Live!

by René Ghosh

Collected open mic readings from 2015

136 pages, Paperback

Published March 29, 2016

About the author

Born in Montreal, grew up in Rigaud, Quebec, now living in Paris.

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I know Rene Ghosh. But that didn't predispose me to like this book. In general, I'm not a huge fan of humorous stories, and I'm not particularly generous with my criticism. I also don't go around reading all the books by all the people I know who write them. I haven't even read Rene's novels, because I don't generally like novels very much, and they take a long time to read. But this book, I had to get. I had heard several of the pieces when he'd read them on stage, and had enjoyed them so much that I found myself sneaking peeks at this book in other people's houses, trying to read a story here and there. Finally I couldn't resist getting my own copy, and I'm so glad I did. If I haven't enjoyed collections of humorous stories in the past, perhaps it's because the authors of those stories haven't wielded the same commanding blend of cultural commentary, vulnerability, snark, and comic timing that Rene flexes here. These stories are strikingly contemporary, but always grounded in the universal. They are both tender and cynical, with one eye on humanity and the other on the void. They aren't naive, or easy, or predictable, but they deliver every time. Rene doesn't just throw humor at his subjects; he digs into them until he finds the humor they naturally contain, however dark, or light, or uncomfortable, or even sentimental it turns out to be. So at the end of each story, I don't just find myself laughing at Rene; I find myself laughing at the whole big cosmic circus through which we blindly tumble. And it feels good to laugh at that.