Rating: 
Summary: purple prose
Review: And that's a good thing! This novel still haunts me to this day.I read it when it first came out and was blown away by Mr. Wright's way with words.In turns humorous,frightening,fanciful,frustrating,but always alive and in the moment;this is writing to inspire hope for the future of modern literature.The only other authors I can remotely relate to Wright's work are:A.M.Homes,and Lorrie Moore. I have since loaned this book to a friend and it was never returned,so I must buy another-although it is not the kind of book just anyone would enjoy(you have to love wordplay and experimentation),not just plot or character driven works.But if you are adventurous it's a hoot!Definetly 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: A Work of Genius
Review: I can't believe the laudatory reviews this novel as received. Extremely long-winded with no discernible plot, direction or characterization. This is one of those novels that doesn't make any sense at all but receives positive reviews because people think "well, I didn't understand it, so it must be good." Sorry, I don't give any writer that much credit. Don't waste your time or money on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: gruesome, but superbly written
Review: I don't like horror or slasher movies and I read this book with trepidation for that reason. Indeed, there are some brutal passages and there is a fair amount of tension building up to these moments. This book seems to imply that our contemporary culture is somewhat sociopathological. It's narrative focus is on the underbelly and on the shallower, more empty parts of the non-underbelly.This 'novel' is structured as a series of short stories that have one character in common. This character often does not get a lot of 'screen time' (the prose feels cinematic), but is crucial to each climax. The identity of this character is enigmatic: you are never sure of his identity, but you become progressively more familiar with his nature. I'm not sure if the author intends for this to be a representation of contemporary American culture or not. If so, then it is in the form of a cautionary tale. If not, then it may be a sort of egghead version of the slasher picture, which is artful, but odd. There is much rumination about identity here: its frailty, its mutability, its destruction. A scary book where light is the absence of shadow.
Rating:
Summary: gruesome, but superbly written
Review: I don't like horror or slasher movies and I read this book with trepidation for that reason. Indeed, there are some brutal passages and there is a fair amount of tension building up to these moments. This book seems to imply that our contemporary culture is somewhat sociopathological. It's narrative focus is on the underbelly and on the shallower, more empty parts of the non-underbelly. This 'novel' is structured as a series of short stories that have one character in common. This character often does not get a lot of 'screen time' (the prose feels cinematic), but is crucial to each climax. The identity of this character is enigmatic: you are never sure of his identity, but you become progressively more familiar with his nature. I'm not sure if the author intends for this to be a representation of contemporary American culture or not. If so, then it is in the form of a cautionary tale. If not, then it may be a sort of egghead version of the slasher picture, which is artful, but odd. There is much rumination about identity here: its frailty, its mutability, its destruction. A scary book where light is the absence of shadow.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Management Secrets!
Review: I expected a fabbo edge-of-the-seat read. What I DIDN'T expect was that this pomo thriller would provide a passel of top-flight management secrets to its unsuspecting readers. From the opening pages of the book, as Wylie Jones prepares to depart on a "business trip" of unspecified duration, to the penultimate chapter, when a revitalized Wylie and his attentive amanuensis wrap up a deal on the Left Coast, this beach-bag zinger is chock full with the sorts of advice, hints, tips, and warnings that help to build healthy management brains in twelve ways! Think of it as a kind of business allegory. Wylie's cross-country odyssey is what might happen if Robert Fulghum were to meet John Gardner trundling down the road on his reality bike, set fire to Robertson Davies' beard, and then move on over to the Highway Hacienda for corn dogs and a brew with none other than Warren Buffet, Everyone's Favorite Grassroots Investor. I totally LOVED it. It gets my absolute HIGHEST rating.
Rating:
Summary: The Real Thing
Review: I have been getting very disillusioned with most of the male writers in this country whose perspective is invariably that of an adolescent male (no matter what their ages) but this writer is the real thing. He gets deeply into his characters in the most economical way and he knows them inside out. I haven't even finished this novel but already feel moved to write a testimonial. This book is about everything American. Its structure is a road book-cum-linked stories. Each one is a perfect, complete cameo of whatever life he is depicting, whether the loner hitchhiker harassed by cops on a freeway who is picked up by a trucker, his cab papered in glossy pictures of naked pin ups, or a debauch at a sex ranch whose reigning queen decides to film a sexually-oriented version of Christ's passion (her summation of the effort: "Blasphemy, I don't know, should be more droll") or a suburban couple entertaining another suburban couple or a couple spinning in a world conjured by crack cocaine, Wright is pitch perfect on details, on dialogue, on feelings, moods, atmosphere. This is a GREAT writer. He does what everybody is doing and yet he notches it up to the highest level. I don't understand why he isn't justly celebrated. In a hundred years when people want to feel what it was like to be alive in our time, this is the writer they will go to.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Amazing Literature
Review: I have now read this astonishing novel three times, and each time I think it's even better than the last. The structure is extraordinary, the characters are unforgettable, and the writing is brilliant. It's not an easy read, although it's well worth the effort. The stories are pieced together with a jeweler's precision: polished, intricate, and jaw-droppingly original. Although Wright hasn't published anything new in several years, this one is WELL worth seeking out and buying. It's one of the greatest pieces of fiction in many, many years.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant.
Review: I read this novel when it came out, and have waited
impatiently ever since for a follow-up. Occasionally I
come to Amazon.com and check in to see if
S. Wright has anything on the horizon, but so far,
no go.
I remember starting this book, and I felt as every word,
every scene was lighted by kleiglights. If you are a true
reader, you will love this book. If not, buy a Robert Ludlum
or a John Grisham.
(I do want to disagree with one reader, who felt that
Annie Proulx's "Accordian Dreams" didn't add up to a
real novel. Novels, like houses or churches or human
beings, can be shaped in innumerable designs. Do
yourself a favor. Read both).
Rating:
Summary: Raw And Riveting
Review: I'm a fan of road novels--especially Lolita. Wright's Going Native is a beautiful grandchild of Lo, ripe with gorgeously hard-hearted prose. I was not disturbed by its somewhat fragmented structure--anyone used to postmodern fiction and hypertext can sink easily into it. It's a novel held together by cultural theory--and so I can understand some readers' gripes. It's a novel of ideas and moods and circumstances. I read it intently, savoring its ecstatic language and malicious rendering of America. Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, but Flawed
Review: It's late in the book when we get to vicariously experience the thrills and chills of a trip to a remote native village in Borneo. But despite the vestiges of headhunting, backwoods Borneo is in fact no more of a threat to life than your local rollercoaster. The real danger is waiting for you back home in Los Angeles, where the natives are far less predictable. Wright depicts a United States where everyday life is always edgy and hallucinogenic, and frequently downright terrifying. His prose, brilliantly constructed, never misses the mark. I wish, though, that he had written a novel, rather than a series of vignettes, lightly strung together by an old green car and a sometimes homicidal wanderer. Like Annie Proulx's accordions, these devices don't quite satisfy. And ultimately his insights into casual murder are a touch less fascinating than Charlie Smith's in "The Lives of the Dead" or "Cheap Ticket to Heaven."
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