Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned

Don't judge this book by the cover- that cover art is ridiculous but the stories are great.

David Sedaris, in a brief aside between readings at his Toronto show, gushed over the writing in this book. Then I see it heralded by GQ as one of the 21st century books every man should read, joining the likes of The Corrections, The Road, Cloud Atlas and The Namesake (it doesn't hurt that Wells Tower is a frequent contributor to GQ) It was only a matter of time before I picked this book up.

Wells just drops you into the story hard and you're left to pull the pieces together while he barrels ahead with his muscular prose. He's got this uncanny knack of just zeroing in on the right piece of information that lays out an entire scene, exposes an individual completely for you.

Not all the stories are out of the park but each one has perfect little moments. And vikings!

Really like. “Retreat” was probably my favorite.

I picked this up because David Sedaris recommended it at his reading. Sedaris said he really enjoyed Tower's turns of phrase, and there are some amazing descriptions in here–e.g. a baby pigeon brought in by a cat “was pink, nearly translucent, with magenta cheeks and lavender ovals around the eyes. It looked like a half-cooked eraser with dreams of someday becoming a prostitute.” I mean, WTF, what kind of person comes up with that line? It's perfect.

The stories themselves are sharp and excellently characterized snippets at mostly sad people. Reading them tended to make me feel slightly bad about myself as I connected with their base, selfish instincts.