Bear v. Shark
by Chris Bachelder
Book Read on 5 / 8 / 2003
Normally, if a book begins with a quote by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. it gives me pause.
I have found that the poncy people who quote Vonnegut Jr. find themselves far too amusing and intelligent for their own good. They tend to act like they hold a personal key to cool that nobody else had.
Unfortunately this book was much the same. Instead of telling a good story, Mr. Bachelder tries to dazzle with his brilliance. His jealousy of other writers, specifically Pynchon and David Foster Wallace, instead of tempering his comedy, makes him look desperate and bored. I admit it, yes, he is clever. The idea for the story is also good. But the lack of an actual fight between a bear and a shark (and the fact that it was a computer simulation to begin with) doesn't make him seem clever. I don't feel like a member of the unwashed masses because I wanted to see the fight. (If that was the feeling of guilt he was going for.)
Instead, unlike the protagonist and their tickets to the dome, this book costs money, and he dodges a potential prose bullet with what I think is cowardice and flim-flam.
I do admit though, he can turn a phrase, thus, 2 stars.
And there is one good quote about Rhetoric:
ìRhetoric is the art of using the available means of persuasion in any given case.î
ìAristotleî
ìWhat I shall urge is that rhetoric should be a study of misunderstandings, and their remedies.î
ìYeah, I.A. Richards. Thatís a good one.î
ìThe handmaiden of philosophy.î (p. 164)
One last quote:
ìLas Vegas, Walt. Feathered showgirls, relentless entertainment, gambling in windowless, timeless, placeless mazes where the polychrome flicker and the free drinks and the clatter of impartial machines assaults you, first, then begins to seep into you like Novocain. Itís like the outside world. Except louder. More.î (p 169)
He did forget, ìCocktailsÖî the chant.
Of course, in the book, the character that says these are quotes from a stuck-up caterer with a PhD in rhetoric.
This is another book that I should have taken apart for metaphor and meaning but just wasnít inspired.
Reviewer: William Koplitz
2 out of 5