I was worried about this book. I had heard so much about it and it had a movie made from it so I was anticipating being disappointed. Happily, I found this book very enjoyable. Alex’s broken English rides the fine line of humorous bordering into the realm of tedious, and becomes believable. The humor and tragedy offset each other and make this a book both laugh out loud funny and crying your eyes out sad.

As far as your Mid-Western dysfunctional family saga’s go, The Corrections is at the top of it’s game.

That being said, I thought that the author did some unnecessary verbal gymnastics and the book could have been about 150 pages shorter.

The Body Artist is a short book. At 126 pages it took me two days to read, but it is a book I will reccomend. It is less a story and more of a look into the inner workings of the mind of Lauren, a body artist who has lost her husband and finds a mentally handicapped man in her home, who imitates the interactions of her and her late husband.

Do not underestimate this book due to this size. The Body Artist is a book that will stay with you.

I love Carol Shields. I had read the Stone Diaries last year and had been excited to pick this up. I am happy to say that it did not disappoint. Shield’s talent is writing a feminist book for a not quite feminist audience. I will recommend this book to every woman I know.

This book can’t decide when the story starts and ends. It doesn’t transition well from actual plot to the musings of the characters. The author also seems to be in love with his own voice. Worth consuming, but get it used.

I put off reading this book for the longest time. Almost everyone I knew had read it and raved about it. I’m really cynical about popular books as they rarely live up to expectations but this one did. It felt like a more tragic Little Women written for a modern audience. The only complaint I can express is that I felt like the character of Nathial was a little one demensional and overdone.

This book was awesome. I loved the themes of the present’s effect on the future and barbarian vs. savage. Beautifully presented and wonderfully written.

This book is not for the weak. For one, this book has no plot. None. It has a story but it jumps around like a cricket on crack in a hot frying pan. Characters come in and out of left field and you’re never quite sure where you are. It’s worth reading for the experience, but it will be awhile before I pick up anything else by this author.

Also, it would be interesting to re-read it and see how many times J.G. Ballard is mentioned. Answer is: a lot.

This is a good book but it needs more meat on its bones. It’s got good stucture and ideas but it needs more substance in my opinion. I did enjoy it quite a bit, though.

This is a beautifully written book by an author I will make sure to read more of in the future. The only thing I had trouble with is that I’v never read anything by Henry James. I’ll have to revisit this book after I’ve consumed something by him.