Ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls, I'm about to do something I absolutely hate. I am about to date myself. I know, the world is skewed toward the young. However, sometimes, yes sometimes us old farts must stand up for what we believe in. This is my moment. So to you, dear book world I say the following: Genesis was a great band, Styx was a great band, Van Halen was a great band, Aerosmith was a great band. Invisible Touch, Renegade, Hot for Teacher, and Walk This Way, are songs like nobody makes anymore. Not that I don't like much of today's music, but much of it I just don't know.
These bands I'm talking about didn't use auto-tune, or mouth the words while someone else actually sang. These were bands in the golden age of modern music. I like older music too. Who cannot appreciate a great Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra or Perry Como song? Heck, my mom's favorite song was Splish Splash, ever heard that? Then there is classical, too much good stuff to mention except my favorite, Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. I swear if you close your eyes during that song you can see your whole life replay in bits and pieces. Go on Google it, I'll wait......see it is amazing!
While looking at the NY Times Best Seller list one day I saw this odd book suddenly at number one on the paperback list. I hadn't heard any buzz about it, nobody I knew was reviewing or even reading it. It has a simple red front with no cover art. I quickly read the "jacket" and discovered it is about a mystery that takes place in a supermarket. Have you caught my blog name...The Fictional Housewife...yeah, grocery items and converting them into some kind of masterpiece is my life. This book seemed right up my alley, I ordered immediately. When it arrived I was surprised to see that it was written by some young rap star, Bobby Hall, aka Logic. Really? Okay. A book is a book, I'd give it a go.
First let me say, overall I liked it. The writing was not the best, it felt a bit like a high school kid wrote it...not a talented writer with a wonderful editor. I noticed this lack of polished word play but it was not terribly distracting. The story is told in two parts. The beginning is about the main character, Flynn, and his experiences working in a grocery store. He has had a tremendous stroke of luck and has gotten a publisher to buy his first book on spec, they've paid him an advance now he must produce the manuscript. His novel is to be set in the grocery story where he works. Then in part two, still following Flynn we find that something major has happened and time has passed. I don't want to tell you more, it will ruin your experience. I found the ending pretty unbelievable, but then again, most books I read you have to push your disbelief aside and just enjoy. This is one of those books that is good, interesting, a quick read. Not genius, not my favorite of the year or even the month but definitely interesting and something I am glad to have read.
If you have time to give The Supermarket a go, I think you'll enjoy it. Oh, and if you do, I have one thing to say to you, "coffee, coffee, coffee." (You'll get it if you read the book.)
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