Review by mblmn_mortician -- Call Me Pomeroy by James Hanna

[mblmn_mortician]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Call Me Pomeroy by James Hanna is a short, outlandish, and unnervingly funny read. Pomeroy, born Edward “Eddie” Beasley, age 57, is an obscene, self-involved jackass. If that term offends you, Pomeroy’s constantly foul language is not for you. It would be quite difficult to describe Pomeroy without using the word “narcissist”. If you are able to slough off the cursing, first person perspective (of course), poor use of language and grammar, relentless italicized words, and consistent degradation of women, you are in for an interesting derogatory, eye-rolling, ride where you may find yourself laughing about things you didn’t think you would find funny. He is truly one of those characters written that readers love to hate (or hate to love…).

We learn quickly that Pomeroy is recently out of jail for statutory rape—a charge he considers absurd and not respectable enough. He wants to get himself back out on the field to score one of the many women who are itching for some more than just a look from Pomeroy. He immediately expresses his lack of a home, lack of a job, reliance on general assistance checks, and his psych’s diagnosis of a narcissistic, explosive, and antisocial personality disorder. Pomeroy’s freedom begins his new task of recording a hit song—Ants in my Pants—and takes the reader through some interesting events, sit-ins for the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, international travel, several arrests, multiple interactions with his parole officer, Jessica Jimenez, expulsion from more than one European country, national headlines, introductions to several sketchy characters, and many literary and musical references from ol’ Pomeroy himself.

I enjoyed this book’s satire, and found myself laughing regularly. I especially enjoyed the author’s way of using slang and poor language, use of italics to accentuate definition, and the flow of the book. At the beginning of each chapter, we get a short, crudely paraphrased summary by Pomeroy of the previous events we’ve watched him cause. Pomeroy is well read, perceptive, intelligent, and seemingly an appealing musician. I enjoyed imagining James Hanna writing this book—did he have a hard time writing such a bold and offensive character? His creative take on impersonating this character in first-person was a challenge to read at times, but overall, it is ingenious and unlike anything I’ve read previously.

I did not enjoy Pomeroy. But at the same time, his character is incredibly well written. I found myself having a difficult time reading all of the narcissistic tendencies Pomeroy poses on nearly everything around him; reading a character who can seemingly do no “real” wrong, and who twists events to justify his behavior was difficult for me to relate to and humanize. I both enjoyed and disliked the italics and poor grammar and language. I also did not like the representation of women, but I understand the importance of that representation with Pomeroy’s character. Surprisingly, there really wasn’t much I truly disliked about this book.

This book is certainly not for those who dislike foul language, poor representations of women, politics, riots, bombings, extremist actions, lewd behavior, nudity, robbery, shadow organizations, or blatant disregard of authority. Readers who enjoy a challenging perspective, satire, drama, and clever story lines would enjoy Call Me Pomeroy .

Overall, I would give this book a 4 out of 4. I do dislike Pomeroy as a character, but he is so well written, I couldn’t give this book anything less than the highest marks.

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Call Me Pomeroy
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