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mattleesharp's review against another edition
3.0
holy shit dude. i liked this book, but the hype in some of these comments is unreal. haha. desert places is beautifully illustrated, but some of those illustrations are a little on the nose. it's definitely a book that rewrites the book of genesis, or at least rewrites the creation myth. and a book that has an interest in history. and in life. and in death. and it poses some interesting questions. and some of it is written in a very visceral grab-you-by-the-collar way. but it's a palm sized books. it's listed just short of 90 pages, but the illustrations and layout make it more like 60. was there really a need for eye rollingly "freshman dorm thoughts" alpha interviews omega interlude? was there really no other way to communicate your definitions of words like flesh, thirst, power, and love than in a bizarrely indexy dropped-in prologue. there was really interesting stuff in this little book. and i'm quickly becoming a huge fan of kloss (and feel i'd probably be a fan of sparks too if i had read more by her), but there were definite points in this book where it felt like one author or the other had this really cool way of wording a thing that they just had to include, story-be-damned. it's a good fun fast read.
anneessdee's review against another edition
dark
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.25
mdbow22's review against another edition
5.0
I loved Amber Sparks' short story collection, so I was excited to see this book. To prep myself, I read Robert Kloss' Alligators of Abraham, which I thoroughly enjoyed as well.
This book is everything you would expect from a collaboration between these two poetic and strange writers. Is there a plot? You could make the case for one, but it's not important. Don't read this expecting a mainstream plot-driven story. Don't read this if you're expecting a literary character-driven book either. It is character driven, but the character is evil, and he's a nasty man, yet one we all know too well. Kloss uses his ability to warp history into an uncomfortable, surreal world, and Sparks adds in her touch of fantastical imagery to create one of the best books I've read in the past year (and probably the best I've ever read).
This book is everything you would expect from a collaboration between these two poetic and strange writers. Is there a plot? You could make the case for one, but it's not important. Don't read this expecting a mainstream plot-driven story. Don't read this if you're expecting a literary character-driven book either. It is character driven, but the character is evil, and he's a nasty man, yet one we all know too well. Kloss uses his ability to warp history into an uncomfortable, surreal world, and Sparks adds in her touch of fantastical imagery to create one of the best books I've read in the past year (and probably the best I've ever read).
mattleesharp's review
3.0
holy shit dude. i liked this book, but the hype in some of these comments is unreal. haha. desert places is beautifully illustrated, but some of those illustrations are a little on the nose. it's definitely a book that rewrites the book of genesis, or at least rewrites the creation myth. and a book that has an interest in history. and in life. and in death. and it poses some interesting questions. and some of it is written in a very visceral grab-you-by-the-collar way. but it's a palm sized books. it's listed just short of 90 pages, but the illustrations and layout make it more like 60. was there really a need for eye rollingly "freshman dorm thoughts" alpha interviews omega interlude? was there really no other way to communicate your definitions of words like flesh, thirst, power, and love than in a bizarrely indexy dropped-in prologue. there was really interesting stuff in this little book. and i'm quickly becoming a huge fan of kloss (and feel i'd probably be a fan of sparks too if i had read more by her), but there were definite points in this book where it felt like one author or the other had this really cool way of wording a thing that they just had to include, story-be-damned. it's a good fun fast read.
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