I usually finish every book that I pick up. Even if I don't like something I almost always try and stick it out until the end. This piece of work, if you want to call it that, was one of the rare exceptions. That's surprising for me since the book is only 151 pages. One of the main problems I had with this effort is the careless manner in which the author crafted the character. With so much focus being on the character and his inner thoughts you would assume Theron Marshman would have at least made an attempt to make him at least somewhat believable.

Perhaps this book would have been palatable if it didn't suffer from overwriting. The thoughts and observations of the character should have been more concise. Instead of that, we mostly get a collection of incoherent ramblings about meaningless tangents unrelated to the story or the character. Often, after a point is made the author keeps hacking away at it for no apparent reason. This is one of the (many) reasons why I became impatient and gave up on reading at about the halfway point. Another shortcoming is the utter lack of detail in the surroundings within the narrative. The book is missing dimension in regard to the surroundings of the story and is devoid of ambience which wears thin after a short period of reading.

This book appears to be nothing more than a disjointed story comprised of a collection of thoughts of the author that do not have much substance behind them when combined as a whole. If you're interested in a good read by a solid writer then you'll be very disappointed by Clown.

Take "American Psycho" replace the Yuppie with a struggling poet with a less than rigorous skin care regimen, add some brilliant steam of consciousness writing and a pinch of hilarious/insightful (sometimes both at the same time) situations/thoughts and poof, you have Clown.

I'm obviously not a writer, but Marshman is a force to be reckoned with. The bar scene at 1st Ave (Chapters 29-34) is worth the price of the book alone. I love the wide variety of emotions this book takes you on. From a creepy suspense (is somebody going to die?) to laugh out loud comedy (Norman's pickup guide and smelling farts with William) and introspection and despair (Am I living up to my potential/ The Epic?), Clown keeps your attention and leaves you wanting more.