Helpful Score: 2
Sure, because it's Chabon it's beautifully, gorgeously overwritten...
But...
I don't like his characters when he's not writing genre fiction. Yiddish Policemen, Kavalier & Clay, even Final Solution, Summerland and Gentlemen of the Road all had characters I wanted to read about, people I wanted to spend time with, people whose lives enriched mine. In this book and Wonder Boys -- admittedly, the books that made Chabon Chabon, for most people, he writes about whiners, losers, men who can't make up their minds, men who don't act, or when they finally act, choose wrongly. In genre books it's all about action, so those characters I love.
Your mileage will probably differ from mine, and you may love this book. Enjoy!
For me, I hope he continues to get awards and get on the bestseller lists for his genre fiction, so he continues to write it!
But...
I don't like his characters when he's not writing genre fiction. Yiddish Policemen, Kavalier & Clay, even Final Solution, Summerland and Gentlemen of the Road all had characters I wanted to read about, people I wanted to spend time with, people whose lives enriched mine. In this book and Wonder Boys -- admittedly, the books that made Chabon Chabon, for most people, he writes about whiners, losers, men who can't make up their minds, men who don't act, or when they finally act, choose wrongly. In genre books it's all about action, so those characters I love.
Your mileage will probably differ from mine, and you may love this book. Enjoy!
For me, I hope he continues to get awards and get on the bestseller lists for his genre fiction, so he continues to write it!
