Mister Monkey: A Novel | 
bailedBailed ten minutes into the chapter that is mostly just a teenage boy talking about his penis. Not what I want to be listening to while I run.
Monkeys!!!! (Also me: rabies!!!!! 🤦🏻♀️). They were cute but we stayed away. You could basically see Mums face here though “I‘ve told you a million times not to swing upside down from the barbed wire”.... 😂😂😂
#playlikeGod #NuYear This crazy book is about an off off broadway children‘s musical being put on that centers around a crazy banana pants story of a monkey. Each chapter is told from the point of view from some of the actors, the production crew, and a few others including an omnipotent monkey god. I remember liking it but also remember feeling such a sense of impending doom while reading it.
#TBRtemptation post 3! The exploits are followed of an extensive cast of characters associated with an off-off-off-off Broadway children's musical centered around a larcenous chimp. Margot, who plays its lawyer, laments her failing acting career. There's 12-year-old Adam, who has the title role. Edward's an unimpressed young audience member. Ray's the author whose novel the play's based on. Etc. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎
#TBRtemptation post 3! This darkly humorous story follows the intrigues of many characters affiliated with an off-off-off-off Broadway children's musical about a larcenous chimp. Characters include: Margot, depressed playing the role of the chimp's lawyer; Adam, the 12-year-old playing the titular role; Edward, an unimpressed young audience member; and, Ray, the author of the book that the musical's based on. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎
pickA whole cast of characters is introduced. Most of the story orbits around the Mister Monkey musical, which is based on a book of the same name written by the fictional author Raymond Ortiz about a smart, friendly, playful, super-cute chimpanzee named Mister Monkey.
On a side note, this book will forever be tied to one of the happiest moments of my life. For that, I'll probably end up buying my own copy.
I've had this book for nearly 2 months and finally cracking it open. #readathon
Currently reading Mister Monkey for #TournamentofBooks2017. I almost skipped this one and I like it so much. Lots of thinks I like in books. Old man, grief, death, and much more.
This comic novel has the kind of humor that twinges, cringes, and comes unhinged. #FrancineProse #MisterMonkey
pickI read these back to back. And I loved both of them. And while reading Mister Monkey, I realized that its way of telling the story is exactly the same as Homegoing. Individual stories, but linked by association. Instead of a slave story arc, Prose deals with the internal feelings vs the external perceptions we get from the other characters. Each chapter could have been its own book. Wonderful. Also similar, A Visit from the Goon Squad.
bailedUgh! When I'm listening to one audiobook in the car and another on my phone, and notice that I'm wishing I was listening to the other book, it's time to bail. I only made it through the first half of the second character's story. Was it the too earnest voice of the narrators, or was it the inanity of the play they were performing? The characters' contempt for the play did not improve my disposition. #ToB17
#marchintoreading Day2: #judgedbyitscover
This has been an AMAZING day! I visited a new-to-me library and randomly picked 2 books that caught my eye. Never heard of them. Don't really know what they are about. Took them home....but not before asking the librarian to also throw in the graphic novel she happened to be holding when I walked up to the desk. YOLO!
@RealLifeReading
pickFunny, sad and satirical. I enjoyed seeing each character's story bleed into the next one. There are probably more deserving books for #ToB2017, but each character felt like someone I know here in Hollywood, and that can't be said about many books. #LitsyReadingChallenge
#Bookndinner Abby guards me from The Pumpkin while I eat. He's been voracious since he started on steroids. Abby smacks him if he gets near my plate. Finishing Mr. Monkey.
so-soThis book was interesting to me. I enjoyed seeing all of the people's perspectives. I did not understand the order of the chapters; it seemed to jump around a lot. The writing was excellent but made me question what I had already read a lot to clarify the storyline.
so-so#ToB2017
This was an odd book. Eleven chapters from different character's perspective all tied in some way to a children's theater play called Mister Monkey. The first chapter was strong, as were a few others, but the chapter about the monkey god jumped the shark. Didn't feel cohesive to me.
