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.
Critic Reviews
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Favorable
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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]
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Favorable
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Los Angeles Times Susan Salter Reynolds
If "Napoleon Dynamite" made you laugh, you will choke on "Home Land." [16 Jan. 2005, R11]
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Favorable
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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]
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Favorable
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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]
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Favorable
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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.''
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Favorable
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The New Yorker
Lipsyte transfigures Teabagâs self-loathing into a sensibility that is both hilarious and noble.
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Favorable
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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.
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Favorable
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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.
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Favorable
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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.
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Mixed
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Publishers Weekly
That the novel is an unpleasant, static read is a sign of its uncompromising, mise-en-abyme success.
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Mixed
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San Francisco Chronicle Diane Scharper
This story, what there is of it, has only Miner's highly developed sense of language to recommend it.
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Mixed
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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.
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Mixed
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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.
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