.jpg)
It’s 1982, New York City. Crime is on the rise, muggings are in the streets, and Batter Gray, recent college graduate with a skill that no one wants—an “ear” for poetry—is worried about his future. While all of his friends have real jobs, he’s folding T-shirts at the Gap. As for love? No. Not unless you count Sallie Mae, the student loan tyrant. He hears from Sallie all the time.
But when Batter gets a dream job at Peck & Peck, the most prestigious poetry quarterly in the world, his life moves into the literary fast lane. Soon Batter is knee-deep in the secret war between the two Editors in Chief, the famous Peck brothers—twins and enemies—as well as being privy to the private affairs of their thirty-nine editors, whose professed mission is the same: Find originality. Reward creativity. Burn the rest.
And by burn, they mean incinerate. Because at Peck & Peck, “good” isn’t good enough, “interesting” doesn’t cut it, plagiarists aren’t tolerated, and parolees run the mailroom. Still want to submit your poem? Go with God. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)
Melissa Amster:
I loved Lessons in Chemistry (reviewed here) and was excited to learn that Bonnie Garmus has a new book (releasing tomorrow). I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy! I was really hoping that Peck & Peck would live up to its predecessor.
Having said that, I have mixed feelings about the novel overall. You'd think someone who did verse reading on their high school speech team would appreciate poetry more. You'd be wrong. I know some people love poetry, but it's just not for me. (This did not pass down to my older son, as he writes poems and has shared some with me.) I did know about some of the poets mentioned, so that was helpful. So reading a book that centers on poetry isn't my usual modus operandi. However, I made an exception because of the author and what I was hoping she could do with this novel.
Some parts of this novel were really interesting and held my attention. It made me think of The Devil Wears Prada, but for poetry. Batter felt very relatable, even though he's half my age. I just totally sympathized with him, especially when it felt like he was always messing up at work somehow. He was quirky too and I enjoyed getting into his head. Batter was named for his mom's dog, and she had some great stories about him. I loved hearing the dog stories and I wish there had been even more. There were also some other interesting characters throughout the story. I liked his roommate Paul a lot. Batter's mom Rainey was great too. The cover is gorgeous and looks all gold and glittery. The story takes place in early 1980s New York City, which was fun to picture in my mind.
Other parts of this novel felt really slow and I hung in there in hopes things would pick up again. Thankfully, they did, but there was a lot of ebb and flow. Still, many parts of this story amused and surprised me. Even as entertaining as this one was, I prefer Lessons and am hoping Bonnie will write another novel that is on par with that one.
I didn't have a lot of casting ideas for this novel, but I easily picture Sam Nivola as Batter.
(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)
Allyson Bales:
I think Lessons in Chemistry will remain a favorite read of mine for many years and when I saw Garmus was coming out with another novel I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it!
Peck and Peck has the same signature style with witty and quirky characters similar to Lessons in Chemistry, but this story was much more literary meets coming of age with a sprinkle of mystery and I really, really enjoyed it.
You get to meet Batter, a young man who loves poetry but isn’t very good at writing it, and all the trials and tribulations he endures trying to make something of himself. In many ways this story showcases the difficulties of making it in the arts. I loved the entire cast of characters we get to meet as we follow along on Batter’s journey.
I don’t think this book will be for everyone. A good amount of the story is more slow moving, focusing largely on Batter. I really enjoyed that but some might struggle with the lack of quick moving plot. I also really enjoyed the flashbacks to scenes with Batter’s mother. You’re also really going to love where Batter got his name.
Overall this story is filled with so much heart and hope and stories like these are ones I always think about for some time to come.
After reading this one I am now obsessed with fonts and definitely think this is a must read of fall!
Thanks to Scribner for the book in exchange for an honest review.
TW: Bullying, loss of finances, mugging, difficult childbirth/stillbirth, death of sibling/child (from stillbirth), toxic work environment, people being framed
No comments:
Post a Comment