I Know Strawberry Jam when I smell it!

So, who can call it? This guy can!

Well, sort of.

My theory about the jam climbing the Hibatsu building because it's attracted to the processes of growth and decay is sort of right. As it turns out, the jam's drawn to all organic matter, but can only really sense that matter when it's gathered together. So, since the Hibatsu building is really hopping right now and it has a rooftop garden, the jam is being drawn there.

At this point in the book I am starting to get a little bit weary of Croshaw's narrative voice with its frequent analogies and mild zaniness, but that's to be expected when marathoning a book.

Yet, at the same time, this fatigue does speak to a lack of variety in the book over all. I recently find myself wondering if I can go on as a fiction author after reading this, partially because it's been published and picked up by a brick and mortar publisher, and partially just because reading anything that's interesting and captivating makes me wonder about my ability to manage to do the same.

The plot's been moving along steadily - like, of course, the flow of non-sentient jam down a non-apocalyptic highway - but at this point the contours are showing.

It's clear that Jam was written more as a means of working within a genre than really shaking things up plot wise. Of course, there are another 60+ pages of the book left, and all of my encounters with first person have lead to one turn after another, so I may yet be surprised by something truly unexpected.