Next up: another #ToB17 selection (not one I'm very excited about 😒). And another main character named Margot. (2016 was a big year for characters named Margot.)
pick#Allisnotlost. I totally understand how you feel Liberty! We are living in an alternate universe populated by alternative facts. Aaaargggh! The only solace is taking action and reading books to reset the mind. Thanks for this cool raffle idea!
pan
pickUndertones of #Chekhov, a bit of #Tolstoy, and a reference or two to #Shakespeare ripple through 'Mister Monkey' like the aspirations and fading hopes of the novel's characters. #JewLit
Read the full review here: http://bit.ly/2iAPOPg
Today's plane read for my flight back up to Boston ✈️📚
so-soOn the fence about this one. Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character connected to the eponymous Mister Monkey (a children's classic adapted into a forgettable but popular musical). These chapters are well-written, but this doesn't hang together well as a cohesive whole. The last few chapters in particular (especially the monkey god one) are disjointed, which contributes greatly to my feeling of "meh-ness." ⭐️⭐️⭐️
No stove at home means a great excuse for dinner out at a local joint: carnitas quesadillas, malted balls, and Blue Star Wheat Beer (soda for @WanderingBookaneer ) #beerandbooks #dinnernbooks
A rainy day in PR. Stuck inside waiting for the electrician and hoping we don't have to replace the a/c, stove, and water heater, all which stopped working last night after a power surge. 😱 On the upside, I'm here with @WanderingBookaneer #Septimus and the rest of the kitty troupe! With books! 👍🏼 #GoodToBeThankful (And yes, Septimus is so much bigger!)
panI hate to say it, but I really hated this book. The first chapter could easily stand by itself as a hilarious short story. Why on earth the author kept going, I will never understand. The subsequent chapters are leaden and tedious. What a waste.
#photoadaynov16 Day 14: Orange Covers
Just started this funky orange book from one of my favorite authors.
Ginsburg doesn't realize there's a monkey behind her! #catsoflitsy
bailedUnfortunately, this one was a no go... I'm just so bored with it about a third of the way in. The narration is disjointed and kind of obnoxious and it has no apparent plot. The concept is cute and unique, so maybe I'll be in the mood and pick it back up at some point but for now, no thanks.
pickThis book was all over the place in the best way. Hilarious, sad, and smart.
pickThis book is composed of 11 chapters , each told by a different character. They all have a relation to this children's theatre musical named Mister Monkey. This book awoke a fear in me that I haven't felt since I waited tables and 9/11 happened. The fear of the future, and a strong sense of impending doom. The last chapters kinda quell those feelings. Just not pleasant to have to revisit them. Solid writing though. Absurd. Entertaining.
There's this short story by Stephen King where this girl is meeting her rich boyfriend's disapproving family. And just when things can't get worse, she is blinded by the nuclear explosion that started in the nearby city. The one they all deep down knew was going to happen sooner or later. This is the tone of this book. Lol, this book is absurd, but i haven't stopped reading it.
Its like watching a comedian whose material steps over that critical line where the material would be funny if it wasn't absurdly so on point and just depressing. Feels like Palahniuk so far but without the wink.
"She has forgiven Roger for her costume by telling herself that his brain's been destroyed by a lifetime of dinner theater and summer stock."
I've heard great things about this one. Can't wait to get started!
Loved seeing this on the cover of the New York Times Book Review! The #NYTBR calls #MisterMonkey by bestselling author #FrancineProse "so fresh and new it's almost giddy, almost impudent with originality...Prose's 15th novel is a sophisticated satire, a gently spiritual celebration of life, a dark and thoroughly grim depiction of despair, a screwball comedy, a screwball tragedy." #LitsyFeature
Another selection for the #readathon
I love new release day. #getindie
This #Thanksgiving weekend I'm thankful for weekend rituals
A Francine Prose novel about an off-off-off-off-Broadway children's musical?!! I AM GOING TO READ THE HELL OUT OF THIS.
