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babyruth510's review against another edition
2.0
I have no idea why this was considered one of the best books of the year last year. The characters were mostly self-centered 30 something NYers who were not likable.
beansbookclub's review against another edition
2.0
big no from me. i had read one messud book previously, and i recognized the name and thought "why not?" oof. this was a rough one to get through. but i am nothing if not committed.
sararaymond's review against another edition
2.0
This book was about a bunch of hateful, narcisistic individuals, and I still cannot believe I forced myself to read the whole thing.
muddy_gardener's review against another edition
Bought this for its thematic match with my recent holiday in Manhattan doing all the tourist things I've never done, and seeing old friends. And - duh - as it happens I was too busy racing around doing this to ever sit and read. From a brief dip, I think I might find it very privilege bubble-y. And overwritten. Or I might really like it.
cseibs's review against another edition
1.0
An overall disappointment. I don't know anything about Messud, but I'd put money on the fact that she's not a native American, hasn't spent much time in New York, and doesn't know many New Yorkers personally. Nothing about the book rang true. The speech was positively foreign - there were way to many British-isms for anyone to believe that these characters were living and breathing in the U.S. of A. Not only did Messud miss the basics of dialogue, but the characters themselves had the feel that they were concocted purely from European sterotypes of what spoiled Americans are supposed to be. Are we to believe that a public television producer - a marginally successful one at that - can afford a studio with a view of the Towers? What wasn't laughable was just confusing. None of the characters were well drawn enough to provide context for their neuroses. And to throw 9/11 in too boot was just baffling and almost insulting. Clearly this book was meant to have been about New York, about a moment in time for people of that city. Yet Messud missed the mark with her portrait of New York and New Yorkers, such that her use - misuse - of 9/11 was jarring and offensive.
snance's review against another edition
I really shouldn't review this book as i didn't get past about page 50. This was a first for me as I always finish books no matter how much of a struggle it is. Maybe I'm just too old to care about the self-involved characters in this book. I'm sorry I wasted my time on the 50 pages I did read.
caleb_tankersley's review against another edition
1.0
I can't say enough bad things about this book. Annoying characters who whimper about what to do with themselves because they're so rich. Offensive gay stereotypes. Unresolved plots. This book has it all! Who doesn't want to read hundreds of pages of room and furniture descriptions? Yum yum. Worst of all, this book takes total advantage of 9/11. Rather than being distressed or sad about the attacks or using the opportunity to re-evaluate their lives, the characters in Messud's novel only care about how they can benefit. Bootie uses the attacks to run away. Danielle uses them to cover her grief over her lost lover. Murray revitalizes his career and doesn't have to tell his wife he was cheating. So because of 9/11, everything works out for these folks. Isn't that just swell?
Don't ever, ever, ever crack open the pages of this text.
Don't ever, ever, ever crack open the pages of this text.
ericfheiman's review against another edition
2.0
Wildly overrated. Starts out as a fairly interesting comedy of manners in Manhattan, but then just gets bogged down in stupid plot twists. Maybe I need to be a New Yorker to appreciate it more. But I doubt it.
violetcat's review against another edition
I read about 100 pages, then decided I just didn't like or care enough about any of the characters to waste my time finishing the book.