by Nathanael West, Jonathan Lethem
--The Day of the Locust--Miss Lonelyhearts
Dear "Miss Lonelyhearts", It's not you, it's me. I'm exhausted and burnt out and trying to get ten million things done before Crasmas. I have so little time to read these days and just couldn't devote attention to you and I'm sure beneath your crusty, impenetrable exterior you're really lovely a...
For those who've not heard of Nathanael West, a wikipedia link. I'd seen this book in my father's bookshelves and always meant to get around to reading it. And so recently, I managed to.I'm going to have a rough time explaining how I feel about this book because it's going to be another one of those...
So far I've only read Miss Lonelyhearts. What an odd little story. Sex and booze and a Christ fixation and a melancholy madness brought on by immersion in the woes of complete strangers. I'm not sure what the point is, except to say that if you set out to fool or poke fun at others, you may find tha...
Both of these are unlike anything I've ever read before (of or before the period). I think Miss Lonelyhearts is the superior novel, but barely. Both are so full of depth that I think I have to read each a few more times to get everything. He is a compelling, fascinating and amazingly brazen (for ...
For American Lit, part 2.
The Day of the Locust is one of the ugliest and most uncomfortable novels I've ever read. But it's supposed to be. It's a novel satirizing Hollywood wannabes and hangers-on as being human trash.