Saturday, June 3, 2023

Book Review: Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein


A novel about a novelist in search for his real life characters, the debut novel by Andrew Lipstein Last Resort has humorous twists and intelligent conversations. 

A successful novel about a man´s holiday romance in Greece with a woman terminally ill hits bestseller lists and it seems to be inspired by a real story. A real story that was told to the author who submitted the manuscript by his another writer friend. Ending up in a legal imbroglio, that will end up with a switch between the author´s name to appear on the cover, it seems to have more to this, as it proves that the story itself was far from being accurate.

With subtle ironies about the publishing industry and it´s fake hall of fame, it also put into question the ways in which we are looking and finding inspiration, at what extent we are looking for reality into fiction and how characters themselves may want to be fred by the weight of fictionality.

The characters of the book themselves are relatable and most importantly, very thoughtful about their fate and their literary realities. The book can be a great read to someone interested and even in love with topics about writers and the publishing industry.

Personally, I´ve found the topic interesting, but the story is draining sometimes, with the character hurrying up every time to move in another state and doing the same things over and over again - especially in relationship with his women (real or imaginary). The book makes a difference as it features male authors, and not the usual female authors looking to forget about themselves, writing one line at a time and never making it into the bestseller. It´s a different, unique twists, refreshing for the inventory of books approaching this topic. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

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