Scan barcode
A review by maedo
Big Bad Love by Larry Brown
2.0
I chose this book to read for my 1000th "read" book
on Goodreads because it is one of the books that's sat on my shelves the longest unread. It survived nearly a decade of culling neglected books in my library to make room for fresher options, because I was so sure that when I finally got around to it I'd love it.
But maybe 2018 wasn't the right time for Big Bad Love. I'm not predisposed to empathy for pathetic drunk dudes hunting for (usually extramarital) tail in these times of Trump. I can be convinced into empathy for most characters by especially good writing, but Larry Brown's "Bukowski of the South" style struck me as more mordant than empathetic.
The first part of this book, a selection of short stories, is its best part. The title story was probably my favorite, and the only one where the macho humor made at the expense of the main character's wife made me laugh (the MC is sexually frustrated in his marriage because his wife's vagina is too loose; as with Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, Brown seems in on the humor, aware that his MC is rather pathetic, and writes some really funny sentences illustrating how awful their sex life is as a result).
The second part of this book is a meta interlude about two writers being punished for copping others' style/"literary theft." It is jarring to read based on the stories that have come before it, and not very well executed. I contemplated DNFing this book after it.
The third part of the book is a novella that, despite following a story about literary theft, reeked so much of Bukowski in terms of style and ambling, aimless quality. I did feel an occasional pang of feeling, but again was mostly frustrated by the machismo.
I want it understood, though, that I love some of Bukowski's writing (I have lines from "The Laughing Heart" tattooed on me). I love other artists that are like Larry Brown in terms of writing and/or singing mostly about women and drink. Tom Waits, Howlin' Wolf? Love love love. But they also have a burning heart that I could not find in most of this collection.
Now I'm off to listen to "Anywhere I Lay My Head," because the feeling I get listening to that song is the feeling I hoped to get from Big Bad Love and did not!
on Goodreads because it is one of the books that's sat on my shelves the longest unread. It survived nearly a decade of culling neglected books in my library to make room for fresher options, because I was so sure that when I finally got around to it I'd love it.
But maybe 2018 wasn't the right time for Big Bad Love. I'm not predisposed to empathy for pathetic drunk dudes hunting for (usually extramarital) tail in these times of Trump. I can be convinced into empathy for most characters by especially good writing, but Larry Brown's "Bukowski of the South" style struck me as more mordant than empathetic.
The first part of this book, a selection of short stories, is its best part. The title story was probably my favorite, and the only one where the macho humor made at the expense of the main character's wife made me laugh (the MC is sexually frustrated in his marriage because his wife's vagina is too loose; as with Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, Brown seems in on the humor, aware that his MC is rather pathetic, and writes some really funny sentences illustrating how awful their sex life is as a result).
The second part of this book is a meta interlude about two writers being punished for copping others' style/"literary theft." It is jarring to read based on the stories that have come before it, and not very well executed. I contemplated DNFing this book after it.
The third part of the book is a novella that, despite following a story about literary theft, reeked so much of Bukowski in terms of style and ambling, aimless quality. I did feel an occasional pang of feeling, but again was mostly frustrated by the machismo.
I want it understood, though, that I love some of Bukowski's writing (I have lines from "The Laughing Heart" tattooed on me). I love other artists that are like Larry Brown in terms of writing and/or singing mostly about women and drink. Tom Waits, Howlin' Wolf? Love love love. But they also have a burning heart that I could not find in most of this collection.
Now I'm off to listen to "Anywhere I Lay My Head," because the feeling I get listening to that song is the feeling I hoped to get from Big Bad Love and did not!