Rating: 
Summary: Big Fish
Review: This is a wonderful book describing the complexities of the relationships between parents and their children. It details the results of a childhood lived in the absense of a father. The father, Edward Bloom is a psychopath of sorts with his compulsive lying and evasive techniques used in conversation with his son. These psychopath tendencies create a whimsical tell tale-like facade. A life that young William slowly learns to accept and embrace as the essence of his father. This story is both poignant and humorous. It lacks a strong story line, which can both the novel's down fall and orignality. Wallace's whimisical mythical writing is a definite plus creating a fairytale sense.
Rating: 
Summary: The man that was a myth
Review: This novel is full of tall tales ranging from telepathy to mermaids, of which revolve around one man, Edward Bloom the man of myth and joke one of the greatest men who ever lived. However, he has one flaw. Edward does not let people know him. He tells stories to people to make him self seem larger than life, even to his own son, William. On his deathbed, his son visits to try to know him.
The novel is for a reader who enjoys fantasy and myth, but whoever reads this should keep in mind that this book is not full of dragons and golden fleeces. The setting is more modern than most fantasy novels, but still has a greatness and mystique as the ancient myths of Greece.
This novel is also great because it is more of a collection of short stories. This is good for the lazy reader - one who often gets bored, can easily be hooked.
Rating: 
Summary: Big Pond.
Review: There are a lot of forms of literature that you don't come across very often in current literature. You don't find very many short stories being written and published nowadays. You don't find many fables or fairy tales either. And you don't find hardly any tall tales. Besides the yarns about Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and a few others, there really haven't been very many tall tales written in recent memory (which is a shame since the tall tale is an almost uniquely American form of literature). However, BIG FISH is an exception.BIG FISH is a collection of loose tales told by William Bloom as he comes to grip with his father, Edward's impeding death. Most of the stories have to deal with Edward's life before William was born, but a few happen later, and there are even a few that are current. Each story is basically a tall tale. Everything in the stories is big and most of it seems unrealistic, yet each vignette contains a yarn of truth. The stories represent William's desire to connect with his father, a man he hardly knows, before he passes away. I purchased BIG FISH because I saw the Tim Burton film and adored it. I found out the movie was based off a novel and as soon as I was able to scrounge my pennies, bought a copy. I wasn't disappointed in my investment. The book is rather short (180 pages) and easy to read. At the same time, the story is filled with illusions to myths, fables, tales, and other pieces of literature (e.g. Edward Bloom's name is a nod of the hat to Joyce's ULYSSES). All of this is connected together to form a very sad and poignant look at a relationship between a father and son who love each other very deeply, but who barely know anything about the other. In that sense, the book is sad. Yet, it also has a subtle message (brought out more clearly in the movie) about how even the most fantastical tales of all might have some truth to them, perhaps even be true. At the same time, the book also explores the power of story and what stories really mean and how the affect and shape our lives and history. All of this and and a glass eye that sees the future, a mermaid, and a giant too. Not too shabby for a bunch of tall tales.
Rating:
Summary: Big fun
Review: So many comparisions have been made lately between books, that I hate to bring another up, but the latest one that pairs Mccrae's "The Bark of the Dogwood" with "Big Fish" is pretty accurate. Both novels deal with the "father" theme, dark secrets, innocuous stories and what really lies underneath them, and the south, but "Big Fish" is really very different. For one thing, it's shorter. For another, it's been made into a movie, and whether or not we like it, that colors most people's view of even the book. But all that aside, the writing in the book is excellent and regardless of what they did on the screen, "Big Fish" can easily stand on its own as a piece of literature. The characters are real without being over the top, and colorful without being draining. I highly recommend this book . . . and the movie. Also recommended: Cold Mountain, Bark of the Dogwood, Bleachers
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: I was pleased to find out how good this book was. The story and characters are interesting, and humorous, unlike so many contemporary novels today. There are some nice sentiments that don't come off as maudlin or preachy. This is a short, deep, and at times brilliant novel that came together nicely. I wish more published stuff were this good.
Rating:
Summary: A Tall Tale With a Sentimental Undertone
Review: Let me preface by saying that this is not my typical genre so my review may be clouded by that fact. This book is a collection of stories that form the man, Edward Bloom, a never serious traveling salesman. The book is told from his son's perspective as his Father lay on his death bed. While the stories were sometimes entertaining and humorous, they seemed disconnected. The ending, while a bit far fetched (staying with the whole tone of the book) did serve to drive one point home to Mr. Bloom's son: That the jokes and stories that made up his impressions of his Father, the ones that he grew to resent, in the end became the manner in which his Father communicated with the people in his life.
Rating:
Summary: a Big Fish under the novels
Review: Edward Bloom is the father of William and a successful businessman. He is a big hero in the imaginations of his son. Edward can't be serious, he always has to tell jokes when somebody speaks with him. William Bloom wants to know the truth about his father. He tries to figure out what his father has really done in his life, while Edward is on the deathbed. I like this book because of the relationship between Edward and William. And it's really interesting because of the myths of ancient Greece and Rome. William imagines the whole life of his father as a big adventure, by using myths, because he just don't know, who Edward really is. Water is used, as a big symbolic part in this book and it's interesting to see the many ways to use water as a symbol. I didn't really like that the book is so short. I want to read much more about Edward and William.
Rating:
Summary: tall tales equal a life
Review: Ed Bloom's father is dying, and he wishes to make a last stab at connecting with him. The trouble is, his father only speaks in tall tales and jokes, concealing the real him. All Ed really knows is his father only wanted to be a big fish, to make a real splash in the world, as a result he was often absent from home while Ed was growing up. As he tries to get his father to open up, Ed recounts the tall tales his father has told throughout his life, each more fantastic than the last. Through these tales, you get a glimpse of the man Ed is trying to reach inside. This is a humorous yet sad story.
Rating:
Summary: Magical...
Review: What a cool book! I can't wait to see the movie now. This book is full of tall tales and such wonderful imagination, I'm really looking forward to seeing how it's played out on the big screen. I definitely recommend this book if you haven't already seen the movie...or even if you have.
Rating: 
Summary: Tears of Saccharine
Review: I picked up this book on a whim because I'd heard about the film and, knowing the integrity of some of the actors, thought the book might be worth reading. Being so thin, I figured it couldn't take too long to read it, so what the heck. I'm sorry to say that it was one of those painfully maudlin tales involving a lifetime of parent/child discord, then a pititful last minute effort at some type of "understanding". This seems a perfect formula for selling millions of books to the emotionally over-wrought looking for more of the same sickeningly sweet "Please accept me, I want to understand you" storylines. I haven't the slightest idea why people will read and re-read these identical tales but, if you want to sell a lot of books, weepy reconciliations seems to be the way to go.
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