Off The Shelf

My Take (changing the title of this section here because, turns out, I rarely “review” the book):

Generally (as I have said before), I read these books, and at some point the book reveals a connection or an organizing principle to me (you know — how the marble revealed the sculpture to Michelangelo). This fun house of a novel, however, kept my brain on its toes and refused to settle into any one thing.

Here is the abbreviated timeline of my grasping for some lifeline to stay afloat and make sense of this wild ride:

• Junie B. Jones — For what reads at first as idiotic sounding language and characters. I wouldn’t let the kids read those books, so what am I doing here? Honestly, I struggled with the voice of Everything is Illuminated until I listened to the audiobook narrator’s interpretation. Made me appreciate it on a human level instead of just thinking it a bad caricature. Do I need to go back and re-read Little Miss Jones to check for secret layers of hidden genius? Apparently.
• Monk of Mokha/The Sentence — Here we go with another author-as-character — and so soon! This one, though, digs a whole new deep end for the genre. How is it possible to write yourself in with such humor, grace, and clarity while never coming across as artificial, smug, or grasping? I certainly don’t know.
• A Real Pain — For the “heritage tourism.” Obviously Jesse Eisenberg would play JSF in the movie. Wait, there already is a movie and he was played by Elijah Wood? Good call, casting director Avy Kaufman! Guess I know what I’m watching next.
• All Fours — For the complete insanity and brilliance. I dare you to read these two books side by side and not question your understanding of how books are supposed to work. Ha, just noticed that I also compared part of The Sentence to All Fours. So glad I didn’t have to write a post for that book — I can barely talk about it coherently. Please don’t ask me if I recommend it. That is an unanswerable question!
• Everybody’s Fine, or Stanno tutti bene — Warning! Everybody is NOT Fine and Everything is NOT Illuminated. You should have to sign a waiver before volunteering for this kind of emotional whiplash.

Of course, all this bullet-pointing is just me avoiding the quicksand of the book. You see through me though, right?
Smoke and mirrors.
Sound and fury.
Bullet points and parentheses.

Given the choice of a graphic organizer or in-depth, thoughtful, earnest discussion of multiple threads of generational trauma, historical atrocities, continuing horrors, and existential shit-shows, I think you know where I’ll end up. As Alexander/Alex/Sasha/Alexi/Shapka writes to JSF, “humorous is the only truthful way to tell a sad story.”

This book is a masterclass in crafting a place, observing and imagining people, and bringing readers along on your personal adventure. It’s also a high school student’s nightmare. So many essay questions: What is love? What is truth? What’s with all the cleaving in two? Why couldn’t they have cracked a window just a little when the dog stunk up the car?

All that said, it’s been a little bit of a month and I would maybe have preferred to be reading a lighthearted romp or a bodice ripper (When A Scot Ties The Knot, E?). But the shelf dictates.

(Finished reading June 29, 2026)

Payoff (pages I read per stars I gave): 276/4 = 69