The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: Elevation by Stephen King

Book #245 of 2018:

Elevation by Stephen King

A lackluster novella from a writer who should know (and can obviously do) much better. Part of the problem is the warmed-over premise of a man gradually losing his body weight, which can’t help but recall the author’s earlier novel Thinner — which if not quite a classic still conveys a creeping horror at its central predicament rather than the bemused acceptance on display here. But mostly this latest Stephen King offering is just tone-deaf through and through, with a clumsy attempt to show a conservative town coming to recognize the humanity of a lesbian couple and an awkward extended metaphor about terminal health conditions. It’s a mess that King’s talents and the book’s short length save from being a complete disaster, but only barely.

★★☆☆☆

[I listened to this as an audiobook that also included the author’s short story “Laurie” about a Florida widower and his new puppy. Three out of five stars for that one, which isn’t spectacular but at least avoids all the problems of Elevation.]

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Book Review: How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin

Book #244 of 2018:

How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin

A few of these short stories miss the mark for me, and the ones I like best seem front-loaded in the first half of the collection, giving the book at large an uneven feel. Still, author N. K. Jemisin’s imagination is on full display throughout, and it’s easy to root for her characters, many of whom are the sort of black heroes that are still all too rare in science-fiction and fantasy. In my favorite pieces, Jemisin uses the heightened reality of speculative fiction to cast the struggles of marginalized peoples as resistance against fantastical oppressors: from monstrous insect parasites (“Walking Awake”) to A.I. overlords (“Valedictorian”) to the fey (“Red Dirt Witch”). These stories resonate as outstanding allegories, and if you can push through some of the slower patches that follow, the book as a whole is definitely worth checking out.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: 41: A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush

Book #243 of 2018:

41: A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush

My political views are very different from both the author and the subject of this presidential retrospective, but thankfully the former steers largely clear of politics to talk about the latter’s character. (The author’s brother Jeb, for example, barely features in the narrative at all, despite the fact that he was surely prepping his own presidential run upon its publication in 2014.) Of course, this apolitical framing is still a political act, and there are times when former president George W. Bush comes across as frustratingly myopic, like when he defends his father’s infamous Willie Horton ad, now widely seen as a racist attempt to stoke white fears of black crime. But overall, this is a solid portrait of the life and career of George Herbert Walker Bush through the eyes of his son, and I’m glad to have read it in the wake of the 41st president’s recent passing.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

Book #242 of 2018:

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

An informative overview of the country’s current opioid crisis, which has deeper roots — dating to the turn of the century in its present form or even further for historical analogues — and a more singular origin — stemming largely from Purdue Pharma’s blithe insistence on the harmlessness of their addictive drug OxyContin — than I had realized before. Journalist Beth Macy shares these details as well as personal stories she’s gathered through her reporting in rural Virginia, and although the resulting work falls short of comprehensive, it’s a great introduction to the scope of the problem at hand.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Book #241 of 2018:

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (Montague Siblings #1)

Overall, I adore this historical fiction novel about queer teens on their grand tour of eighteenth-century continental Europe. It’s phenomenal representation in a genre that often starves for any diversity at all, and the action of the story is almost entirely character-driven, especially in the first half. Those characters themselves are well-drawn and lovably flawed, with a protagonist who is equal parts charming and sweetly poignant in his romantic feelings towards his best friend / traveling companion.

My only real criticism is that there’s a sudden shift midway through the book to focus on a quest for a piece of alchemical mad science, and that’s a jarring departure for the otherwise grounded narrative. (The story is admittedly a madcap adventure that plays like a modern college road trip, but it’s still firmly rooted in reality until then, and it feels odd that the characters all accept the new development without question.) That change also seems downright unnecessary, as author Mackenzi Lee has pitted her heroes against so many pirates, highwaymen, affronted nobles, and stifling gender roles that the extra fantasy macguffin is a needless further complication.

