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A review by heyrinehart
More Curious by Sean Wilsey
2.0
Review posted to Bookshelf Bombshells at http://bookshelfbombshells.com/review-more-curious-by-sean-wilsey/
In this collection of essays, Sean Wilsey travels across the United States, recounting stories from Marfa, Texas, to post 9/11 New York City, over to San Francisco, and back again to Marfa. Covering a wide range of topics, More Curious has something written with such style and humor as to entertain anyone. As the McSweeney’s Store points out, “These essays—originally published in Vanity Fair, GQ, McSweeney’s, and elsewhere—comprise nearly fifteen years of Wilsey’s most vital work on the glory and the misery, the beauty and absurdity of contemporary America.”
I have to admit, I had this collection of essays pegged all wrong. Halfway through the first essay, “The Republic of Marfa,” I felt like I was undertaking the long, arduous process of driving across country myself… without any music or books on tape to keep me company. I won’t lie, I was bored. After getting out of Marfa, however, this book opened up in a way that kept me entertained and wanting to read more.
Between the essay on skateboarding, “Using So Little,” and the essay on being an American World Cup fan, “The World I Want to Live In,” I was able to find enough gas in my tank to keep driving through to the end of More Curious. In fact, it was “Using So Little” that made me feel like I had completely misjudged More Curious. When Sean Wilsey decides to start writing about what he is most passionate about, in this case his time spent skateboarding and his love of Thrasher magazine, he gives it his all. “Using So Little” is one of the best written pieces in the whole collection; I recommend reading it even if you don’t have any interest in the rest of More Curious.
“Some of Them Can Read” is a surprising short and delightful tale about being an expectant father and rats (um, yes, rodent rats) that had me laughing so hard that I dropped the book on my face in bed. Sadly, “Some of Them Can Read” was the only essay that got much of a reaction out of me at all.
While I enjoyed Sean Wilsey’s tales of traveling across the country at 45 miles per hour in an old truck with his dog and friend Michael in “Travels with Death,” this collection of essays never felt purpose driven. As a reader, I felt like I, too, was rambling down side roads at 45, aimlessly trying to get somewhere but with no real care as to how quickly it would end. If you like clever and well-written, Sean Wilsey’s essays would be a nice grab-it-and-go read for you. This reader, however, needs to be going 70 on the interstate.
In this collection of essays, Sean Wilsey travels across the United States, recounting stories from Marfa, Texas, to post 9/11 New York City, over to San Francisco, and back again to Marfa. Covering a wide range of topics, More Curious has something written with such style and humor as to entertain anyone. As the McSweeney’s Store points out, “These essays—originally published in Vanity Fair, GQ, McSweeney’s, and elsewhere—comprise nearly fifteen years of Wilsey’s most vital work on the glory and the misery, the beauty and absurdity of contemporary America.”
I have to admit, I had this collection of essays pegged all wrong. Halfway through the first essay, “The Republic of Marfa,” I felt like I was undertaking the long, arduous process of driving across country myself… without any music or books on tape to keep me company. I won’t lie, I was bored. After getting out of Marfa, however, this book opened up in a way that kept me entertained and wanting to read more.
Between the essay on skateboarding, “Using So Little,” and the essay on being an American World Cup fan, “The World I Want to Live In,” I was able to find enough gas in my tank to keep driving through to the end of More Curious. In fact, it was “Using So Little” that made me feel like I had completely misjudged More Curious. When Sean Wilsey decides to start writing about what he is most passionate about, in this case his time spent skateboarding and his love of Thrasher magazine, he gives it his all. “Using So Little” is one of the best written pieces in the whole collection; I recommend reading it even if you don’t have any interest in the rest of More Curious.
“Some of Them Can Read” is a surprising short and delightful tale about being an expectant father and rats (um, yes, rodent rats) that had me laughing so hard that I dropped the book on my face in bed. Sadly, “Some of Them Can Read” was the only essay that got much of a reaction out of me at all.
While I enjoyed Sean Wilsey’s tales of traveling across the country at 45 miles per hour in an old truck with his dog and friend Michael in “Travels with Death,” this collection of essays never felt purpose driven. As a reader, I felt like I, too, was rambling down side roads at 45, aimlessly trying to get somewhere but with no real care as to how quickly it would end. If you like clever and well-written, Sean Wilsey’s essays would be a nice grab-it-and-go read for you. This reader, however, needs to be going 70 on the interstate.