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Title: Cool For You by Eileen Myles ISBN: 188712859X Publisher: Soft Skull Press, Inc. Pub. Date: 01 November, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Rating: 4
Summary: Eileen Myles Is Cool
Comment: Cool For You is a fabulous portrayl of the memories of Eileen Myles. Myles tells us the story of her life in the form of a series of snapshots, jumping forward and backward in time, just as our minds retrieve and process memory. I found this style of memoir to be fresh and effective, and Myles' voice to be honest, orginal, hilarious, and beautiful. The portrayl of Myles' childhood was heartbreaking, funny, and insightful all at once. Myles has an amazing ability to capture the voice of a child written from an adult's perspective. Her descriptions are vivid and wonderful without being flowery. Even though she uses language that seems more plain and to the point, Myles lets the reader into her world to experience just what it was like for her at particular moments in time. Though the book does jump around quite a bit, the story does come together in the end, and this technique actually encourages the reader to continue. I found myself wanting to know more about her at the end of every section, and I was not dissapointed when the book was finally finished.
Rating: 5
Summary: Validation of Existence
Comment: With one, quick phrase about the Charles River being "theirs", Eileen Myles manages to capture and sum up in perfect poetry, the entire class chasm that is Boston. It's the fine brush strokes of words and phrases such as just that one, which make "Cool For You" so forceful, so honest and so unlike any other memoir on the market.
I came to the book as a recent-transplant to the worlds of Boston and Cambridge, craving some kind of knowledge of this place that would match what I was seeing on the streets. And Myles' words had them. The truth. About Boston/Cambridge, about life, and about how hard it is to find good, solid truth in a family that speaks in circles around honesty.
This isn't a standard pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kind of memoir. There are no great and true conclusions, and no epiphanies to judge your own meager life by. What it is. Simply. Is a validation. That life is neither sweet and true. Nor all harsh and cold. It's about moment to moment.
And most of the time, no one's going to offer you an M&M from their pocket for kicking a bad habit or two.
Rating: 2
Summary: A confusing ramble
Comment: Eileen Myles' "autobiographical" novel, Cool for You is unusual. It's brave. It's outspoken, and it is VERY pretentious. The style can be confusing as it merges dialogues with narrative, leaves out punctuations and in fact, seems to leave out whole pieces of plot line. There are definitely two distinct sections in this book. The first takes place in the mental institutions referred to on the book jacket, and the second takes place in the life of Eileen Myles as she grows from child to woman. It reminded me of a "formula" I once heard someone recommend to another who didn't know how to write poetry... just write down what you want to say, and then take out ever 5th word or so... well, I don't think Eileen Myles went to quite that extent, but it does seem that what she wants to say has been restated in 5 different ways with 5 different visions of the same character. Unfortunately, none of these 5 approaches are ever resolved and they don't merge at the end with a bow to tie up all the loose ends. This book is very clearly focussed on issues she is trying to settle in her own life. What or who IS her mother? A strong, square shouldered beauty? June Cleaver with a smile and a kind word? A mealy mouthed pushover who allows her daughter free reign of the house and keeps her mouth shut when the house rules are broken? I read this one for a bookgroup discussion and one of our members actually KNOWS the family referred to in this book. That made for a very lively discussion indeed, and that is one thing I can say in favor of this book. It is like abstract art... if you keep an open mind and look really hard, but maybe not with a lot of focus, you will see things here that you didn't see at first. There is a lot of room for interpretation, or you can just take it as it comes... paint spattered on a cement wall by someone who didn't care a whole lot. I have read Eileen Myles' poetry and LOVE it, so I was disappointed with this novel. If you're looking for a fun read, you might want to look elsewhere.
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Title: Chelsea Girls by Eileen Myles ISBN: 0876859325 Publisher: Black Sparrow Press Pub. Date: June, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Valencia by Michelle Tea ISBN: 1580050352 Publisher: Seal Press Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Verificationist (Vintage Contemporaries) by Donald Antrim ISBN: 0679769439 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 27 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Haussmann, or the Distinction: A Novel by Paul LaFarge ISBN: 0312420927 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 02 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America (Native Agents) by Michelle Tea ISBN: 1570270740 Publisher: Autonomedia Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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