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not_mike's review
5.0
Bart Schaneman really pisses me off.
Let me start from the beginning. The first time I read Bart was his essay On Moving To New York and Being Who You Say You Are on Thought Catalog (Entitled: New York in the book). I was 21, living in New York City, and I was following the site just as it hitting a fine line between List articles and personal essays. If you go on the site today, it’s more of the former.
When I got around to it, I read it twice. After the second time I shook my head and turned towards the apartment windows, muttering curses under my breath. Before Bart came along, the only other known writers that I knew with a similar style were Ellis, Hemingway, or Murakami. I was pissed. His writing is that good.
A novel, a novella, and an onslaught of essays later, Bart comes out strong once again with his latest work: Someplace Else. It’s a fantastic read. Most of the essays here are reprints from other journals with some newer pieces and poetry too. Some of the Korean essays and the New York life essays I’ve read before, but after revisiting them after some five years apart, it brings me back to why I follow his writing in the first place.
Few millennial writers can write as clearly and honestly as Bart. His prose is neither pretentious nor full of the fluff that often clogs the early writings of young writers (reviewer included). This is a collection by an American talent who will continue to motivate readers and force them to look at the world through a different lense.
You should not ignore this book.
Let me start from the beginning. The first time I read Bart was his essay On Moving To New York and Being Who You Say You Are on Thought Catalog (Entitled: New York in the book). I was 21, living in New York City, and I was following the site just as it hitting a fine line between List articles and personal essays. If you go on the site today, it’s more of the former.
When I got around to it, I read it twice. After the second time I shook my head and turned towards the apartment windows, muttering curses under my breath. Before Bart came along, the only other known writers that I knew with a similar style were Ellis, Hemingway, or Murakami. I was pissed. His writing is that good.
A novel, a novella, and an onslaught of essays later, Bart comes out strong once again with his latest work: Someplace Else. It’s a fantastic read. Most of the essays here are reprints from other journals with some newer pieces and poetry too. Some of the Korean essays and the New York life essays I’ve read before, but after revisiting them after some five years apart, it brings me back to why I follow his writing in the first place.
Few millennial writers can write as clearly and honestly as Bart. His prose is neither pretentious nor full of the fluff that often clogs the early writings of young writers (reviewer included). This is a collection by an American talent who will continue to motivate readers and force them to look at the world through a different lense.
You should not ignore this book.
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