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rclenahan37's review
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
soulpopped's review against another edition
4.0
It's a testament to Chuck Klosterman that he can write a 250 page novel where, essentially, nothing happens for the first 220 pages and yet I'm still hooked.
I think it works because it's so wholly something that I've never seen before. Who would think to write a book where no noticeable events happen for 90 percent of it? That isn't to say that characters don't undergo tremendous personal growth, but much of the novel is spent focusing on characters sitting or driving or drinking.
It's exactly what I was hoping for in a Klosterman novel. It so closely resembles his non-fiction work because of the level of realism he creates. Everything seems plausible and everything seems reasonable.
I think it works because it's so wholly something that I've never seen before. Who would think to write a book where no noticeable events happen for 90 percent of it? That isn't to say that characters don't undergo tremendous personal growth, but much of the novel is spent focusing on characters sitting or driving or drinking.
It's exactly what I was hoping for in a Klosterman novel. It so closely resembles his non-fiction work because of the level of realism he creates. Everything seems plausible and everything seems reasonable.
antivancrowe's review against another edition
2.0
Sometimes an overarching plot is useful. Sometimes treating female character like they are people is useful.
I really wanted to like this. I'm from Minot, North Dakota and I felt like the book was true with how it was to grow up in a state like North Dakota.
I hated all the gay attacks. As a queer youth it was rather exhausting. I get it. The book is in the late 1980s and in North Dakota, but it was exhausting.
One thing that I liked about Downtown Owl was that the humor was pretty good. It made me genuinely laugh.
One of my biggest pet peeves was that their were 3 Main characters whose story was told from their point of view: Julia, Horace, and Mitch.
I felt Horace and Mitch were real I could feel their characters.
Julia was another story she was very one dimensional. All she cared about was her Love interest, Vance Druid. It was exhausting.
Also these three characters never met and I expected them to collide at the end. Which did not happen at all.
I was disappointed with this book.
I really wanted to like this. I'm from Minot, North Dakota and I felt like the book was true with how it was to grow up in a state like North Dakota.
I hated all the gay attacks. As a queer youth it was rather exhausting. I get it. The book is in the late 1980s and in North Dakota, but it was exhausting.
One thing that I liked about Downtown Owl was that the humor was pretty good. It made me genuinely laugh.
One of my biggest pet peeves was that their were 3 Main characters whose story was told from their point of view: Julia, Horace, and Mitch.
I felt Horace and Mitch were real I could feel their characters.
Julia was another story she was very one dimensional. All she cared about was her Love interest, Vance Druid. It was exhausting.
Also these three characters never met and I expected them to collide at the end. Which did not happen at all.
I was disappointed with this book.
clskvarce's review against another edition
3.0
Klosterman is HILARIOUS and makes me giggle often. However, this book took a WRONG turn into HORRIBLEENDINGVILLE and, hence, it loses two stars.
stenaros's review against another edition
4.0
I'm just going to say right now: prepare yourself for the ending. You will be breezing along enjoying the story and the writing and Klosterman's incredibly unique way of seeing things and then BAM! The ending just hits you over the head and there is no real resolution and you will walk around in a kind of book daze for the next week feeling angry. But it is an anger tempered with some other emotions such as embarrassment--Why didn't I see that coming?--and rationalization--Well, it is his book and he can end it anyway he wants, and indeed there were so many other memorable parts.
Ultimately, this is an awesome book, with several laugh-out-loud-read-them-to-any-one-who-is-willing parts. People who have spent any amount of time in a small town would enjoy the explanation of the change in the Town of Owl's mascot, which I meant to read out loud to my mother, but the book went back before that could happen. His competing analysis of George Orwell's 1984 from an adult/teenager perspective has clearly been fermenting inside of him for years, possibly since high school. The hidden rules of the single woman in a small town are hilarious, as are the twin internal monologues during a conversation between a man and a woman in a bar.
"Glee" is one word to describe how I feel when I read Chuck Klosterman. In this, his first work of fiction, I felt a sustained glee for 250 of its pages. Those last six pages? Be prepared. They are coming.
Ultimately, this is an awesome book, with several laugh-out-loud-read-them-to-any-one-who-is-willing parts. People who have spent any amount of time in a small town would enjoy the explanation of the change in the Town of Owl's mascot, which I meant to read out loud to my mother, but the book went back before that could happen. His competing analysis of George Orwell's 1984 from an adult/teenager perspective has clearly been fermenting inside of him for years, possibly since high school. The hidden rules of the single woman in a small town are hilarious, as are the twin internal monologues during a conversation between a man and a woman in a bar.
"Glee" is one word to describe how I feel when I read Chuck Klosterman. In this, his first work of fiction, I felt a sustained glee for 250 of its pages. Those last six pages? Be prepared. They are coming.
briz_reads's review against another edition
3.0
This book was okay. It's an interesting social commentary of a small town. Overall this book felt like it tried too hard to not try hard.
clskvarce's review
3.0
Klosterman is HILARIOUS and makes me giggle often. However, this book took a WRONG turn into HORRIBLEENDINGVILLE and, hence, it loses two stars.
swhuber's review against another edition
2.0
I always enjoyed Chuck Klosterman's half editorial, half memoir style. I enjoyed this book at first as much as the others. It showed the lives of three people in the small town of Owl "Everywhere" North Dakota. I feel like I never really understood his books because I had never lived in a small town. But I still had high hopes for this book. I enjoyed it until the last 40 pages, where it felt like he just wrote some random bs to wrap it all up.
I'll give Klosterman's fiction another shot, but I really like his essays a lot more.
I'll give Klosterman's fiction another shot, but I really like his essays a lot more.
mutedspace's review against another edition
5.0
Hooked from the start with Klosterman’s niche small-town talk, this speedy read both broke my heart and made me fall in love with some of the most unlovable/ broken characters. Klosterman’s knowledge on small town living and causal writing style swept me away once again.
calabrag's review against another edition
3.0
Dave picked this up from the library and we listened to it in the car during our Thanksgiving travels.