Aug 9 - Fog

Product wise it was amazing and came quickly and in perfect condition. Writing wise it took me a read or two to fully become immersed in the re-structuring of the language. The first few poems felt very thin despite (I’m sure) the level of consideration that went into using a five-line diary as an arc. For poetry readers and writers there is definitely a tone that is felt the further you go into it, and while it isn’t exactly earth-shattering it does sit with you and make you think about a persons life whom you’ll never meet but still would be fascinated to know

There may be a total of 500 words in this book. It's a bad joke, and the only reason it's getting attention is b/c FSG must be peddling it hard. Maybe you'll think differently...but READ A SAMPLE before you buy.

An artifact, an experiment, and a deceptively simple expression of daily life. One day to the next, one storm to the next, and one death to the next.

This is an interesting and strangely moving book. Drawn from the diary of an 86 year old woman living in southern Illinois, each page offers a few words, sentences which over time build a kind of story, or picture of a life.

A few errant words purporting to be a story. Reviewers are correct this book could be less than 500 words. "Robin on nest today" is an entire page in this book. Just pretentious garbage that literary critics heap praise on to sound smart and discerning. A few of the 5 star reviews are clearly purchased. There are no characters to discern and to say the plot moves at a nice pace is clearly said by someone who didn't read the book considering you could easily read the entire thing in under 10 minutes. It's horrible that garbage like this gets published while so many aspiring authors are held back.

I know I’ve never before read anything like Kathryn Scanlan’s book titled, Aug 9 – Fog, and I’m guessing that most readers haven’t either. Fifteen years ago, Scanlan bought a diary at an estate sale. The diary was written by an octogenarian woman over the course of several years. I was reminded of refrigerator poetry and what impressions can be made from assembling different words. Scanlan doesn’t transcribe the diary; she curates it in pieces, carefully selecting what words and phrases will best reveal the diarist and her life. The result is an odd book that will appeal to adventurous readers.Rating: Three-star (It’s ok)

This isn't a novel, it isn't a novella, it isn't a lot of things. This is short and reads more like poetry than anything else. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. It's an interesting conceit to take someone else's writing and "collage it" to make it "your own" but it comes out more as an art project than literature.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.