Role Models

Directed by David Wain

Released in 2008.

Didn't like it! Didn't like it! Too predictable! Didn't enjoy the whole fantasy game aspect. Ugh! Too predictable, not funny enough. Depended too much an bawdiness and profanity. I'm the last person to object to those two things in and of themselves but you have to give me more if you want me to laugh with your movie. Saving grace: Paul Rudd of course!

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Directed by Kevin Smith

Released in 2008.

I really enjoyed the movie. Romantic comedy is quite a departure for Kevin Smith but then this romantic comedy is in some ways quite a departure from the genre itself. Two friends fall in love while they make a porno to make ends meet. It's very po-mo and extremely irreverent, not to mention a great set up for comedy. But it was a let down in other ways since the logic of the romantic comedy genre had to win over and in the end the porno subplot was quite unceremoniously thrown into a closet so that the hero and the heroine could have their perfectly cliched, foot-popping moment. Gag!

The Bluest Eye

Written by Toni Morrison

Published in 1970.

Morrison's command over the English language is exquisite. The novel was an absolute pleasure to read, a veritable masterpiece. Another book written from the eyes of children, it examined racism, both self-inflicted and otherwise, that blacks were a victim of in the America of the 70s. Careful thought and deep feeling is apparent in the construction of every phrase of that book. It put me in awe of Toni Morrison.

A Fraction of the Whole

Written by Steve Toltz

Published in 2008.

Extremely funny. Extremely long. The only reason I would reread it though is that it is about an unadjusted genius who spends his life from beginning to end without fully tapping his potential or doing anything significant at all. Oddly comforting, I have to say.

Funny Boy

Written by Shyam Selvadurai

Published in 1994.

Very touching book about a young boy coming to terms with his sexuality and with the ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka. Written from the point of view of the young protagonist, the book, without masking the cruelty of the ethnic riots in Sri Lanka, manages to undercut ethnic loyalties with the cross-ethnic relationships that evolve almost surreptitiously – against everyone's wishes, even those in the relationships – and gives some hope for the success of the ties of humanity over the ties of ethnicity, if not in the Sri Lanka of the novel, then in some other time or place.

Vernon God Little

Written by DBC Pierre

Published in 2003.

AMazingly hilarious. Had me laughing so hard that I was crying. Based in small town America where some unhinged kid shoots everyone in his highschool except his best friend Vernon. The entire town, looking for blood, tries to pin the blame on him. It satirizes everything from the media to small town life to America itself. I am having such great luck with books these days. They've all been fabulous! What are you reading???

The White Tiger

Written by Aravind Adiga

Published in 2008

This book really deserved the Man Booker. Adiga looked unflinchingly at the underbelly of India. No that's not entirely true. Adiga looked unflinchingly at modern "prosperous" India through the eyes of those at the bottom of the country. This book probably pissed off a whole lot of Indians since it trashes India's economic progress and democracy, everything Indians and the rest of the world have been enthusiastically chirruping about. The book makes India sound exactly like Pakistan: rampant inequality, almost no social mobility and a near unbridgeable divide between those from the "Darkness" (the stagnant villages) and the "Light" (the modern cities). Through all the awful Paki fiction I've read, I've wondered whether it is possible for upper class English-medium novelists to really represent the lower class of our nation. I think Adiga does a stand up job at it. Satire and ruthlessly dark humour make the book only sharper and more damning. You must read it Ali.