Tag: Negative

Tao Lin – Shoplifting from American Apparel | Review

Title: Shoplifting from American Apparel
Author: Tao Lin

Type: Fiction/Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 112

Rating: 4/5

 

 

I happened to see online that this book has a bunch of negative reviews, but I’m not surprised by that. Tao Lin is somewhat controversial in that he’s a bit of a Marmite author – you either love him or you hate him. As for me, I’m a fan of what I’ve read, and I really enjoy his quirky writing style.

This one’s interesting because it’s almost like his equivalent of On the Road. It’s definitely heavily influenced by the author’s own life, and that’s fine by me.

 

Tao Lin

Tao Lin

 

Click here to buy Shoplifting from American Apparel.


Bill Bryson – Neither Here Nor There | Review

Title: Neither Here Nor There
Author: Bill Bryson

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 304

Rating: 3/5

 

 

I’d been looking forward to reading this one because I picked up Notes from a Small Island a few years back and enjoyed it so much that it made me want to read everything else that Bryson has ever written. Somehow, I’ve ended up picking up nearly a dozen of his books without reading any of them and this is what I picked up when I finally got back to him.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as I was hoping to, and I think that was mostly because of how negative Bryson was about everywhere he visited. It just felt as though he was complaining his way across Europe, and rather than giving me the travel buzz as I was expecting, it made me feel pretty glad that I was at home.

Still, it’s not all bad, and there are little jokes here and there that made me chuckle. I also liked seeing what Europe was like in the late eighties and early nineties, and there were a few places he went to that I’ve been to as well, including Amsterdam and Milan. It’s kind of funny because Amsterdam is probably my favourite of the places that I’ve visited and Milan is probably my least favourite.

All in all, then, this was kind of a disappointment for me, but perhaps that’s just because I had such high hopes after my last brush with Bryson. It was fine though, and I’m glad that I finished reading it. I guess I’m just a little worried about the rest of Bryson’s oeuvre seeing as this sounded like one of his best. Oh well, it is what it is.

 

Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson

 

Click here to buy Neither Here Nor There.