MAN OF THE HOUSE

Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER GREAT BOOK!
Review: Another installment from our delightfull Mr McCauley. Unfortunately, I found that this addition to McCauley's works was not as magical. Somehow he only just fell short of another bestseller. However, if you have read his other books you must read this! If not go out and read some! McCauley has managed to see deeper into our lives than ever before! McCauley has a knack of capturing what we feel and think day in and day out. I'm just waiting for everyone to pick up on his genius! Am I the only one who can see a set of modern day classics?

Rating:
Summary: Please write more, Mr. McCauley
Review: I check the Stephen McCauley page frequently in hopes that I'll find a new book. I think he is a master of this kind of book, the modern novel of manners. I can imagine Jane Austen being very amused. I've read all of his books more than once, but they don't get tired. I sincerely hope that whatever is in the way of his writing is exorcised. I am sure that many others also miss his voice.

Rating:
Summary: The most depressing thing I've ever read.
Review: I loved McCauley's first two books, and this book has a lot to like -- there are several amusing scenes -- but the ending is such a downer that I can't recommend it. Not that every book needs to have a happy ending, but to create likeable, hopeful characters, only to trash them at the end, seems perverse. There is no resolution to any of the characters' problems. Also, the character of Louise did not come together for me; she does not seem like a real person. I was heartbroken about the dog at the end, and for what?

Rating:
Summary: a moving, funny and disturbing book
Review: I think S. McCauley does something in this novel that I have not seen in other contemporary novels recently: he writes in a unique style that makes the reader laugh while at the same time touching the heartstrings. Normally, this is not so unusual but his style is different. In MAN OF THE HOUSE he's both arch and simple. The scene in the restaurant where the two friends meet and try to discuss their problems while not listening to each other is full of comic details, as is the fantastic scene in the revival movie house where the audience talks through CAROUSEL, comments loudly on the performances and cries at the ending. It's the unexpected but true details that hit me: the audience crying at the ending of CAROUSEL, and the waitress at the empty restaurant pretending to know about Carl the unwitting heartthrob. These scenes, combined with the family dilemmas which result in the permanently lost dog, are totally involving

Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER WINNER by the world's greatest author
Review: I've read this book 3 or 4 times. It's fantastic. As in all of Stephen McCauley's novels the characters are flawed and real with plenty of entertainment value. His descriptions of them are extemely clever and with carefully chosen detail that makes them really come alive for the reader. There are moments in the book that are incredibly touching and tender and others that will have you rolling on the floor screaming with laughter. McCauley has an amazing ability to observe what many of us miss and articulate his observations in excruciatingly hilarious detail. But this isn't just a book with realistic characters, humorous insights, and vivid descriptions. It's also got heart. And although the main character is gay this book is not just for gays-- it's a treat and a half for anyone with a sense of humor and an appreciation for genius at choosing words and arranging them on a page. Brilliant and FUN! BE sure to check out his new updated website where you can find out about signings or book events, and read his "recent rants." www.stephenmccauley.com

Rating:
Summary: A horrible story, a wasted opportunity
Review: Make no mistake�Stephen McCauley is an immensely gifted writer. The Man of the House is laugh-out-loud funny in a droll, understated way, which makes it all the more delightful. His characters are likable, flawed humans who want to do their best, and he writes about them with warmth and affection. The plot is a believable situation that challenges his characters to break out of their habitual modes of behavior and discover the truth about themselves. The trouble is that in this novel, the primary characters do not rise to their challenges, and they only discover their truths when it is too late to matter. What makes the story so repulsive is that the victims of these people's various self-indulgences are a small, defenseless dog and a self-possessed 12-year-old boy. My complaint is not that I insist upon a happy ending, but that McCauley spent the entire novel making me care about his people and believe in their innate worth, and then in the last paragraphs proved that they are lazy, self-indulgent people who aren't worth my time. Why did the author bother to write this story at all? I can see examples of the worst of human nature on the evening news every day, and by looking around my neighborhood and workplace I can see examples of lazy people who don't bother to to act upon their better qualities. I look for literature that helps me see how we humans can move beyond our self-interests to find the best of ourselves. I loved reading this novel and seeing into these people's lives, until the last pages, when I realized I had wasted my time with the two characters who had the most to gain, but who diddn't have the courage or the insight to rise to their challenges.

Rating:
Summary: What is "Otis"?
Review: Reading The Man of the House is like having a fabulously juicy gossip about family and friends. McCauley is absolutely spot on with his depiction of the young-at-heart, aging around the middle generation. I feel like I know he's everyone writing about, and his deft descriptiveness pulls you right into their world of minor mishaps and überangst. The author clearly loves his characters, and while he doesn't hesitate to take aim at their foibles, he writes about them with a tender humor. Along with a few shivers of anxiety, I laughed out loud while reading the book. It's a treasure for anyone who's ever wondered whether Mr./Ms. Right really exists, why God created families, or indeed, at what age you finally have to become a grown-up. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Kudos for another McCauley bull's-eye
Review: Reading The Man of the House is like having a fabulously juicy gossip about family and friends. McCauley is absolutely spot on with his depiction of the young-at-heart, aging around the middle generation. I feel like I know he's everyone writing about, and his deft descriptiveness pulls you right into their world of minor mishaps and überangst. The author clearly loves his characters, and while he doesn't hesitate to take aim at their foibles, he writes about them with a tender humor. Along with a few shivers of anxiety, I laughed out loud while reading the book. It's a treasure for anyone who's ever wondered whether Mr./Ms. Right really exists, why God created families, or indeed, at what age you finally have to become a grown-up. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER WINNER by the world's greatest author
Review: Stephen McCauley has put together a book full of dysfunctional people, yet it is not really the oddity but something that all of us see at one time or other. I don't think there is a family, regardless of background or status, that does not have family members that can't be compared to some of the characters in his book, or at the very least know someone with similar characteristics. It was an entertaining book, describing the lives and traits of several people and how they interact during the course of several months and yet at the end there is no end to the story except for maybe an awakening to the main character's perceptions of himself and his friends. We have the main character, who is gay, who is living with a straight man, who has been going to school forever and has been in and out of many love affairs with women, a woman friend who has returned with her son who is 12 years old (whose father is the straight man), his father who has treated him with disdain for years, a sister with problems and her daughter who is sassy and rebellious, and a dog who has been mistreated previously (and has emotional problems) and since his friends can't keep them at the place they rented, he now has custody and a downstairs neighbor who has gone through a seperation and is emotionally scarred. These all make for an entertaining story.

Rating:
Summary: engaging look into the lives of everyday dysfunctionalists
Review: Stephen McCauley has put together a book full of dysfunctional people, yet it is not really the oddity but something that all of us see at one time or other. I don't think there is a family, regardless of background or status, that does not have family members that can't be compared to some of the characters in his book, or at the very least know someone with similar characteristics. It was an entertaining book, describing the lives and traits of several people and how they interact during the course of several months and yet at the end there is no end to the story except for maybe an awakening to the main character's perceptions of himself and his friends. We have the main character, who is gay, who is living with a straight man, who has been going to school forever and has been in and out of many love affairs with women, a woman friend who has returned with her son who is 12 years old (whose father is the straight man), his father who has treated him with disdain for years, a sister with problems and her daughter who is sassy and rebellious, and a dog who has been mistreated previously (and has emotional problems) and since his friends can't keep them at the place they rented, he now has custody and a downstairs neighbor who has gone through a seperation and is emotionally scarred. These all make for an entertaining story.