this is one of the strangest books i've ever read. sometimes it felt like i was reading a textbook, but it was really neat. and even though parts of it are STILL sinking in, it's one of those books i could read several times and notice something new each time. really interesting.

It was fun at times, and the story itself is quite interesting; however, everything leading up to it felt forced and pretentious.

Not for everyone, the style can be overwhelming. But I really loved it and haven't read anything else like it.

The idea behind the book, the structure of the book, the stories within stories kept me hooked.

Most of Johnny Truant's life was very dull for me, could have been better edited and shortened but perhaps the ramblings were intentional and essential for the character that Johnny was.

The Navidson Record at the heart reads like a thesis, there's so much detail to unearth in this book - specially the citations. Real authors, real books that I've read and then completely fictitious essays, and research.. takes a lot to pull it off and make you believe all of it is true.

My favorite bits were on photography, perspective and architecture - they were actually similar in intent to a lot of theory I've read in real life.

I love this book. It's confusing and spooky and interactive and just a really unique read. I wish someone smarter than me would give me their annotated copy, but maybe that takes away some of the fun. As I was finishing, my husband said "I've watched you move that book all around and look up the weirdest things while reading it" which is a very fair summary.

Even if you think it's pretentious, you still have to admire all the work that went into this book.

A high watermark of pop literature and postmodernism. Some of the stuff in this book still makes me shake my head in awe when I think about it.

Buckle up y’all this is going to be my most incomprehensible review yet.

I finished this book a week ago. Truly the only thing I could think after closing out the last page was “what the fuck just happened?”
This is a story about a story, or rather, a manuscript, written by a dead man who died in a mysterious setting of natural causes. It’s full of footnotes from the original manuscript, from the editor, and from the guy who found the manuscript and slipped slowly into madness while he read its many, MANY pages. The manuscript is a dissection of a movie, one that’s not commonly known or readily available, about a family and a house. A house, that is 5/16” bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. A house that seems to defy earthly logic, and follows its own instead. Parallel to that, there are excerpts from Johnny as he reads through it all. He describes his life, his past, and his present where things get stranger and stranger.
This book is a lot of things. It is a challenge, it’s frustrating, it’s satirical, it’s deep, it’s harrowing, and it makes no fucking sense. I am glad that I read it and I enjoyed it immensely, but it really pushed me outside of my comfort zone. Not only are the pages laid out bizarrely, there are passages that seem to have no value that pull you out of the story, but it’s all done in an intentional way I think, to make you feel the same sort of frustration and confusion that the characters experienced with you. This is not a book you can read linearly, and you cannot get comfortable because you will be back and forth, sideways, upside down, and rotating this monster book constantly. There are appendices that, while interesting, often leave you asking more questions than answering them. There are nothing but loose ends, so if you like a book that closes neatly and leaves no room for inference, this is not the book for you.
This felt like an accomplishment to read and I loved the experience start to finish. This book completely defies a 5 star rating system. It’s so different and experimental that it doesn’t really fit into any particular box (if you’ve read this you’ll understand why that’s a little funny). I have to give it a 5 star though, it was entertaining and thought provoking and has started some interesting conversations in my life. It seems there’s a bit of a cult surrounding this book, you’re either in or you’re very out. I, am very very in the cult.

Y'all this was a wild ride. It simultaneously made me feel like big brain and a dumb bitch. Definitely worth checking out if you don't want a normal novel