Making it Up As I Go

I’m in the midst of proofreading Cover Songs and trying to determine if it really does suck- the verdict is still out- and I’m trying to get it done quickly so I can get to the highly anticipated sneaky early copy I have of Jamie Rich’s new novel that’s just sitting on my shelf mocking me with it’s lots of pages and prose that doesn’t suck, but in the meantime I couldn’t resist picking up Daniel Handler’s second book, Watch Your Mouth.
Now those of you who have been reading along know that I adore Mr. Handler for the Lemony Snickety goodness that he’s brought to the earth, and for his first novel The Basic Eight. Adore I say. Watch Your Mouth however kind of left me scratching my head. It’s full of the satire and references that make his other books great, but I’m not really sure what the overall point of it was. Parts of it are extremely graphic for seemingly no reason, and while the opera connections and spoof of twelve step programs were kind of interesting, I got to the end not understanding the reason for them. I had the same reaction watching The Road to Wellville earlier this week. It was an entertaining story, and it seemed to be trying to make a point, but what that point was was pretty murky.
Anyway, I still adore Mr. Handler, I just wish I knew what he was trying to do with this one.

Current Total: 111
Just Finished: Watch Your Mouth by Daniel Handler
Currently Reading: The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte