murrderdith's reviews
493 reviews

Recently started reading Brian Wood's X-Men. This collection was a lot of fun, but I will admit as someone whose knowledge of the X-Men universe (multiverse?) extends as far as the early 90s cartoon, I had to do a little research (mostly for my own edification, not because the story necessitated it.)

I heard about this novel from Eden Lepecki's interview on The Colbert Report and thought the premise had a lot of potential.

I've seen a few reviews that complain that the novel isn't serious or fact-driven as books like Fast Food Nation and they're right, it's not. It's also a novel, not a work of investigative journalism. I wouldn't discredit this book based on the misreading of a few cranky reviewers. If I did have a quibble, it would be that sometimes it felt as if the author was reaching for Vonnegut-level absurdity, but not quite making it.

Overall, this satire is worth the read. For a 336 page novel that spans a little over 30 years, the pacing never seemed too rushed (though there were moments the authors seemed to throw away that really deserved more time--the revelation that Sarin is trans comes to mind.) It's a fun, quick read that might also make you scan an ingredient list for red dye or re-thinking drinking another diet Coke.