If some movie adaptations are better left as books, it’s best to
stick with Pernice’s novel soundtrack (available on CD) for
It Feels So Good When I Stop, rather than the novel itself. A
nameless protagonist in his mid-20s withdraws to a small corner of Cape
Cod to escape his failures in life (mainly a relationship with Jocelyn)
and work (no real direction, a listless band). Most of his time is
occupied by babysitting his nephew. How and why Pernice’s main
character ends up in this state remain unclear. Rather than develop
them, he makes this book a vehicle for voice: provocative passages of
his protagonist, friends and family talking shit to and about each
other. That gets real boring, real fast.
This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2009.
