excellent example. Each character is hashed, thrashed and mashed out. Everything we need to know about a character is incorporated into the story-telling, making use of setting, dialogue, association, job, habits and physical characteristics -- nothing is missed, nothing is unimportant or extraneous. Even the sub-characters are fully-developed, thus, creating a clear vision for the reader to manipulate. They're also connected by a six-degrees of separation before coming full circle to form a fantastic ending.
Even though this mystery brilliantly makes use of humor, it is serious on several levels. At first glance, it appears the author might have randomly drawn from a story machine exercise. Create a story using: doppelgangers, a video-store clerk, a reclusive obese detective, a wanna-be-novelist and divorce. Despite the juicy elements, this book provokes intelligent contemplation spanning the pages. Such as, the death of the novel or writing in general, stereotypes, insecurities, exploitation and mental illness.
In the end, the big question of 'Who are we?' is a fun philosophical goodie that this book offers. As Sam and Lala stare at each other, you can't help but wonder if anything has been accomplished or answered. Does it take something like the events in the book for people to figure it out, or is it all meaningless in the end. What matters and what doesn't? And, good God, the death of the novel is depressing. Lucky for us, it's been dying for a really long time.
For those looking for improved character development in novels, Mystery Girl provides an excellent example. Each character is hashed, thrashed and mashed out. Everything we need to know about a character is incorporated into the story-telling, making use of setting, dialogue, association, job, habits and physical characteristics -- nothing is missed, nothing is unimportant or extraneous. Even the sub-characters are fully-developed, thus, creating a clear vision for the reader to manipulate. They're also connected by a six-degrees of separation before coming full circle to form a fantastic ending.
Even though this mystery brilliantly makes use of humor, it is serious on several levels. At first glance, it appears the author might have randomly drawn from a story machine exercise. Create a story using: doppelgangers, a video-store clerk, a reclusive obese detective, a wanna-be-novelist and divorce. Despite the juicy elements, this book provokes intelligent contemplation spanning the pages. Such as, the death of the novel or writing in general, stereotypes, insecurities, exploitation and mental illness.
In the end, the big question of 'Who are we?' is a fun philosophical goodie that this book offers. As Sam and Lala stare at each other, you can't help but wonder if anything has been accomplished or answered. Does it take something like the events in the book for people to figure it out, or is it all meaningless in the end. What matters and what doesn't? And, good God, the death of the novel is depressing. Lucky for us, it's been dying for a really long time.
September 16, 2013
Finally a book that totally lives up to its awesome cover. Actually this wasn't a strict case of picking a book out by the cover, I've read and enjoyed Gordon's debut, The Serialist, and though I don't remember it very well, I do remember liking it a lot and this one I did even more so. Where to start? Gordon packs a lot into his books, there is as the plot advertises a mystery, there is a love story, several, in fact, as well as equally loving homages to literature and film and to horror genre and spaghetti westerns and detective stories, it's a bittersweet ode to Hollywood and LA, but not necessarily in that order. There are fascinating, multifaceted characters, actually quite an interesting juxtaposition of tough femme fatales and soft sensitive guys. There is a morbidly obese paranoid Sherlock Holmes type detective with agoraphobia. Lost cult films. Genuinely profound and stirring meditations on the nature of fiction and its place in modern world. Humor, from wry to outright hilarious. And most importantly, Gordon infuses his characters with deeply abiding flawed humanity, misguided misfits stumbling in the dark, scars, stars and all. As with the first book, it seems that I figured out some aspects of the mystery, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. I really like Gordon's writing, he seems to take his time, it's been years since The Serialist, but worth the wait. Weird thing was finding at least two typos in a proper edition such as this. The book is great, there is something for everyone here. Highly recommended.
March 14, 2017
Pretty rare for me to post a one-star review. I don't rate if I don't finish, and if I've finished, I usually think the quality of the writing must at least merit two stars. That logic (and a clever passage about how over-educated cineastes are essentially the impoverished nobility of the modern zeitgeist) almost carried Mystery Girl to two stars.
