I got a lotta weird looks reading this on the bus when it came to the areas that you have to turn it sideways. Anything but boring. ( )

Perhaps I didn’t love this because I finished it while recovering from food poisoning, but unfortunately nothing leaves one with quite as distasteful a mindset as projectile vomiting. Which, coincidentally, some characters in this novel do with alarming frequency.

When I was an undergrad, I had two dorm neighbors who were art students. One of them was the most hilarious guy I had ever met in my life. Just about everything he ever said made me laugh uncontrollably. The other guy was cool, and I let him shave the back of my head once because he wanted to. He shaved something like a T into it. Or a square tail. There was also a stunt involving door lock removal and a herd of guys wearing nothing but socks on their wangs. The art majors were interesting more than anything else and nothing like the characters in this novel, which centers around an art school and arts community in a Portland-like city.

The good: The writing is top notch. Surprising use of language and deftly constructed sentences. The plot is quite clever and unpredictable. A weird obsessive atmosphere and tone envelopes the narrative. Most, if not all, character internal monologues are well rendered with diversity. Characters try to understand themselves but never do. It is at times LOL funny. The design of the book (by the author) is beautiful. A unique concept book that can be unfolded into 9 giant poster spreads of all pages.

The not quite as good: Some elements of the text are overdesigned such as the constant use of italics and bolding throughout. In such large doses, this has the effect of making the writing seem juvenile because it feels like the author is highlighting words without letting the reader do the work. However, I can at least partially excuse this by the fact that the characters are so juvenile that it suits them. Which leads to my next point that all of these art school students, dropouts, their college friends and the rulers of the local arts community are so incredibly…batshit? So neurotic, decadent, criminal, pompous, loony, narcissistic, careless, wreckless…you get my point. Although the characters are well differentiated, they are ALL so extreme that the sum is just so much much. The author seems to be striving for psychological realism within individual characters, but because each and every single one is so extreme it has the effect of delegitimizing all of them. Making the book seem like a cartoon world at war with itself. I’ve definitely known a few people as crazy as some of these—they were mentally ill. And I’m also sure that—although I’ve known many art school students over the years who were quite “normal”—it’s probably one of the richest beds of neurosis to be found this side of an English Lit grad program, this book makes it too rich. Sometimes the hipper than thou quality of the characters unintentionally pervades the novel itself. Finally, the ending falls apart right at the climax with a ½-page denouement that is rather unsatisfying. If you set us up with an over-the-top plot, you need an over-the-top finish, and this kind of fizzled in the last page.

All that being said, this book is a quick, fun read and worth a drug-addled romp in the Piss Christ of art school. I give it 3 ½ stars.
( )

I enjoyed this book the way I enjoyed the Gossip Girl books - Yet instead of trailing the lives of spoiled Upper East Siders, the book focuses on a coterie of angsty, emo art students. Overall, I found it a highly unrealistic but amusing read. I definitely would not mind breezing through a sequel. ( )