John Belushi Is Dead
Throw on some My Chemical Romance and grab those razor blades- it's time to get dark!
I think I just accidentally read a YA novel and I'm a little pissed about it.
Granted, there were no inter-Universal Monster romances, but I should have seen the signs- the atypical mass market meets trade product dimensions, the MTV Books imprint, the cover blurb from Stephanie Kuehnert (although to be fair, I had no idea who she was until I looked it up)- so I've got no one to blame but myself.
I considered bailing, but fuck it- I'm gonna write a review anyway. The publicist was pushing for it, and I can't be held responsible if they misjudged their target audience. If Belushi actually is a YA novel in disguise, it's gonna have to grow up, and fast. And if it isn't...
John Belushi Is Dead is the story of Hilda and Benji, two angsty alterna-teens on a whirlwind summer tour of LA's hottest celebrity death spots. On one such excursion, the aforementioned duo meet an elderly recluse, name of Hank. Hank is a man with secrets, possibly of the terrible variety, and Hilda makes her first friend since bonding over a moribund cat with Benji. But before you can say Harold and Maude, the May-December friendship is threatened by a handsome young screenwriter who proceeds to ingratiate himself into their lives. This is all uncharted territory for Hilda, and as she attempts to make sense of the situation she begins to- wait for it- realize there's a whole lot more to life than just death.
I'm a sucker for a good mystery, but the phase of emotional development inhabited by these characters leaves me with precious little to relate to. Don't get me wrong, I was angsty in high school too, but then I did a little thing called "growing up." Future Me would have hated Angsty Me, and rightly so. Current Me might have shared a commonality with the character of Hank, if his voice wasn't obviously that of someone much younger. In fact, the entire story is infused with a jejune worldview that ensures the alienation of anyone over a certain age. If you're a sixteen year old girl who's mad at daddy, you can disappear into these pages and get dark. For everyone else, not even allusions to Fatty Arbuckle raping a girl to death with a Coke bottle can elevate this to the level of an adult read.
Morbid little tidbits such as the alleged Arbuckling of that poor girl are definitely the book's selling point. The laundry list of Tinsel Town casualties referenced in the accompanying press release attest to that. Even the book's title, changed from the innocuous Hollywood Ending, pushes the celebrity death angle. Death is the new sex, and somebody's publicist knows it. And while I appreciate the research that went into the writing, the integration of said information is none too subtle. The references are more whistle and sledgehammer than wink and nod. This isn't Steve Erickson's Zeroville, where film is the blood that runs through the veins of the story (I know, I know- it is completely unfair to compare anything to Erickson,) this is a slit wrist gushing trivia all over your nice white floor.
And as for the mystery, there really isn't much of one. There is information withheld from us, and eventually we get it. The reveal serves the emotional needs of the narrative, but this isn't much of a detective story. It is worth noting that Charles doesn't sacrifice character development for plot twists. Now if only I cared about the characters.
What else can I say? This was a complete mismatch, a blind date gone wrong. If the reading was a protracted evening of benign conversation and forced smiles, the review is most definitely the awkward end of the night, complete with insincere professions of "nice times had."
Alright, maybe I'm being a little more direct than that. Either way, both parties involved know there won't be second date.
Comments
Just because a publicist is pushing for a review doesn't mean there needs to be one. I don't get why this exists.
Well now I know Belushi died..
Wasn't Fight Club initially marketed as YA? Of course Josh is entitled to his opinion of this particular work, not having read it I would be ignorant to weigh in. But dissing the genre seems a tad presumptuous, as far as this site is concerned anyway. Chuck has even stated that his next book is YA focused and he's aping Judy Bloom riffs.
A lot of Chuck's work could be seen as YA now, I think. I can see Fight Club being classes as YA.
Catcher in the Rye ought to be listed as a YA book also.
It definitely is. But YA needn't be a bad thing. Just because a novel's target market is people between the age of--what is the YA age range? 15-19?--whatever, doesn't mean it's not good, or doesn't say something important.
Less Than Zero is probably YA, too.
they need to break the category down some more. So you got YA books that are good, and then all those "Tween" books that are awful.
