Sad Movies

by Mark Lindquist

Book by Lindquist, Mark

Genres: Fiction

196 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1987

About the author

Mark Lindquist is the author of The King of Methlehem, published by Simon and Schuster, Never Mind Nirvana, published by Random House, Carnival Desires and Sad Movies, both published by Atlantic Monthly Press.

Almost 25 years after publication, Carnival Desires is available on Kindle. Details magazine called it, “Great postmodern literature. Romantic and cynical, true and original, full of modern ideas and seductive moments … as of its time as such classics as Day of the Locust and The Last Tycoon.” Vanity Fair called it, “A witty minimalist epic … with the smart, spare prose only an outsider on the Hollywood inside can afford.” Amazon says, "Colored by the movies, music, and styles of the era, what was once contemporary fiction is now a period piece."

Mark Lindquist has written for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, The Oregonian, The Seattle Times, Details Magazine, and many other publications.

Reviews

[Carri-ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is the book that inspired everything that I have become as a writer. It was honest and real in every detail. It is written in a style I aspire towards. Simple and easy to read but with an incredible message attached. The message is not forced. You slowly come to see how much it applies in just about everyone's life.

The story is about a copy writer with no job satisfaction beyond the friends he meets at work, a girlfriend who wants to leave him, and a head full of suicidal thoughts. A old friend then comes into his life and asks him to wait and think about his decision to kill himself. If he's certain, they plan on doing it together.

Mark Lindquist deserved every shred of praise he's ever received for his literary works.

[Stephan]

This slim book was required reading for my group of friends in the early nineties, and something of an obsession of mine for several years (I even wrote a screenplay, thinking I might one day try to option the book). Probably a little dated now, but still a great entry in that list of books describing the ennui of being in your mid-twenties in late-capitalism America.

[Andrew Ordover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a perfect novel by any means, and written more like a treatment for the movie I think the author hoped this would become. But, all that said, this book has stayed with me for years--especially the reference to Camus and the idea that, in the end, "you're either for the plague or against the plague."

[Tom Mooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had shades of Bright Lights, Big City about it, but isn't in the same class. There were some good parts and some stuff that seems pretty funny and ironic given how the world has turned to a festering heap of shit since the 80s. God, I miss the past.

[Jamie Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

hopeful nihilism that is strangely uncharacteristic of the selfish hedonistic 80s man

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book after spending a good hour on Google trying to decipher once and for all who, like, actually is in the ‘Literary Brat Pack’— Ellis says it’s only himself, McInnerney and their editor in the group, à la Lunar Park, but other 80s authors and pop culture outlets say otherwise— and out of all popular LBP contenders, apart from, once again, Ellis, part time Gossip Girl actor© McInnerney, Janowitz, and weird girl Greek mythology representative© Donna Tartt, there were around four long forgotten by time, out of print authors, that made it to a few online lists that claimed to know exactly who fell into this “pack”: Susan Minot, Jill Eisenstadt, Meg Wolitzer and… Mark Lindquist. (If you’re reading this and you’re like “what about all the other Bennington College grads from around the time, like Jonathan Letham, aren’t they apart of the pack?” I’d say… I don’t know… maybe? Jury is still out!)

Now you wouldn’t believe (!!) how hard it was to track down a single copy by ANY of the aforementioned authors’ published works from the LBP era, that also didn’t have completely and utterly ridiculous shipping to Canada… so for months I continually searched for any of the books originally published in the 80s or even the 90s (I’ll take what I can get) and finally a week ago, my ship came in, through Sad Movies by Mark Lindquist.

I was so excited going into this book, as the premise, a suicidal yuppie living in LA while working at an office job he hates and stuck in a failing relationship he tries to escape by partying, drinking and cocaine, has his unusual acquaintance come to visit and with that his world as he knows it comes crashing down, is completely and utterly up my alley in every single way and couldn’t get any more 80s Brat Pack unless it was maybe written by Andrew McCarthy (part time Gossip Girl director©). However after finishing the book, and gathering my thoughts, I feel… torn.

This novel is short (197 pages) and split, in accordance with the theatrics of the subject matter, by acts like a play. With my whole chest, I can honestly say, Act I of this novel is probably better than all of Less Than Zero and definitely better than the entirety of Bright Lights, Big City (as that novel’s coveted place in literary history seems to only be accredited to people’s fondness and credulity of its uncommon point of view). Yet, Acts II and III are enjoyable and good, though not as strong in my personal opinion as the first, and I was excited to have a new-to-me favourite book on my hands. No spoilers ahead but the book takes an abruptly bizarre (disturbing?) turn on the second to last page, after the narrator, Zeke, shares a quick quip about his childhood… and I don’t know… it just confused (repelled?) me. Was it satire? Did it just change my entire view of the main character on a dime? Was this purposeful? I think? It was very strange. But just like that, within a page and a half, the book was over and I had loved previous 99% of it.

