Important Things That Don't Matter

by David Amsden

A provocative, moving, darkly funny portrait of family and divorce, a boy and his father, the eighties and nineties, and sex and intimacy issues that raises vital questions about a generation just now reaching adulthood. Important Things that Don't Matter The truth is, I really have no idea how everything I'm about to tell you happened, or why really -- how Dad of all people started diluting my thoughts lately, tugging at certain moments, making cameo appearances at the most inopportune times. Like I'm in a bar, just trying to have a beer, and all of a sudden I'm seven again, in that bar with Dad. A girl reaches over and puts her hand up into my hair, and I just want her to stop, to get off, to go away -- you guessed it, there's Dad, somewhere. Maybe a psychoanalyst would say it was the divorce, or Dad and the cocaine, and that I was too young then, but that I'm twenty now, and that people are prone to oppress and repress and suppress and regress and digress -- maybe he'd tell you it's part of "a larger syndrome." But I'm not sure people like that quite know what they're saying. Trust me. I've been to them. So Dad's around lately. That's it. And I want to tell you things, throw fragments your way that I barely understand. Because it's just funny, flat out, the way someone you don't even know can get up in your face, tweak things that should be so ordinary. Or I think it's funny. Maybe you will too. Maybe you'll laugh. Maybe you won't believe a word. Maybe you'll wish you had my number so we could go out, share things. Maybe you'll know something I don't, and can tell me. Maybe -- I'm just hung up on him, on Dad, on parents in general. So many of them, it seems, act like such children these days. Some of us are adults now, and I can't help but What's going to happen?

Genres: Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Angela Lintner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty accurate commentary on the "goings on" of the mind of a gen-x/gen-y kid. . .brutally honest and funny. Probably would only be touching to those of us growing up in this era. . .My biggest bitch is that the timelines are pretty f'ed up. . .good quick read.

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshingly real. As good as a book about nothing in particular can be.

[Mew · Rating 4 out of 5]

fast and modern and real

[Dylan Beach · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the many books that I inherited from my mother after she died. No idea why she got it or why she kept it.
I didn't really examine the book, so I just assumed it was some sort of self help book (having missed the word "novel" on the cover). I wondered why she would have it, so with that curiosity, I decided to read it.
Once starting, I quickly found out it wasn't self help. But still, the whole time reading it, I thought it was some sort of autobiography. Again, having not read the blurbs on the back, and doing zero research.

Anyway, the book is meandering and boring and much less interesting after finding out that it was fiction. I read the whole thing in one go on a plane ride, only to pass the time.

[Rowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this

[AJ LeBlanc · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was an interesting mix of stories that piece together to sketch out the nameless narrator’s life. The book is structured so that he’s talking directly to the reader and he comments that he can’t keep things straight and he can’t remember if he told you this part already. It’s a bit disjointed at first, but it worked for me. I know some readers hate non-linear stories, but I liked this. There were parts that came up later when he’s older or younger and it’s interesting to see his reaction at different ages.

This is a coming of age tale and it’s told around the father-son relationship of the narrator. His dad isn’t a bad guy, he’s just a fuck-up when it comes to being a father. The narrator alternates between idolization and worship to embarrassment and realizing he really likes his mom a lot more and is glad that his parents split up. He feels guilty at times that his dad isn’t in his life, but is at the same time grateful that the two of them don’t have to pretend that they have a normal relationship.

Slipped into the stories of his dad are memories of teenage relationships and sex. He meets girls and is terrified and has sex and falls in love and treats girls badly. He’s a normal kid.

I read this one right after reading Palo Alto by James Franco. The two are a great pairing because they are both snippets of life told by kids, but the huge downside is that now I can’t remember which characters and which stories came from which book. I think I’ve glommed them all together into one story.

So…to sum up… clearly this book isn’t sticking with me because I can barely put together another paragraph, but I didn’t hate it. I should have written this review right after I finished reading it. Good thing I’m not getting paid for this…

[Carmel North · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such an interesting read for me. The author's writing style was so raw, and it sort of just...awed me. It's like he just says things, I don't know, exactly how he thinks them. Just like 'Hey, here it is.' I found it very captivating. &throughout reading there were some parts that I skipped over because they were just a little too dark or sexual for my tastes. I didn't really realize until the end that the book was about the main character's father. It was sort of a shock, that I hadn't realized actually, because it was glaringly obvious. I'm not even sure what to say about this book. But I liked it.

[Kellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was okay. It took me a couple of chapters to realize that it's not written like your typical novel. Each "chapter" is more like a memory he's writing about, in no particular order, and he can sometimes go off into these tangents that seem to last forever. However, I do think the author did a good job in capturing the "voice" of his character at different ages. I thought it was kind of weird that by the end of the novel, the boy was dating women his dad's age, and his dad was dating women his son's age. We never did learn the boy's name, did we?

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

The unnamed main character gives an account of growing up with divorced parents who have their own set of problems. His father is an alcoholic and has problems with drug addiction, a combination that doesn't exactly give the protagonist an ideal childhood. The book is divided into sections that account for various times of his life starting when he was five. The voice is exceptionally strong and comes across through a stream of consciousness writing style.

[Nicholas]

This book was really funny. He is really sarcastic and raunchy. I was cracking up the whole time I was reading the book. He seems like that person you would love to have a best friend but he isn't too interested in being yours.

[Jamie]

again, another book i read almost half. I don't make the rules

a messed up book my lil sister gave me ... perfect!

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had potential at one point but lost its way. I felt like he was trying too hard and in doing so it interrupted the flow. I hated his addressing the reader shit. Not cute or clever.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Catcher in the Rye, rewritten. This book was a fantastic surprise!