Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as his others
Review: I was a little disapointed in this one. Not as good as Et Tu, Babe, and Tooth Imprints on a Corndog. I guess his later work is the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Drained
Review: I'll take a good laugh anytime, but the flashes of humor sprinkled throughout this wimpy book do little to rekindle my interest in what reads more like the back of a cereal box than a novel. I spent less than two hours reading Leyner, not because I skipped around or put it down early, but because that's how long it took me to read the whole thing, and I'm glad, because any longer would have been bestowing too much attention on a novelty item. Leyner is gifted, but seems to have no idea what to do with those gifts. In an expanded form, with a grander sweep and firmer grasp of narrative, and a warmer interest in flesh-and-blood characterization, he could very well have turned this well-titled piece into - oh, third-rate Pynchon imitation maybe? As is, the reader is left with colorful squirts of words and imagination-stetching set pieces leading absolutely nowhere - the literary equivalent of channel surfing. Huzzah, another postmodern breakthrough. For an experimental novel that transcends its own gimmicks (which this book never does), try Mark Danielewski's "House of Leaves," as crazy and fantastic as Leyner tries to be, but with enough discipline and respect for the reader to ultimately prove rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: Frantic Garbage, Rarely Redeemed
Review: I'll take a good laugh anytime, but the flashes of humor sprinkled throughout this wimpy book do little to rekindle my interest in what reads more like the back of a cereal box than a novel. I spent less than two hours reading Leyner, not because I skipped around or put it down early, but because that's how long it took me to read the whole thing, and I'm glad, because any longer would have been bestowing too much attention on a novelty item. Leyner is gifted, but seems to have no idea what to do with those gifts. In an expanded form, with a grander sweep and firmer grasp of narrative, and a warmer interest in flesh-and-blood characterization, he could very well have turned this well-titled piece into - oh, third-rate Pynchon imitation maybe? As is, the reader is left with colorful squirts of words and imagination-stetching set pieces leading absolutely nowhere - the literary equivalent of channel surfing. Huzzah, another postmodern breakthrough. For an experimental novel that transcends its own gimmicks (which this book never does), try Mark Danielewski's "House of Leaves," as crazy and fantastic as Leyner tries to be, but with enough discipline and respect for the reader to ultimately prove rewarding.
Rating: 
Summary: Leyner doesn't simply wound with words, he slaughters
Review: Imagine this: Richard Brautigan's "Trout Fishing in America" is reborn in a Jackie Chan movie as a crossbreed between William S. Burrough's "Naked Lunch" and the more scientific portions of Richard Power's "The Goldbug Variations." Confused? Well... It helps if you approach the book not so much as a novel, per se, than as a gastronomical imagination explosion. An Explanation?
Like Burroughs, Leyner doesn't write stories, although the book is seperated into "Sections". Rather, he chooses to take insane topics, (like the Military Academy of Beauty, a man named Big Squirrel shooting his first, beautiful ape woman, kidney stone removal with Jimi Hendrix guitar solos, etc.) and create an arsenal with it. Admittedly, this means you will either love it, or hate it. If you don't like it, leave it alone. The rest of us will blow cold cereal out our nostrils while howling with laughter. A completely original, insane, inspired masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Why no love?
Review: In a world of hate and war, we must take a look back on this book. "My Cousin" was the first book by Leyner I read.
And, I still read it. This tome of delightful, poetic anarchy is not for everyone; But, if you can be distracted by the rantings of a stick figure in a Jhonen Vasquez comic, then this should definetly be a treat for you.
I recommend "Enter The Squirrel". I say "Ole`!" to this author. (That's a good thing.) And, I recommend this book to everyone I meet, pass by, or steal from.
My rating?
Two fists up.
Rating:
Summary: Why no love?
Review: In a world of hate and war, we must take a look back on this book. "My Cousin" was the first book by Leyner I read.
And, I still read it. This tome of delightful, poetic anarchy is not for everyone; But, if you can be distracted by the rantings of a stick figure in a Jhonen Vasquez comic, then this should definetly be a treat for you.
I recommend "Enter The Squirrel". I say "Ole`!" to this author. (That's a good thing.) And, I recommend this book to everyone I meet, pass by, or steal from.
My rating?
Two fists up.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes it's not the plot....
Review: In the hyperkinetic style of writing, one Leyner has been doing for well over a decade now you have to take what happens as a fever dream or the author inviting you into his acid flashback world. Mark Leyner has a gift for prose and uses it along with cultural icons to create smart, if sometimes near-incoherent fiction. I remember reading this to a class of computer music students after class and they were laughing so hard they were near tears. Perhaps it is a love/hate thing but there is no denying Leyner can conjure up some witty situations and absurdist comedy. It isn't that Leyner is a bad writer, rather it is readers expectations that make "My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist" polarizing. Leyner's metaphors are great fun, he does not spend much time with scenic description unless it has significant import to the story. The dialog is crisp and, well weird, but in a droll way. His choices of charaters and their stories are funny and merit re-reading. If you can check the book out try the first page or two. If you find it funny or engrossing you probably won't be let down. If it makes no sense you might as well put the book down as it's not going to get any easier to deal with. To the right minded reader this book is a treasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny, but that not that funny
Review: Is Mark Leyner funny? Yup, and clever too, and "My Cousin, My Gasteroenterologist" is full of good jokes. The problem, then, is that they're buried under so much junk and pseudo-transgressive "genre-busting" that you'd never know they were there unless you look really closely, and having to put that much effort into finding humor kind of negates its value as humor. Which is a shame, because Leyner's obviously smart and has something to say about something (His short piece - not in this collection - about the Death of Postmodernism is fall-out-of-your-chair funny). Kinda just wish he'd settle down and stop congratulating himself and write a real book, one of these days. This one's an amusing diversion, and he's obviously talented, but it's not much else. It'd be sad if Leyner wasn't satisfied with just a smirk.
Rating:
Summary: Simply great, a natural non-toxic drug
Review: just makes my brain spin into fantasies and I can't stop it once it started. I wouldn't recommend to read it before sleeping althougt you'd like to stay awake.
Rating:
Summary: And before Robbins, Richard Farina (w/paragoric Pell Mells)
Review: Mark simply isn't taking this stuff seriously. This book makes a mockery of the great American economic system and all of its munificence. This great land of ours deserves better than the heir to Tom Robbins' Tomfoolery...
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