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Title: Dogrun by Arthur Nersesian ISBN: 0-671-77542-1 Publisher: MTV Books Pub. Date: 03 October, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.32 (22 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: You'll laugh -- I promise
Comment: I'm an impatient reader, I'll be the first to admit. Very often when I'm about halfway through with reading a novel, I'll skip to the back to see how it ends, or I'll often glance at the page number on the bottom and wonder, "how many more pages of this do I have to read?" But I loved Nersesian's Dogrun. Truly enjoyed it. I was thoroughly entertained -- and laughed frequently, which rarely happens even when I'm reading a novel.
The setting of the book is New York's East Village during the 1990s. The East Village stands as a kind of archetype "hipster" enclave (famous for its long history of resident artists and writers and burnouts). But what makes Dogrun work is it's sarcastic comic protagonist, Mary Bellanova. She comes home "after a long day of temping" to find her boyfriend, Primo, zonked out again watching TV. She yells at him, makes him supper and only much later realizes he isn't zonked out -- he's dead! A hilarious beginning, which sets the tone for the rest of the book. From there, starts a Citizen Kane-like exploration of who this boyfriend (who she apparently hardly knew) really was. That's the structural device that propels the narrative forward and Nersesian provides many madcap, picaresque adventures along the way, which includes Mary looking up his mother and ex-girlfriends and lovers.
The book, in part, is about Mary the "artist" (the protagonist is a would-be author), whose time may be running out (she 29, about to turn 30 -- signaling the end of her protracted adolescence).
The book is also, in a big way, about bohemia - or in this case the East Village, which represents it. (As much as the protagonist comes to realize that Bohemia is not a place, it's a state of mind -- or should we say a dream?) As in The Losers' Club by Richard Perez (which another reviewer mentioned), we're given a tour of this unique, offbeat place - pre-9-11. "In the East Village, that soiled and unkept fountain of youth, there was no such thing as growing old gracefully," writes Nersesian. The pressure is on for Mary to do something with her life. Working for minimum wage at Kinko's no longer is a responsible option. "When you're young, you have all these chances, and with time you blow them, one after the other," Nersesian writes elsewhere. Since this a book about an artist, it also greatly involves failure and humiliation. (Failure and humiliation being the staple of any artist's life.) Learning to face certain realities and exasperating "market-place" expectations.
But along the way, there's great humor. Pratfall slapstick mixed with goofball sarcasm. I laughed on almost every page. If I have one complaint (or two), it's that the book should've ended a little earlier (page 235, for instance). Also the first half of the book is more carefully written than the last half in which Nersesian undercooks and overstuffs the narrative, dropping in too many characters and whacky mis-adventures -- every party needs to come to an end. But that's a minor complaint. Obviously, I enjoyed the book well enough to write this long review. This funny book get an A grade from me!
Rating: 5
Summary: Non-New Yorker Review
Comment: As someone who's visited New York only once and that was ten years ago (back when Times Square was Disney and Carson Daly-free), I was skeptical about reading Dogrun. Many novels that focus on a particular geographic location tend to forget that some semblance of universality is needed. And based on other reviews of Nersesian's work, it seemed his appeal was limited mainly to New Yorkers and East Village inhabitants.
After finishing this book, however, I realized I couldn't be more wrong. Nersesian has a gift for creating new yet familiar characters that take you for a weird, funny, neurotic and frantic ride. While Dogrun's plot does tend to get a bit soap opera-ish as another reviewer commented, the book's true appeal is its narrator, Mary Bellanova. Cynical yet loveable, neurotic yet hopeful, Mary is an absolute charmer. Her wry, appealing view on all things related to love and living in New York is universal enough that any late twentysomething/early thirtysomething urban dweller can identify with her predicaments.
But the true test of Dogrun's success is it's ability to leave the reader wanting more. Few books these days succeed at that task. While Nersesian's roster thus far hasn't included any sequels, one hopes that Dogrun isn't the last we've heard of Mary Bellanova and her wacky gallery of friends, deadbeat boyfriends and obnoxious employers. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: "Dogrun" is pure joy
Comment: I just finished this book for the fourth or maybe fifth time this afternoon and I already want to read it again. Nersesian is an author unequaled in the way his prose vividly blossoms into poetry that is still grounded in the nitty gritty reality of NYC's East Village.
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Title: Manhattan Loverboy by Arthur Nersesian ISBN: 1888451092 Publisher: Akashic Books Pub. Date: 24 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Chinese Takeout : A Novel by Arthur Nersesian ISBN: 0060548827 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 29 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Fake Liar Cheat by Tod Goldberg ISBN: 0743400569 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Foreigner by Meg Castaldo ISBN: 0743412648 Publisher: MTV Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Dreamworld by Jane Goldman ISBN: 0671787209 Publisher: MTV Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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