But it fails on so many levels.
Most irksome - I'm still not really sure who the murdered woman actually turned out to be, how her apparent suicide was actually murder, or how the narrator was fooled as to her identity. I mean, I have other questions too - answers that aren't painfully obvious all along (like the killer's identity), aren't addressed at all. Oh, wait, I just thought of another infuriatingly illogical part .
Don't get me started on the four rambling monologues that interrupt the minimally developed plot.
Yeah, I didn't like this book.
But it fails on so many levels.
Most irksome - I'm still not really sure who the murdered woman actually turned out to be, how her apparent suicide was actually murder, or how the narrator was fooled as to her identity. I mean, I have other questions too - answers that aren't painfully obvious all along (like the killer's identity), aren't addressed at all. Oh, wait, I just thought of another infuriatingly illogical part .
Don't get me started on the four rambling monologues that interrupt the minimally developed plot.
Yeah, I didn't like this book.
August 15, 2013
In Mystery Girl, Sam Kronberg's wife leaves him because he has no job. He writes books that no one would want to read. In an attempt to get her back, he takes a job as an assistant to a detective. This takes him on a crazy journey to find out about the woman he initially followed, the slept with and watched commit suicide. It turns out, this woman was the love interest of Sam's boss, Solar Lonsky. I was following the story pretty well up to that point, but then I started to get bored with the story.
I like a good mystery and I was hoping for this book to be a good one. The book did drag in places and was a bit on the dull side. I found myself skimming in places. I also really couldn't connect with any of the characters. I did like the solution to the mystery, it just took too long to get there. The book had a film noir feel to me. I think fans of this type of book will devour it.
I like a good mystery and I was hoping for this book to be a good one. The book did drag in places and was a bit on the dull side. I found myself skimming in places. I also really couldn't connect with any of the characters. I did like the solution to the mystery, it just took too long to get there. The book had a film noir feel to me. I think fans of this type of book will devour it.
August 8, 2013
Mystery Girl was what my grandmother likes to call an "odd duck". I don't know what I was expecting it to be when I accepted it for review, but I can tell you it wasn't what I was presented with. Not to say that's a bad thing. Quite the opposite actually! This was a read that grew on me and, as it it did, took me to a whole new place.
Sam Kornberg is just your typical, unemployed, recently divorced and failed novelist. Is typical the right word? We meet a man who is at rock bottom. I have to say that his character spoke volumes to me. Sam can feel campy at times, but he's really a very deep person. His views on the male psyche, on creating art, and actually pretty much everything, have massive depth and breadth. Sam might look like a failure on the outside, but inside he's raw creativity. I'm not even sure if that makes sense, but that's how I felt.
Then he meets Solar Lonsky, the oddest character I've ever had the opportunity to meet, and everything spirals out of control. There's really no way I can express to you how this book reads. It's part noir, part satire, and entirely a look into the deepest parts of ourselves. Lonsky's quest takes Sam to some dark places. There is real mystery here. Real violence and real blood. Even some slightly awkward sex, if I'm being honest. It's like this book is all over the place but, magically, it all wraps back up into itself and creates a wonderful package.
The one fault I found, and it's very possible it's just me, was that the language Gordon uses is very over the top. I'm not generally a reader of mystery or noir, so I don't know if this is normal. It's just that the massive use of similes really grated on me after a while. I'll begrudgingly admit that it does set the tone. That's probably the reason for their use. I'm just being honest about my personal reading of this book.
It's not as though it kept me from enjoying the book overall and, quite honestly, I powered through Mystery Girl rather quickly! I wasn't expecting what I found between these pages, but I loved every minute of it. I'm glad I took a chance on David Gordon's book. I can't wait to seek out what he writes next.
Sam Kornberg is just your typical, unemployed, recently divorced and failed novelist. Is typical the right word? We meet a man who is at rock bottom. I have to say that his character spoke volumes to me. Sam can feel campy at times, but he's really a very deep person. His views on the male psyche, on creating art, and actually pretty much everything, have massive depth and breadth. Sam might look like a failure on the outside, but inside he's raw creativity. I'm not even sure if that makes sense, but that's how I felt.
