Tournament of Books discussion

space to discuss one of the commentariat's favorites & worry about what other darling it will face in the tourney!

Almost done reading about this smelly weirdo. I have mostly loved it but will see how the final third resolves.

I've never been able to really articulate why I love this book so much.

Audra wrote: "I've never been able to really articulate why I love this book so much."

It's a book I'm dying to recommend to everybody, but wind up recommending it to nobody because its got such an ..... unusual flavor. I loved going off the rails with with Stephen ;)

I wish someone could explain what I must be missing...I've tried THREE TIMES, both e-book and audio, most recently a month ago, and the reading experience was just so unpleasant I couldn't get past 20 percent. So I know I must be missing something, but...ick.

Elizabeth wrote: "I wish someone could explain what I must be missing...I've tried THREE TIMES, both e-book and audio, most recently a month ago, and the reading experience was just so unpleasant I just couldn't get..."

The ick factor of this book is very strong for sure - I could practically smell it while I was reading - smelled like sweaty old gym socks left in a locker for months. But the bizarre/funny/touching insouciance Stephen shows as he... devolves ..... neutralized it for me.

Elizabeth wrote: "I wish someone could explain what I must be missing...I've tried THREE TIMES, both e-book and audio, most recently a month ago, and the reading experience was just so unpleasant I just couldn't get..."

For me, it's a combination between some of the weirdness that I never figured out (Frog man) and the theme of performance - I was a music major in college. And what happens to students after they peak in high school or college. I felt Gabe captured the isolation of pursuing that perfection so well - it was familiar to me since I did that to myself but also work at a college full of overachievers. If you're going to peak anyway, what's the point, arguably, especially since those are also your top social years for most people.

And then once I'd finished I still would think about him (the character!), wondering what he did after the book...

Thanks so much for trying to explain. I won't completely give up on it, although with this last attempt reading I was just so annoyed that with everything real going on in the world this kid could obsess about wrestling. I think I'll always have a hard time getting past that.

But I'm sure it gets more interesting, if not less icky. (I haven't gotten far in the...devolvement.) My library has it on Hoopla, so I may try again (and give Gabe another couple of bucks in the process!) I could see the writing was good so at least I can reward him for that. Maybe next time I'll try starting in the middle.

At some point there's a girl, and his aunt, and an injury, so there is some variety once Habash establishes the character.

It's also okay for a book not to work for you... you've given it a decent effort!

This is one of my all time favorites. I love books that so completely inhabit a quirky character. I still think about Stephen as if he exists in real life. Looking forward to reading this one again for the ToF.

I can’t say that I ... “enjoyed” it ... exactly, but I admired the heck out of it and have recommended it to others.

I hadn’t read “Stephen Florida” before this ToF, and, as with the handful of other shortlist books that were first time reads for me, I’m so grateful to this venture for getting me to pluck it from my huge TBR pile.

Elizabeth, you're not alone! I just finished and it really wasn't the book for me. I love weird, but I actively disliked Stephen so much in the book that it made it hard for me to appreciate the book as a whole.