Rating: 
Summary: Not a drop-everything read, but characters have merit
Review: Jane Hamilton has, if not outdone her earlier, more splashy works, done a servicable job looking into the heart of longing, regret, and love. I thought the two main characters were well done, but longed for more background on some of the secondary characters, especially the mysterious Sue Rawson. Also, I felt that the characters' speaking voices were forced and unrealistic. They all seemed to have the same devil-may-care tonality and knowingness that may have been right for one character, but not for all! It is especially evident in the high-school scenes, but is true across both time periods. Last, why mask Oak Park as Oak Ridge, IL? Every other Chicago location is finely drawn. I found that strange.
Rating: 
Summary: Captures character and milieu beautifully
Review: While this is a somewhat unorthodox basis for a review, I'd like to state that I went to high school with Jane Hamilton and knew the people who were the basis for Walter, Mitch, and Susan. I respect readers who found the book a departure from Hamilton's technique and usual settings (3rd person, male-centered, suburban rather than 1st person, female-centered, rural) and who found Walter a difficult character to like. At the same time, less in the spirit of a review than in clarification, I can say that the man who was the basis for Walter was charming and vulnerable, while also being self-centered, and he did talk exactly the way Hamilton has him talk in the novel. Further, the assumption that Hamilton doesn't understand the nuances of a gay man does seem provincial to me--should Flaubert not have written "Madame Bovary," then? And those readers who use their own heterosexuality as an excuse for not liking the book--well, that reflects your own limitations more than Hamilton's or the book's. I found this book more of a struggle than her earlier ones--domestic violence and child death/abuse are more engaging topics for the majority of readers, weened on Oprah and Sally Jessy, et. al., than the struggles of a gay boy in search of self. But it finally is worth the effort--and I think Hamilton's enormous insight and empathy achieves a depth of feeling for Walter lacking in most Gen-X fiction by gay men I have read. And I will say this--I know one young man this book gave enough courage and self-reflection to to permit him to come out to himself and those around him. Does this make it great literature? Of course not--but it should make us think before we simply dismiss it because it doesn't immediately connect with the lives of middle-class housewives who all too willingly want only fiction that allows them to see themselves as victims or fairy tale heroines.
Rating: 
Summary: What A Struggle!
Review: If I had the option, I would really give this book one-and-a-half stars, but I'm feeling generous. Jane Hamilton's other two novels, "The Book of Ruth" and "A Map of the World," were two of my all-time favorite books. This book, however, was not. First of all, I didn't like the way the story went back and forth between Walter's 1973 experiences and his 1996 experiences. It's not that I object to this style of writing, but it was difficult for me to follow many events without having to go back and skim through previous chapters. Secondly, I found many characters, such as his mother Joyce, his brother Daniel, his father Robert and his aunt Sue Rawson VERY underdeveloped. It was hard to identify to some of Walter's feelings and emotions in relation to them because I never really got an in-depth "portrait" of who they were. I wanted to learn more about Daniel -- who was he, and what was he like as a teenager? By the time he died I could care less because I never got to know him, aside from the fact that he was a good swimmer. I found Susan's character incredibly annoying and selfish. Come to think of it, most of the characters were so self-involved at times it was a turnoff. On the positive side, Hamilton's attention to detail, her ability to "set the scene" and the character's emotional analysis are excellent. Walter IS a very interesting character and his struggles with his sexuality are very well developed. Unfortunately, I really had to really push myself to make it through this book, and several times I nearly put it down for good. But I kept holding on because I was hoping the pace would pick up. But it didn't. If you're curious about Jane Hamilton, don't read this novel first (or at all.)
Rating:
Summary: The best novel I have read in years
Review: After finishing The Short History of a Prince, I have been ruined for other novels for a long time. I still feel like I'm living Walter's life with him. I felt close to almost all of the characters. Jane Hamilton worked magic with that book. I am usually the type of person who stops reading novels if they are not up to my standards, or if they bore me. I could not put this book down. I lost sleep over it. For many of you who felt that the characters were not real enough for you, I have to say that I suspect that your comments and attitudes reveal your homophobia. I mean, if we all read literature with characters who were similar to ourselves, we wouldn't have much to read at all! It made my heart soar to experience the "coming of age" of a homosexual character, and to read about love between partners of the same sex. My recommendation to everybody is to open your minds a bit, and allow yourselves to experience beauty.
Rating:
Summary: beautifully written, humorous, I flat out loved it!
Review: A book that I enjoyed from cover to cover. In this work I did see so much of life as I once knew it. This writter has a wonderful undestanding of human nature, incredible sense of humor and a gift to write about all of these things.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was about as entertaining as watching paint dry
Review: Possibly one of the most boring books ever written and I loved Hamilton's last two works. To the reader in Chicago, I understood the point of this book, it still doesn't mean that it was any good.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful character studies
Review: Unsuual characters, the kind you meet everday but never really think about, populate this amazing slice-of-life novel. For the reviewers who didn't get the point, I say "Look around you. Look at the people you think you understand. What stories do they hide deep in their souls?" It's not just Hamilton's study of a gay man that wins my respect but her dead-on look at a woman (Susan) who can be cruel and self-centered while she is a loving a true friend. Or the neighbor who is a health-food freak and a chain smoker. Or the bi-sexual lover (Mitch) who can enter a gay relationship and then suddenly drop it like yesterday's newspaper. All of this is so real, so true to the way people really are. This is a marvelously sensitive book full of humor and little truths that will have you nodding your head as you read.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Anticlimactic.
Review: A profound disappointment. Particularly so if you expected the same brilliance she delivered with her two previous novels. This story lacked the insightfulness and poignancy that both A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth were absolutely rich with.
Rating:
Summary: Ehhhh...
Review: Jane Hamilton is my favorite contemporary author, but if you're looking for a great novel, read The Book of Ruth. "Short History" was good but nowhere near the caliber of work that Hamilton has twice proved she is capable of.
Rating:
Summary: A major disappointment.
Review: I loved The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World, and eagerly anticipated this book. But that anticipation quickly turned to disappointment as I struggled to maintain my interest, page by page. The characters were not as rich and absorbing as those in the previous books, and the story, at times, hard to believe. This is one of the few books I've given up on and stopped reading. Don't waste your money -- get it from the library since there's a good chance you'll quickly return it.
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