Turn of the Century

Rating:
Summary: Too long, clunky dialogue, annoying characters
Review: I listened to the abridged version on a long car trip, and maybe the abridgements were the problem. I found the parts about Hollywood and the TV business to be funny and well-written, but the Silicon Valley/start-up stuff much less so (I work in a start-up in SF). He sounds like he doesn't know much about this industry, and didn't bother to research it. I never understood certain essential plot elements, and I found the ending to be ambiguous and unsatisfying. I can't believe he is being compared to Tom Wolfe, whose research is meticulous and whose characters are believable. Frankly, I can't believe this book even got published. I don't think it's worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: Lengthy but WELL worth it, IF your interests match
Review: Yes, it's longer than it needs to have been. But OH is it clever, smart, and savvy. I work in marketing, imaging, media, and communications -- and I loved and admired how brilliantly and astutely Anderson captured the cynical pressures we receive from all around us ... from marketing communicators like me. Don't even try to read unless you're willing to SAVOR this keenly observed, often funny, book. One of the best and truest books of the '90's.

Rating:
Summary: Starts Out Great, Soon Turns Tedious
Review: I don't know why this novel had to be 659 pages! Starts out with a bang. Loved how the author drew me into the techno/media word with the cool jargon, like Doug Coupland's GENERATION X, but unlike GEN X, this book was waaaaay too long and all the hip-slick-cool language grew tiresome and the characters grating. I didn't feel for Lizzie or George and their gimme-gimme lives and by the end---yes I read the whole damn thing, brought it to the beach with me and had no other reading material---secretly hoped that George's plane was going to crash en route to Mexico! Wouldn't recommend reading it unless you have alot of time to waste...life's too short!

Rating:
Summary: Page Turner!
Review: Kurt Andersen sardonically and hilariously sums up our society's transformation into a breed of innovative, information saavy techies who eat up everything the mass media throws at them every day at warp speed. As we approach the new millenium and exploit new technologies that aid in the dispersion of information, even those who have never touched a computer are experiencing the discomfort that comes with the convenience and luxuries the innovations add to our lives. Andersen intelligently explores the impact of our new inventions in his lengthy and interesting anecdote.

Rating:
Summary: terrific
Review: i thought the book was great, a great parody of life in our present warp speed time.

Rating:
Summary: Annoying falsetto, read the book I'm sure it's better
Review: I bought this for a looong drive, since it is 4 hours of tape. By the second half hour, i was engrossed in the story, BUT I ABSOLUTELY HATED the reader's imitation of: 1)Featherstone, 2)Mike's wife (#1 and #2 were the same voice!), 3)any other female and/or child's voice. Annoying falsetto!

Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read in the last couple of years
Review: What seems at first as a cumbersome piece of literature, turns out to be the most enjoyable page-turner I've encountered in recent years. Andersen's neverending vocabulary, his penchant for details and up-to-the-millisecond knowledge of what's happening, make this a true joy. My only problem was with the constant namedropping of C-list celebrities.

Rating:
Summary: No Tom Wolfe but entertaining nonetheless
Review: Turn of the Century is too long, slow in developing and saturated with almost indecipherable jargon. But it was a wothwhile read overall. Kurt Andersen went to great lengths (not unlike George's efforts in developing "Real Time") to set up the worlds of George and Lizzie for their inevitable collapse. They, their friends,children and co-workers were interesting enough to give those of us not in the super-rich, super-cynical and superficial bi-coastal businesses of Media and Information Technology a glimpse into their particular style and mores. One particularly compelling device that Andersen uses is itallisizing George and Lizzie's thoughts which betray the words which depart their mouths. Isn't this what really what happen's to us in polite, civil society? Turn of the Century ends up showing the decency of the main characters. Will this be this realistic anywhere in Twenty-First Century America? We can only hope so.

Rating:
Summary: witty but generally lacking as a novel
Review: Andersen has an excellent sense of humor and provides a unique perspective on this era. The book is too long, the plot is contrived and there are too many cute predictions of the future.

Rating:
Summary: Wordy, conceited and sarcastic
Review: I'm no Pollyanna when it comes to my choice of literature, but this novel left me with a really bad taste in my mouth. And I only read the first eighty pages!! That's when I decided to quit. The dialogue left me feeling that perhaps I wasn't "hip" enough to be reading it. I had nothing but disdain for the main characters and I couldn't stand their children. For me the author's conceit and sarcasm towards anything he did not consider acceptable (which basically is anything that anyone but the filthy rich experiences) oozes out from between the lines. I can usually plow through anything, especially when I buy it in hardcover, but the labor of interpreting the book's dialogue and the ensuing understanding of its banal content made me give it up. I couldn't convince myself that I would ever enjoy finishing it. Truly the worst book I've tried to read in a while. (and I've read some real stinkers!)