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A review by jennareadsbooks
Mount Chicago by Adam Levin
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thanks to @doubledaybooks for Mount Chicago by Adam Levin. This book has a pretty absurd premise - a giant sinkhole opens under Chicago and swallows a large portion of the city, people included. Among the lost are author/comedian Solomon Gladman’s entire family (wife, parents, siblings). After the anomaly, one of Gladman’s biggest fans, Apter Schutz, goes to work for the city’s mayor. He hopes to get Gladman to perform at the benefit for the city.
This book is truly funny. It has long, winding stories that come together perfectly. It’s witty and smart. There are meta moments where the author talks about himself and his own identity, and his experience writing the book. I really loved how the characters came together in the end, and I appreciated the combination of levity and bleakness. I think my favorite character was Gladman’s parrot, Gogol. The observations from Gogol’s perspective were endearing.
The biggest downside of this one is the length. With some passages, I felt like enough was enough. Some of the asides felt unnecessary and after awhile, reading this book felt effortful and tiring. I think this book could have benefitted from a more heavy-handed edit.
The other thing that bothered me was the book’s take on “wokeness”. I think there were moments that went too far into mockery of trigger warnings, safe spaces, etc. It felt like his own ‘Joyce Carol Oates on Twitter concerned about opportunities for CIS white men’ moment. I felt like I understood what the author was trying to say early in this section, but he kept going too far until it was offensive, and not in a funny ha ha way. This is something else that I think more editing could have taken care of.
I think if you want to spend a good amount of time in the midst of facetious writing that somehow turns into a very touching story, you’d like this one. I did like it overall, and I’m glad I stuck it out to get to the end.
This book is truly funny. It has long, winding stories that come together perfectly. It’s witty and smart. There are meta moments where the author talks about himself and his own identity, and his experience writing the book. I really loved how the characters came together in the end, and I appreciated the combination of levity and bleakness. I think my favorite character was Gladman’s parrot, Gogol. The observations from Gogol’s perspective were endearing.
The biggest downside of this one is the length. With some passages, I felt like enough was enough. Some of the asides felt unnecessary and after awhile, reading this book felt effortful and tiring. I think this book could have benefitted from a more heavy-handed edit.
The other thing that bothered me was the book’s take on “wokeness”. I think there were moments that went too far into mockery of trigger warnings, safe spaces, etc. It felt like his own ‘Joyce Carol Oates on Twitter concerned about opportunities for CIS white men’ moment. I felt like I understood what the author was trying to say early in this section, but he kept going too far until it was offensive, and not in a funny ha ha way. This is something else that I think more editing could have taken care of.
I think if you want to spend a good amount of time in the midst of facetious writing that somehow turns into a very touching story, you’d like this one. I did like it overall, and I’m glad I stuck it out to get to the end.