Skip to main content

Member Reviews

This novel gave me some of the same vibes as Kristen Arnett- repulsed, curious, and amused all at the same time. There were some clunky bits (the summer camp set up feels like a weird jump) but overall oddly empathetic

Was this review helpful?

Songs of No Provenance left me thinking a lot about artmaking and fandom and shame, gender/queerness. The need/the want for attention. What a compelling protagonist - Joan is flawed and freaky and (lol) relatable. Conklin's writing is attentive, descriptive (lines like "Goodwill business casual" made me lol). I'm partway through and excited to read more! That scene on stage made me cringe and want to read more (can you be fascinated/afraid/repelled all at the same time? Absolutely!).

Was this review helpful?

Song of No Provenance is a strange, flawed, compelling, off-the-beaten-path kind of novel nevertheless written with a huge amount of heart. Joan is an extremely indie rock star in her forties with a pee fetish and a very strange relationship to gender. After she inadvertently reveals her fetish in (and i say this as a compliment) one of the most cringe-inducing scenes I have ever read in contemporary literature, Joan runs off in a shame-induced haze, tosses her phone into a bush, and takes a job as a teacher to three (lol) talented, ironic high-school aged students at a no-technology summer camp. (A somewhat outlandish premise, but i'll accept it.)

At the camp, she's all eye-roll and i-don't-care at first, but slowly warms up to the kids, and is forced to reckon her relationship with shame, artmaking, romantic entanglement, mentorship, and her fetish, esp. when she meets a nonbinary artist who she is intrigued with. It's a romp of a book, fun, idiosyncratic, and wholly the author's own (it brings to mind the george saunders-ism about the "little dung hill" that he nevertheless claims). The ending doesn't quite land, but that's ok. I'm looking forward to whatever work comes next from Lydi Conklin's twisted, life-affirming mind.

Was this review helpful?

I truly enjoyed Conklin's writing style. I was really put in a time and place while reading "Songs." However, the story felt weak and I had trouble connecting with any of the characters. Joan and Paige's relationship was hard to follow.

Was this review helpful?