A powerful debut with Dickensian touches in its heartbreaking and occasionally humorous chronicle of the life of a modern...
A literary bildungsroman.
Mochari's debut chronicles the life of Ariel Zinsky who at the age of 30 has become something of a bitter misanthrope. Zinsky decides to chronicle his life so far with the goal of elucidating how it is he has become a man whose life is almost devoid of social interactions. He goes back to some of his earliest memories beginning with the beatings he received from his estranged father. In Zinsky's first person narration he describes his awkward, social misfit high school years, which are followed by his social misfit college years. However, once he sets out to focus on making a living publishing a guide to the annual NFL draft, a change begins to occur in his life. Zinsky begins to make friends at school, becomes more athletic and experiences his first sexual relationship. Post-college his devotion to his annual guide, which is slowly building a following leads him to quit his office job and instead work as a waiter, but it is also the guide which leads to his first real girlfriend. Although there are some rough times, Zinsky eventually reaches the point where his football side business has become a huge financial success. Still, Zinsky's old doubts and insecurities poison his personal relationships and bring him to the point where he runs away to Manhattan selling his football empire for a tidy sum so that he can take a low pressure gig at a football magazine. Thanks in part to his English teacher mother, Zinsky is well-read, and Mochari makes use of this fact in crafting a highly readable literary novel. Even when describing the most mundane of scenes Zinsky speaks like a Fitzgerald narrator, “I had cannily obtained many usernames and passwords from the IT department”. Though the novel is filled with many such mundane details, it flows well thanks in part to Mochari's clear but colorful prose. Zinsky's rough childhood makes him an underdog and a sympathetic narrator whose story is compelling. Even as he grows into a self-absorbed young man, the reader is still rooting for him though the advantage of another perspective means that the reader can see the error in Zinksy's ways. By novel's end Zinsky has gone from hero to antihero leaving readers with a sense of closure if not exactly a sense of satisfaction with the conclusion.
A powerful debut with Dickensian touches in its heartbreaking and occasionally humorous chronicle of the life of a modern young man.Pub Date: March 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1937677114
Page Count: 358
Publisher: Fomite
Review Posted Online: Dec. 3, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Disturbing and consistent in tone, yet too often weighed down by opaqueness.
In Young’s debut novel, a fugitive writer works feverishly to document his life before his past catches up to him.
For three days Paul sits on his fire escape overlooking the busy streets of New York City, jotting down an account of his life from his humble beginnings to what he sees as his coming end. The overly self-aware Paul has several reasons to be here: He’s found little success as a poet, the woman he loves has left him, and his aimless wanderings have led him to cause, or at least feel responsibility for, the death of a fellow citizen. While these things weigh heavily on Paul, the catalyst for his manic scribbling is merely that he’s been recognized; he’s not Paul, but rather a fugitive man of many names. He writes now of his first identity as Sam, a fatherless Holden Caulfield in the Connecticut suburbs whose annoyance with anything he finds empty or hypocritical takes a violent turn. Young’s debut crosses mediums, utilizing poetry, playwriting and a loose, stream-of-consciousness style that compliments the prose, conveying the urgency and fatigue Paul experiences. This blend can also be distracting, breaking the heavy tension the author establishes with his protagonist’s unique, darkly comic observations of the mundane and the mortifying. The novel can make readers uncomfortable, and doesn’t shy away from the obscene while humoring its unreliable narrator—even when he’s presented as self-centered and detached. Nearly every relationship in Paul’s life has some sexual undertone—from his best friend to figures in the church to his own mother—further magnifying the unnerving atmosphere. The narrator’s verbose style works both for and against the novel: It captures a personality enchanted with words but unable to truly connect with language, a wannabe-wordsmith “trying too hard.” However, as important as this consistency is, its continued use becomes tedious as some of the book’s more impressive flourishes are lost in the shuffle.
Disturbing and consistent in tone, yet too often weighed down by opaqueness.Pub Date: Dec. 20, 2010
ISBN: 978-0615430232
Page Count: 398
Publisher: Top Shelf Books
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A short, candid book that urges girls to pursue their dreams.
In Johnson’s debut picture book, a father encourages his daughter to reach for the stars.
Full of positive affirmations, the book uses short, inspiring statements to build young girls’ confidence. “Anything is within my reach, if I always love myself,” they’re told. These empowering words are accompanied by an illustration of a young girl sitting behind the U.S. president’s desk. Along with these motivational declarations, the book focuses on the importance of familial support: “My daddy says I can be, because my family believes in me.” That message is coupled with illustrations of a father reading to his daughter and a family of four building a sandcastle on a beach. It’s clear that this is a very personal project for the author, as he appears in the book with his two daughters, Nyla and London. The book’s message is a commendable one: All girls should be encouraged to be strong and independent. However, the narrative would be more effective if expanded and enriched with more detail. The book’s simple statements often rely on illustrations for clarification. The message behind “Anything is within my reach, if I always love myself” is only fully understood next to a picture of a young girl president; without the artwork, the sparse text could remain vague and open to interpretation. The basic illustrations—ranging from a girl playing soccer to a girl praying before bed—are full of bright colors and watercolor backgrounds, echoing the happy, simple quality of the prose.
A short, candid book that urges girls to pursue their dreams.Pub Date: March 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-1468555967
Page Count: 24
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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