A review by wtb_michael
A Short History of Richard Kline by Amanda Lohrey

2.0

I had high hopes for this, but was disappointed - the main character starts out as a deeply unsympathetic character, which makes it a struggle to get into the book. This is intentional though, because the story is how this prickly, difficult man comes to terms with the emptiness in his life that eats away at him. Unfortunately, the spiritual struggle and transformation that comes towards the end of the book felt unbelieavable and a bit didactic to me - this is probably as much about my lack of sympathy for the vaguely mystical underpinnings of the whole transition. The struggle that the main character feels between his own cynicism and his inability to resist the lure of something deeper could be interesting, but I didn't care enough about him or his journey to really enjoy it.