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stephaniesteen73's review
4.0
This book was by turns hysterically funny, poignant, extremely depressing, and downright weird. A great portrayal of how meaningless life can be in 21st century America and the lengths at which people will go to try and fill that void. My favorite part was the conversations the atheist dentist had with his Roman Catholic hygienist, but which were written as only one side.
nickedkins's review
5.0
Based on the toothpaste tube on the cover and the unfortunate similarity of the author's name to Tim Ferriss, I'd very unfairly assumed that this was going to be a lightweight and breezy set of musings on middle age, coerced into the structure of a novel. Probably a bunch of long-suffering wife stuff, a distant daughter, maybe some professional confrontation.
Anyway, not to spoil it, but the interruption to the protagonist's life was so strange and so exactly up my alley (having recently enjoyed the language sections of [b:Snow Crash|40651883|Snow Crash|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1589842551l/40651883._SX50_.jpg|493634] in particular) that I was reeled in completely over the course of a few pivotal early pages.
Anyway, not to spoil it, but the interruption to the protagonist's life was so strange and so exactly up my alley (having recently enjoyed the language sections of [b:Snow Crash|40651883|Snow Crash|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1589842551l/40651883._SX50_.jpg|493634] in particular) that I was reeled in completely over the course of a few pivotal early pages.
kdawn999's review
2.0
I was bored almost the whole way. There are witty bits of observation and description, and there was a little suspense and mystery surrounding the identity stealing, but it doesn't come to much. The various parts of Paul O'Rourke's mind--his parental issues, his hopeless romanticism, his Red Sox mania, his flirtation with religion, his love-hate relationship to technology--none of it seemed to cohere in a satisfying way. I would rather it had turned into a crazy treatise on the evils of social media than what it turned out to be--the uninteresting wanderings of an upper middle class, middle aged, white dude. Also, that's a pretty crap-ass title.
lindsayaunderwood's review
2.0
Started out amusing. The main character was interesting and thought provoking. Whole last 50% of the book=boring and repetitive.
katykelly's review
4.0
A quarter through, I'd have given this 5 stars. At the end, I'd have said 3. So I've compromised and it's really a 3.5 star read for me.
So much promise - Dr Paul O'Rourke is a wonderful creation. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the world of the dentist through his self-absorbed eyes. He's a bundle of contradictions - hating technology but can't live without his 'me-machine' (phone), avowed atheist but willing to consider religion for a woman. A complex character, Paul is a successful dentist but not a success with women, who he gets obsessed with and then can't live without when the relationship fails. He observes strict rituals for each Red Sox game he watches.
This techno-hater is affronted one day to discover that someone has created (without permission) a website for his dental practice. And is starting to spout opinions under the name of Dr Paul O'Rourke. These opinions seem to have a religious bent and Paul drives himself mad searching for the culprit. Why is someone doing this to him? And what are these Ulms they talk about?
This is where it started losing its interest for me. I was quite happy to follow Paul in his quirky little world. I wasn't interested in some quasi-religious plot. Paul kept me reading but I didn't enjoy it as much after that.
I just didn't quite understand what Ferris was trying to do with Paul. Religious conspiracies aren't my cup of tea and I didn't like how the author pushed Paul through the story.
There is lots throughout to enjoy. Paul's past entanglements with women are fun. His scenes in the surgery are hilarious. He frequently forgets what he's doing and says unusual things to staff and customers. I love it when he finds himself unsure what he's meant to be doing to one mouth and tries to guess based on the instruments he has out.
The writing is good, I've not read any Joshua Ferris before and would consider trying more, if the stories interested me. But I didn't like the ending, not where I would have wanted to take the character.
Unusual story, setting and characters. Quirky and lots of fun to be had but the direction of the story won't interest everyone.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.
So much promise - Dr Paul O'Rourke is a wonderful creation. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the world of the dentist through his self-absorbed eyes. He's a bundle of contradictions - hating technology but can't live without his 'me-machine' (phone), avowed atheist but willing to consider religion for a woman. A complex character, Paul is a successful dentist but not a success with women, who he gets obsessed with and then can't live without when the relationship fails. He observes strict rituals for each Red Sox game he watches.
This techno-hater is affronted one day to discover that someone has created (without permission) a website for his dental practice. And is starting to spout opinions under the name of Dr Paul O'Rourke. These opinions seem to have a religious bent and Paul drives himself mad searching for the culprit. Why is someone doing this to him? And what are these Ulms they talk about?
This is where it started losing its interest for me. I was quite happy to follow Paul in his quirky little world. I wasn't interested in some quasi-religious plot. Paul kept me reading but I didn't enjoy it as much after that.
I just didn't quite understand what Ferris was trying to do with Paul. Religious conspiracies aren't my cup of tea and I didn't like how the author pushed Paul through the story.
There is lots throughout to enjoy. Paul's past entanglements with women are fun. His scenes in the surgery are hilarious. He frequently forgets what he's doing and says unusual things to staff and customers. I love it when he finds himself unsure what he's meant to be doing to one mouth and tries to guess based on the instruments he has out.
The writing is good, I've not read any Joshua Ferris before and would consider trying more, if the stories interested me. But I didn't like the ending, not where I would have wanted to take the character.
Unusual story, setting and characters. Quirky and lots of fun to be had but the direction of the story won't interest everyone.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.
landsaye's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
jaynephoenix's review
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Was pretty funny and made me laugh out loud but didn’t see the point of any of it and way too much weird religious stuff that was not mentioned in the summary. I literally closed the book at the end and said “that was stupid”