Rate this book

1982 (2012)

by Jian Ghomeshi(Favorite Author)

3.06 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0670066486 (ISBN13: 9780670066483)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Viking Canada

review 1: I am a huge fan of Jian Ghomeshi's CBC Radio show 'Q', so it was fun to gain some insights into his awkward teen years. Since the book is told mainly through the eyes of Jian's 14-year-old self, there were times when it seemed a bit simplistic. That was bugging me, until I acknowledged the fact that, stylistically, he was trying to emulate the naive-"what-can-I-do-to-seem-cool?"-mindset that many of us experienced as adolescents. This mini memoir was a light read, filled with nostalgia from the 80s, and references to New Wave songs I'll have to listen to. If you stick with it, the ending is surprisingly satisfying, which bumped up my opinion of the whole book. Reading about young Jian's exploits brought back happy recollections of my own experience of being 14. As long as ... moreyou don't expect anything too philosophically profound, this is a perfect book to enjoy during a summer afternoon on the beach.
review 2: I wanted to like this book. Unlike countless other Canadians, I didn't have a really strong opinion about Jian before I picked it up. My main attraction to the book was that I too came of age in the 80s in a suburb of Toronto and was (and still am) a die-hard Bowie freak. Sadly, the book just didn't do it for me. There was little depth or development, it was very repetitive and many of the truly interesting themes were not explored - for example, the experience of an immigrant teen in Canada. The author's sexuality seemed a bit confused - normally a fascinating topic - but even that was just left to wither on the vine. The quality of the writing was ok, but far below what I would have expected, given Jian's genuinely impressive performances on "Canada Reads." He seems to know and love books but that does not inherently translate into the ability to write one. If he were to write another, I would certainly give it a chance (and given how well this one sold, I suspect a second will be coming soon) but this particular effort falls short. less

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