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Summary: "I would have read it even if Larry didn't make me"
Review: As a girl the title itself was enough to entice me, so right off the bat I was all for it. It was not one of those books that keeps me entranced and enters my thoughts for years to come, however it was quite enjoyable and contains amazing and thoughtfull stories. I admire Baxter for his ability to fall completely into the different voices and stope any bleeding of characters onto one another. I applaud Baxter on his remarkable structure and use of different perspectives. In the beginning when the novel revolved more around Bradley and the women who chewed him up and spit him out I was interested, but not enthralled. As the focus changed to Chloe and Oscar the reading quickened and my thoughts stayed with the book even after I put it down. In the end the tone was more romantic as chloe expressed her eternal love for oscar and the belief in his reincarnation, at this point I felt the way in which I had hoped when I was initially drawn to the title. The book was thought provoking, comical, surprising and satisfied my girlish, whimsical and sentimental disposition. I reccomend this book highly.
Rating: 
Summary: The Perfect Feast for Summer
Review: In The Feast of Love, Charles Baxter exposes the very truth and nature of love. He has created a novel that will satiate your thirst for a heated summer romance. The reader is graced with a vision of love at its greatest, most delectable moment. True to life, many of the relationships end in sadness and pain. This is a compilation of stories all wound together to make one incredible tale of seven relationships of all different ages, and the journey they each take to make it last. With perseverance and unrelenting passion, each lover dives into bed, effervescent with a soul-searching frame of mind. Although what each couple finds may not be true love, their experiences provide an innovative philosophy of life, one that stretches up inside to arouse their deepest spirits. It is this awakened spirit that generates their feast of love. Though the introduction wasn't necessary, it added an inviting undertone to the book, one that allowed the reader to feel familiar with the story before it even began. Baxter begins the novel with a character's personal account of his experiences with love. His one narrative enfolds into a series of others' tales, where Charlie, (narrator) takes on the role as the omniscient and taciturn interviewer. At times, however, it is frustrating to hear only one side of a conversation when discussing the depths of a character's life and most intimate romance. It often leaves the reader skeptical; wondering how credible it is for a person to pour out his or her most intrinsic and passionate exposés to a total stranger. What I most admired about The Feast of Love was Charles Baxter's ability to make the characters and their relationships immensely realistic. Each portrayal of the lovers is so convincing that they truly come to life. Long after you've put the book down they linger on in your imagination. Charles also has an endless capacity to entice the reader; one can't wait to see what happens next. He has created an engrossing tale filled with riveting emotion, humor, family trauma and genuine tragedy that reaches into the hearts of every reader. Charles has combined profound passion with a taste of Shakespearean romance and a dynamic and spirited adventure in and out of the sheets. It is both pleasurable and agonizing; an overall joyful reading experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Heartfelt Almost Until the End
Review: I grew to like the characters in this book, especially Charlie. The author's description of mall life are very engaging. Malls are soulless when there are no shoppers or people in them. When I was a college student I worked for J.C. Penney at a couple of malls (one in California and one in Michigan). I remember looking out into the mall before the customers were let in. There was a forlornness, a vacuousness that wallowed in the air and settled on everything you could see. The products, the objects themselves seemed to have no meaning, no purpose, without the will and desire, the energy of the customers. Their presence, their energy, their drive- gave the mall, the stores, the products, my job.... meaning. I am sure most of them did not think of themselves as meaning makers, and that without them it was all without any essential value, but it was and is true nonetheless. Baxter captures this world, and what it is like to work in malls. The author also captures the feelings people often have when they are alone in the world, but see couples who are happy and intimate with each other as they walk by. And not intimate in a sexual way in public, but rather that they are in their own world their relationship has created, even though they are in public. Couples like this often look luminous to me, and I am glad to observe their happiness, to know that such happiness exists and always will. That it does not belong to me is bittersweet, but I am not sad about it, because I have known it. Having known it, I can recall those moments and feelings, and it makes me smile. Charlie in the book however, decides to do something unfortunate in regards to these feelings, which leads him into contact with the woman who is presented as his true love. The book works and has cohesivenes, it flows, until we get to this part. This part does not work to the point where I, as a reader, stopped living in the world the author had created and said "Hey wait a minute Baxter, this is isn't working! In fact it seems like a cheap shot! Did you get bored writing this book this late in or what?!!!" When you are holding a book in your hands having this kind of subvocal conversation with the author, you know there is a problem. The love interest, brought into the book so late, never gets to speak. Everyone else gets to speak, but she doesn't. There is also that the way she and Baxter meet is a very unlikely way for a relationship to start. Overall a good read that falls apart at the very end. Which is sad. But I will remember the characters that were well developed, and even now wonder how their lives continued after the last page of the book ended.
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Summary: What a surprise!
