The Ticking Is the Bomb: A Memoir Audiobook

" I bought this book when I was really looking for Flynn's other book, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, but it wasn't available in the bookstore at the time. The memoir was a lot of short essays intertwining the author's feelings on the Iraq War and the act of torture with the coming of his first child. I've read a couple of memoirs that end in a child being born, or children saving everything, or the simplicity of being a parent, or the simplicity of childhood. I had a feeling it was going to end on such a note. There's something about it I simply don't understand yet. And though Flynn can write a poignant scene and connect seemingly distant random occurrences with concepts and movies and songs to bring more meaning to them, I often wondered where he was going with it. This marks the second memoir I've read with these short essays, and while I'm a fan of the essay, since they are so short they often leave something to be desired for me. "

" I didn't enjoy this book as much as his other one, but Nick Flynn is undeniably a great writer. There are moments of brilliance throughout but I found it overall to be too fragmented, switching between the torture theme, his love life, his family history and the birth of his daughter. It all became more cohesive for me at the end, and by then I was thankful I read it, but there were some disjointed moments along the way. The poetic moments have me intrigued and I'm not looking forward to reading some of his poetry. When you read this book in the context of Nick Flynn as poet, some of the disjointedness makes a little more sense. It could be a long poem. "

" Really good book. Not as good as Another Bullshit Night in Suck City but still very well written. It wonders too much sometimes but some of the passages are just awesome "

" This book revisits some of the same issues that Flynn deals with in Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, but it also gives excellent factual information and insight into the tortures propagated at Abu Graib prison. I hope the next book expands on those interviews. Flynn is a keen observer of life. "

" Not as great as "Another Bullshit Night In Suck City." But pretty damn good. "

" A vital work of contemporary nonfiction. So damn good. "

" i think that mr flynn is a very talented wordsmith. i like the way his brain interprets the world. "

" Melancholy, deeply affecting and ultimately hopeful mix of memoir, philosophy and current affairs. Told in a kind of stream of consciousness, non-linear manner, The Ticking Is the Bomb is unlike any memoir I've read in a long time. "

" the author is about to have his first child. seems like his fears of that are manifesting in memories of interviewing POW"S in the iraq war. "

" Maybe more than four stars. Not sure yet. "

" Maybe more than four stars. Not sure yet. "

" The free-form appendix, alone, is a story/poem/essay of great power and beauty and sadness and hope. But saying that is almost a spoiler. Read the whole text first. "

" Didn't grab me like Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, but it's Nick Flynn, so that means it's still better than 90% of other crap in the world. "

" Really dug Flynn's second--does this mean there will be a third?--memoir, though I only wish it had been, well, longer. I was also impressed that he took the venerable Errol Morris to task regarding Abu Ghraib. Sad but very readable indeed. "

" Great memoir that talked about torture, but also was a memoir rooted in his thoughts about relationships, his father, and becoming a father himself. Well-written, and moving. "