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Shaw, Dash – Gardenhead

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Gardenhead

It’s books like this that make you realize how stupid everything is. Let me clarify a bit, as that sounds ridiculous. Most everyone gets so used to talking with stupid people, or at least people who pretend to be stupid, that they dumb down their average daily conversation. Don’t say it’s never happened to you, I know at some point in your life you’ve responded to “That’s some weather we’re having” or “How about them (random sports team you don’t care about)”. Everybody has. Not that this book has anything to do with that, but I’ve rarely seen dialogue that expects so much of the reader, and three cheers to Dash for that fact. You’re not going to find a smarter book around. This is about a bulimic young woman who’s definitely not looking for love, a young boy who’s systematically getting his spirit crushed in art class, and a librarian phrenologist. Dash also examines in minute details the aspects of his characters and throws in some interesting asides when the situation warrants. Altogether a difficult book to talk about, but an immensely rewarding experience. It’s $3.50 and it’s huge, in case you think that’s too expensive or something. Here’s an e-mail address, there are also plenty of books advertised in the back of this, so there’s more out there when you find out how much you liked this one.