Ron Currie, Jr.

I swear I'm losing my marbles because every book I read is inspired by Kafka. I can't be wrong here when the main character's name is K and he mentions Kafka early in the book. But I can live with it, I like this book. K seems like he has a different mind that is more literal after his wife dies and that death is heartbreaking here. K is all about the facts and clarity after reading Einstein's biography -- especially the bit on relativity. This book seems way too prescient, as the plot takes show more place in 2014. I feel like most of the incredibly fist-smashing-in-face truths could only happen post November 8, 2016. The world is different now than it could have been in 2014 (though the end might place it in 2018, so there you go). Currie is not out to make friends here. Everyone is lambasted here. K doesn't take sides, neither does Currie. The book is cynical but real as hell. Currie sees the absurdity in everything, like K. Though I feel like, scarily enough, I was already half getting there with the thoughts that Currie had on the page. K's need for truth lands him a reality show confronting people with a secret camera on his glasses. This doesn't end well. But I'm not sure the book does either. A little more clear-cut like the rest of the book would have worked better. Currie says it like it is and I will be reading his other books. I like his way of thinking and I like how he constructs those thoughts.

This one reminds me of: 'A Confederacy of Dunces', 'Wise Blood', 'The New & Improved Romie Futch' by Julia Elliott and 'Parasites Like Us' by Adam Johnson... and probably a few more. show less

The story of a man who was born with voices in his head that tell him things -- true things -- including the exact date and time of the upcoming end of the world. It's a strange and fascinating novel, well-written, and features some philosophical questions and answers that are thought-provoking without being too heavy-handed.

It's not entirely without flaws, though. For one thing... Well, there's a useful rule of thumb in speculative fiction that says that readers will give you one wildly show more unbelievable premise for free, assuming you do something interesting with it, but once they've granted you that indulgence it's unwise to ask for too much more. And, maybe two thirds of the way through, this one threw in a couple of additional implausibilities that caused my previously easy suspension of disbelief to snap pretty badly. That wasn't entirely fatal to my enjoyment, and it may be something that's unlikely to bother anybody but me, anyway. But that, along with perhaps some other much harder-to-put-a-finger-on issues, ultimately left me feeling that this book, which seems as if it could have been utterly terrific, is instead only good. show less

The title of this book says it all, and the fact that we know the main character is going to die does not take anything away from the way the story plays out. It's a gritty, hardscrabble, vicious existence for Babs, who is basically a mob boss, running the town and the drug ring therein with her two daughters and a group of older women friends, with the cooperation of the chief of police. The menace accelerates when a Canadian drug kingpin doesn't like the encroachment on his territory, and show more the story spirals to the end when the death of Babs Dionne is indeed savage, but also noble, exactly as the perfect title portends. Intriguing story and highly recommended. show less

I feel like the author is trying to say something really meaningful here about living life to its fullest and resigning yourself to your fate rather than moaning about the shitty hand life has dealt you or whatever. But it all falls apart when he introduces time travel, nonsensical conspiracy theory, terrorist plots, an unhealthy obsession with baseball, and all sorts of totally groan-worthy nonsensical plot twists. Every character in the book is not just talented and amazing, they are THE show more MOST TALENTED AND AMAZING PEOPLE in their given field. The brother is the most amazing baseball player, the main character is the smartest person, the dad is just an all around great guy (who has anger issues, but it only shows up when he's mad at someone we root for him to beat up). Every character has to have some extreme trauma in their past. The writing blurs the line between engaging and self-indulgent mess, and ultimately falls hard into the latter category. Seriously, at the halfway mark this book falls apart to such an extreme degree that it's like the author suddenly had a stroke or something. What a massive pile of garbage this book ends up being. show less