Journal Entry 1 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, February 17, 2007

Purchased as part of a massive on-line book binge, enabled by a gift from my late mother-in-law (thanks, Ruthie!). 

Journal Entry 2 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, February 24, 2007

Man, I was disappointed by this book. At thirty-three, Hlynur Bjorn (the narrator) still lives at home, where his mother does his laundry, feeds him and brings him cokes when he's too exhausted by his punishing routine of channel surfing and masturbation to get 'em himself. When Hlynur's mother comes out as a lesbian, he sleeps with her girlfriend Lolla, who becomes his obsessive fixation throughout the rest of the novel (even more so when she gets pregnant and Hlynur convinces himself he may be the father).

I kept waiting for something to actually happen to Hlynur, but he just schleps through the novel offering cynical and disrespectful commentary on everyone else's lives, never finding any purpose for his own beyond the consumption of cigarettes and porn (neither of which please him much, in any event). This isn't so much a tale of "slacker culture" in Reykjavik as promised on the novel's back cover, as the tale of an individual slacker, with the Icelandic backdrop largely irrelevant. A really, really disappointing read.

For a slightly different perspective (Julie Myerson calls the book "a total, laugh-a-minute joy to read") (??!!???), you can read a review of 101 Reykjavik in the Guardian here. 

Journal Entry 3 by goatgrrl at STARBUCKS 6TH & 6TH in New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, March 03, 2007

Released 4 yrs ago (3/3/2007 UTC) at STARBUCKS 6TH & 6TH in New Westminster, British Columbia Canada

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

I'll be leaving this book in the newspaper rack or on one of the tables, depending on how crowded it is. Best wishes and happy reading to whomever picks it up.