Yeah, that's true. It's a shame the YA has such a bad reputation really. I recently read an Australian YA novel, The Byron Journals, that I really enjoyed. It wasn't completely lighthearted, by any means. It was basically about this classically trained kid musician that just finished his HSC(the last of our high school education) and took off to Byron Bay, a lovely beach escape where everyone should spend some time at some point in their lives, to 'get away from it all'. He meets a girl, gets caught up with some drug types, growing and selling marijuana and then goes on mad road trips selling the shit and musically letting go, while he lets go over everything else. It was coming-of-age, but it wasn't bad. It was well written, too.
Like I said, shame YA gets a bad rap.
The Book of Lost Things and The Book Theif are YA and they are two of my favorite books.
The Book Thief is written by an Aussie too! Fuck yeah!
I'm almost 32 and still consider myself a young adult! I can enjoy Franzen's Freedom (which I fucking loved) as much as I can The Rules of Attraction. I think this generations is going to have far different rules, considering we make and enjoy video games and cartoons well into adulthood thanks to outlets like Adult Swim and the fact that the rewards of adulthood have eluded many of us (identity defining careers, home ownership, family, success) through the trappings (rent, responsibility, age) continue to demand our subjugation.
Funny that you've brought up The Byron Journals, as Kathy Charles is an Australian author too. This book was released as Hollywood Ending in Australia and was actually shortlisted for two NSW Premier's Literary Awards, and judging by reviews has received a lot of acclaim. It's fine that the reviewer didn't like it but this review is just nasty and the prolonged diatribe about YA makes me think he just has an axe to grind. Disappointing. I'll be giving this book a go.
I read the first page(s) and it didn't do a thing for me. But that's beside the point.
And she's purdy.
She is. Reminds me of Scarlet Johanssen, or however you spell it.
At least that gives it some credence as to way it was even reviewed here at all.
This is a harsh review. I'm in agreeance with the masses here.
On a side note, -wait for it (haha)- now I know not to read this book.
Thanks.
Furthermore, and this may sound stupid, but what the fuck is YA genre?
Young Adult.
You're not going to read it because it's YA, or because it got a bad review here?
I'm probably not going to read it because it doesn't sound like anything I'd be interested in reading. what ever genre or reviews it got has little to do with it.
Sure, if Scarlett Johansson looked completely different.
I won't read it because
Also, I am immediately put on guard when someone joins a website specifically to refute a review.
I'm going to read it because:
- The author is hot
- I like the Belushi reference
- She's a fellow Aussie, and we've gotta support each other
- And, the author is hot
If i was in a bookstore and saw it, i'd pick it up because of that. But then after reading the back cover and whatnot, i'd be like "Oh." and just put it back down.
Until you saw the author's photo on the back, then you've be like, "hmm, guess I could read a page or two..."
Geez, you kids get mesmerized by anything.
I dunno, maybe it means I'm getting old.
Yeah, well, I mean, she's not that hot, but she's pretty. Pretty enough for me to read her book based purely on her looks.
Obviously I'm just joking now. But yeah, I'll probably read it at some point.
But why?
because she's Australian.
Makes sense to me. I'd read a book if it was written by someone from where I am too, just for shits and giggles.
I guess it's different for us. There isn't a huge literary scene here. There's millions of American writers. I guess it'd be like if someone from your hometown wrote a book. It's like patriotic to read it. But on a different level.
matthew.odonnell,
I'm def interested in hearing what you or anyone else who reads it has to say. Come back and let us know.
Not trying to take this further off-topic, but I've read all of Albert French's books because - well, he's from Pittsburgh - but I met him in a bar the like the first night I got here and we shot the... the breeze... for over an hour before he mentioned that he's written a book. He's actually had like five published.
That worked out well because he's a darn good writer.
But, yeah, I get the interest in local authors thing.
