The Rif Raff Book Club January book selection was What's Not to Love: The Adventures of a Midly Perverted Young Writer by Jonathon Ames.

What's Not to Love by Jonathon Ames

I was hoping for something more substantial in the message. This book was simply a rant by the author about his crazy life. I would like to discuss some of the odd points of his career with other people face to face. The idea that he was a successful writer giving lectures and readings seemed out of place. I guess there is an audience for everything. I was curious about his writing regarding his lack of self worth and what drove him to his actions. I did laugh out loud at moments in the book. I could see why no public library found it necessary to buy this book for their collection. I kept wondering what his other two books were like. I think I would look that up on line from the Amazon reviews. I wanted the writing to funny and odd. I don't think it was very funny and it was odd in a way I could have done without. There was no pay out to the oddness just the author getting issues off his chest in an effort to have something to write about. BOOK CLUB THUMBS DOWN.

I guess you have to give Ames credit for being honest. Some parts of the book were rather funny. The show at the Fez Club in N.Y. with his "Mangina" friend was humorous. The poop pants in France had some chuckles as did his taxi driver days. But all in all it was just a series of newspaper/magazine articles talking about his life. For urban cosmopolitan humor, it was okay, but as a book it was pretty light.