Review: Setting the Lawn on Fire

Last week, I happened into the Oscar Wilde Bookstore over on Christopher Street in NYC. The bookstore is the world's oldest gay and lesbian bookstore. It is a nice and quaint little shop with a bajillion new and used books.

While I was there, I found the book, Setting the Lawn on Fire. I had been wanting to read it; it has been getting really good reviews. And, seeing how I am enmessed in Lenten books and sermon preparation, I needed something more fun to read.

The book is written by Mack Friedman, this is his first work of fiction. What I liked about the book may not be exactly what the author intended. It's the way he tells his stories--his use of vocabulary and imagination. The author found a way to almost rhyme the consonates, something I haven't found since my Hebrew classes in seminary. He is poetic and funny. And, every once in awhile, very sad.

I don't know if I would necessarily recommend this book to everyone- but I found his style addictive. I couldn't wait to get home from work to read it. The content of the book, however, seemed a bit disturbing in places. It was kind of like my first reaction to Running with Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs. There are places where you think the author should be telling more of his story to a therapist than writing about it in a book. But then, some of my friends have said the same thing about some of my own stories and blog entries. :)