Rating: 
Summary: a hidden gem
Review: It is a terrible injustice that this book seems to have been largely ignored by critics and readers, enjoying a modest success when it should be hailed a contemporary classic.Baxter tells an ordinary tale with such love and respect for his characters that you feel humbled and moved by its contents. There is nothing spectacular about this book and that is the whole point. In the same way as a writer like Anne Tyler can create magic from seemingly ordinary situations, Baxter draws you in to a deceptively simple scenario and steals your heart. A wonder.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Read It
Review: This is the book other books about love would like to be--written in perfect prose, at all times passionate but also capable of detachment, proving itself to have been written by an artist as well as a philosopher. Proust, Hemingway, Faulkner--Baxter takes a place on a shelf in their company.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, Please
Review: If you like your sentiments heavy-handed and your cliches in great big servings, this is the novel for you. I have to admit, I put it down on page 107, figuring that if, after a hundred pages, I had not read a single thought I couldn't have read on a Hallmark card, I wasn't going to waste any more of my time. My advice to those who are thinking of reading this novel: Try thinking about love as shallowly as you possibly can for a few hours instead. It will be the same in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a Feast, Not a Snack...It Is A Scrap
Review: The characters in this book are memorable, but generally not believable. If it weren't for the genuine, sad Jewish couple who's son torments them in his insanity, I would have thrown out this book without finishing. The teenage character Chloe's dialogue is sometime profound, but so out-of-character, the words become ridiculous. There is more hate and discord in this book than love. Charles Baxter's attempt to align himself with William Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" is a shameless attempt at greater book sales. Mr. Baxter's opinion of the value of his own writing is shocking. Most books I read I pass on to friends when I'm finished. This one went into the recycling.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent work from an excellent author
Review: This was the first Charles Baxter book I've ever read and probably my favorite. In this novel Baxter chooses an interesting method of introducing his characters and plot by way of inserting himself, an author, into the novel and acting as observer and bystander. It was bit strange at first to get used to, but in hindsight, I believe it served a larger purpose in engaging the reader in the spirit of storytelling. For me, what struck me most about this novel were the characters. Baxter truly breathes life into all of his characters, and especially of Chloe and Diana. These two female characters remain fresh in my memory several months later. Baxter's style lends itself to the reader, by assuming the reader wants more than just a good story, at least on the surface. The characters are what create the story in this novel. Which is not to discredit the plot, but to emphasize the relationships between the characters that provide so much insight and depth into the image that Baxter creates using not only his style, but also his play with the intelligence of his audience. This combination of effects left me with that feeling you only get after reading an extraordinary book. My only regret is that I read it too quickly and perhaps it didn't digest as well as it could have.
Rating:
Summary: Love in Grayscale
Review: This book was fantastic! For those of you who live in or near Ann Arbor, this book describes the atmosphere of the city to a T.But more importantly, the book takes a very sensitive apporoach to the different forms of love, that love can be found in many unconventional ways. I could not put it down, and when I did, it was only because it was the end. I laughed at the descriptions of the Eastern Michigan University's water tower, because I had been there. What is so great about his writing skill is that you can imagine yourself right there, as he is, walking the dog near the U of M Stadium. One cannot help but to think some of the chapters are autobiographical. Last but not least, all I can say is "Wow!"
Rating:
Summary: A Literary Feast of the Finest Kind
Review: This is an intricate book, a book worthy of some thought and a book worthy of your time. Baxter creates a narrator who toys and taunts the reader like a soon-to-be lover's sly conversation. This man knows love, he knows heartache, he knows the hopelessness and constant potential of love. If you want to be spoon-fed a story, stay away. If you want to participate in a literary adventure, get this book.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book.
It was written in a totally unique way.
I really recommend it, it's my first by Charles Baxter, it's definately piqued my interests.
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Top Three Best Books I've Ever Read !!!
Review: What an incredible book. I mean, all the different stories intertwining and everything... this book was soo well written. It just reads to... real. It truly captures the essence of love. When Oscar...well, I don't want to say more than I should... but this book left me feeling fulfilled, and lucky, and happy, and crying, and just in awe. This isn't just a book... it's an experience. I LOVED THIS BOOK! My only complaint would be that the sexual stuff was too graphic for me. But that's it. IT IS SO GOOD!
Rating:
Summary: A little slow in the beginning, but overall great
Review: I must admit, it took me a while to truly get "into" this book. I actually started it and then got bored and put it away, only to pick it up about a month later, when it was one of the last things left on my bookshelf that I hadn't yet read. By the end of the book, I had become one of Mr. Baxter's biggest fans. He is an amazing writer, with a prose that I find rare in books with a modern storyline. I truly related to every single character in the book. You can not help but be touched by each of them. I once heard that the sign of a good book is if at the end, you feel like you are saying goodbye to a good friend, find yourself unable to just move on to the next book. That was exactly how I felt. I've read a lot of books in the past year, and I hadn't felt that way for awhile. As soon as I was finished, I kept going back and rereading some of my favorite parts. It took me awhile before I felt ready to "move on," as ridiculous as that may sound. So why only four stars? Well, to me, five stars means that it was superior in every possible sense. While the stories themselves are nothing short of amazing, it did take me awhile to get into. So much so that I almost didn't read it. It Mr. Baxter has a gift of touching people with his writing, and the book really does live up to it's title. It is in every possible way, a feast of love.
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