Then he meets Solar Lonsky, the oddest character I've ever had the opportunity to meet, and everything spirals out of control. There's really no way I can express to you how this book reads. It's part noir, part satire, and entirely a look into the deepest parts of ourselves. Lonsky's quest takes Sam to some dark places. There is real mystery here. Real violence and real blood. Even some slightly awkward sex, if I'm being honest. It's like this book is all over the place but, magically, it all wraps back up into itself and creates a wonderful package.
The one fault I found, and it's very possible it's just me, was that the language Gordon uses is very over the top. I'm not generally a reader of mystery or noir, so I don't know if this is normal. It's just that the massive use of similes really grated on me after a while. I'll begrudgingly admit that it does set the tone. That's probably the reason for their use. I'm just being honest about my personal reading of this book.
It's not as though it kept me from enjoying the book overall and, quite honestly, I powered through Mystery Girl rather quickly! I wasn't expecting what I found between these pages, but I loved every minute of it. I'm glad I took a chance on David Gordon's book. I can't wait to seek out what he writes next.
September 22, 2013
Sam Kornberg's life is crumbling. HIs wife leaves him and his career as a novelist has barely left the starting gate. Thus when Sam gets an opportunity to become an associate private investigator, he jumps at the opportunity. HIs boss is named Solar Lonsky. Solar wants Sam to follow, Ramona Doon. Sam is excited about his first case. In fact the case will be titled, The Case of the Mystery Girl. Sam has just one goal...follow Ramona, don't lose her, and don't get caught.
I was intrigued by the book cover. It definitely reminded me of the old mystery stories that I read and enjoyed. To be honest in the beginning I had my reservations about Sam. However as I got further and further into the book, Sam grew on me. It was his odd ball personality. Sam is not a very good PI. This book was like a mixture of Sherlock Holmes with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. In regards to the humor, it was present in the book but it never made me laugh out loud. The funny moments was contributed to the knock off play on the characters, the way they spoke and the nod that Mr. Gordon did with the references to the past. For example there was a reference made to TJ Hooker.
I was intrigued by the book cover. It definitely reminded me of the old mystery stories that I read and enjoyed. To be honest in the beginning I had my reservations about Sam. However as I got further and further into the book, Sam grew on me. It was his odd ball personality. Sam is not a very good PI. This book was like a mixture of Sherlock Holmes with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. In regards to the humor, it was present in the book but it never made me laugh out loud. The funny moments was contributed to the knock off play on the characters, the way they spoke and the nod that Mr. Gordon did with the references to the past. For example there was a reference made to TJ Hooker.
October 7, 2018
I loved the premise of this book: Aimless book and film lover gets wrapped up in a mystery involving a femme fatale, but unfortunately the narrative becomes fractured, and the book gradually lost me in its second act. Good writing, though.
November 18, 2022
The premise of the story is that a down-on-his-luck guy gets a job as a private detective's assistant only to soon discover that the detective spends a good portion of his life in a psyche ward and is, in fact, not a detective. But before he can backpeddle out of the "assignment", he gets involved with the woman he is supposed to be following. And then he watches as she jumps off the balcony.
It then becomes a swirl of a shell game in which multiple characters have multiple personas and the only one who seems to keep his head through it all is the crazy detective.
Odd, gritty, confusing, bittersweet and snarky, uncomfortable and funny--well, it's the weirdest thing... one the one hand, I can't think of a friend to whom I would rush and say "You must read this book!" because it goes into the porn industry and has some grisly death scenes...and yet I know that years from now, there will be something that reminds me of this book, and I'll puzzle--gosh, what WAS that book--it was so weird!
And so I'm writing this review mostly for me to remember, to look back on and say, okay, yes, that wasn't a wild dream, you did read the wacky book about the quest to find the three porn films and the detective who wasn't really a detective but reminiscent of Nero Wolfe in his bulk and his delegating "You must go to Mexico at once."
