Novel+ Review: You Deserve Nothing

This is the first in what will hopefully be a long line of lit reviews. Weather permitting. I say “lit” and not “book” or "novel" because I want to leave it open for me to review books (fiction and non), but also essays, philosophical treatises, long-form journalism, the occasional (like Haley’s comet occasional) poem. You get the idea.

The one and only rule that I’m going to give myself in the days/months/years to come is much like the rule I’ve given myself for movie reviews, ergo, FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD: If I read it, I review it. No exceptions!

The one exception to the one and only rule is that it’s only really going to be applied to novels. So, like, every novel I read FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD I have to review, and anything more than that is just like icing on the proverbial cake that I can sort’a add or not add as I see fit. So this isn’t really going to be a “lit” review or a "book" review, more a “Novel+” review.

Novel+ Review: You Deserve Nothing

I’m on vacation down in LA, writing, reading, hanging out with my brother, exploring the Concrete Jungle by foot and by trusty steed, i.e., my bicycle, Baruch:

This past Tuesday, I was exploring the Los Feliz/Vermont area of Los Angeles. Clothing, restaurants, a bookstore. Skylight Books. Walking by their store-front, determined not to enter (I have too many books already), a book actually managed to catch my eye. Or it’s title did: You Deserve Nothing. What a title!

And lo, the author, one Alexander Maksik, was going to be coming to Skylight to do a reading on Wednesday, October 12th... Tomorrow night! So I walked right in there, checked my bag, and checked the book: “A gripping story of power, idealism, and morality... Sartre, Camus...” Sold, 14.99 (plus tax).

I began reading You Deserve Nothing on my walk home from Skylight and basically didn’t stop reading until like five minutes before the next night’s event, about twenty pages from the end, and I had two questions that I absolutely had to ask the author.

            In case you can’t tell, I really liked the novel. It reads fast and easy, in a good way. It’s provocative (also in a good way). It’s jam-packed with EXISTENTIALISM (ditto, which in this case means that the existentialism is fun and accessible without being dumbed down). And it’s very French, i.e. broody/romantic, best appreciated while polishing off a few bottles of wine. Red wine.
            Did I like it enough to read it again? Probably not. Did I like it enough to recommend it others in the hopes of being able to discuss it with them, i.e., you? Sure, if you’re into stuff that makes you feel... sexy. Did I like it enough to be willing to loan it someone else without regard for ever getting it back (the true test of ones love for a novel, in my opinion)? Yes. Everybody? No, definitely not...

           I didn’t wind up asking the author the first of my two questions, and I’m not going to tell you what it was (it has to do with the reason I wouldn't lend it to just anybody and has something to do with why the book's provocative). However, I did ask him my second, which went something like this, “Since your novel deals so much with existentialism, I feel like it’s only fair to put an existential-question to you: On page 241 Mickey tells Will, ‘Will, listen to me. If you don’t remember anything else, remember this: Anyone you can fool isn’t worth loving. You understand me? It’s a young man’s move’--alright, so my question is: Have you been able to successfully follow Mickey’s advice in your own life?”
           The author's answer (and this isn't a spoiler, I assure you), which was, in light of the struggles one of the novel's three narrators, quite...