Jacob Bacharach

I thought this book was awful for several reasons, however the biggest one was my expectation of the book. The titillating
reviews and description left me expecting something with a genuine in the sci-fi / conspiracy backdrop…what I got instead was a “day-in-the-life” consciousness-dump from a yinzer corporate drone with affectations of sci-fi /conspiracy awkwardly bolted onto the story like mismatched aftermarket ground-effects on a Honda Civic cruising around South Oakland….you could remove them with little impact on the story.

Had I gone into the book expecting Jack Kerouac-as-hipster-cube-dweller I might not have been so crabby, but there it is. From a different angle, I think the book leans a little too heavily on Yinzer nuance and reference that will be completely lost on non-Pittsburghers, taking some of the good flavor away. Also, I realize that it is “stylistic” but the utter lack of the quotation mark for delineating speakers is very, very tedious…it left me wondering if the editor was charging the author, by the individual quotation mark, out-of-pocket.

That being said, I think the author does have a flair for atmosphere and fleshing out his characters/backstory. The core story around Peter isn’t bad.

The Post-Gazette review summed it up as:

“’The Bend of the World’ is an untidy mash-up of literary styles and genres with flashes of smart humor and insight that distracts us from its serious, poignant side — Peter’s road to adulthood marked by tough losses along the way.”

I agree, it is an untidy mash up indeed, but there are flashes of brilliance in the pan. I can’t say that I wouldn’t ever consider reading something from this author again, but I would have to look more carefully at the way it is presented in description and review.
… (mehr)

It's a testament to Jacob Bacharach's talent that I enjoyed The Bend of the World despite the fact that there are no quotation marks in it at all. I hate that shit, and I was very upset when I found myself gradually getting used to it and even accepting it as part of Bacharach's style. He clearly wants the words to flow at a swift, steady pace. His sentences charge through multiple ideas at once, and his characters move quickly through their moods, through their conversations, and through the streets of Pittsburgh. If you don't like the way Bacharach writes, that's fine, but you can't deny the consistency of his technique.

You also can't deny that he's really funny. I did some extremely diligent research and determined that I haven't laughed this hard while reading a book in over a year and a half. The scene near the climax of the novel where Peter and Johnny walk into the woods is worth the price of admission alone. Bacharach strikes a nice balance between being funny in a witty writer sort of way and being funny in a slapstick Curly Howard kind of way, so there's something for everyone.

However, the aforementioned Peter and Johnny are part of a wildly unremarkable cast of characters. Peter is built in the mold of a Kurt Vonnegut protagonist. He shrugs his shoulders a lot and has sex with pretty women while looking at the world in an, "I'm not judging you for caring about stuff, but I'm almost certainly smarter than you because I don't care about stuff" sort of way. Johnny, like everyone else in the book, puts in a one-note performance.

I didn't mind that too much, though. I've read enough books with interesting characters that are trampled to death under the pen of authors who can't write. I prefer boring characters buoyed by someone with literary talent.

The Bend of the World wins the bronze medal in the "Books by Authors I Follow on Twitter" contest, which I'm sure means a great deal to Bacharach.… (mehr)

Updated review:

I am sad to report that I did not enjoy this book nearly so much as I thought I was going to. I have to quote the acknowledgements section in the back of the book; "This book wouldn't have been possible without my agent, Gail Hochman, who read the first draft and told me in the nicest possible way that it didn't make any goddamn sense." Presumably several drafts later, I have to still agree with the sentiment. I mean, it made sense in the sense that I could follow the plot, but not in what the point of the novel was, or what I was supposed to get from it. There were a few pearls in here for sure, but a cohesive novel it did not make. Now, I know this was supposed to be a "retelling" or "reimagining" or maybe at least a homage, to the story of Abraham and Isaac--and maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it--but I just thought it was poorly and barely connected. I don't generally get hung up on "unlikeable" characters, but these folks really took the cake. Barely a redeemable quality in the lot of 'em. In fact, the only character I really enjoyed was the arbitrator present in one chapter. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I just couldn't. My apologies to the author, who as I mentioned below, was kind enough to send me a copy of this book for this review.

Placeholder review...
I just want to say that I won a free copy of this book, but it never arrived. I tried to get in touch with the publisher, but never heard back. Finally I sent an email to the author, and he mailed me a copy himself! I just got it in the mail today; barely started, but I can already tell I'm going to enjoy it.… (mehr)