Hey Guys!
Today I have to hang my head in shame. I completely forgot to write about Straight White Male, John Niven’s sixth novel. It was the first book I ever took from the shelf at the library in Vienna (which happens to be one of favourite place on this planet by now).
The Plot:
We follow Kennedy Marr, a famous writer who prefers spending his time with drinking, sex and insulting everybody around him. When his writers block just won’t pass and he’s faced with a ton of taxes to pay, an interesting option presents itself. He wins an award which comes with half a million pounds, but also some strings attached. Marr is supposed to teach at University. The very same one his ex-wife is working at…
The Rating:
I read every John Niven book I could get my hands on, so I was pretty excited to get started with this one.
The first thing I was reminded of is Californication. The TV Show, not the song. For those of you who don’t know: It’s about a fucked up writer who still wants his ex back, isn’t really writing anymore and spends his time drinking and fucking. Well, I really liked the show, so I decided to just go along with the story. To be honest, the more pages I read, the more it reminded me. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. John Niven has a clever way of telling stories that makes you devour his books. You catch yourself liking characters you wouldn’t even talk to in real life.
However, Straight White Male was not quite as funny, witty and smart as Niven’s other works. I remember laughing throughout the entire novel “The Second Coming” while this only had me giggling slightly at some points. Continue reading