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Toxicology (2011)

by Jessica Hagedorn(Favorite Author)

2.97 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0670022578 (ISBN13: 9780670022571)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Viking Adult

review 1: I can't remember where I read about this book or why I thought I would like it, but it was not my thing. Pop-culturey though it was, it was just a little bit much for me. Perhaps I am not edgy or cool enough to be part of this books readership. I didn't identify with the characters or their struggles, and the way it was written, I didn't want to empathize with them either. The author did pick some cool names for her characters - there is an elderly lesbian cocaine dealer named Cleo - so the book has that going for it. However, this book will not make my list of must-reads for my daughter Cleo or for anyone to enjoy when she is ready for more mature books.
review 2: Hagedorn's novels often construct an arena where making art, finding love, defining meaning,... more pop culture, and the soul converge to tell some kind of story, where dream-like sequences merge with unapologetic, blunt, raw happenings. This book was no exception, telling the story of interconnected artists in various stages of "fame" and "success" who fight to make art and struggle even more "to make" life. These mostly unhappy characters and trying moments I kept going back to the question if art is worth this price. Not sure the novel tries to answer that question with an emphatic yes or no, but I think the answer may be there's no perfect answer, just like there is no "perfect" life. Being an artist or not being one guarantees neither happiness nor torment. Just living, whatever label you apply to yourself it seems, guarantees some of both. It would be unfair to judge this book merely on the emotional, philosophical discomfort it might cause, except that it makes you face it and think about it, and sometimes that's what the best art can do. less

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