poetsquib.com

So much depends upon …

a good title. How true and yet the book attached to the title by Brock Clarke is pretty good too.

I could think of no bigger betrayal than a wife’s changing the locks on her husband, just so long as I didn’t think about my burning and killing and then lying about it. (Chapter 13)

Because the book is about American literary greats, a lot of references were lost on me; not ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin’ and ‘Moby-Dick’ but many many other books that I know nothing about. However this is in no way an intellectual heavyweight. This book is amusing and intelligent but in a subtle and breezy fashion

The only thing that bugged me was the cliché American pretend memoir first person narrator point of view that is reminiscent of the voice-over of so many US films… complete with irritating words of wisdom. (I’m certain this book will be turned into a movie complete with the whole annoying narrator voice-over thing - they won’t be able to stop themselves). Still, I have a sneaking suspicion that this was also part of the satire. Well at least I hope it was

Regardless, the world needs more humorous and irreverential writers like Brock because God knows we could all do with a laugh