How refreshing! A genuinely multi-talented author! Comic commitments or not, I certainly hope to read more from Watson.
Bullet Points is very well written, surprising in the solemnity of the tone, and the humour is sparse. Don't believe the outside blurb; in no way could you call this a comedy novel, even one darkly humoured. This does not detract from the story, however. Our narrator remains a sincere, engaging character; his honesty (although we learn later he may not be as honest with himself as he thought) is a very likeable trait, and even when he behaves badly we cannot lose sympathy for him.
For a debut, this is alarmingly confident, restrained, well plotted. It reminds me of Tobias Wolff's work... no small praise indeed! If there is only one gripe I have, it's that the epilogue, although gripping (like a horrible car accident), is something I didn't see coming. At all. The final revelations should, perhaps, have been backed up by small clues in the re-reading of the novel, but there aren't any. Not to worry. It's still a powerful ending, and this novel is powerful stuff. Sombre, often horrifying, with a heavy tone, I highly recommend Bullet Points, but not as light reading as one might expect from an energetic young comic such as Watson.
