People really tried to ruin this book for me. "But it's not true!" they cried when I told them I'd been tearing up. "I couldn't stand the way it was written!" they cringed. I admit it takes some getting used to. Random capitalization, no quotation marks, no paragraph indentations, missing commas, run-ons galore. Voice, people, voice. I know this book is a fabrication. I remember the hoopla. I grazed the Smoking Gun article and decided it didn't matter. I read the book as if it were simply a good story, which it is. I don't care if every detail is true, or even if major plot points actually happened. This book was amazing to read. Once I got past reading every capitalized word with extra emphasis, I tore through it quite quickly, and it's officially on the list of books I love.
"I look up. There are tears running down Lilly's cheek and she is smiling at me. It is a deep smile, not the type of momentary happiness, but the rare kind that comes when something inside without words is woken from slumber and brought forth to live."
More often than not, Frey is saying something profound. You're there, you feel what he feels, you become him. You're dirty and vomiting, you're gorging yourself on cafeteria food, you're dreaming of drugs, you're angry with the system, you don't look yourself in the eye, you're constantly testing yourself. Then you fall in love and you remember that there are reasons to live. You might have done some awful things in your past, but they have made you. They don't have to control you. You can learn to trust yourself.
The near tears came again on the subway. Just as I was on a train pulling into Union Square, I read: "Hey, Kid. You forgot something." I see Lincoln's name in the next paragraph and I have to close the book and my eyes and let it sink in. They've come to help James rescue Lilly. It's fucking beautiful.
Frey wins the award for most cursing in a piece of literature, but it's understandable. When you're trying to hang on and all you've got is cigarettes and coffee, potty mouth is to be expected. There was also a lot of crude description of blood and guts, but I feel like I can handle anything after making it through "The Gargoyle." (Incidentally, I recently hand-sold that to a blind Rastafarian. Go figure.)
I got this book at The Strand for $1, just like "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time." I've been back twice recently, and here is what I've bought:
Virginia Woolf - "A Room of One's Own"
Siri Hustvedt - "What I Loved"
George Orwell - "Nineteen Eighty-Four"
Rick Bragg - "All Over But the Shoutin'" (I am from Alabama, I should read this.)
Manil Suri - "The Death of Vishnu"
Homer - "The Odyssey" (I already own it but this copy is much more portable.)
Douglas Adams - "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
Lewis Carroll - "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (Again, already own a non-portable version.)
L. Frank Baum - "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"
David Sedaris - "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim"
Paul Auster - "The New York Trilogy"
I will basically buy any classic I haven't read and any newer stuff that I've seen on our tables at B&N. I did skip over a couple that we have on display that just didn't sound very appealing: "Spartina" and "Being Written." Maybe one day I'll run across "My Friend Leonard," Frey's sequel to "A Million Little Pieces." I've pretty much decided any book I want will end up at The Strand or a Goodwill eventually, so it's hard for me to justify buying anything new. I might indulge, though, during employee appreciation week at work. I've got a running list of things I have noticed at the store:
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"Play it as it Lays"
"Unbearable Lightness of Being"
"Um"
"I Hate New Music"
"No One Belongs Here More Than You"
"In the Land of No Right Angles"
"Daphne"
"The Gum Thief"
I'd also like to get "When Wanderers Cease to Roam," which is a really cute gifty biography, and the little New York Christmas book. Apparently I love to make lists, so I should probably also get the book of lists as Christmas Gift to Myself.
I've decided I should alternate reading classics and contemporary works, so I'm going to tackle the Virginia Woolf next, followed probably by "Redeeming Love," given to me by my sister, and then "Catch 22," and then "Then We Came to the End." It's the plan for now anyway, and upcoming books will probably also include "Madame Bovary," "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," Paul Auster and David Sedaris.
P.S. I promise to take more notes and stop glazing over the details.
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