Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Hokey cliffhangers or not, once I got past a slow beginning, I was hooked. I wouldn't call this literature, and certainly the book missed a number of opportunities as other reviewers have suggested but all the same, I enjoyed reading it and appreciated the escape.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good reading
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I could relate to Talcott Garland, the main character. His personality was gentle and long-suffering, to a point. He is so much like me. The story kept my interest until the very last page. I will not be surprised if they make it into a movie, and I already have some idea as to who should play the main parts. Mr. Carter is an excellent writer.
Rating: 
Summary: intriguing
Review: i must admit that, at times, i thought this book would never end and i don't know why i liked misha, but for some reason, i truly wanted him to succeed and i wanted kimmer to fall on her face. maybe i was just in the mood for a book that would make me think a little more than most mysteries. and god knows, i'm far from being a conservative, but i found the characters to be multi-dimensional and intriguing. this book will make an awesome movie--say, with denzel in the leading role???
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable literary mystery
Review: This was a wonderfully written, intricate story that forces us to look at the nature of race relations, familial obligations, and marital fidelity. The book gets off to a slow start, so be patient (the editor should have really streamlined this book, as so many of the reviews note). But in the end, the story of the Tal Garland and his family turns out to be an interesting and compelling read....
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating...I tried to like it, but unsatisfying ending.
Review:
(1) Too many secondary characters receive too much attention
(2) A crucial character who is set-up to be intriguing turns out to have no impact on the plot at all
(3) A big secret you were waiting for...is never revealed
(4) Most of the characters are extremely self-absorbed
(5) For a book that supposedly relates the experiences an unfamiliar world. I found very little that could be called insightful or even fresh.
(6)There's a couple of nice passages that made me say "right on!" But not enough.
(7) Sub-plots introduced early in the book have very abrupt endings midway through...muting their impact or cause you to wonder why it wasn't edited out.
(8) At close to 700 pages the pacing was very inconsistent: at times I coudn't put it down, but more often I felt anchored in one spot for 50 to 100 pages at a time.
(9) The tone was unremittingly downbeat.
Rating:
Summary: Why libraries can be great
Review: Where to begin, where to begin! The Emperor of Ocean Park had so much potential. For non chess players there was just enough information to spark an interest in the game. For those wanting a peek into the life of middle class blacks it presented a window. For those who devour Law&Order reruns on TBS it showed some of the law at work. But for those who wanted to curl up with a good novel and lose themselves in the book, frustration sets in. A brief recap of what the story was supposed to be about: Oliver Garland dies unexpectedly from a heart attack. His eldest son accepts this death, his surviving daughter decides that foul play was involved and the protagonist, younger child is given a mysterious message about arrangements. So begins a 600 plus page journey into the world of middle class blacks, chess, and academia, with conspiracy theory thrown in for good measure. What the story wound up being about was a whiny man trying to decide if he really wanted to know the truth about both his father and himself. This is a long book. The whole idea that it was supposed to mirror a chess game would have been nice had those with no knowledge of the game been given more information to better understand what the heck was going on. The imagery was nice, I felt like I had actually returned to Martha's Vineyard, but how many times did I have to get another long description of the house. Perhaps if every sentence did not try to include every variation on double talk the author would have been aware of what had already been written. The length of the book is very demanding. The beginning draws you in, and the reader thinks it will be a juicy read, but it by page 200, you really don't care about the arrangements, more than if Talcott will confront his wife about her infidelities. The story turns out to be fluff with big words thrown in for good measure. The characters are not really thought out, more like placed in the book for the chance to add another forty pages or so. Unlike novelists that don't try to be so pretentious and cerebral, Mr. Carter comes across just that way. The ending is rushed and although there are some blanks left for the reader to fill in, there is certainly less that could have been said in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Emporer of Ocean Park
Review: This book was tedious, dull and in the end inconprehensible. The characters are stick figures. Marriages disintegrate and yet the couples never once talk about any of their problems. The central mystery of the book is left in the dumpster. Every other sentence is a run on screed about how awful white people are to black people. If that were really true I don't think this book would have gotten a single good review. Do yourself a favor and bypass this one.
Rating:
Summary: Superlative
Review: Can't think of enough superlative words for this book. It was a quick read only because I couldn't put it down. All 653 pages! Full of suspense and intrigue, it was reminiscent of Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities from so many years ago! But, in addition, Stephen Carter has written such beautiful passages that he has to be quite a rare person of intelligence, integrity and compassion growing out of a deep spitiruality. This will be my gift of choice to my Book Club.
Rating:
Summary: A Slow Literary Luxury Liner ...
Review: As the author of HARLEM REDUX, a Harlem Renaissance murder mystery also set among the black upper middle class, several readers have asked me to comment on Mr. Carter's book and compare it to mine. I can only say that I recommend Mr. Carter's highly. It is intelligent and witty, full of scathing social commentary. It is not, however, a 'thriller' in the sense of fast-moving. I would liken reading it to taking a luxurious ocean liner on a slow but wonderful cruise -- as oppose to being squeezed into the economy seat of a cheap commuter flight. In short, I loved it. As for a comparison, both Mr. Carter's book and mine concern the internecine squabbles of an affluent black family for whom success has translated into a nightmare. Both books feature a socially-aware lawyer as a sleuth who is trying to unravel family secrets. Both concern a son who is struggling to come to terms with his father's memory. Both offer social commentary. But there the similarities end. HARLEM REDUX concerns a family on Strivers' Row in 1926 and draws heavily on the milieu of the Harlem Renaissance; his focuses on the Martha's Vineyard residents of today and the life of Ivy League academia. As a third-generation jurist, a television commentator and a man with friends on Capitol Hill, Mr. Carter writes from the point of view of the "affluent'"man looking out. As an expatriate and the first person in my family to even graduate from high school much less attend graduate school, I write from the point of view of the "outsider" looking in. HARLEM REDUX focuses on the little-discussed class struggles within the black community during the 1920s, whereas THE EMPEROR focuses on the Garland family's internal schism. In an interesting coincidence, New York publishers released THE EMPEROR and HARLEM REDUX a day apart from one another, as if understanding that these two books addess different sides of the same uniqiue coin. I urge readers to pick up Mr. Carter's book and relax into it. Forget about a quick read. Some readers have complained about THE EMPEROR's length or commented on an overused or repetitious metaphor. Fine, they have a point. (I admit that as a professional, but very patient, editor, there were times when even I itched for a red pencil.) But for every 'repetitious' metaphor, Mr. Carter offers an elegantly-turned phrase and a healthy dollop of original insight. A fair exchange. So, savor his language, his wisdom and his wit. Take this luxury liner. In today's world, a book such as this is such an unusual experience.You'll most definitely enjoy the ride. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time
Review: I had Stephen Carter as a professor at Yale Law School, and like his IP class, this book SUCKS. The plot is slow and plodding (my arthritic grandfather moves faster), and the characters are unmoving and soulless. I can't even be sympathetic to Tal Garland because I HATE him. What a chump. Stephen Carter tries his hand at fiction, but only reveals his own crippling insecurities. Those of us who paid $120K for the privilege of his tutelage need not spend an additional [$$$] to find out what we already knew--SLC has major issues.
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