Review by Noosh -- Call Me Pomeroy by James Hanna

Noosh · Post by **Noosh** » 24 Sep 2019, 00:38

[Following is a volunteer review of "Call Me Pomeroy" by James Hanna.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Pomeroy, whose real name is Eddie Beasley, works for no one, listens to no one, and does what he desires. He's a simple man who loves to sing and have sex. He also wants to be famous. A lengthy song called "Ants in My Pants" makes him popular at last, but at what cost? In Call Me Pomeroy, we follow this antisocial, narcissistic, sexist, and funny man as he embarks on his adventure. What happens? Where does he go? What does he do? How does he become famous? If you want to know, then you should read Hanna's Call Me Pomeroy.

I loved the narrator of James Hanna's book. He's not the run of the mill "hero" everyone is used to; he's the exact opposite. Everyone has rightly stated it, so I'm going to highlight it as well, this book is the story of a fascinating antihero. Pomeroy is a hilarious man who uses the most informal speech to tell us his story. That speech is what makes the book exciting. He walks around singing his nonsense song as he dreams about becoming famous, having groupies, and a manager. Some call him a misogynist and they might be right since the way he refers to women and the things he wants them to do are demeaning. But I think he's a simple guy who's all talk and no action. For someone who talks a lot about sex, Pomeroy never does anything. He never forces himself on anybody either. I enjoyed his story as well and genuinely wanted to know what would happen to this man, which is something I can't say about many books these days.

Pomeroy is a reader too and has a comical way of summarizing the literary classics such as Joyce's Ulysses or Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. You don't know whether to laugh out loud or be horrified. Plus, his comments on almost everything that he comes upon are unusual and ridiculous, but true. I thoroughly agree with Brandon Hart's comment in the introduction where he says Pomeroy "speaks the truth."

If there ever were a category called the "Literature of Profanity," then Pomeroy's story would be under it. It's not like Pomeroy took unnecessary pain to use profanities left and right; it was a part of the vernacular he was using to speak. It was just the way he talked. However, the constant cussing and disrespecting references to women and his sometimes repeating the events of the previous chapters can become a bit tiring for some of the readers.

Call Me Pomeroy is marvelously edited. When a narrator is using an error-ridden vernacular language, it's not easy to edit the text; however, here the editor has done a great job. The mistakes I found were minor and didn't cause any difficulties for the readers. This fact plus all the other ones mentioned earlier are the reasons I'm going to give James Hanna's fiction 4 out of 4 stars.

I don't recommend this book to young readers. Actually, I firmly recommend them not to pick this book up. Pomeroy is mainly for adults. Then again, not all adults can enjoy it, as I've explained earlier. It is amusing and entertaining. It is an easy and fast read as well. Therefore, if you think you can look beyond the profane language, then give this book a read. You might end up enjoying it.

******
Call Me Pomeroy
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Gravy · Post by **Gravy** » 09 Oct 2019, 18:10

This one isn't really my thing, but you certainly make the whole thing sound interesting.

However, my ability to ignore casual sexism has become razor thin, so I don't think I could enjoy this one.

Noosh · Post by **Noosh** » 09 Oct 2019, 22:02

Gravy wrote: ↑09 Oct 2019, 18:10 This one isn't really my thing, but you certainly make the whole thing sound interesting.
However, my ability to ignore casual sexism has become razor thin, so I don't think I could enjoy this one.

I hear ya.
But yeah, I was just being honest... it is a fun book. I did laugh out loud sometimes, and I enjoyed the way he talked “ain’t” and all that...

Thanks for the comment

Sam Ibeh · Post by **Sam Ibeh** » 09 Oct 2019, 23:01

Well I like the humorous approach to this book. Makes for a good laugh. Very tasty review.

Noosh · Post by **Noosh** » 09 Oct 2019, 23:46

Sam_Ibeh wrote: ↑09 Oct 2019, 23:01 Well I like the humorous approach to this book. Makes for a good laugh. Very tasty review.

Thank you very much kind sir

Sam Ibeh · Post by **Sam Ibeh** » 09 Oct 2019, 23:52

Noosh wrote: ↑09 Oct 2019, 23:46
Sam_Ibeh wrote: ↑09 Oct 2019, 23:01 Well I like the humorous approach to this book. Makes for a good laugh. Very tasty review.
Thank you very much kind sir

You're welcome @Noosh