It then becomes a swirl of a shell game in which multiple characters have multiple personas and the only one who seems to keep his head through it all is the crazy detective.
Odd, gritty, confusing, bittersweet and snarky, uncomfortable and funny--well, it's the weirdest thing... one the one hand, I can't think of a friend to whom I would rush and say "You must read this book!" because it goes into the porn industry and has some grisly death scenes...and yet I know that years from now, there will be something that reminds me of this book, and I'll puzzle--gosh, what WAS that book--it was so weird!
And so I'm writing this review mostly for me to remember, to look back on and say, okay, yes, that wasn't a wild dream, you did read the wacky book about the quest to find the three porn films and the detective who wasn't really a detective but reminiscent of Nero Wolfe in his bulk and his delegating "You must go to Mexico at once."
June 9, 2019
I was expecting Raymond Chandler but what I got was more like Thomas Berger--that's not a bad thing. Sam was a little whiney and annoying at first but once he starts detecting, things move along smoothly. The writing itself is brilliant, witty with some clever philosophical rants. I enjoyed the real and imagined film history. There are three rather awkward POV shifts, long backstory sections that slowed things down and didn't really add anything I felt were needed. I'd never heard of the book or author, but the cover grabbed me, sitting on an end-cap display at the library. It just looked like something I had to read.
August 30, 2023
Having enjoyed Gordon's Joe the Bouncer series, I searched out this novel, which is the author's second book. The setup and premise was enjoyable. But oh. my. gawd, all the characters sound alike. They talk, and talk, and talk...monologues that go on for page after page and do nothing to move the plot along. I found myself skimming entire chapters looking for a phrase relevant to the book's action, rather than...say...the history of B-movies. By the time I learned who dunnit, and why, I was done, too. So glad I found the Joe series first because I would not have picked up another Gordon novel if Mystery Girl was my first.
May 18, 2024
The last third of the book was the best as it was more focused. There were a lot of obscure references that I didn't get simply because I've never read the books referenced. (Which in some ways was the point)
As another reviewer put it, too much time spent "navel gazing". Some of the rants were so long and rambling they were difficult to even understand what the point of that rant was.
I understand not all stories are plot-driven, but this seemed to be rant driven which just doesn't work.
As another reviewer put it, too much time spent "navel gazing". Some of the rants were so long and rambling they were difficult to even understand what the point of that rant was.
I understand not all stories are plot-driven, but this seemed to be rant driven which just doesn't work.
July 7, 2023
Quite a lot self absorbed but also funny and unafraid of bizarre turns and a little unnecessary violence. Shifting point of view narration includes a monolog for the reader only, unwritten and unspoken to anyone part of the narrative, a mental note so to speak.
May 10, 2018
Just didn't hold my interest
It wasn't a bad book. It was just written like one of those old detective shows and I'm not really interested in those
It wasn't a bad book. It was just written like one of those old detective shows and I'm not really interested in those
June 8, 2021
"Too Hip to be happy."
July 18, 2021
Great plot but too many descriptions of old films
Read
August 7, 2021to-read
September 2, 2022
This is truly an awful experience. The author thinks he is funny and tries to be self depreciating. It fails. The result is just drivel. Avoid this. It's worth less than the postage to get it to you.
January 9, 2024
It's certainly readable and quite original but I just didn't really enjoy it. It seemed to be trying to be too clever for its own good and I never took to any of the characters.
June 7, 2018
Warum dieses Buch?
Damals, als es My Crime Time, den Blog von Nicole, noch gab, hat sie das Buch dort rezensiert. Die Geschichte hat sich abgedreht angehört und Nicole war auch positiver Meinung, so dass das Buch in meinen SUB einziehen durfte. Nun muss es aber wieder ausziehen – SUB Abbau!
Worum geht es?
