Counter-cultures, and the people within them, have a tendency to end up jaded and flat as the years go by. When I found myself in the punk scene in my early years of high school, I thought I had found my home, and that it would be almost impossible for me to ever leave. By the time I got to college, that part of my life was finished, and my gripes were the same as many others: everyone was the same. As King Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun." What Laren Stover attemp... (show more)

Counter-cultures, and the people within them, have a tendency to end up jaded and flat as the years go by. When I found myself in the punk scene in my early years of high school, I thought I had found my home, and that it would be almost impossible for me to ever leave. By the time I got to college, that part of my life was finished, and my gripes were the same as many others: everyone was the same. As King Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun." What Laren Stover attempts to do is not find something new to say about the Bohemian lifestyle, but to point out the many variations and flavours of being Bohemian. In her book, co-authored with husband Paul Himmelein, Stover classifies the modern Bohemian into five different categories--Beat, Gypsy, Dandy, Nouveau, and Zen. Each have their different quirks and focuses, but the relation between them is the same. They are artists by nature, Bohemians by design.

However, Stover's approach to the subject is all too one-sided. Doing a quick Google took me to an article in the NY Daily News, detailing the couple's Greenwhich Village apartment and all the fun, fantastical Bohemian things they have inside. (By the way, it was with this article that I discovered the pair were married, which is ironic considering how Stover asserts that "Bohemians have as much disdain for marriage as they do for many conventional holidays.") The article gives insight into their lives, and by reflection, I determined that most of the scenarios and examples Stover gives in her book come straight out of her life and the lives of her friends. She even includes herself and her husband in one of the nine "case studies" as a thinly-veiled American couple -- a writer and an artist, respectively -- visiting Vienna.

Throughout the book, Stover uses the qualifiers "always" and "never" when in reference to particular aspects of the Bohemian lifestyle which she feels deserves particular attention:

"Bohemians always assume their correspondence, even if they are destitute and unknown, will turn up in a museum, be auctioned off at Christie's, be reproduced in a book or be useful, if not for their biography, as material that defines an emotion or epoch."

"Pet shops? Never. A malnourished dog with mange left tied to a tree in a park has a better chance of finding a home with the Bohemian than a pug puppy in a pet store."

See what I mean? These qualifiers can have one of two adverse effects on the reader. It will either give them charge to change their lifestyle to fit into Stover's tightly-wound ideals, or it will make them feel unworthy of being a true Bohemian. Of course, there is a third effect which the true Bohemian will display, and that is to just not give a shit what a writer from New York has to say about the way they live their lives.

There is a Cosmopolitan-style quiz in the back of the book which will help the seeking Bohemian determine into which category they belong, given a list of choices for extremely hypothetical situations like any proper quiz. (Note: According to Stover, I am a Beat Bohemian with Gypsy leanings, and since I would make a rat a pet, am also one part Zen.)

In short, there is a great irony in a book written as a "Field Guide to Living on the Edge." Perhaps that was its intention, and Stover is secretly tracking those who purchase the book, judging them as non-Bohemians simply for having read her work. Or perhaps it's simply her own method of getting her memoirs published, as a pseudo self-help and fashion guide. Whatever the case may be, I'm rather glad I bought this book with a gift card and not my own money. Look for it in the library if you're curious; the Bohemian never pays full price for a hardcover. (show less)

This is the first book that has ever truly enthralled me, shaken me to the very fibres of my bones, and scared me enough to put it down for almost two years before picking it back up again. Granted, I was seven at the time, but when I finally reopened this finely crafted tome by Bruce Coville, famous for the My Teacher... and Sixth Grade Alien series, I sincerely could not put it down. Just as the final chapters were closing in with the night and my inevitable bedtime, I brought that book wit... (show more)

This is the first book that has ever truly enthralled me, shaken me to the very fibres of my bones, and scared me enough to put it down for almost two years before picking it back up again. Granted, I was seven at the time, but when I finally reopened this finely crafted tome by Bruce Coville, famous for the My Teacher... and Sixth Grade Alien series, I sincerely could not put it down. Just as the final chapters were closing in with the night and my inevitable bedtime, I brought that book with me all over the house, and finally finished reading after the dinner table had been cleared, the book sitting firmly in place where my plate had been not one hour before. And even after all these years, and after so many other books have been (regrettably) donated to numerous second-hand shops and charities, Goblins in the Castle maintains its place on my shelf, and will do so for many years to come, until it has been passed on to my children, and their children. Seriously, it's just that good. (show less)