Rating: 
Summary: A delightful book
Review: It may be trite to say so, but I was wishing this book wouldn't end right from the first page, a reaction I seldom have. The book had a wonderful tempo and feel and was consistently engaging. I couldn't recommend it more highly
Rating: 
Summary: a good read
Review: Like Nick Hornby, Perrotta does a great job getting inside the 30-ish male mind. The situations characters get into seem a bit extreme, but I guess it's easier to make a point that way. An easy read--but gives you a lot to think about. Can't ask for much more than that. Plus lots of tunes!
Rating:
Summary: a great book
Review: Nick Hornby meets Rabbit Angstrom ? ( Among other more symbolic similarities, the scene where Dave throws the frisbee in the park reminded me of the basketball game in the first pages of Rabbt,Run.) This is just a terrific book that has great characters, background you'll constantly recognize, and lots of very intelligent humor. Highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Ever wish you played in a rock band and never grew up?
Review: Now in his thirties, Dave Raymond still lives with his parents, visits Julie, his girlfriend of fifteen years, at her parents, and plays guitar for a wedding band called The Wishbones. One evening, after watching the aging lead singer of another group collapse and die on-stage, Dave proposes to Julie. The moment she accepts he realizes that his safe niche in life is coming to a close. Dave starts looking for a way out. Enter Gretchen, a grown up rock groupie. Gretchen is new, exciting, sensual, and spontaneous in a way that Julie no longer seems to be. And the wedding plans continue. As soon as the ring is chosen, Julie suggests that it is time for Dave to leave the band. On the night the invitations are addressed, Dave finds out that Julie is hiring a DJ to play at their wedding. Tom Perrotta paints characters with whom you can identify and puts them in realistic situations that enhance the underlying laugh-out-loud humor. I could not put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: Striving for Purpose and the Peter Pan Syndrome
Review: Perrotta has a knack for portraying extremely credible, sympathetic, seemingly familiar characters. Through his depiction of the daily grind and tribulations of his characters he reveals important and insightful observations on human behavior as well as providing an interesting plot. Accordingly, I found "The Wishbones" readable, rivetting, and thought provoking. This novel's protagonist, Dave, is a type with whom we're all familiar. Likeable and easy going, his life is stymied by a lack of motivation and a reluctance to be pushed outside his comfort zone. "The Wishbones" portrays how he comes to recognize how his tendancy toward denial has held him back -- from adventure and success, and is likely to keep him mired in a mundane, stullifying existence. This is illustrated by his staying in the suburbs, living in his parents' house, remaining with the same girlfriend for 15 years, work in a deadend lackey job, and membership in a mediocre band full of "average" guys, who might be defined as losers. The book explores what is success, whether it and happiness and a "normal life" are compatible. While frustrating and occasionally eccentric, the characters of "The Wishbones" are also exceeding pedestrian, "normal", and quite touching.
Rating:
Summary: Within Reach
Review: Perrotta's style is extremely accessible. It's his ability to not use shortcuts or plot gimmicks, though, that makes this book worth reading. The characters and circumstances are all familiar enough for most people to recognize, but Perrotta has the patience and honesty to stick with what he starts with, allowing the end to turn into something that is entirely satisfying and beneficial to the reader. The basic message here is: be aware of what's around you--you just might have all that you need. I really liked the way he took the character Dave's external desires to be a rock star, and allowed the story to make them come true as an internal achievement (the wedding).
Rating:
Summary: Accurate and entertaining
Review: Speaking as a band wife, I can say with confidence that Tom Perrotta knows his material. This novel, which follows Dave Raymond and his fellow wedding-band-mates through several months, hits many familiar notes. There's the overly-uptight band manager, the loading, hauling, unloading and setting up of equipment, the camaraderie with other local musicians, and, of course, the Dream of making it big and going on tour. Many of the laughs in this book came from recognizing a character or situation from the world of bands (what do you MEAN Dave's fiancee wants a DJ at their wedding?!?). The characters are very well-drawn and funny as well; they're actually more important than the plot (will Dave or won't Dave marry Julie, his girlfriend of fifteen years -- "On and off. Fifteen years on and off." -- or stay with Gretchen, who he begins and affair with shortly after proposing to Julie). Each character is quirky, although in a recognizable way, and there are so many interesting ones that sometimes you want less of Dave, Julie and Gretchen and more of Ian, Tammi and Glenn. Maybe this has to do with the fact that, although they're both likeable enough, Dave and Julie seem like a bad couple. Dave's fling with Gretchen isn't the first time he's cheated on Julie, and the book gives the reader no reason to assume that it will be the last. Julie, for her part, doesn't seem to understand what music means to Dave, urging him to quit the band once they get engaged. Since music seems to be the only aspect of his life that Dave really enjoys, this can't be a good sign for them as a couple. Still, the book is engaging, funny, and a quick read. And, if you've ever experienced band life up close, you'll be laughing at many familiar situations.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: The characters in this book are so engaging, and so thorougly portrayed. A bunch of average Joes,who had big dreams, but haven't done much with their lives. Some of the touches are incredible. One of the characters has drafted a musical about JFK's assassination. It's hilariously preposterous, but at the same time it sounds like a great idea. There's a terrific send up of readings at poetry clubs, and the character who gets the most airtime -- Dave -- is terrific. He's caught between his long-time girlfriend, and a new, intriguing woman he meets right after he decides to propose to his old standby. Even the more pathetic characters, a guy who doesn't do much but hang out in his basement playing guitar and listening to music is intriguing. (He's a great talent, but a case of stage fright at a high school talent show made him "go underground.") I didn't want to put this book down. I'm eagerly anticipating another Perrotta book. This one is being re-released in paperback version in April. (I intend to buy it for my wife. I read it when it was out of print and borrowed a library copy.) If you like good characterization, with stylish but unobtrusive writing, try Robert Cohen's The Here and Now and Steven Schwartz's Therapy. Those two, along with the Wishbones, were far and away my three favorite reads last year.
Rating:
Summary: Ouch -- We've All Been There
Review: The genius of Perrotta in The Wishbones is his ability to render in fresh and funny guises universal moments. This is a quick, very enjoyable read, and I can't imagine that a single person of the Baby Boomer down to the mid-30's age range will fail to recognize him- or herself in at least one of the novel's characters or predicaments. My personal favorite is a moment within the "wedding on a tight budget" theme when Dave and Julie are arguing over whether to have a band or a deejay at their reception. Dave, who has made a big part of his life, if not his living, playing with his buddies in The Wishbones at weddings, informs Julie that having a deejay instead of a band is like inviting Hitler to the wedding. Julie looks at him astonished and says, "Hitler?! Are you crazy?" Well, yes, of course he is, who's not as their wedding day approaches, particularly with the complications Dave has mounted for himself in his final single man weeks. In the end, I think he does the right thing (other reviewers here seem to disagree) and Perrotta smartly ends his book on a note of uncertainty which manages at once to suggest that the right thing is not automatically a sure thing and marriage is never the end of all things single. Certainly not overly ambitious in its intentions, The Wishbones thoroughly entertains.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: The only downside to The Wishbones was that it wasn't long enough. It truly left me wanting more. Mandatory reading for any 30-something guy ready to take the plunge into marriage...and a little side note: The page on REM and Stipe was sheer perfection...Tom, you read my mind!
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