Review of "I'm a genius of unspeakable evil and I want to be your class president" on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
Blurbs about this book describe it as a Young Adult novel, and I generally don't read YA novels, but Greil Marcus mentioned it in his Real Life Rock Top 10, so I gave it a go. It's a funny novel, but it exists in a strange area between YA and real literature. The novel's plot focuses on Oliver Watson, a fat, stupid, and unpopular 7th grader, who is purposefully stupid and unpopular, as a cover for the fact that he is actually world's 3rd richest man. As a YA novel, there's a good bit about middle school drama, cliques, bullies, and the futile pointlessness of student government elections. As real literature, the novel features a variety of references to Captain Beefheart, Nabokov, Pynchon, Odysseus, A Clockwork Orange, which I think would bit a bit over the head of most young adult readers. Navigating in between these world of young adult …
Blurbs about this book describe it as a Young Adult novel, and I generally don't read YA novels, but Greil Marcus mentioned it in his Real Life Rock Top 10, so I gave it a go. It's a funny novel, but it exists in a strange area between YA and real literature. The novel's plot focuses on Oliver Watson, a fat, stupid, and unpopular 7th grader, who is purposefully stupid and unpopular, as a cover for the fact that he is actually world's 3rd richest man. As a YA novel, there's a good bit about middle school drama, cliques, bullies, and the futile pointlessness of student government elections. As real literature, the novel features a variety of references to Captain Beefheart, Nabokov, Pynchon, Odysseus, A Clockwork Orange, which I think would bit a bit over the head of most young adult readers. Navigating in between these world of young adult zit jokes and bully angst and hipster pop culture references is a tough job, with Lieb managing to do decently enjoyable job of it.
