Rating: 
Summary: Sorry Ms. Hamilton but I didn't care for it.
Review: I have always loved Jane Hamiltons books but this one just seemed to going nowhere from the beginning. I kept waiting for an event to happen that would turn the book around but it never arrived.The characters were not developed as they were in The Book of Ruth. I found them all boring and felt no attachment to any of them. Sorry everyone, I can not recommend this book at all. However, The Book of Ruth still remains my favorite book ever.
Rating: 
Summary: An outstanding novel
Review: I was amazed at Jane Hamilton's ability to write a book which so accurately portrays the experiences of a gay male. Walter reminded me of the heroes in Stephen McCauley's novels, but in many respects Walter is more three-dimensional, and the novel is certainly more substantive than McCauley's work. I continually found passages which reflected my own experiences. I don't know how Hamilton was able to get into her hero's head so completely, but in my opinion, she succeeded brilliantly. The book is an honest but compassionate (and never apologetic) portrayal of a real person who happens to be gay.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly moving...a CAN'T put down!
Review: Jane Hamilton has done it again! Her third novel was moving, enlightening, eloquent, charming and heart-warming. To see Walter grow and emerge into the man he becomes through the eyes of Ms. Hamilton was a picture painted in beauty. Through his trials and tribulations, the reader laughs, cries, winces in agony, remembers loss and looks to the future with love and hope! Kudos Jane Hamilton! You've done it again!
Rating:
Summary: Simply wonderful
Review: This novel does just about everything successfully. Even when Walter, the narrator, gets a little preachy, you still want to know what it is he's saying. It is a beautiful rendering of what happens to relationships when the unexpected happens. Everyone in the novel is affected in some way by one event, and this event provides the backdrop for Walter's story both present and past. You will find yourself weeping and laughing simultaneously as he tries to answer his mother's question about religion and afterlife. That reaction alone is one of Hamilton's greatest gifts as a storyteller. I also loved the role of Lake Margaret as a physical place and metaphor.
Rating:
Summary: A Prince of a Novel
Review: Hamilton's new novel is deeply felt and moving. Does it exactly express the emotions of a gay 15 year old boy or a 38 year old man? Do 15 year old boys swoon over opera singers or play guessing games with classical music? It hardly matters, as the writing is crisp, the emotions seem genuine and the plot is absorbing. I was especially pleased with the ending which, while not answering all the questions posed by Walter's life, did tie matters up satisfactorily. This doesn't always happen in slice of life stories.
Rating:
Summary: Life is a Drama . . . Live the role!
Review: Rarely do I read a book that leaves me searching for words to describe its impact. This is a wonderfully written story of love and loss, family and friends,life and death. The book is filled with characters who are lively . . . each with his/her own story. . . each searching for their own truth, their own joy. Life is indeed a drama, where the actors live their roles, not act them. Very well done!
Rating: 
Summary: Jane Hamilton's third book a letdown
Review: When I read Jane Hamilton's first book, The Book of Ruth, I felt that every word was meant to be. The very spareness of the language added to the impact of the story. By the time she wrote The Short History of a Prince, however, I think Jane Hamilton (and her editor) became a little dazed by her success, and didn't go to the trouble of editing and refining the excessive wordiness of this novel. I hate to see excellent writers get sloppy like this once they became successful. I ended up enjoying the novel, but I think it could have had much more impact if she had spent more time on it. As it is, we are reading what is still a rough draft.
Rating: 
Summary: JANE HAMILTON IS THE BEST WRITER TO EMERGE IN THE 90s
Review: I finished SHORT HISTORY OF A PRINCE several weeks ago, just before I met the author at a reading sponsored by the PLAIN DEALER in Cleveland. I had met her several years ago at John Caroll University on a book tour four MAP OF THE WORLD. At the most recent reading, I was able to have Ms. Hamilton sign my novel and to speak with her for a few minutes before the dinner began. First of all, I loved the book. I am again amazed by her ability to take on the voice of a character and to make that character so utterly believeable. There is not one false note in this novel. I read this one with several other teachers in a book club we started several years ago. Most everyone like the book, although several found it "too internal" and "slow." I am willing to follow Jane Hamilton anywhere--at whatever pace. With the recent disappointment of Toni Morrison's PARADISE, Jane Hamilton is climbing the list of my favorite authors. I do not like this book as much as THE BOOK OF RUTH or MAP OF THE WORLD (her best), but I certainly recommend it wholeheartedly. A friend just called me tonight and had finished the novel and was very moved by it. The best thing he's read this year. Come to think of it, me too so far.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't get past a glaring error on the first page!
Review: August 10, 1972 was NOT a Saturday; it was a Thursday. Since this was how the book began, I was, as a "methodical" Virgo (see page 4), completely thrown off kilter. Why was this error not caught? Was there an editor? Is this "poetic license?" Does a lack of attention to detail reveal a free spirit or sloppy research? Pondering this mystery left me too tired for the book!
Rating:
Summary: Generally good, but wordy(!) and lacks character development
Review: I purchased this book as the result of a positive review; so positive, in fact, that it brought tears to my eyes. Unfortunately, the reviewer drew me into the story more effectively than the author herself. Not a bad read; I found myself caring about the central character (Walter), his failed dreams, his desire to find a sense of place in a world and family where he is conditionally accepted, etc. But I found myself frustrated by both the constant overuse of commas, convoluted sentences, and prepositional phrases, and the eventual frustration of working through the word trail only to come up empty-handed. The sources of Walter's frustration are easily understood (unrequited love, desire that outmatches talent), but we don't ever find out what he does with that frustration. Is his return toward family and home a satisfying answer or a temporary escape? Is his semi-closeted state chosen, imposed, or merely defaulted-to? I'm all for uncertainty, but I couldn't tell if the mystery was intentional, if clues were left out altogether, or if it was all simply beyond my comprehension. Maybe I ended up as frustrated as Walter. The characters who surround Walter are equally well-described and poorly-explored. The dullness of his baby sister's suburban life is clear, but her attitude toward it is not; there are hints of complexity, but just when you think we're about to hit an enlightening passage, the author pulls back. Again, a tactic meant to demonstrate the overall sense of uncertainty, or the result of stopping one re-write short of a finished product? Minor characters take up huge sections of the book, but some of the main characters are practically anonymous. His aunt, his high-school lover -slash- fellow dance student, and the one-night stand who awakens his hope in love, all suffer from lack of development. These people are clearly, devastatingly crucial to the story, but our inability to explore them through the lens of Walter is ultimately frustrating. Via him, the author shuts us down jus! t when we start to get interested. On the other hand, Susan, the third member of Walter's boyhood love triangle is well explored but comes up fairly shallow. So, I guess what I'm saying is that I found the storyline engrossing and the movement between past and present well-crafted and effective. But once I made it through the windy, clunky sentence phrasing, I came up short on what really made the characters tick. Was it me?
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