Rating: 
Summary: Food for Thought
Review: A great book for those concerned with philosophies and ethics of eating. The title character is a sharply-drawn food philosopher, and around this unlikely subject is woven a thoughtful and engaging tale. I read it two years ago, and parts of this book still come back to me nearly every time I sit down to mealtime.
Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars for the diet, 2 stars for the book
Review: I agree with the others that this book should be taken to "heart" (as well as the rest of the good- for-your-body food) but the message gets distorted after that. Even for a health-nut like me, the fanatical obsession with food gets boring. There seems to be an attempt to address social issues revolving around dysfunctional families but the thinking reader is left with an uncomfortable feeling that this is just a prelude for a wolf lurking in magicians clothing. The food may be good for you but the story is tasteless!
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for the diet, 2 stars for the book
Review: I agree with the others that this book should be taken to "heart" (as well as the rest of the good- for-your-body food) but the message gets distorted after that. Even for a health-nut like me, the fanatical obsession with food gets boring. There seems to be an attempt to address social issues revolving around dysfunctional families but the thinking reader is left with an uncomfortable feeling that this is just a prelude for a wolf lurking in magicians clothing. The food may be good for you but the story is tasteless!
Rating: 
Summary: I hated it
Review: I know it's politically incorrect to dislike work by the great Theroux, but frankly, I waded through this one for three weeks before abandoning it unfinished.
I found it repetitive and monotonous, and the tone itself was a little offensive to me.
I think Theroux could easily have written the same work in one-third the pages and not lost anything.
I love descriptive prose and dialogue, but this guy went on and on and on and on... I finally decided there were too many good books out there and not enough time left to waste on a turkey like this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Literal magic, as practised by The Great Theroux
Review: In the many works of fiction with Jesus-like characters, Millroy is the first I've seen to satirize some of the Messiah's more unpleasant traits. Think this way of the Son of God: a peevish, fastidious, obsessive fanatic who throws a magic trick whenever his disciples' interest begins to flag or someone disagrees with him too strongly-a bully. Instead of obsessions with faith and the father in heaven, Millroy concentrates on food and how it comes out after digestion, but the allusions to Jesus are unmistakable. Millroy laments the money-grubbers in TV-land, just as Jesus threw the money-changers out of the temple. Millroy demands absolute fealty, just as the Nazarene did. Children must give up all they have to follow him, including their families and normal eating habits. They are all poor, uneducated kids from broken and/or abusive families, so they are glad to join his cult and follow his rules. When a child strays from the course by, say, eating a hamburger on the sly, he or she is either ostracized or forced to submit to an on-the-spot stomach pumping. Millroy, like Jesus, promises everlasting life-well, almost. 200 years is close enough. Millroy also has Jesus' persecution complex, with marketing execs and tabloid reporters and rival televangelists filling in as Pharisees. He is hounded first out of the TV business, then the restaurant business. Through these ventures, Theroux manages to parody both the health food nuts and religious zealots that Millroy embodies, and also the regular American slobs that Millroy pities and rejects. In my opinion, it's a welcome mock-up. Can we deny that America has become the "Land of the Fat"? On the other hand, is Millroy's literal Biblical cuisine any more practical than our non-fiction Bible thumpers' insistence on literal Biblical truth in such matters as geology and obstetrics? It is enjoyable to follow the steps of this latter day passion play, because poking fun at That Story has always been taboo. Then when we reach the veiled parody of the transubstantiation, the joke is very rich indeed. Millroy delivers the gag in the sententious tones of the Redeemer, exhorting his disciples to eat his sliced up finger because "This is not meat. It is Millroy." Okay, as long as you're sure it's not meat. I've been at Seders where they say something like that: "This is not tref. It is gefilte fish." This is what I've always relished about Theroux, the puncturing of puffed up things like the Hemmingway legend and the legend of the Happy Isles of Oceania. When he writes travel books, you can tell he's not on someone's payroll, because everything is not always wonderful. Instead of a swell little restaurant, you read about not-so-nice natives. When he writes fiction, you get the sense that he's not on anyone's ideological payroll, and that is refreshing in these politically correct times. Millroy turns human at the end. He keeps throwing his weight around like a Messiah in order to impress his girlfriend, Jilly Farina: he calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee (only it's in a Boeing over the Pacific); he raises Lazarus from the dead...but flashy tricks are not what she wants. Healthy food, magic tricks, everlasting life (almost)...those are all very nice, but she wants something superior to a savior. She wants a lover.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant satire of God and digestion
