I opened the email and there it was: “Kirkus has just published its review of your novel.” Oh god. My first review! I instantly felt nauseous.

I’ve long tried to mentally brace myself against the people who don’t like performance art, who aren’t interested in caper novels, or the ones who simply revel in burning novels to the ground…but I really, really was praying that my first review wouldn’t be a pan. I wanted a kind omen—just one—for the start.

I read it as fast as I could. And, to my joy, the review was generous & kind. OMG, relief.

The reviewer’s main beef was with the plotting, which Kirkus found to be indelicately paced, given my tendency to pile on more and “more craziness until the proceedings implode.”

I had to disagree—not because I think I’m innocent of crazy-piling, but because doing so was entirely appropriate for the story. Because it’s a madcap novel. Really, what caper comedy doesn’t pile on the craziness? It’s entirely appropriate. And what performance art piece worth its salt isn’t at least a little wacko? I applauded the spirit of the critique, but felt it was a bit of a straw man; given my subject matter and genre, I’d say the reviewer missed his mark by an inch on this point. I’ll take crazy. Absolutely.

That aside, the rest of the review was swoon-worthy: “raucous debut satire…whip-smart prose…a fertile, scabrous comic imagination that feels like a mashup of Rain Man and Fight Club.” Rain Man and Fight Club? YESSS!

Of course, he left out 9 to 5, Pulp Fiction, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, A Clockwork Orange, Sneakers, and The Burbs, but Kirkus, I so forgive you. Hahaha

The full review is here.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 15th, 2013 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Performance art, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.