Yes, this novel has all the trademarks of an Ellis rip off: incessant mentioning of song lyrics, song titles and albums, standoffish narration style, it was written and, I think meant to be consumed like a movie, and was littered with pop culture references now extremely dated (that, thankfully, I was lucky enough to pick up on.) However, if it was written in 1985/1986, does that make it an Ellis rip-off or just a novel so of its’ time it should only be viewed by eyes partial to the decade? Once again, I don’t know, you tell me.
Yet, if the LBP, to what would be my horror, truly is only Ellis, McInnerney and “the editor”, as he’s not even important enough through pop culture history to remember the name of (sorry to that man), then all this book is, is a really, really, good early Ellis knock off— probably the best there is— and if it’s only that, then that means it’s still… pretty, pretty, pretty good.

[Madeline BP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a John Capute book if i’ve ever come across one!! sadly I don’t have any goodreads friends who will get this reference but whatever. Anyways, I felt like every character except Becky was a bit dramatic. Like I feel like people don’t actually act or talk like to each other in this way. Almost every exchange of dialogue was a one liner that was either unrealistically witty or vaguely philosophical.

Also, I can’t remember the last time I read fiction by a white man about a white man. I kept thinking about how this was the most unrelatable things i’ve ever read (and not in an intriguing way). Then I was like oh ya this is why I don’t go for these types of books hahaha. This was also set in the 80s so there were tons of references I didn’t get, but I like being humbled and realizing there’s so much of historical and pop culture knowledge that I don’t know.

Overall it was a quick read, not boring, and only cost me $1!! And that $1 went to my favorite lgbtq+ organization so *shrug* I guess it’s a 3-star win :p

[Regis Philbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most Eighties novel ever: slight, coming-of-age plot, mysterious/magical/mystical side-kick, pop culture references galore, and a Bret Easton Ellis rave. I almost threw this short 1987 novel across the room a couple times when I first started reading it, but then dug in and gradually more-or-less enjoyed it on its own terms. It’s about a failed L.A. screenwriter reduced to writing advertising copy for a straight-to-video B-movie studio who has an existential crisis on his 25th birthday. He’s a preppy type but his only friends are weirdos and druggies, and between lines of cocaine he quotes lyrics from mostly “cool” but still well-known post-punk/new wave songs of the era (Smiths, Bauhaus, U2), part of what I found too cringe-y initially. I liked the cynical take on Hollywood, based on the author’s own adventures in the skin trade. (He’s definitely a “write what you know” type: after leaving Hollywood he went to law school and became a crusading district attorney, and his latest book is about a crusading district attorney.)

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I've heard drowning is a good way to go. Somebody at a party told me he'd been swimming in the ocean drunk at night, and an undertow had held him down until he inhaled water. He claimed that once he accepted he wasn't going to make it to the surface, that he was dying, it was ultimate bliss. Then he blacked out. When he woke up on the beach, his buddy and their two girls were standing over him. He was still on earth and he was disappointed. But, the disappointment passed when he remembered he was going to get laid that night.”

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to randomly read this in the same year as Mysteries of Pittsburgh - I had no idea the two were so close in theme. Surely Chabon was influenced by this? Both books entail aimless men looking for something to do and both capture the late 1980s well. I think this one did it slightly better and with less testosterone. Quirky characters make what little plot there is forgivable. The problem with writing this review so belatedly is that I can't remember if there are details worth pointing out - so truly a spoiler-free review!

[Peter Azzopardi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cared very little for privileged, good-looking, suicidal Zeke, with the good-looking, kind-hearted actress girlfriend who he treats like shit.

The novel is mostly made up of random occurrences where Zelenograd either a) gets drunk b) gets high c) gets maudlin d) quotes a song lyric from an 80s indie band e) espouses fairly vacuous philosophical repartee with his boho friend f) gets laid. Usually it's a combination of all the above in quick succession.

It's clear to anyone he has a lot to live for and inevitably he makes this realisation, specifically in the hammy final third of the book which brings about the only real action in this fairly aimless read (yes, I know it's kinda the point).

I suspect this book may resonate with undergrads in their early 20s, and would have a killer soundtrack if made into a movie. This felt like a waste of time to me though. I sought it out after reading up on the famed "brat-pack" of the 80s and loving McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City", which is similar in theme but much better written. Perhaps it's unfair to draw the comparison, but it's the grouping which brought me to this book, which, tellingly, is long out of print.

[Kenny Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read in a long time. It’s a quick read, and an amazing portrayal of the feeling of stuckness, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment that we all experience at one time or another.

[Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this around 1989 when I was around 20 years of age. I just read it again for the 2nd time (at the age of 56) & still enjoyed it. Just to say it's pretty nihilistic throughout but has a reasonably positive ending. There's always hope but I guess 'The Plague' will always be there xx

[John Marr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Life. Is. Just. So. Sad.

