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silodear's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it! At least the first section of the story; the part that was historically based. T Cooper lost me at the end with his over-the-top attempts at shock value and too-much irony. I would have enjoyed the book much more if it had not included T Cooper's own story at it's ending. But, then again, maybe I just missed the boat.
_cararichardson's review against another edition
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
casey_sunshine's review against another edition
3.0
This book was really unexpected. The first 3/4 of the book are fascinating and creative...but the last fourth, I wasn't as enthralled. The way T Cooper switched gears from his old family's life to his present life, it was definitely clever. But it was too angry, too hectic, too vicious, and very teen-angst-too-much-swearing-not-enough-substance for me. I would say that I liked the book, yes. I mean, three stars is still worthy. But I can't say I'm going to run around recommending this book to everyone like I do "The Kite Runner." Hahaha
hollyannsa's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the first part of the story and was less in love with the modern day portion. Overall, very interesting tale.
emeraldberkowitz's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn't decide if I was enjoying this book until the end when I started clearly not enjoying it and then the first 3/4 seemed better in comparison. I recommend Beyond The Pale if you want to read a queer narrative about multiple generations of Jewish diaspora, and some earlier parts of this book felt like a direct rip-off from Beyond the Pale.
maplekelly's review
3.0
I really liked the beginning, found the middle to be a little annoying and redundant and the end was average.
garleighc's review
4.0
This was weird as heck and I liked it! It starts with an immigration tale of a family leaving Russia for Texas to live with the wife, Esther's brother Avi, escaping the current pogroms that leave Jewish communities desecrated. Of course, we end up with the narrator himself revealing that he in fact is an actual writer (although he also thinks he's Eminem sometimes) who writes books and he's trying to write about his family and his great-grandmother's obsession with Charles Lindbergh after she herself lost one of her children--literally LOST, as in misplaced and then they never found him--and admitting that his life is less than perfect. I really liked where this went and now I want to read all T Cooper's other stuff.
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