Livability by Jon Raymond
272 pages
published by Bloomsbury USA
I
read this because it contained the basis for two films I rather
enjoyed, Old Joy (titled Old Joy in the story collection) and Wendy
& Lucy (titled Train Choir in the story collection). Overall the
stories were kinda middle-of-the-road. Characters tended to be a bit
flat and sometimes the stories felt a bit MFA-ish. There was just an
overarching tone or voice that I feel I've been reading in contemporary
American fiction and I don't like it.
But check out the two films directed by Kelly Reichardt. They're
excellent. She also directed the recent Meek's Cutoff, which looks
amazing and I think Jon Raymond did the screenplay.
I had high hopes because the movies were so great, but I really
shouldn't compare the two. I also picked up his novel, Half-Life, so
maybe that will be better.
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