Sam Kornberg, erfolgloser Schriftsteller, wird von seiner Frau Lala verlassen. Er soll sein Leben auf die Reihe kriegen, die Luft ist raus, wirft sie ihm vor. Also macht sich Sam auf die Suche nach einem Job und wird Assistent des Privatdetektivs Solar Lonsky. Dieser verlässt wegen seiner beleibten Fülle und anderer eingebildeter Krankheiten das Haus nicht, so dass Sam zu seiner rechten Hand wird. Im ersten Auftrag soll Sam Ramona Doon überwachen. Ein ziemlich normaler Job. Zumindest am Anfang. Doch natürlich bleibt das nicht so, denn schon bald geht es um Filmstars, Mexiko und einen Mord.
In drei Worten
Schräg, irrwitzig und ziemlich humorvoll.
Opfer, Tat und Täter
Das Mystery Girl: Ramona Doon, Mona Naught, Veronika Flynn, Eulalia Natalia Santoya de Marías de Montes oder auch: wer zur Hölle ist diese Frau? Ein mörderischer Film und ein Produzent.
Themen
Kunst in Film und Literatur, wahnwitzige Odyssee, ineinander verkettete Zufälle und Ereignisse
Was war gut?
Der Schreibstil ist witzig, locker-flockig und humorvoll, mit Ironie und Sarkasmus gewürzt. Sam Kornberg ist der typische Loser, der versucht, sein Leben auf die Reihe zu kriegen und dabei in ein Komplott hineingezogen wird, welches seinen Verstand übersteigt, dem er sich aber (mehr oder minder) tapfer stellt, weil er keine Wahl hat. Irgendwie gewinnt man ihn lieb, den Armen. Und möchte wirklich gerne, dass er einfach wieder mit seiner Frau zusammen kommt und die Odyssee ein Ende findet…
Was war schlecht?
Der Schreibstil, so witzig er war, kann einem auch irgendwann mal auf den Keks gehen. Aber es hielt sich in Grenzen, einzig zwei, drei Passagen, die eine Art Brief darstellen und Lebensläufe von beteiligten Personen enthalten, fand ich sehr langwierig und anstrengend. Sie gehen über mehrere Seiten und sind eben das was sie sind, Erzählungen. Ohne viel Handlung. Der Rest der Geschichte passt aber – da läuft die Geschichte und hin und wieder überschlagen sich die Ereignisse, genau in der richtigen Dosierung.
FAZIT:
Der Schreibstil hat Vor- und Nachteile, aber insgesamt war das Buch ein gut gemachter Roadtrip eines Losers, der Privatdetektiv wider Willen wird. Gute Unterhaltung für Zwischendurch.
Damals, als es My Crime Time, den Blog von Nicole, noch gab, hat sie das Buch dort rezensiert. Die Geschichte hat sich abgedreht angehört und Nicole war auch positiver Meinung, so dass das Buch in meinen SUB einziehen durfte. Nun muss es aber wieder ausziehen – SUB Abbau!
Worum geht es?
Sam Kornberg, erfolgloser Schriftsteller, wird von seiner Frau Lala verlassen. Er soll sein Leben auf die Reihe kriegen, die Luft ist raus, wirft sie ihm vor. Also macht sich Sam auf die Suche nach einem Job und wird Assistent des Privatdetektivs Solar Lonsky. Dieser verlässt wegen seiner beleibten Fülle und anderer eingebildeter Krankheiten das Haus nicht, so dass Sam zu seiner rechten Hand wird. Im ersten Auftrag soll Sam Ramona Doon überwachen. Ein ziemlich normaler Job. Zumindest am Anfang. Doch natürlich bleibt das nicht so, denn schon bald geht es um Filmstars, Mexiko und einen Mord.
In drei Worten
Schräg, irrwitzig und ziemlich humorvoll.
Opfer, Tat und Täter
Das Mystery Girl: Ramona Doon, Mona Naught, Veronika Flynn, Eulalia Natalia Santoya de Marías de Montes oder auch: wer zur Hölle ist diese Frau? Ein mörderischer Film und ein Produzent.
Themen
Kunst in Film und Literatur, wahnwitzige Odyssee, ineinander verkettete Zufälle und Ereignisse
Was war gut?