Review: In the many works of fiction with Jesus-like characters, Millroy is the first I've seen to satirize some of the Messiah's more unpleasant traits. Think this way of the Son of God: a peevish, fastidious, obsessive fanatic who throws a magic trick whenever his disciples' interest begins to flag or someone disagrees with him too strongly-a bully. Instead of obsessions with faith and the father in heaven, Millroy concentrates on food and how it comes out after digestion, but the allusions to Jesus are unmistakable. Millroy laments the money-grubbers in TV-land, just as Jesus threw the money-changers out of the temple. Millroy demands absolute fealty, just as the Nazarene did. Children must give up all they have to follow him, including their families and normal eating habits. They are all poor, uneducated kids from broken and/or abusive families, so they are glad to join his cult and follow his rules. When a child strays from the course by, say, eating a hamburger on the sly, he or she is either ostracized or forced to submit to an on-the-spot stomach pumping. Millroy, like Jesus, promises everlasting life-well, almost. 200 years is close enough. Millroy also has Jesus' persecution complex, with marketing execs and tabloid reporters and rival televangelists filling in as Pharisees. He is hounded first out of the TV business, then the restaurant business. Through these ventures, Theroux manages to parody both the health food nuts and religious zealots that Millroy embodies, and also the regular American slobs that Millroy pities and rejects. In my opinion, it's a welcome mock-up. Can we deny that America has become the "Land of the Fat"? On the other hand, is Millroy's literal Biblical cuisine any more practical than our non-fiction Bible thumpers' insistence on literal Biblical truth in such matters as geology and obstetrics? It is enjoyable to follow the steps of this latter day passion play, because poking fun at That Story has always been taboo. Then when we reach the veiled parody of the transubstantiation, the joke is very rich indeed. Millroy delivers the gag in the sententious tones of the Redeemer, exhorting his disciples to eat his sliced up finger because "This is not meat. It is Millroy." Okay, as long as you're sure it's not meat. I've been at Seders where they say something like that: "This is not tref. It is gefilte fish." This is what I've always relished about Theroux, the puncturing of puffed up things like the Hemmingway legend and the legend of the Happy Isles of Oceania. When he writes travel books, you can tell he's not on someone's payroll, because everything is not always wonderful. Instead of a swell little restaurant, you read about not-so-nice natives. When he writes fiction, you get the sense that he's not on anyone's ideological payroll, and that is refreshing in these politically correct times. Millroy turns human at the end. He keeps throwing his weight around like a Messiah in order to impress his girlfriend, Jilly Farina: he calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee (only it's in a Boeing over the Pacific); he raises Lazarus from the dead...but flashy tricks are not what she wants. Healthy food, magic tricks, everlasting life (almost)...those are all very nice, but she wants something superior to a savior. She wants a lover.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly composed, imaginative, relevant storytelling
Review: Millroy alternates between illusion and outright miracle, and young impressionable Jilly is captivated.
The two share a mysterious bond, and little of the rest of the world makes any sense to either of them, but it will to you by the time you reach the conclusion of this brilliant and entertaining novel.
Cultism, mass marketing, the power of television, family values and modern day dietary habits are just a few of the issues that you will confront with Millroy and Jilly along your journey together.
This novel is funny, sometimes lyrical, often amazing, and always thought provoking.
Be warned! I have not eaten meat since finishing this book. No one can resist Millroys' magic.
Rating:
Summary: A modern miracle
Review: Milroy is a prophet for our times - hilarious, earnest, quirky and sincere. As he preaches the Gospel of Bibical eating, he invents a new way of life - one that is destined to change the world. Of course, it soon becomes apparent that this tale follows the Christ story (in explicit detail) - from the ragtag group of followers, to the shunning masses (who STILL don't get the real message), to those who only care about the miracles to the raising of the dead and, at last, sacrifice and resurrection and a new life in his teachings.On one level, there is the story of the mystery man - the one everyone knows - who becomes the great Teacher with the all of the attending attention. He is the moral teacher, the one who breaks the rules and must decide how far to go. Like Christ, he is aware of his own impending doom and sees that his message will only be greater after his death. This is the book that most authors wish they could write but never do.
Rating:
Summary: A modern miracle
Review: Milroy is a prophet for our times - hilarious, earnest, quirky and sincere. As he preaches the Gospel of Bibical eating, he invents a new way of life - one that is destined to change the world. Of course, it soon becomes apparent that this tale follows the Christ story (in explicit detail) - from the ragtag group of followers, to the shunning masses (who STILL don't get the real message), to those who only care about the miracles to the raising of the dead and, at last, sacrifice and resurrection and a new life in his teachings. On one level, there is the story of the mystery man - the one everyone knows - who becomes the great Teacher with the all of the attending attention. He is the moral teacher, the one who breaks the rules and must decide how far to go. Like Christ, he is aware of his own impending doom and sees that his message will only be greater after his death. This is the book that most authors wish they could write but never do.
Rating:
Summary: A charming tale of nutrition, Christ, pedophilia and love.
Review: Paul Theroux is a writer whose sentences are, to steal from protagonist Millroy, tangibilised. It would seem to be impossible to read him without a stream of images flowing through your mind: bloody eyes, detachable tongues, finger cutlets, Ezekiel bread and closely shaven heads. This novel is a showcase of a writing that invokes as much as it provokes, and it does both exceptionally well. In addition to the brilliant use of image, olfactory and texture to construct a disjointed yet vividly real world, this book provides a thoughtful read that remains playful. "How can people who eat such good food be so evil?" That, I think, sums up centuries of debate over religion, the will of God and humanity itself. It's also a delightful sentence completely in tune with everything that had preceded it. This is not a rollercoaster ride, but it is certainly shipborne voyage. At times it is rocky and at times it is soothing, and ultimately you can't help but be thrilled with where it ends up.
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