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With the exception of Pota's "Literature of Despair" speech (had the conclusion been more uplifting or compelling, it would have made for a truly awesome lecture IRL), this novel was...not great. Main character was an absolute sleazeball, and his writing so poor that it was hard to imagine how he had been popular even before his decline.
Perhaps it's my own fault for having had such high expectations for what the novel would be like. Given what I'd known about Heller's life, and having only read one of his books (Catch-22, his crowning achievement and a definitive work of genius), I expected some profoundly moving story that would tug at my heartstrings and make me reflect on my mortality and the brevity and fallibility of humanity.... But nahhhh.
For the readers out there, I might save you a bit of grief if I tell you from the jump that Eugene Pota is Joseph Heller is Eugene Pota. They are one and the same. By that I mean - if you don't jive with Pota's writing style, then good luck, because the whole narrative is written in exactly the same style as his numerous failed stories.
Let it be known though that I still like Heller. One good book is all it takes to make a man, even if Pota thinks otherwise. Just felt like this novel was lazy.
Maybe if I reread it and took things less seriously, I'd enjoy it way more?
Also - this is only a small peeve, but if I had taken a shot every time someone said "Oh, shit," I would have died of alcohol poisoning.
Perhaps it's my own fault for having had such high expectations for what the novel would be like. Given what I'd known about Heller's life, and having only read one of his books (Catch-22, his crowning achievement and a definitive work of genius), I expected some profoundly moving story that would tug at my heartstrings and make me reflect on my mortality and the brevity and fallibility of humanity.... But nahhhh.
For the readers out there, I might save you a bit of grief if I tell you from the jump that Eugene Pota is Joseph Heller is Eugene Pota. They are one and the same. By that I mean - if you don't jive with Pota's writing style, then good luck, because the whole narrative is written in exactly the same style as his numerous failed stories.
Let it be known though that I still like Heller. One good book is all it takes to make a man, even if Pota thinks otherwise. Just felt like this novel was lazy.
Maybe if I reread it and took things less seriously, I'd enjoy it way more?
Also - this is only a small peeve, but if I had taken a shot every time someone said "Oh, shit," I would have died of alcohol poisoning.
