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Review Date: 11/14/2009
Helpful Score: 2
This mess doesn't simply disappoint me, it angers me. I'd say I finish most every book I start, no matter how awful. Less than one out of twenty reads will I find impossible to complete. But I loathed this book so much I have to create a new category: Books I finished accidentally, since I couldn't stop thinking "It Can't Get Any Worse!" but, nonetheless, DO. If it presented itself as nothing more than a trite pulp romance, then it would bug me much less than it does. It comes, however, smugly trumpeting its depth while displaying a profundity about as vast as the palate offered by some run-down chain restaurant in a decaying suburban strip mall. Complete with the least-convincingly-male narrator I've ever come across, its shallow attempts to portray a bohemian central character's âquirksâ as ominously inevitable signs of underlying, ultimately fatal, mental illness read like an Onion-style satire of banality masquerading as insight. The writing is not only just terrible, it's incompetence clearly believing its own alleged brilliance. To add insult to injury, the supposed âmysteryâ is âsolvedâ by something the narrator has known all along, but is conveniently withheld until one of the most tritely shoehorned plots in decades demands its revelation in order to bring this self-indulgent tripe to a close. Inexplicably, this book arrives highly recommended by some pretty impressive people whose taste (and/or sobriety while reading) must now all be called into question by default. Just. Astoundingly. Bad.
Review Date: 2/2/2022
Helpful Score: 3
I was truly surprised, after reading a lot of the Goodreads reviews, by how extreme the reactions to this book have been. It is, apparently, way more polarizing than I'd realized, with people tending to either totally hate it or fervently love it.
I am most decidedly amongst the latter. What starts out feeling like an ideal casual beach read grows into a uniquely compelling study of our expectations of information and/or the lack thereof. Ironically, the recurring complaint amongst its detractors seems to be rooted in their own expectations of it.
Was it originally marketed as a high-suspense thriller? It seems many readers approached it believing it would be just that and, while it could technically fit that criteria, it quickly becomes clear that there is much, much more afoot.
I'm not going to dive any further into this as it's undoubtedly best for potential readers to come to it as free from expectations as possible. I'll just reiterate that I really loved it and found the slow reveal of its actual intent to be nothing short of masterful. Can't wait to inhale his (thus far) two other novels.
I am most decidedly amongst the latter. What starts out feeling like an ideal casual beach read grows into a uniquely compelling study of our expectations of information and/or the lack thereof. Ironically, the recurring complaint amongst its detractors seems to be rooted in their own expectations of it.
Was it originally marketed as a high-suspense thriller? It seems many readers approached it believing it would be just that and, while it could technically fit that criteria, it quickly becomes clear that there is much, much more afoot.
I'm not going to dive any further into this as it's undoubtedly best for potential readers to come to it as free from expectations as possible. I'll just reiterate that I really loved it and found the slow reveal of its actual intent to be nothing short of masterful. Can't wait to inhale his (thus far) two other novels.
Review Date: 2/19/2010
Hysterical. Intelligent. Insightful.
Review Date: 6/6/2010
Incredible. Brilliant. Portrays entire worlds in as concise and moving a style as the greatest of writers. The intimacy of these stories will astound you.
Review Date: 7/22/2009
Brilliant. Concise, evocative & profound.
Review Date: 7/22/2009
Helpful Score: 1
An instant classic. Up there with KAVLIER & CLAY, OWEN MEANY, CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES ... unbelievably absorbing, particularly for a debut.
Review Date: 7/30/2009
Heart-wrenching.
Review Date: 6/1/2010
Marvelous. Leaves you panting for more.
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