mean boy by Lynn Coady
This is the first book i have read by Coady. I must admit i was always a little put off by the cover of her last book, Saints of Big Harbour. Stupid, i know, you can't tell a book by its cover, blah blah blah. But after having read this book i have changed my opinion of Coady. She is a really good, really funny writer.
mean boy is set in the English department of a small New Brunswick university. The main character Lawrence/ Larry fancies himself a budding poet and trails Jim, the established poet-cum-professor, like a lost poet puppy. Academic farces are one of my favorite kinds of novels and this one does a good job at poking fun at the simple mindedness of so much of academic life.
On the whole the book was really enjoyable until the very end, which just falls flat. Or maybe i didn't get it. That is probably the case. It just kind of fizzles away. Kind of like this post...