Josh,
Matt's forthcoming review aside, I don't think anyone is knocking your distaste for this book or presuming that it is any better than you have stated, just the notion that YA stuff is inherently shameful or less worthy in some way to "serious fiction." Your tone reminds me of my own after seeing Lady in the Water. (I wasted both time and money and want them both back.) When you get right down to it much of our classic favorites are more YA marketed (A Catcher in the Rye, 1984, A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, Brave New World...). With the exception of ...Catcher I think what separates those from ...Belushi on the surface is that the lead characters are not hip youngsters spouting youthful lingo perpetuated through contemporary corporate marketing trends. If an author wants to use that fodder, which I have been in my current work, an intelligent, socially conscious author would be attacking it and exposing prepackaged identities and making a statement on the values or lack thereof in contemporary youth culture. That's just my opinion. The bigger picture context of fiction is important to me. I think the success of any YA effort ultimately lies on what the writer endow those characters with and the experiences used to send a message, and the content of that message. A lot of YA is certainly drivel, even I thought American Skin sucked when I read it at the intended age.
Matt,
I am actually LESS likely to read a local author. I live in Minneapolis, and fucking hate everyone. My girlfriend is from Luxembourg and we only leave the house to go get sushi or see Nick Cave.
Ah fuck it I will read it.
Mad Daego: I'm the same. There are only two Irish writers I read and one of them has never wrote a line about Ireland. I live here, that's enough. I want to read about Egypt and Tokyo etc.
Daego,
What I'm referring to as YA are not books actually on the reading level of young adults, but books packaged and marketed to exploit a certain demographic. I don't agree that classic titles such as Catcher and 1984 were/are hawked as hip youth lit. They are shown more respect than that. You call YA a genre, but it wasn't always. YA as genre is a more modern idea, a byproduct of the greed of the industry. Perhaps I should have been more clear.
My feelings on/definitions of YA aside, my opinion of this book stands. It may be "harsh" as some have stated, but it was an honest reaction to the material and not written out of spite.
all reviews are opinion-based pieces, and whether that opinion cones off harsh or not isn't really of relevance. You read the book and you wrote a good and honest review based on your reaction to the reading. Ain't nothing wrong with that, Josh.
As for the local author thing, I don't know, I guess I'm weird. It's probably a weird Australian patriotism thing. I'm really fucking proud to have been born and raised here, and I'm especially proud of my hometown, Newcastle. It's a beautiful place. Also, I think I like to see locals succeeding because it allows me to see that I can get there someday, that it's not impossible for me to be successful.
I've read a good couple of local books this year.
On the topic, Josh, you should review the latest efition of Best Australian Stories.
This is how I get a lot of my readers. I'm hot, too.
Damn straight, Big Dick (you've graduated).
If you go to one of his readings, he'll buy you booze too! Didn't even ask how old I was.
More writers try to pick me up with free booze.
Josh,
This is a sentiment of anger I can relate to. On my fb there is currently an argument about a "bicycle and coffee bar" here in MPLS, land of 10,000 hipster idiots. What constitutes a bicycle and coffee bar? In fact it is just another cafe. Not a bar. And with a motif and stated intent to cater to bicycle fetishists, so what? Arbitrary point. You can walk, drive, fly, it is still just a cafe. But because depoliticized nerds in this city have adopted the bicycle as their symbol of... vaguely leftist scarf wearing depoliticized nerdery, this obvious pandering to trend, fad, and abject douchery exists. I could as easily open a "people who got a ton of tattooing done before it was socially acceptable and still want to get rowdy and don't like hip hop unless it's about hating cops and would hit you for calling Good Charlotte punk rock and demand some content in their lyrics and respect literature and know it's all about the ever lasting struggle bro so they don't like all these plugged in high self esteem even though they haven't earned shit kids clogging up the street with their goddamn bikes cause we all just want to get home from work coffee bar" but it would still just be a cafe.
Haha, you have hipsters in MN?
I work in Manhattan, so don't get me started about hipsters and the entitled attitude of cyclists.
I live in Pittsburgh, PA. We got our first hipster last month.
They still haven't found the body.
Seriously, we had the G-20 last year and had to import the riot from out of state.
Both. With the addition of now knowing the story line in it's entirety.
I'm very anti-young adult. I can't stand it. That along with the entire vampire genre.
Close that mind up a little more, why don't you.
A great novel and a must read for teenagers. I am thinking of gifting this to my friend’s daughter who just turned 15. The way the author has explained such complicated emotions like love and death is commendable.
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