Lily reviewed Letters to Wendy's by Joe Wenderoth
The view of Neoliberalism from Wendy's
3 stars
The TLDR: I read this book for my book club, and it's not a book I normally would have read and it is a book I would find difficult to recommend, but I am glad to have read it.
The hook of this book is essentially a kind of year 2000 edge-lord humor. I'm not interested in that aspect, which regrettably suffuses the entire book. As such, the narrator is of course some kind of deranged pedophile.
However, underneath the pitch of the book is an interesting commentary on our modern society--what is it to so heavily identify with a brand? What does it mean to exist in this space where all public spaces are now privately owned, but all of our private thoughts are now transmitted publicly (regardless of if others want them)? What does it mean for us if everything is sufficient, and nothing aspires to be more …
The TLDR: I read this book for my book club, and it's not a book I normally would have read and it is a book I would find difficult to recommend, but I am glad to have read it.
The hook of this book is essentially a kind of year 2000 edge-lord humor. I'm not interested in that aspect, which regrettably suffuses the entire book. As such, the narrator is of course some kind of deranged pedophile.
However, underneath the pitch of the book is an interesting commentary on our modern society--what is it to so heavily identify with a brand? What does it mean to exist in this space where all public spaces are now privately owned, but all of our private thoughts are now transmitted publicly (regardless of if others want them)? What does it mean for us if everything is sufficient, and nothing aspires to be more or less than that?
To borrow a phrase from Wenderoth... the book itself is an insufficient meal, and nothing tastes as sweet.