John Vanderslice > Recent Status Updates

This book is a great study of NYC culture in the 70s. It’s also possibly a great example of autofiction. Is it a novel? No.

This is a totally engrossing book. An utter tribute to the author’s mother while at the same time analyzing and describing the schizophrenia that came on her in her middle age. The love the author feels for the woman who raised her is clear but she is honest about both her parents’ issues and the difficult nature of their marriage. Too, the book is a tribute to whole generation of silently traumatized Koreans.

Great read. And what a wonderful discovery for me. It’s a very engaging original story, and at the same very aware of the dystopian tradition in which it implicitly and explicitly operates. Throughout, Al-Essa overtly nods to 1984, A Clockwork Orange, and Fahrenheit 451, yet also to Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland! A weird, wonderful combination. Sad to say, after November, 2024, this book seems extremely relevant.

This is a great study of Darwin, charting his life, his science, his family, and the political/social environment surrounding him. Interesting how in some ways he defied that environment, rather stubbornly, while in other ways he reflected it. If I had any slight criticism it would be that I would not mind a more minute review of the evidence presented in On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man.

Fascinating book. Is it one poem in sections? Is it a collection of thematically related prose poems? Is it a long collage essay? Who knows? I love books that defy categorization and practicality force you to invent new ones. It’s interesting and instructive to watch how Nelson rotates between motifs and narratives in the work. With 240 separate sections that could not have been easy. But it all feels correct.

I'm reading this via Audible while I work out. Enjoying it, but there's a lot to keep track of, especially when you don't listen for a day or two. It's been a few weeks, and I'm only half way through.