Thursday, January 21, 2010

Book Review of the Day - Alan DeNiro

I'm not a YA person. I've said it before, and will likely say it again. However, I read Alan DeNiro's YA novel TOTAL OBLIVION MORE OR LESS. I read it because we are agent siblings, and I was curious to see more of my agent's taste beyond my own work.

For those who don't know what agent siblings are, those are writers represented by the same agent. (Agent cousins are writers represented by different agents within the same agency.) Yep, I'm learning the lingo, though I'm not sure if we just made this stuff up at the last conference we attended, or if these terms are common terminology.

Anyway, I was very impressed with DeNiro's talent. His novel is surreal. That's the best term I can use to describe it. It's completely original. I've never read anything like it. Time warps, plagues, talking dogs, and snarky teens contribute to the plot in varying amounts. You can NEVER predict where it's going, and yet he manages to tie it all up nicely in the end.

I can definitely see its appeal to teens. Many of my students would love it, though I think it is a bit mature for their age. They should wait a couple of years.

I see no resemblance between his writing and mine, which tells me that my agent has wide and varied taste.

I'm looking forward to reading more of her clients' work.

19 comments:

holly said...

wow, i really think those words might in fact be made up, but i dont know, maybe they are real words.

Anonymous said...

i searched online and i found nothing so i do not think it is common terminology so its probably just made up. I also see tons of book reviews on you're blog, how do you manage to read when you have to read you're book

Johan said...

IM kinda of confused on this blog becuase threr are some words that dont seem to make sense

Luis said...

I guess you're enjoying your agent.

Anonymous said...

I liked the review that you gave him. do you think he could have added more to his story?

Christa said...

I like the review. I remember about agent siblings. :)
I feel very smart.

Ryan said...

i remember agent siblings there are many long words

Johan said...

I read this blog before and now it makes sense to me, i also like about the agent siblings.

Anonymous said...

haha wow sounds like a total opposite of what you write. But I am glad that you enjoyed your agent siblings book. :)
-Juliette

Anonymous said...

if there are talking dogs im there i love talking dogs its sometimes funny and sometimes they are evil never underestimate the power of talking dogs

Phebe H.L. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

you are a very experienced writer and i cant wait until you publish your books and until i am old enough to read them :)

Anonymous said...

how do you review so many books when you need to write your own?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Johan said...

this post is really weird, some of this words don't even make sense.

Anonymous said...

are those words even real?

Anonymous said...

are you ever going to make a new post??

Anonymous said...

are you ever going to make a new blog yet?

Anonymous said...

when are you going to post something new? i really like your blog and i also love how you write i maybe start to read sci-fi