I think Supermarket is one of those books where it is obvious that it was written by a particular person. Bobby Hall (a.k.a. Logic) wrote the book and it comes off as something that Logic would write. I don’t know why I get this feeling. I think the music references and the voice give it away.  It feels like this rapper would write a book with references to alternative music and a character that thinks so openly about his creativity, all in such a conversational style.

Now let’s get to what this book is actually about: a 24 year old named Flynn, who works in a supermarket. But he is also a writer working on a book he is determined to finish. You see Flynn and I suffer from the same problem. You have all of these ideas in your head, but when you try to execute them, you have trouble following through.  Growing up I would start writing these stories, but never finish them. It’s like I would feel really inspired but lose steam. However, Flynn refused to lose steam on this project. He really commits to the book, by working in its setting, a supermarket.

I genuinely like Flynn as a character. He has such an interesting viewpoint. I really liked how Hall wrote him as an unreliable narrator, and I liked the stream of consciousness style he used sometimes. For example, when Flynn was narrating, he would go on these random tangents and then all of a sudden say something along the lines of “wait, what was I talking about?” Or he would start describing something that’s a little unbelievable that would make me wonder, did that really happen? But he would quickly say later “no I’m just kidding.”

The other characters were okay. Frank, another guy who works at the supermarket, was definitely obnoxious. But once you read the book, you understand why he is that way. Let’s just say Flynn has a little bit of Frank in him. I also loved his relationship with Maria, the girl who worked in the bakery that he started dating. They complemented each other really well.

There were a few plot twists—but I saw them coming. I think that’s because I skimmed the chapter titles in the table of contents and I saw one of them was called “Asylum,” and I just pieced it together as the story went along. I think Supermarket is a pretty quick and fun read. If you don’t want to slog through anything too difficult and enjoy books about a writer’s dedication to his craft—then go for it.