PS. When Brett Easton Ellis says it's "hilarious and affirmative," you know it's not

[Γαληνη Παπαδοπουλου · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Tyson Boyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the writing style. I felt like I couldn’t put it down. Such honesty and evocation of thought with so few words. Probably wouldn’t own or reread though.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short succinct story from the Brat Pack that is so important for young people trying to make it in the world. Emotional, raw, realistic, depressingly funny

[bea ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was just not for me honestly. this is what i get from buying book surprise boxes

[Snobbery and Decay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mark Lindquist’s debut, Sad Movies, is not a sad novel. It isn’t a particularly funny one either. First person account, we follow its narrator Zeke, a 25 years old copywriter for Big Gun Pictures, through the unraveling of his life. He hates his job “writing bad copies for bad films”, smokes, drinks, takes drugs, casually cheats on his actress girlfriend Becky but mostly spends the best part of his time looking for a reason not to kill himself. He does all this with all the detachment of someone standing in the frozen aisle of a supermarket trying to decide between a lasagna and a shepherds pie. His quasi-mystic friend Y.J. turns up with his dog Blackie and proposes to help him out, one way or another.

It is very difficult not to see in this very slim novel a cynical attempt at emulating Bret Easton Ellis’ Less Than Zero - for the place - and Jay McInerney’s Bright Light Big City - for the set-up - the year of its publication particularly suspicious, as everything Brat Pack was all the rage then. The extraordinary if not unlikely blurb by Ellis himself at the back of the book doesn’t help. I just wish Ellis and I had read the same book.

The droll nihilism and hedonistic despair one would expect from a novel of that particular era and indeed literary “movement” are accounted for but they feel unauthentic, more aesthetic than period defining. The tsunami of cultural references - mostly songs - which are delivered with an on-the-nose profundity meant to signify malaise are clogging rather than revealing. The minimalism and the resulting numbness that Ellis used to devastating effect in his book feel here uninspired and derivative. Each little chapters made of vaguely quip dialogues almost always end with a sentence that once again points towards a certain depth of character. I’m just not certain Lindquist knew what he actually meant. Sad Movies reads more like the rumination of a moody young man too cool to cry over his cornflakes. So instead, he smokes while refusing to answer any questions directly because, vagueness you know… At one point, early in the novel, Zeke muses that his life feels like a Joan Didion novel. He’s not too far off as Didion’s own Play It As It Lays influenced Ellis’ Less Than Zero which in turns more than influenced Sad Movies, but this time with diminishing returns. Rather the work of a navelist than a novelist.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

—Sensibilidad fatal, tristeza y confusión —responde Y. J.
—¿Sensibilidad fatal, tristeza y confusión? —repite Becky, y luego sonríe divertida—. ¡Si la vida es precisamente eso!

Adoro El guardián entre el centeno y a todos sus vástagos y herederos. Libros cortitos y sin excesivas pretensiones en los que seguimos el deambular de un personaje joven y profundamente deprimido. Un Holden Caulfield de la vida que recorre su ciudad viviendo peripecias, a la espera de que alguien descifre su extraño comportamiento como un grito de auxilio. En ese sentido, Películas tristes no falla. Es un nuevo viaje —esta vez por LA— cargado de existencialismo y tan sórdido y decrépito como la oficina en la que trabaja Zeke, su protagonista. Al fin y al cabo, en él las referencias a Camus, Beckett y Sylvia Plath tienen que convivir con el herpes, las botellas de J&B y los camellos de quince años. En una página se habla en latín y se reflexiona sobre el suicidio. En la siguiente se folla con extraños, se sufre un gatillazo y se recoge del suelo la mierda del perro de otro. Tan pronto estás viendo pasar ante tus ojos el arca de Noé que salvaguarda el mejor rock parido en los años ochenta, como la sentencia que condena a la humanidad por levantar una sociedad con valores tan tristes y estúpidos. Además Mark Lindquist usa un estilo aún más directo y coloquial de lo habitual. Por momentos la novela parece un guion fallido, o una de las «zarrapastrosas» obras de teatro underground que sepultan cada días las calles y aceras de Hollywood. Pero hasta la esperanza florece en lugares así. Hasta las olas del mar se dejan oír por encima del ruido de los coches. Películas tristes es tan adictivo y peligroso como una raya de coca. Horrible y genial. Y como tal, que cada uno decida cómo quiere acabar.

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many, many flaws, such as IDEALISM and MELO DRAMA, but it was a good, quick read, and the first I've read of Lindquist's, and his first book, so hopefully he got a little less sentimental with his other books I may read because he was at least fairly funny and did have a sort of B.E.E.-vibe going on except that his characters can't help but be sympathetic and empathetic and a lot less sociopathic.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another alternative young people in the city book, you could do worse.

[Ricky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book for this debut from Lindquist. I expected better after it was a recommendation from Easton Ellis. Kind of juvinle in perspective to him, but a decent quick read nonetheless.

[Kevin Cole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gen X pulp.