Comments on: You Don’t Love Me Yet–Jonathan Lethem

By: Cormac McCarthy’s Issues of Life and Death, Hans Fallada’s Complex Resistance, and Jonathan Lethem’s Bloodless Prose « biblioklept

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:28:19 +0000

[...] was one of the finest books of the decade, and I was deeply disappointed in his last novel, You Don’t Love Me Yet. Chronic City is a much finer book than that silly train wreck, but it lacks the urgency of [...]

By: ed biblioklept

ed biblioklept — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:15:45 +0000

OK. So, apparently Kim Gordon *really* loved this book, because there’s a track on the new Free Kitten record, *Inherit*, called “Monster Eye.” Sheesh.

By: Superlatives 2007 « biblioklept

Superlatives 2007 « biblioklept — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:37:11 +0000

[...] this year, Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union and Jonathan Lethem’s You Don’t Love Me Yet. Which brings us [...]

By: ed biblioklept

ed biblioklept — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:41:53 +0000

Ha! Thanks for the link Mr. Mekonista. Of course, Kim Gordon also puts Britney Spear’s infamous MTV MVA appearance on her list; also, she ruins almost every SY song she sings on. Still. Maybe, as a female bass player, the character of Lucinda really spoke to her. Who knows?

By: J. Herzog

J. Herzog — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:26:03 +0000

I agree that “You Don’t Love Me Yet” was a big disappointment, but Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon seems to like it:

http://artforum.com/inprint/id=18976

By: longlunch

longlunch — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:34:54 +0000

You know, i’ve barely gotten halfway through “…Solitude” and I’d love to read more of his work, but I think it’s fantastic that his own visage graces the cover of this new novel. It’s hilarious, in one sense (namely the hilarious sense) but it also makes me wonder A LOT about the content of the work.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:33:41 +0000

Yeah, this book is beyond flawed. It’s really a bit puzzling just how not good it is. However, take heart. I’ve read all of Lethem’s books except for Believeniks!: 2005: The Year We Wrote a Book About the Mets, Kafka Americana, and Omega the Unknown, and this was the only one that really disappointed me. In fact, I think all of his other works have offered at least some element that I thought was pretty great. However, in the interest of you not being disappointed again, don’t start Gun if you’re wanting something along the lines of Fortress of Solitude, you certainly won’t get it. If you like the idea of a Philip K. Dick/Raymond Chandler mashup, you’ll be quite pleased. However, it’s very much…I think pulp is the right term, and not so much pulp mixed with that certain poeticalness that makes a book “literary” like Motherless Brooklyn is. Way more essential than Gun: the short story collection Men and Cartoons, and the novella This Shape We’re In. They both leave you wanting more. Also, As She Climbed Across the Table gets an honorable mention for being a fantastic read for when one craves a sweet somewhat Vonnegut-esque sci-fi love story (and who doesn’t from time to time?). Alright, so I’m clearly a fan. But not enough to be a YDLMY apologist! Seriously, I’m no Grand Arbiter of Good Taste, but who the hell puts a picture of them self on the cover of their novel? He’s gotta be joking right? Especially with that title. Why don’t I feel like I’m in on the joke? Let’s all just hope this is not a sign of what’s to come.

By: jd

jd — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:00:26 +0000

Word. I enjoyed Fortress of Solitude enough (after finally getting into it about 3/4 of the way through) to pick this up, and although I dutifully read the whole thing, it didn’t impress me much at all. The sex scenes were gross, plain and simple, the dialogue was often excruciating, and the characters were dumb – I wanted to kick them all in the head, except Bedwin. But, I won’t give up on Lethem just yet.