Bright Shiny Morning (P.S.)
by James Frey
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Book Summary Information
Author: James FreyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-12
ISBN: 0061573175
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of Bright Shiny Morning (P.S.)
Book Review: After awhile, I just put it down
Summary: 2 Stars
I never read "A Million Little Pieces", and I never stuck my nose into any of that scandal business a few years back. That being said, I didn't pick this novel up on any basis besides that of the concept and that reviews here on Amazon were mainly positive.
A few hours later, I put it down.
It didn't take me long to realize that I was reading something I'd already read multiple times before. The idea of all these stories being weaved together sounded interesting to begin with, but it didn't take long for the novelty to wear thin once I realized that nearly every plotline and character was a tired, poorly-formed cliche.
You've got the immigrant family looking for a better life in the States, only to find themselves in an even deeper mess. You've got the secretly homosexual movie star. You've got the star-crossed teenaged lovers trying to find themselves in the big city. You've got your homeless drunks, mysterious, beaten women, and old men remniscing over days long past. And while none of these devices are necessarily evil and to be entirely avoided in the writing process, they're so highly concentrated in this book that it's almost laughable.
There's also Frey's writing style. The sentences are choppy and incomplete, and there is a total lack of proper punctuation. At this point in the ballgame, this style isn't new. You've got authors like Cormac McCarthy, who write in the same kind of style, only they manage to pull it off beautifully for one reason or another. That's really not the case here. Frey's writing does not run smoothly here, and really has nothing going for it beyond creating atmosphere.
The combination of these two elements really did it in for me. I grew bored, and I stopped caring about the characters and their miserable lives. It began to grow impatient with its recycled characters and plot devices, and I just wasn't interested in reading something I'd already read. I did learn some interesting things concerning L.A.'s history, but that's about it.
What Frey did with "A Million Little Pieces" may be an issue for some, but not for me. I, simply, did not like this book.
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