X by Matt Thompson

Ebook:  179pages

Genre:  Fiction

Publisher:   Independent  July 2012

Source: Amazon Kindle Bookstore

First Sentence: My charm I [1] prefer a soft toothbrush to one of those that are ultra-firm; to me those feel like I'm brushing my teeth with something that I would scrape charcoal off my grill with and that isn't something I want to feel in a moment of deep shame.

My opinion:  I had picked this for X for the Title Challenge. It was the wrong choice.

Do not get me wrong apart from a few editing errors and long winded sentences this is well written. It was just the wrong choice for me and to be honest I would never have downloaded it to my Kindle had I not been desperate to find a book beginning with X for the 2012 Title Challenge that I have been participating in. The complexities of the storyline which I found confusing were I think not helped by the 168 bracketed annotations! Not easily accessible in an ebook, as they were all at the end, even this I did not realise until I got there, having wondered what an earth the numbers were all about. Maybe this particular book would have worked better for me as a paper version as then I would have flipped the pages to read the footnotes as I read. Maybe this is not the authors intention though as each section does read ok alone, I just would have preferred not to have done so. Anyway the format just did not work for me although others may find it very interesting for just the reasons I found it strange.

The story is not for the prudish as there is detailed explicit content of a sexual nature because the protagonist Cale is a young man battling against a most unusual addiction. He rambles and is often delusional, the footnotes that follow being the more grounded telling of events as his addiction ruins not only his life but those of his loved ones as well. A candid look at someone with a severe addiction that although he has acknowledged it is one, has done nothing to obtain help. It is important to remember that the point of view is all Cale's, in the first part of the novel. Some of my thoughts did change after reading the annotation section and seeing things from the point of view of other characters. It is not until right near the somewhat emotional ending of the novel that Cale seems to suddenly become perceptive as events unfold.


Author Profile

A writer first, who writes what he wants to write and what he thinks needs to be said. He writes about real world problems and it's not always pretty. He's a student of literature, creative writing, and contemporary fiction.

The biographical information and photo used in this post are with thanks to the following website and absolutely all I was able to find about this young man, after a quick search.

Amazon.com - Author Profile

I have chosen to read this title as the letter X for The A - Z Book Challenge which I have decided to attempt to achieve in alphabetical order. I have a good selection of titles to choose from our bookshelves, it will be interesting to see how far I can get before I get stuck. You can follow my progress here.