‘Stick to acting’: Sean Penn’s debut book savaged by critics

Sean Penn has swapped his worldwide fame in acting for a stab at writing his own book – and it’s fair to say, it’s not gone down well with critics.

The actor’s debut novel has been savaged in a series of top reviews, with many people warning him to “stick to acting”, while others picked apart his bizarre book’s plot.

The novel, a version of the original audio book Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff, follows a Trump-like figure known as “The Landlord” who rises to power as president – and who Penn describes as a “violently immature 70-year-old boy-man” – and it even touches on the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment, which he reportedly brands “a toddler’s crusade”.

But rather than bringing the “dazzling literary talent” promised on Good Reads, the novel has been pulled apart and slammed by critics around the world.

https://twitter.com/PamelaPaulNYT/status/978810015451635712

New York Times critic Jeff Giles describes the book as “a riddle wrapped in an enigma and cloaked in crazy”, and added in his review: “Still, for a wild ride, ‘Bob Honey’ is conspicuously un-fun. For every perfect, plain-spoken sentence (‘It is on that couch where Bob feels safest, almost embraced’) there are dozens of linguistic traffic jams where you can almost hear the words honking at each other to get out of the way.”

Michael Schaub warned Penn to “stick to acting” in a piece for the Los Angeles Times, while The Huffington Post critic Claire Fallon added in her damning review: “It’s physically impossible to dunk on a novel that is already dunking on itself so hard.”

The book didn’t fare much better on social media, and one Twitter user shared a screenshot of some excerpts from the novel, and wrote: “These are 100% real excerpts from Sean Penn’s ‘novel’… This is the literary equivalent of sitting on the toilet with crippling diarrhea, furiously masturbating while maintaining constant eye contact with yourself in a mirror.”

These are 100% real excerpts from Sean Penn's "novel"… This is the literary equivalent of sitting on the toilet with crippling diarrhea, furiously masturbating while maintaining constant eye contact with yourself in a mirror. pic.twitter.com/fpfo3ACSe5

— Anen Igma (@Massanthrope) March 28, 2018

Replying to that, another user added: “@SeanPenn should not quit his day job. It’s as if he took classes in how to be the worst writer, then assiduously applied the principles. He’s a great actor. He should stick to acting. He writes like I do ballet.”

However, some were impressed, and according to the BBC, British novelist Sir Salman Rushdie described the novel as “great fun to read”. Meanwhile, Booklist says it “succeeds spectacularly”, and Kirkus remains largely on the fence, saying Penn “pulls it off reasonably well.”

Penn recently revealed he’s lost his passion for acting, and instead wants to focus his future career on writing – and while he expects his new book to split readers, with many “loathing” it, he expects others to “get it”. He told CBS Sunday Morning: “You know, some people are going to get this book and some people are not going to get this book. 

“Some people, I think, will really enjoy it, others will loathe it. And that really is what I’d like to say about me, you know?”

Will you be giving the book a read? Are you a fan of the actor?