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A review by cojack
The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
3.0
Probably more like 3.5 stars.
Intriguing concept: man physically ages backward, but mentally/intellectually ages normally. The writing was lovely and heartbreaking in parts, but overly self-conscious and florid in others. The book is presented as a journal written by Max Tivoli as he is nearing the end of his life, and given that he's born in the late 1800s, the flowery language would make sense, I guess. The book dragged in the middle, but picked up considerably in the final third. My biggest issue was that Max was a pretty selfish bastard. Yes, he was a freak, but he used it as an excuse to be terrible at times. That made some of the book hard to take, especially at the end. The author does an excellent job of showing how we can all be so wrapped up in our own drama that we don't notice the pain of the others around us until it is too late.
Intriguing concept: man physically ages backward, but mentally/intellectually ages normally. The writing was lovely and heartbreaking in parts, but overly self-conscious and florid in others. The book is presented as a journal written by Max Tivoli as he is nearing the end of his life, and given that he's born in the late 1800s, the flowery language would make sense, I guess. The book dragged in the middle, but picked up considerably in the final third. My biggest issue was that Max was a pretty selfish bastard. Yes, he was a freak, but he used it as an excuse to be terrible at times. That made some of the book hard to take, especially at the end. The author does an excellent job of showing how we can all be so wrapped up in our own drama that we don't notice the pain of the others around us until it is too late.