Title: What Not to Write
Review: I'm this novel's ideal demographic: I've lived in Austin for three decades; I love and hate the place; I have a degree from UT; and I'm certainly a card-carrying liberal, one who has even subscribed to The Nation (to which the author has contributed). But I loathed this book. Not because it wasn't true to "my" city, but because its author thought she had to write Art instead of telling a story. By page 90, I was wondering if the story would ever begin -- or if I'd ever find anything to admire in the person who, I surmised after many choppy chapters, was the main character. But there was nothing to admire or to even vaguely like in the struggling Austin Chronicle journalist who is the protagonist. I did make it to the end of the book, because of the odd moment of funny truthfulness or because some vivid detail was keenly rendered. For that, I give the novel one star.
Is this product review negative?