Tommy

While this book is longer than it needs to be and some of the content has aged pretty poorly, it has a great story, likable characters, and plenty of truly chilling horror. It isn't perfect, but there sure is a lot to love here.

Truly the end of an era. R.I.P. Kentaro Miura.

My personal Berserk odyssey began in late 2018; while I haven't been on this journey for as long as many of you have, I did devour the series at a reading rate that's unprecedented for me. In 2021 alone I've read twenty volumes! Kentaro Miura is now my most read author by far and I'll always wear that like a badge of honor because his body of work is absolutely exceptional. It made me fall in love with manga wholly and completely, and has me desperately seeking out another series to scratch my Berserk itch. Suggestions would be lovely?

Just to quickly weigh in on the whole “will they or won't they” debate about finishing up the series down the line: I, for one, think they should go for it. If it's true that Kentaro Miura left behind notes and trained apprentices in his style, then I think it's clear that that's what he wanted, which is the most important thing here. If he left behind the tools needed to finish such a culturally important story, then his life's work deserves the chance to be completed in a way that honors his legacy. Or maybe I'm just a selfish fanboy, I dunno. I just know that this reader's heart is desperate to see this story through to the very end.

An hour before I started this book, I told a friend that I was afraid to read it because I thought it would be too sad now that Leslie Jordan is no longer with us. I wrestled with this for a bit, but ultimately wound up putting the audiobook on my phone and taking it with me on my evening walk. I didn't make it to the 5% mark (I don't think I even made it past the first chapter?) before I was sobbing great big ugly sobs as I walked. I'm glad I live in the middle of nowhere!

Here's the thing: I was bawling like a child, but I definitely wasn't sad. It was bittersweet, for sure, but “sad” is the wrong word entirely. Leslie Jordan's enormous heart, adorable soul, and inimitable charm live on in both the text of this memoir and its wonderful audiobook narration. It is maybe the most pure, and most hopeful, autobiography I've ever read. It's beautiful. I loved it so much that I had to force myself to slow down so I would have the time to truly process the stories and lessons contained within. And so began my short lived, but very lovely, evening ritual of walking and weeping while I listened to one of the coolest entertainers ever hold court as only he can. I must have shed a million tears in the last week and a half and I regret absolutely none of them.

Some of the stories in this book are sad, but many are deeply joyous - and all are written with style and grace. Even the more mundane bits made me feel like I was sitting under the learning tree of an insightful (and hilarious) person. Rest in peace, Leslie Jordan.

This was a silly idea from the get-go, but it could've been far worse than it actually is.

I loved this series so much! It pulled me kicking and screaming out of a particularly terrible reading slump and I'm beyond grateful.