Review: The last book I read was horribly written. This book was really imaginative and the storyline captivated me. The only thing I really detested, like a previous reviewer before me, was that the narration sounded like the same person. When Chloe, a young girl in the story, talks to other people, she "kicks slang," but when she narrates her portion, she speaks in perfect english. I'd expect a professor of Philosophy to go on MORE about OTHER philsophies than one jewish writer/philosopher. I'd expect him to mention something about Albert Camus or kafka. I won't get to particular in which I found upsetting about the book because that's really not what the book is about. The book is about love and the trivials of it. As a reader, I found it interesting. so interesting that I am reading a fantasy/science fiction book because i'm afraid if I read another fiction literature, i'll compare this book with that book and find that the new fiction literature book is not up to par with the Feast of Love. Ha...I hope I didn't confuse you in the last line.
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Summary: What a picture he paints!
Review: I for one am glad Baxter couldn't sleep, and when he was roaming in the park, he came across his neighbors, Bradley and Bradley!! The quick-reading chapters are provided by Baxter's characters, making the story read like a "book within a book". Each chapter is a tale told by an individual character. As each shares their story of love and loss, they ultimately meet, and inter-twine with each other, giving us a full portrait. We are reminded after reading this, that love indeed, comes in all shapes; sizes; wants and needs. Baxter has touched a nerve with many, he has also opened hearts of others, by sharing the lives and loves of the people we meet in The Feast of Love. I too have had feelings and thoughts like the characters here. Some painful, some humerous, but most of all, loving. That's life folks - so, pick up a copy of the book, join Baxter on his walk in and around Ann Arbor, and meet his "works of art".
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Summary: The Feast of Sex
Review: For the first third of the book I felt that it was very choppy and broken up. But, as I got into the book the stories slowly started to fit together. I must say that I could have done without the first chapter. I think that it was a pathetic excuse in order to start the novel. Instead of actually saying in the book "I'm going to write a story about other people's stories that they will tell me" I wish Baxter would have just started in. I would have understood what was going on without the "introduction" chapter. However, once I got into the book I was wrapped up in the love. I really enjoyed the fact that each chapter had a different person talking. The reader was able to see the same event from usually at least two perpsectives, which was very interesting. I also liked the way Baxter left it up to us to compare the stories. We didn't have a narrator constantly coming in and telling us what we should be thinking. I personally liked to compare the way each person thought about love and sex. We got the perspective from a very young couple, a middle aged man, and a slightly older couple. It's also true in my mind that these are not the stereotypical couples of their respective age groups and this was very refreshing. However, one must keep in mind that all the characters in the book were white except for a woman doctor near the very end. This is quite annoying to me because that could have added a completely different spin on the book. I'm not sure if this was a stylistic choice or it just happpened in his writing. I would have liked to find out more about Margaret and why she and Bradley got together. It would have been interesting to hear her voice. This brings me to my next point which is the fact that to my ear most of the characters were written with the same sentence pattern and even their vocabulary didn't really vary. I compare this to the book Twilight which was written right after the LA riots and told the story of many different types of people ( of all races and economic status) in their own words. This is what "The Feast" claimed to do, but in my view didn't deliever. Overall though, I find the stories of the characters very truthful. I feel like I could run into any one of the characters on the street. That is very neccessary for me to then believe the love between them. Without them being realistic characters the feast of love would not have been a feast but a small meal.
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: Baxter does an excellent job bringing you to Ann Arbor, Mich and introducing you to these wonderful characters. You are pulled in from the beginning and the conversations (explainations) of these people lives are like one on one conversations over lunch and coffee. You can relate to the characters and even know people like them. Stop! Read this book and make a new set of friends that you will never forget.
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Summary: advice to the poorly trained critics:
Review: Read the book out loud and you'll realize that every character has his/her own rhythm, technique, likely word choice, likely expressions, etc. A beautiful novel.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful feast for reading!
Review: I really liked this! It seemed quirky at first, but as I continued the interweaving of the stories are more real and lifelike than any other I've read. Baxter spins the tales of the seemingly unconnected people - and you find yourself traveling the threads and realizing the connectedness of everyone. The humour of love is barely concealed beneath the surface of what initially seems like a series of bad love mistakes. I enjoyed every word of this novel and while I would have wished for a 'happier' ending I was not disappointed in the least. The humans are real and fallible and even the dogs are amusing. Highly recommend this excellent story.
Rating:
Summary: A Feast for the Mind
Review: I really enjoyed this book by Charles Baxter. It is a thought provoking story and its words are able to unveil the truth and the essence of what real love is. The book is a series of stories told by varying characters who give us their greatest insight into love and its truest meaning. All of the people are brought vividly to life, each one being strong and unique in their own right. While each of the characters' knows how it feels to love, they also learn about the loss of love. Everyone has felt at some point like one of the characters in this book, we all know the sting of love found and love lost. I would definitely recommend this book. It's insight into human nature and the effects of love, all different types of love, on the spirit makes for a compelling read.
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