I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First of all, if you love roadtrip novels, then perk your ear up.

The black box of doom needs a little road-time.

Of course, exactly WHAT that black box of doom is will be a major bone of contention throughout the novel, but it should be safe to say that there are several.

Probably, the more interesting black box of doom is the author's willingness to let it all hang out. We've all had some seriously hard years, be it with societal craziness, fractured people, loneliness, online echo chambers, and, let's face it, FEAR and the greater uneasiness we all have about opening up to others.

After a fairly delightful meet-cute involving a bit of kidnapping (honestly probably the only way this basement-dwelling dude might have agreed to this bit of wildness), this novel doesn't hesitate to jump right in and say the things that might start tons of arguments.

Oddly, however, there's a bit of interesting open-mindedness, which was pretty delightful, even if it didn't go overboard.

The rest of the novel was almost slapstick in how the Reddit boards went cuckoo or how conspiracy nutters became weekend warriors. It was pretty funny.

It may not be my favorite of Mr. Pargin's, but I do appreciate the courage to put these other ideas out there and treat them with a little respect even if they may be a sore point for many. (Think any of the contentious things that are on Reddit, and you'll get the idea.)

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