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A review by alisonjfields
A Gambler's Anatomy by Jonathan Lethem
2.0
4.0/10
What literary event did Franzen, Lethem and Chabon all go to in Berkeley together? So. Weird. Anyway this is neither the best (Chabon) or the worst (Franzen, by a f-ing mile) of the overwritten, annoying, (mostly) out of touch books about the East Bay written by the above. If you're a 45-50 year old dude who's thought, "I can totally hang with George Clooney types and hipster anarchists because I am that cool and then maybe find a hot German woman to bathe me," you'll probably love this.
Jonathan Lethem, I have given you so much of a pass over the years because of "Fortress of Solitude" that even now, after "Chronic City" (which was, if not one of the worst books I've ever read, then far and away the most disappointingly shallow), after "A Gambler's Anatomy" (which is not as much a train wreck as a midlife crisis, published and committed to posterity), I still secretly, in my heart of hearts, believe you can do better. Do better.
What literary event did Franzen, Lethem and Chabon all go to in Berkeley together? So. Weird. Anyway this is neither the best (Chabon) or the worst (Franzen, by a f-ing mile) of the overwritten, annoying, (mostly) out of touch books about the East Bay written by the above. If you're a 45-50 year old dude who's thought, "I can totally hang with George Clooney types and hipster anarchists because I am that cool and then maybe find a hot German woman to bathe me," you'll probably love this.
Jonathan Lethem, I have given you so much of a pass over the years because of "Fortress of Solitude" that even now, after "Chronic City" (which was, if not one of the worst books I've ever read, then far and away the most disappointingly shallow), after "A Gambler's Anatomy" (which is not as much a train wreck as a midlife crisis, published and committed to posterity), I still secretly, in my heart of hearts, believe you can do better. Do better.