Helpful Score: 1
No. Just no.
I have made it to page 97. In Chapter 1, a woman sits on a bench, thinking about an interview she is heading to. In Chapter 2, she is interviewed by an alcoholic hoarder. In Chapter 3, she is late for her first day of work. Along the line, much amusement is wrung (cf: sarcasm ...) from a man threatening to commit suicide, the alcoholic shooting himself in the foot, and the woman being attacked by a pack of poorly controlled dogs as she walks to work .... That's as far as we get, by freakin' page 97 ... (In between these chapters, there are short, unconnected episodes, which are supposed to be, I suppose, ... woowoooo ... spooky, but are actually just baffling and annoying.
There is just the possibility that this wouldn't make a terrible comedy-drama: the dialogue is almost not half-bad, if it were given to good actors, to give it some personality. (This book falls into a new genre I have invented, and plan to copyright: "The WannaBe Screenplay." The author can write dialogue, at least sort of, but has no idea what to do with the bits in between, which very quickly become toe-curlingly embarrassing. And no idea how to pace a novel.) The role of the alcoholic, hoarder misanthrope boss of the newspaper is a shameless rip-off of Bernard Black, of the wonderful British sitcom "Black Books" -- Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan should sue.)
Run. A. Mile.
I have made it to page 97. In Chapter 1, a woman sits on a bench, thinking about an interview she is heading to. In Chapter 2, she is interviewed by an alcoholic hoarder. In Chapter 3, she is late for her first day of work. Along the line, much amusement is wrung (cf: sarcasm ...) from a man threatening to commit suicide, the alcoholic shooting himself in the foot, and the woman being attacked by a pack of poorly controlled dogs as she walks to work .... That's as far as we get, by freakin' page 97 ... (In between these chapters, there are short, unconnected episodes, which are supposed to be, I suppose, ... woowoooo ... spooky, but are actually just baffling and annoying.
There is just the possibility that this wouldn't make a terrible comedy-drama: the dialogue is almost not half-bad, if it were given to good actors, to give it some personality. (This book falls into a new genre I have invented, and plan to copyright: "The WannaBe Screenplay." The author can write dialogue, at least sort of, but has no idea what to do with the bits in between, which very quickly become toe-curlingly embarrassing. And no idea how to pace a novel.) The role of the alcoholic, hoarder misanthrope boss of the newspaper is a shameless rip-off of Bernard Black, of the wonderful British sitcom "Black Books" -- Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan should sue.)
Run. A. Mile.
