BOOKS : DEC. 4, 2023 · FlipCityMag.com
by Fisham St. Eldwich
As my followers know, I earned my stripes as a book reviewer the hard way, with analyses of scholarly works like John Keegan's Second World War and cut my teeth on historical tomes such as Yuri Slezkine's The House of Government.
So I could barely contain my joy when learning that my decades of dedication have earned me the privilege of reviewing this non-fiction juvenile literature selection of depressing polemics, awkward love odes, and ketamine trip play-by-plays all collected in this hefty offering by first-time author Trenton Duvalis, Why Does Everything Suck Balls? and Other Musings, thanks to my editors at Flip City.
So I'll do my best: most of Balls, not so unlike the works of the Existentialists Camus and Sartre, is devoted to screeds on the utter futility of human existence, disdain for employment, and why most people just aren't worth one's time.
And this is all put across with a third-grader's sense of humor and densely illustrated with anime waikus. There's even a whole chapter devoted to a teenage vampire romance between a Lord Rothnor and Seraphina Shadowthorn – what does this have to do with anything?? Perhaps the lesson here is that Balls' very pointlessness is its point?
Everything does not suck, but this book certainly does. Also, architectural diagrams of inner-city high schools in the appendices should have raised some alarms with the publishers. However, Duvalis' YouTube channel is far bigger than mine, so what do I know? •
Rating: One smirk
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