Rating: 
Summary: What was all the fuss about?
Review: I bought Turn of the Century because of the good publicity. The publicists exaggerated somewhat! I really can't see what all the fuss was about. I tried, and I tried and, in the end, I just had to give up on it.Sorry but this book was definitely not for me.
Rating:
Summary: complete inability to move the story along!
Review: forget the tom wolfe comparison. this book is simply BORING! i'm half through reading it, but i'm still waiting for something interesting to happen. if nobody tells me that the second half is much, much better than the first, i'm going to throw it away (which i rarely do). how could i believe this excellent book review (in a swiss newspaper)?
Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe the hype
Review: This 600+ page endeavor in tedium has quite a few clever and witty observations about the current state of media, technology, etc., but is undone by the author's endless tone of self-congratulation and his complete inability to MOVE THE STORY ALONG. The plight of George and Lizzie is secondary to all of Andersen's cheeky observations and endless descriptive dreck. There's no sense rehashing the plot because there really isn't one. For a story intending to portray life in the modern fast lane, so little seems to actually happen, and it's hard to care about any of the characters since they serve mainly as props and time-killers in between the author's next clever zinger. Most of the time, the author's supposedly keen insight into the 21st century is no more than well-dressed but thinly-veiled cliches (this is particularly prevalent - and annoying - when the author shifts the setting out of New York City to the West Coast and shows his complete ignorance of anything outside the 212 area code), and you get the distinct impression that the author is writing just to hear himself talk. Fresh and invigorated at the start, it doesn't take long for Turn of the Century to wear thin and dwindle to a boring, lethargic crawl. All in all, a very disappointing read, since I was always a fan of his work in Spy Magazine. This is precisely the kind of "hip, cutting edge" fiction - with it's media barbs and heavy handed approach to social satire - which would fool critics into thinking the author really had something to say.
Rating: 
Summary: POPS TOPS
Review: This is one of POP's picks. Almost 700 pages of satire. Max Schulman on steroids. Excessive and hilarious and there is one chapter alone that is worth the price of the book. Roll into your local book store and peruse chapter 23. And while you are on Amazon check out Matt Beaumon's "e" There is enough laughter between the two books to forget an IRS tax audit.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Novel of the Year
Review: A thick and dense book about many thick and dense people--media opinion-shapers, wall streetwalkers, techno hacks and hackers, focus groupies, TV execs and celebs, upstart start-ups, MTV (empty v), ad infinitum. This is a witty dramatization of contemprorary manners and mores and, to a smaller extent, an examination of how the surface of things affects--or reflects--their depths. That is, how does our society work to shape the relationships, ethics, psychology and spirit of contemporary man? The many comparisons to Wolfe and Trollope are justified. I would recommend this book to just about anyone. The 800-pages move quickly, the characterizations are deft and witty, the narrative is complex and nuanced, and the book manages to show us the world we live in (the way things are now). Many will enjoy, if nothing else, looking behind the curtain--seeing how journalists, TV producers, CEO's, M&A "people," et al. use smoke and mirrors to perform their tricks... Like Bret Easton Ellis, Andersen seems to be a moralist althuogh "Turn of the Century" strikes more of a detached, neutral, objective narrative posture. Still, I read a moralistic tone beneath this. The author wants us to consider the moral, ethical and above all the human consequences of the way we've shaped our world. I don't mean that the novel is preachy--not a bit. The author's tone is much more relaxed and descriptive (rather than prescriptive) than this. I simply mean this--he works with a purpose, as all artists must.
Rating:
Summary: Great book about our times -- set in 2000
Review: This book has many fun, great observations about our times. Set in the year 2000 (6-18 months from the time I read the book), it can really be applied to the near future. The book is about a married couple -- the wife is the CEO of an Internet company and her husband is a television producer and former journalist. This book is a definite must read -- one of the best fiction books I have read in a long, long time.
Rating:
Summary: The heart and soul of New York
Review: Kurt Andersen defined New York journalism for an entire generation. Now he is doing the same for fiction. As editor of SPY, he took us all to a new place; a place we had never been before. With this new novel, he has yet again helped us move to an unexpected level of understanding, humor and vision. I feel very sorry for anyone that does not read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Major Disappointment
Review: Boring, boring, boring! And disappointing. I began reading TURN OF THE CENTURY with high hopes. Reviews had compared this work to BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, a novel I loved because it combined a clever and satirical look at our times with an actual story where things happened and characters/people dealt with those events. TURN OF THE CENTURY delivers what to me was 600 pages of description wrapped around maybe 50 pages of story. The look at our turn of the century life is at times clever and inventive, but portraying it seems far more important to the author than presenting a story where people live, reacting to events and each other, in that sophisticated and brittle world.
Rating:
Summary: A work of genius...almost perfect
Review: When this book first came out in 1999, I thought about reading it, but was too daunted. When it came out in paperback, I bought it and decided to give it a try. I literally could not put it down. The 659 pages was almost too short. I could have read about George and Lizzie and LuLu and Sir (max) and Ben and Featherstone for another 1000. These characters, while satirical are magical. To inhabit their world is a gift. Andersen just "gets" it, his book is filled with media-saavy references (some will argue too many). The more you know about the media, the more you will love it. From Barbie World to MBC to The Casino Royale in NYC to 100 hilarious TV shows, it never ends. It is interesting to see that some of the predictions he made have actually come true. Many of Andersen's ideas aren't that crazy. George is a terrific leading man. Lizzie is a fascinating woman. You learn to love them and their family. Their friends, including Cubby, Featherstone, and Ben are my among my favorites, are spectular. At it's core, this is a love story. The story of George and Lizzie and all their luck and loss. It is engrossing. The last quarter of the book is all over the map, but it fits. It is fun, surprising and even a bit moving. This is our time, our places, our new century. Entertainment Weekly was right in it's review, Andersen is the 1st great writer of the 3rd Millenium. This book takes it place among my very favorite works. I can't wait to see what is next. I raise my glass to Featherstone.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable, intelligent ride
Review: As a serious fan of Spy Magazine, I was delighted to discover this book; I enjoyed it thoroughly, laughing out loud, awed by Mr. Anderson's intelligence and wit. He is a sharp observer of the frightening fast-paced world we inhabit, and his ability to make us warm to both the male and female stars of this story, as well as their families, friends and insane co-workers, is just remarkable.
| 