By and large, however, I’ve loved spending time with these rakes, and I’m looking forward to picking up the female-led spinoff that Lee has just released. If she can keep the stakes more personal, the ladies might even surpass the gentlemen for my affection.

★★★★☆

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TV Review: Doctor Who, season 11

TV #52 of 2018:

Doctor Who, season 11

I love the new Thirteenth Doctor, along with plenty of other tweaks in this first chapter of Doctor Who under showrunner Chris Chibnall. I adore the dynamic between companions Ryan and Graham, and I like that the season is immediately approachable for brand-new and lapsed viewers, which is not something that this show always manages to achieve.

Looking at the season as a whole, though, there’s a lot of room for improvement. There’s no real seasonal plot arc even by Who standards, and the thin threads connecting the first two episodes and the finale feel like they’re from a rough draft that really needed further polishing (similar to many of the episode resolutions this season, actually). And while a crowded TARDIS can be fun and opens up different storytelling avenues, I feel like Yaz got really underserved in her characterization as compared to the other members of the main cast.

Still! It’s Doctor Who so it’s not all bad, and the episodes It Takes You Away, Demons of the Punjab, The Witchfinders, and Rosa in particular are stellar achievements. There’s a lot of potential here for even better stuff ahead, especially if Chibnall eases back on his own episode-writing duties to concentrate more on fleshing out future seasons at large.

★★★☆☆

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TV Review: Breaking Bad, season 2

TV #51 of 2018:

Breaking Bad, season 2

A bit of a transitional season, taking us from the tough-but-stupid (and honestly a bit stereotypical) drug dealer Tuco to Heisenberg and Jesse’s initial attempt to be solo kingpins, and finally to the beginning of their partnership with the enigmatic Gustavo Fring. It’s still Breaking Bad, so it’s still gripping quality television, but this show hasn’t quite hit its stride like it will soon. I also go back and forth over how well I think this season’s flash-forwards and the business with Jane’s dad works – on a narrative level, I think it’s maybe a bit too cute to tie that to Walter, especially when you throw in the characters’ chance meeting in that bar. Luckily, the show only gets better from here.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready by Meaghan O’Connell

Book #240 of 2018:

And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready by Meaghan O’Connell

A short, powerful memoir about unplanned pregnancy, birth, early parenting, and postpartum depression. I really admire author Meaghan O’Connell’s sharp, matter-of-fact tone, which basically comes across as a more human version of Amy Dunne from Gone Girl. She is honest (and highly critical) about what she sees as her own deficiencies in adapting to the change in lifestyle, and although she loves her new baby unconditionally, she presents a thoroughly unromanticized look at the toll of it all on her body and her emotions. O’Connell is a jaded millennial New Yorker through and through, and her perspective is a valuable contribution to any discussion surrounding contemporary motherhood. I suspect many readers will relate more to this book’s more grounded take on the subject than to all of the super-positive mommy bloggers out there.

★★★★☆

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TV Review: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, season 2

TV #50 of 2018:

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, season 2

Not as tight a story as the first season, but I like that it immediately pushes forward new character-driven plots, especially for Paula, and that the status quo continues to get shaken up as the season progresses. And of course, the songs are as clever and catchy as ever. I laughed a lot this season, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this revenge plot takes the narrative next.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Ararat by Christopher Golden

Book #239 of 2018:

Ararat by Christopher Golden (Ben Walker #1)

This story of demonic possession and murder unleashed by the discovery of Noah’s Ark on an isolated mountainside is a solid paranormal thriller, sort of like Michael Crichton or Dan Brown crossed with early Stephen King. I would have liked a little more depth to the characters, some of whom we barely get to know before their untimely deaths, but the quick pace of the plot helps alleviate that to some degree. Author Christopher Golden’s major accomplishment here is in his claustrophobic icy setting, which was terrifically terrifying to read amidst bitter December winds.

★★★☆☆

[Disclosure: I’m Facebook friends with this author.]

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