Penn Jillette's Sock (0312328052)
The interesting thing about this novel is that it's overtly a spin around Jillette's brain. He writes the way he talks on TV. Or his ghostwriter is also his scriptwriter, or does a fine imitation. And he's clever, and it's a good summer read.
But there's these little bits where you see, lurking in that tall, mouthy showman, a smidge of melancholy. (Or whoever it is that he's fronting -- he might well approve of my suspicion.) He's the sort of cynical that is cynical, it seems, precisely because he loves humanity so much, and we never quite live up to what he imagines our potential is. Who said it? -- Scratch a pessimist and you'll find a disappointed optimist underneath.
Of course, the last time I said that about a writer, he was something of an ass, in person. Can't go about handing out too too much credit.
But there's these little bits where you see, lurking in that tall, mouthy showman, a smidge of melancholy. (Or whoever it is that he's fronting -- he might well approve of my suspicion.) He's the sort of cynical that is cynical, it seems, precisely because he loves humanity so much, and we never quite live up to what he imagines our potential is. Who said it? -- Scratch a pessimist and you'll find a disappointed optimist underneath.
Of course, the last time I said that about a writer, he was something of an ass, in person. Can't go about handing out too too much credit.