Der Schreibstil ist witzig, locker-flockig und humorvoll, mit Ironie und Sarkasmus gewürzt. Sam Kornberg ist der typische Loser, der versucht, sein Leben auf die Reihe zu kriegen und dabei in ein Komplott hineingezogen wird, welches seinen Verstand übersteigt, dem er sich aber (mehr oder minder) tapfer stellt, weil er keine Wahl hat. Irgendwie gewinnt man ihn lieb, den Armen. Und möchte wirklich gerne, dass er einfach wieder mit seiner Frau zusammen kommt und die Odyssee ein Ende findet…
Was war schlecht?
Der Schreibstil, so witzig er war, kann einem auch irgendwann mal auf den Keks gehen. Aber es hielt sich in Grenzen, einzig zwei, drei Passagen, die eine Art Brief darstellen und Lebensläufe von beteiligten Personen enthalten, fand ich sehr langwierig und anstrengend. Sie gehen über mehrere Seiten und sind eben das was sie sind, Erzählungen. Ohne viel Handlung. Der Rest der Geschichte passt aber – da läuft die Geschichte und hin und wieder überschlagen sich die Ereignisse, genau in der richtigen Dosierung.
FAZIT:
Der Schreibstil hat Vor- und Nachteile, aber insgesamt war das Buch ein gut gemachter Roadtrip eines Losers, der Privatdetektiv wider Willen wird. Gute Unterhaltung für Zwischendurch.
August 21, 2013
See more reviews at The Best Books Ever!
I was hooked on Mystery Girl from the very beginning. when we meet failed novelist Sam Kornberg, whose life is very quickly going to go from average to very ridiculous, he just doesn't know it yet. He accepts a seemingly ridiculous job as an assistant to private detective Solar Lonsky, as a last ditch effort to prove to his estranged wife that he can be a responsible grown-up, too. What starts out as a simple surveillance job, reporting the actions of a mystery woman to Lonsky, turns into something far more complicated than you'd expect. To explain much more is to ruin some of the ridiculous twists and turns poor Sam's story takes, but suffice it to say, he's in over his head a whole lot.
I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would, actually. I accidentally burned myself out on mysteries a little bit, reading far too many formulaic, kind-of boring stories, and despite the intriguing summary (which I had honestly forgotten by the time I got around to reading it for the tour), I was worried that this was going to turn out to be the same. I was pleasantly surprised when Sam's narration was witty and wry and self-deprecating, and when not all was as it seems at first glance. We read most of the book from his first-person perspective, with just a few brief chapters coming from someone else's view, usually in the form of a letter or some extended dialogue. While there was one major plot point that I'd half-guessed, everything else came as a surprise, which was a great change.
This book also had some insightful things to say about art, mental illness, writing, relationships, love, and more. For as witty and fast-paced and borderline absurd the story was, you'd flip the page and find a very poignant passage that may move you in a way you didn't expect. Don't underestimate this book based on its genre and pin-up girl cover, as there's something special about it despite the wacky plot.
I will say that the plot does get kind of convoluted by the end and I had to keep reminding myself about plot points or minor characters, but I also feel like, since you're reading most of the book from Sam's perspective, that's not such a bad thing, as he spends a lot of the time being hurtled from one absurd situation to the next. Also, the story contains violence, cursing, and some sexual situations so is recommended for mature readers.
I was hooked on Mystery Girl from the very beginning. when we meet failed novelist Sam Kornberg, whose life is very quickly going to go from average to very ridiculous, he just doesn't know it yet. He accepts a seemingly ridiculous job as an assistant to private detective Solar Lonsky, as a last ditch effort to prove to his estranged wife that he can be a responsible grown-up, too. What starts out as a simple surveillance job, reporting the actions of a mystery woman to Lonsky, turns into something far more complicated than you'd expect. To explain much more is to ruin some of the ridiculous twists and turns poor Sam's story takes, but suffice it to say, he's in over his head a whole lot.
