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The Dead Do Not Improve (2012)

by Jay Caspian Kang(Favorite Author)

2.82 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0307953882 (ISBN13: 9780307953889)

languge

English

genre

Science Fiction

publisher

Hogarth

review 1: It's apropos that Kang's book has been likened to Pynchon's classic The Crying of Lot 49. I remember reading Pynchon's book while an undergrad at UCLA. Much like the response Kang's book is getting, my classmates were aggravated at the lack of closure, the excess of allegory and the overall snark. I, however, love these nebulous symbols. Perhaps it's because I grew up blocks from the central plot points of The Dead Do Not Improve or perhaps it's because I love the harsh break at ocean beach or maybe because the bar where my parents met is even featured in Kang's book but I thought Kang's satirical but efficient noir was an excellent portrayal or millenial disillusion . Much of the criticism that has been lobbed at Kang's book states that the book doesn't go anywhere and th... moreat there are so many themes that they end up smothering one another. However, I believe when exploring issues such as class, race, sex and the overly complicated socioeconomic arena that is San Francisco, there is no clean and simple way to deal with these issues. The cynical and hormonal voice of the protagonist made for excellent framework into a world where it's never clear when symbolism is actually totemic of something deeper or whether, in a state of postmodern paranoia, objects are just objects. For a city like San Francisco that is undergoing immense growing pains, Kang's mercurial exploration of murder and transgression is one of the most accurate depictions of the city I've read.
review 2: San Francisco is my adopted hometown, but the familiar setting wasn't why I liked this book. My husband is Asian-American, but that's not why, either. I've read (and loved) Jay Caspian Kang's riveting nonfiction pieces -- but even that's not the reason.I liked this book because it's hard to blend authentic pain with genuine fun, but Kang has done it here. He's written a twisty mystery with real tension, and lit it throughout with a touch of the absurd. Also, he takes us surfing with Chris fucking Isaac. What's not to love?Read this book for the mystery. Read it for the gentle flashes of snark, or the local color, or the narrator's nicely drawn fish-out-of-water perspective. Just read it. I think you'll be happy you did. less

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