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Rick Moody's book "Demonology" is a collection of thirteen stories. Each story is written in a different manner both in format and in perspective. And I feel each story "begins" and then fades off without ever explaining the start or ending of what is happening. The entire collection comes off as a sort of ramble.

One story in particular, "Boys" was probably one of the most annoying stories I have ever read. The actual word "boys" must have been written in the story one hundred times.

I also didn't like the story "Ineluctable Modality of the Vaginal." It was just wrong in so many ways. Not offensive so much as just disgusting to me. There are some things I just don't want to think about in a "vaginal" related manner and this story was all about comparisons if you know what I mean. Plus the girl in the story literally used her "va va voom" as a weapon or basis of an argument with her boyfriend. It was just ridiculous and unbelievable.

While I appreciate the thought put into the book, I just struggled with the concepts. It took me a long time to get through it and there were pages I had to read through more than once to figure them out.

One thing I will say positively is of the "Boxed Set" story. Each page had two columns. One of which held a chronological history of the person's life and in the second column was a mixed song list of things that fit the period of time in his life. The correlation between each column and the notes written in regards to the songs were really interesting to me.

With that said I end my thoughts on Demonology and move forward without looking back.

Labels: Demonology, Rick Moody

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| 10:38 AM | 2 comment(s)!

When I decided to read the book "Naked" by David Sedaris it was because I thought it would be insightful and funny because Sedaris was writing about true stories from his life. I had heard his humor, though sometimes offbeat, was usually honest and in your face.

It is true there were several moments when I literally did laugh out loud, but for the most part the entire book made me feel awkward. Many of the topics were uncomfortable for me. I have always known I get embarrassed easily; but I didn't think I'd feel my cheeks turning red over a silly book.

As a child Sedaris had many, many oddities about his personality. To me it sounded as though he was challenged in some way. In fact, I still feel that is true. He talked about walking to school and how there were certain ways he had to do it. He had to hug a certain mailbox and if he went to school without hugging the mailbox he would leave school just to go hug it. His impulses were extreme and rash. He licked light switches and refrigerators, he said he "had" to lick them even if he didn't want to think them. He wrote about hitting himself with his shoe so hard it would leave marks on his forehead. I'm sorry, but as a reader those stories were not funny to me, especially hearing how his teachers, peers, siblings and even parents spoke to him about it.

The only thing I enjoyed about this book was reading the path during which Sedaris becomes accepting of his sexuality. The entire story titled "I like guys" was at many times awkward, but being a straight and happily married woman I had no idea what it might feel like realize you are a gay man. It was something he didn't grasp at first and reading how he came to the realization was very interesting. Though I must admit I could have done without the penis talk but that's just me.

So I liked the book, though in my opinion most of it was not funny. And who knew nudist colonies really do exist? =o) As for a rating, I'd give it a very awkward 3.5 out of 5.

Labels: David Sedaris, Naked

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| 2:00 PM | 2 comment(s)!

This morning I finished "Through Thick and Thin" by Alison Pace. I have to say I very much enjoyed it. I found it to be quite unpredictable which was refreshing. There were moments when the story took an unexpected turn and I hated it, but then there were moments of the opposite caliber.

The premise of the book was about relationships gone awry. Two sisters who are struggling to cope with weight gain and issues of love. Two sisters who should be able to help each other out and instead end up growing apart.

One sister is an accomplished writer, but she writes food reviews and so she feels over weight, but also stuck to that fact because dieting is almost impossible when you write reviews. She is also lonely and so she ends up adopting a dog whom she named D.B. Sweeney. She loves him so much she signs him up for a dog yoga class. Oh yes, you heard me right and it is called Doga. As insane as I still feel that part of the book was, it also was nice to have the chuckles while thinking of dogs sitting on a mat and saying "oohmmmmm."

The other sister is married and has a baby girl. Right off the bat you know there is a problem between her and her husband, but even she is unaware as to what the problem is until later in the book. The seriousness overwhelms her and she even more tries to gain control of something by trying to lose all of the "baby weight" she gained during pregnancy. Even if it meant counting every calorie and writing down every bite.

No need to tell you more, because if you are interested now then you should read it and if you're not well then you probably either: a) don't care or b) think you are so smart you already have it figured out.

I liked it. Out of 5 stars I gladly give it 4.5.

Labels: alison pace, through thick and thin

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| 4:44 PM | 0 comment(s)!

A friend of mine said she thought this book might be too preachy for her. After finishing it I have decided it is VERY close to being too preachy, but there are so many fantastic passages and quips along the way which make the soap box dialogue worth it.

Elizabeth Gilbert wrote Eat, Pray, Love as a sort of personal memoir. She went through a bitter divorce and decided to trek across the world for self-realization purposes. The entire book is about her journeys; what she ate, where she prayed, who she loved and every step in between. The full title of the books is: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

Her time in Italy came first and so she was in the frame of mind which I found comical at times. She wanted to experience nothing but pleasure and for her it meant eating a lot of Italian food and learning the language. She spoke about sex from time to time but the divorce and all the lawyer business had left her wanting to spend an entire year in celibacy.

The people she met in Italy help her to see she needs to let go of her pre-determined notions of guilt and realize she is allowed to seek happiness and pleasure without cause. She can enjoy herself at anytime and not just after a long week of work. There is a lot of talk which compares the Italian way of life to that of an American way of life. I didn't think of anything she said before hand, but after reading it I couldn't agree more. Quickly, Elizabeth Gilbert's journey was becoming my own.

After several months in Italy she went on to India. Her stay in India was far more about prayer than anything else. She attempted silence and she lived in a retreat which focused purely on spiritual meditation. She became friends with some great people, gurus as she called them, and she found how to meditate, relax and be comfortable in her own skin. During the end of her stay in India she started to step out of the self-mode and into remembering she can help other people around her, too.

Next was Indonesia where she continued sharing herself with the world instead of just taking everything in. She made great friends including a woman who is a healer. The healer and Elizabeth ended up helping each other immensely. This is also the location in which she found love again.

There are 352 pages, so I'm leaving a lot out, obviously. But I did very much enjoy it and I found myself talking about it with everyone I encountered during the week. It impacted me profoundly in many ways. I do have a problem with how self righteous she spoke at times, but I understand it because this was her journey, her memoir and not mine.

Very good. Many "ahhh" and "light bulb" moments. =o)

Labels: eat pray love, elizabeth gilbert

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| 1:07 PM | 0 comment(s)!