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geva1108's review against another edition
4.5
So much about the limitations of language and as the reader I was grasping. I loved the position this put me in. Especially the love letter / love lost sections— Sappho-esque. This is a brave work about incompleteness and it’s making me think a lot about the product of the book object
bibliocyclist's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
What is the body that is also a void?
A collection of footnotes to an erased, lost, invisible or non-existent text
The main text is the reader’s to extrapolate.
Everything that is said is said underneath.
A good poem writes itself as if it doesn’t care.
The circus is a safe way to know falling.
The essence behind the curtain, the stage, is composed of the yearning to determine what may be seen and what will remain unseen.
maybekatiebird's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
kjboldon's review against another edition
4.0
Such a bizarre, challenging essay, composed only of footnotes to a missing text. I'm not sure I "got" it, but I definitely admire it and was in its thrall.
cheezh8er's review against another edition
I've read this book three times now, but I still don't think I get it. Can't really rate it since the form and general idea of this book is something that truly intrigues and delights me. But I feel like I'm missing context wading through the footnotes. Which is part of the point. However I don't see enough of a coherent theme to even guess how these things fit together. The impression I'm left with is that I'm not a well read enough or deep enough in the sphere of academia
sylvia_flora's review against another edition
5.0
Boully's book is a fantastic formal narrative of footnotes with esoteric post-modern references and other MFA-worthy things.
Her writing exceeds what you might see online, so don't take Boully's speaker as being interested in click-bait. The reader gets no evidence of the main character of this book except through the speaker in the footnotes.
The reader gets, essentially, the body, the outlines, of some person, but every section leaves much interpretation up to the reader, and her or his familiarity with the topics being discussed. It's wordy at times.
That being said, it's good for short reading sessions...and the physical book is fertile ground for literally drawing connections between narrative notes.
Writers should read this if they haven't already.
Her writing exceeds what you might see online, so don't take Boully's speaker as being interested in click-bait. The reader gets no evidence of the main character of this book except through the speaker in the footnotes.
The reader gets, essentially, the body, the outlines, of some person, but every section leaves much interpretation up to the reader, and her or his familiarity with the topics being discussed. It's wordy at times.
That being said, it's good for short reading sessions...and the physical book is fertile ground for literally drawing connections between narrative notes.
Writers should read this if they haven't already.
eberico's review
4.0
Carl told me I'd love this, that it was the perfect time for me to read it. And I did, and it was, though I don't know that I fully understood or absorbed all of it.