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Home Land
A Novel
by Sam Lipsyte


9.3

based on 13 reviews
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based on 6 votes
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Former Feed editor Sam Lipsyte's second novel is basically a 240-page long (humorous) rant, with the plot, such as there is, dealing with a 30-something man who decides to tell the truth to his high school alumni newsletter.

Picador, 240 pages
01/01/2005
$13.00

ISBN: 0312424183

Fiction
General Literature & Fiction

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Library Journal Kevin Greczek

As Lewis's 15th high school reunion nears, novelist Lipsyte (The Subject Steve) gets away from some of the silliness and deliberateness found in the beginning and unveils a thoroughly vivid portrayal of the classmates' common foibles as the raucous reunion unfolds. [1 Jan. 2005, p. 98]

Los Angeles Times Susan Salter Reynolds

If "Napoleon Dynamite" made you laugh, you will choke on "Home Land." [16 Jan. 2005, R11]

New York Observer Taylor Antrim

[A] lightly plotted book of racy sentence rhythms, conjured verbs and quick-witted exchanges. It's not a page-turner -- but the writing is so lively I didn't really care. [17 Jan. 2005, p. 17]

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Kevin Chong

Home Land 's fictional universe is infused with a sense of decency and generosity. Lipsyte's novel could easily have been smug and arch if he didn't breathe so much life into each and every character, endowing them with equal portions of his lyrical anger and smart-assed wit. [29 Jan. 2005, D5]

The New York Times Book Review Lizzie Skurnick

This novel, which follows Lipsyte's collection of short stories, ''Venus Drive,'' and a novel, ''The Subject Steve,'' has an obvious forebear in Philip Roth's ''Portnoy's Complaint.''

The New Yorker

Lipsyte transfigures Teabagâs self-loathing into a sensibility that is both hilarious and noble.

Village Voice Chris Tamarri

Running between psychological cruelty... and arch wordplay that might appeal to the Frasier set... the novel is relentless in its persecution of facade, constantly pointing out not only that the emperor's not wearing any clothes, but that he's really let himself go.

Washington Post Andrew Ervin

If you pick up Home Land, I suspect that you won't put it down until you've read the whole thing. But whether you will enjoy it as much as I did will depend on your tolerance for the profane.

PopMatters Patricia Storms

In the hands of another writer, this narcissistic rant could have become pretty tedious... Fortunately, Lipsyte is a gifted master of words, and he creates a perfect balance of humor and pathos in the ramblings of this sharp-tongued loser.

Publishers Weekly

That the novel is an unpleasant, static read is a sign of its uncompromising, mise-en-abyme success.

San Francisco Chronicle Diane Scharper

This story, what there is of it, has only Miner's highly developed sense of language to recommend it.

Entertainment Weekly Nicholas Fonseca

Home Land isn't for the squeamish, and sometimes isn't even coherent. But by its unexpectedly wistful end, Sam Lipsyte will have you feeling both lousy and moved.

Kirkus Reviews

Many who enter will soon find themselves tripping over phrases and sentences so dishearteningly opaque that deconstructing the narrator's glancing shots at originality will become too tiring to bear.

The average user rating for this book is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

john g gave it a10:
Hysterical.

John D gave it a9:
Lipsyte's novel "Home Land" pours out of a blender in a mess of profanity, vulgarity and inspired prose. Teabag's story told through his harshly honest letters to his high school's alumni newsletter is one that speaks to more of our life than we would like to admit. There is humor here, a lot of it, as well as some vulgar material, but to focus on these elements and ignore the deep exploration of disappointment, failure, optimism and success would be a discredit to a brilliant author and frank denial on the part of the reader.

john l gave it a10:
i loved this book.

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Home Land A Novel by Sam Lipsyte

Home Land
A Novel
by Sam Lipsyte