Tara Yellen

This book read like an excitable child trying to tell you about her day: hyper, rushing, stumbling over her words, using awkward phrasing, trying to squeeze in every single pointless detail, dropping story lines left and right and, in the end, devoid of theme. It was obvious, as another reviewer has said, that this is a first novel. It was clear to me the kind of editing process this novel went through; the weak moments in the text were abundantly clear, and made me cringe. I could see more or less what the author was attempting to do - create a complex, intense, intriguing mosaic of lives and stories all revolving around one place and branching out into time - but not only was this not accomplished, but the entire merit of the premise was blacked out by the stilted, frenetic 'narrative(s)' of the novel.… (mehr)

Before I begin, let me first say, After Hours at the Almost Home (AH) is an excellent novel and I look forward to reading more of Ms. Yellen's work. Let nothing you read in this review convince you otherwise. No book can be absolutely perfect, of course, and while I may seem to spend more time criticizing than praising, I only mean to explore AH's imperfections as a means of demonstrating my great appreciation of the whole.

On the back cover of AH is a quote proclaiming the novel "edgier than Cheers, as bawdy as Boccaccio's Decameron." Do not believe such nonsense. For one thing, Cheers was not edgy. At least not by my standards — though perhaps I'm simply too young to perceive it as such. And while I suppose that in itself makes AH edgier than Cheers by default, I would not consider AH very edgy either. Not by modern standards. Not when the term "edgy" is most often applied to The Sopranos, Million Little Pieces, or No Country for Old Men. And bawdy certainly doesn't describe it either. I've seen bawdier stuff on the Lifetime movie of the week.

Most likely the reviewer quoted could think of nothing original to say so he resorted to using as many disparate references as possible, including the obligatory comparison to a random popular work that shares a similar environment and little else. Personally, I would have compared it to The Tender Bar which not only shares a similar locale but also shares its medium and it's tone and style from what I hear (I've not actually read The Tender Bar so you must excuse me if I've been misinformed). I might also compare it, at least in story-telling style, to the televeision series Lost and Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down.

But I suppose I can't blame him for using inappropriate adjectives and references to describe AH. It is certainly a difficult novel to describe. I suppose I would have to call it compelling, fun, mysterious, humorous, and depressing. Maybe even heartwarming — I can't tell.

Most of all though, it's realistic. The bar, the characters, their conversations, their actions, their emotions, their histories — it all may be fictional, but it's as real as anything I've ever experienced. Ms. Yellen is goddess-like in her ability to bring her creations to life.

On the surface AH appears to be about a group of co-workers simply trying to survive a chaotic night. But really it's about family. It's about the bonds that form between co-workers bringing them together as one complete, supportive, dysfunctional, familial unit. It is, in a way, a centerless solar system; all the bodies revolving around each other, interacting with each other in ways both predictable and unpredictable, each reacting to the influence of those around it. It's a symphony, a choreographed dance, an improvisational jazz session, and a literary orgy all in one.

After Hours at the Almost Home can be read just about anywhere, in any situation, in any mood, and probably under the influence of any number of legal and illegal substances. Though I should caution readers to allot a generous amount of time to it. For it can be quite addictive and while one may intend to read only a chapter or two on his lunch break, he may very well end up skipping meetings and conference calls and many other important tasks in an attempt to finish the novel. It is that good.

On second thought, I'll refrain from saying anything about the book itself. Because, honestly, it's unnecessary. What little imperfections I might point out are so insignificant that it would be a waste of time — mine as well as yours — to bring them up at all. Instead, I'll merely reiterate that I look forward to reading Ms. Yellen's future work and to seeing her writing improve over what is sure to be an impressive career.… (mehr)

This was my first Early Reviewer book, and as such I was excited to read it. It's not my usual fare: my mainstream fiction tends to the more experimental or the more fantastical. But I do like the occasional coming-of-age book, which I treated this as, which I'll explain in a sec.

It's pretty obviously a first novel, of the fresh-out-of-MFA variety. It's a set piece (a bar/grill in Denver on Super Bowl Sunday) with a small cast of characters. It would make a decent play, come to think of it. (I say it's obviously a first novel because I've notice that first novels tend to have the attention to detail of the jobs/life/reality of the characters that tend to become more subtle as the writer matures. Several times during the reading I found myself thinking "yes, I know you did your research by working as a waitress...thank you for that loving detail of the working life...")

That said, I enjoyed it immensely, and was moved by the stories left untold: the lives of the characters beyond what happens on that one night. The evocation was particularly good of how any gathering can become a little frightening, once the hour becomes very late and the people all become very drunk.

The cast of ~10 people are are all so, so broken individuals, and there'll be no rescue for them--and unless you're Tom Waits, telling stories about irretrievably broken people isn't that interesting. Except for one: the daughter of one of the featured waitresses. This is really her story, and it's a good one, and it's worth pointing out that in a universe of broken people, the interesting stories are the ones of the people who haven't yet been broken.

I'd read more of Yellen's work, and might even read After Hours again.… (mehr)