Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Jenny mentioned Night Film by Marisha Pessl on her blog and I was immediately intrigued. Mixed media? Disgraced journalist? Mystery? I'm in!

What a delightful book. A disgraced journalist starts investigating a suicide. Along the way, he buddies up with two young people and they solve puzzles and go on adventures. Most of the book is a traditional narrative, but there are pages that are recreations of websites, photos, and other documents. I loved that mixed media format and it made every page exciting to turn.

There are some legitimate criticisms of this book. The characters are super flat and don't develop at all, so if you're someone who likes character-driven books, this is not for you. The author's use of italics is confusing and erratic and doesn't make a lot of sense. 

But, oh, what a joy. I was so immersed in this that I stayed up too late reading it. I wanted to escape from the realities of *waves hands at the world* and this book accomplished it. Sure, it was silly and there are random magical/mystical elements that I could have done without, but I was all in on this. 5/5 stars

(Maybe I am becoming an easy grader in my current state. I don't care. I have really thought all the books I've read recently have been fabulous.)

Lines of note:

I'd never heard of Piano Row. It was a splinter of Fifty-eighth Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, where delicate piano stores had tucked themselves between hulking sixties apartment buildings like a few sparrows living among hippos. (page 194) - Awww...you guys, Piano Row was demolished in 2016. Sad news. 

"It sounds like something out of a night film." (page 384) - Title spotting!

Things I looked up:

Teboni (page 287) - an ancient Japanese form of tattooing that often yields large, colorful, and meaningful tattoos

Horimono (page 287) - another type of Japanese tattooing

Irezumi (page 287) - Japanese word for tattoo, is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing

Iruma Air Base (page 294) - Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of western Tokyo, Japan

Best Director at the 1980 Oscars (page 308) - Robert Benton won for Kramer vs. Kramer

Tyrone Power (page 374) - an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. Had amazing eyebrows.

Tarantino's trunk shot (page 529) - Especially in Tarantino's early films,  at a critical moment in the film, Tarantino starts a shot in pure darkness before revealing our main characters looking down on us as they open a trunk. It should not surprise anyone to learn I've never watched a single Tarantino movie.

first step of a twelve-step program (page 552) - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. What a blessing it is that I do not know the twelve steps.

Murad cigarettes (page 553) - It was a brand of cigarettes made of pure Turkish tobacco

Hat mentions (why hats?):

...Marlowe reclining poolside surrounded by palm trees, a wide-brimmed black hat on her head...(page 360)

Her hair was longer than I remembered, secured in a ponytail under a black velvet hat. (page 562)

"Drew, you left your hat on the prop table." (page 564)