I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would, actually. I accidentally burned myself out on mysteries a little bit, reading far too many formulaic, kind-of boring stories, and despite the intriguing summary (which I had honestly forgotten by the time I got around to reading it for the tour), I was worried that this was going to turn out to be the same. I was pleasantly surprised when Sam's narration was witty and wry and self-deprecating, and when not all was as it seems at first glance. We read most of the book from his first-person perspective, with just a few brief chapters coming from someone else's view, usually in the form of a letter or some extended dialogue. While there was one major plot point that I'd half-guessed, everything else came as a surprise, which was a great change.
This book also had some insightful things to say about art, mental illness, writing, relationships, love, and more. For as witty and fast-paced and borderline absurd the story was, you'd flip the page and find a very poignant passage that may move you in a way you didn't expect. Don't underestimate this book based on its genre and pin-up girl cover, as there's something special about it despite the wacky plot.
I will say that the plot does get kind of convoluted by the end and I had to keep reminding myself about plot points or minor characters, but I also feel like, since you're reading most of the book from Sam's perspective, that's not such a bad thing, as he spends a lot of the time being hurtled from one absurd situation to the next. Also, the story contains violence, cursing, and some sexual situations so is recommended for mature readers.
August 30, 2013
Mystery Girl by David Gordon is a noir novel set in California. Mr Gordon's first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award.
Sam Kornberg lives in L.A., his marriage is falling apart and it looks like he'll never be the novelist he dreamed of being. Looking for any job he might be qualify for , Sam gets a job as an assistant (he specializes in being an "assistant") detective to Solar Lonsky.
Sam's first assignment is to track a mysterious woman who triggers the adventure his about to take involving shootouts, mistaken identities, insane asylums and lots of movie talk in a video store.
Mystery Girl by David Gordon is definitely a men’s novel full of self doubt, awkwardness, porn, manly movie talk and Jackie Chan. The book is both funny and sad, easy to read but certainly not fluff. The novel is much like real life, when things which are insignificant to others seem to be insurmountable objects in your life, and subjects which are important to you are meaningless to most.
The style of the book took me a little time to get used to, it’s frank but with a lot of similes to make sure you know you’re reading a noir novel. However, I did enjoy the humor, the characters as well as the story. The author pays homage to the movie industry; the narrator is a novelist so it was nice to read how movies influence writers and not necessarily the other way around. The characters were interesting, self-deprecating and honest. I found the idea of a failed writer who thinks he’s right (his stories have no plot) while everyone else is wrong to be funny and amusing.
There is no doubt that Mr. Gordon is a very talented writer, while the book has a few ups and downs, overall I really liked the writing and the story.
For more reviews and bookish posts please visit http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
Sam Kornberg lives in L.A., his marriage is falling apart and it looks like he'll never be the novelist he dreamed of being. Looking for any job he might be qualify for , Sam gets a job as an assistant (he specializes in being an "assistant") detective to Solar Lonsky.
Sam's first assignment is to track a mysterious woman who triggers the adventure his about to take involving shootouts, mistaken identities, insane asylums and lots of movie talk in a video store.
Mystery Girl by David Gordon is definitely a men’s novel full of self doubt, awkwardness, porn, manly movie talk and Jackie Chan. The book is both funny and sad, easy to read but certainly not fluff. The novel is much like real life, when things which are insignificant to others seem to be insurmountable objects in your life, and subjects which are important to you are meaningless to most.
The style of the book took me a little time to get used to, it’s frank but with a lot of similes to make sure you know you’re reading a noir novel. However, I did enjoy the humor, the characters as well as the story. The author pays homage to the movie industry; the narrator is a novelist so it was nice to read how movies influence writers and not necessarily the other way around. The characters were interesting, self-deprecating and honest. I found the idea of a failed writer who thinks he’s right (his stories have no plot) while everyone else is wrong to be funny and amusing.
There is no doubt that Mr. Gordon is a very talented writer, while the book has a few ups and downs, overall I really liked the writing and the story.
For more reviews and bookish posts please visit http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
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