Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy
Review: Admittedly, this story is bazaar and very weird. It was a book club choice and the books were distributed free otherwise I know that I would never have read it. That said, surprisingly, I found myself very interested in reading the book while simultaneously hating the story. I could see this character belonging to the "60's that I remember (we lived in Seattle in the 60's) Non-conforming was the name of the game and different people "non-conformed" in different ways ...with one exception; a good number of them were on drugs. Those on LSD exhibited behavior that was indeed bazaar and perhaps suicidal, though for the most part they did not realize it while on the drug. The only way I can understand this man's actions is because he had a long-term drug habit. Coming from a dysfunctional family to begin with; apparently very intelligent, but unable to go forward on his own; the drugs and the also dysfunctional Lindy enabled him to live a fantasy with an inevitable ending. The author, I thought was not only a good story teller, but also a poet. I would like to read something else he writes with a story more to my liking.
Rating: 
Summary: Good idea, terrible execution
Review: All in all, the plot in this story was interesting--a quest to find the inner self that ends in self-destruction in Alaska... It could have been made good, except that it was so BAD!
Shapero's writing style reminds me of a horrible dime-store romance novel, in which he tells us rather than shows us, and leaves nothing up to us to debate about. His characters are cheesey and unrealistic, and his main female character is inconsistent and offensive to women. I did not read the prologue (I guess I didn't see it), so the ending wasn't completely ruined for me, but I went back and read it after I finished, and it would have been much better as an epilogue.
Truly bad bad writing. Although I think I will have to read it again... One reviewer suggested reading it imagining Sam/Ransom as Will Ferrell... that cracks me up...
Overall, this book wasn't worth the nothing I paid for it.
Rating:
Summary: I really hated this story
Review: As stated above"Shapero unwisely uses the prologue of his debut novel to divulge the ending, so the remaining 300 pages do little more than track one man's tedious journey toward acid-induced madness."
Says it all for me. As I knew the end before i started, it was a real struggle to wade through this book. I suppose I was irritated by the main character, and his selfish drug taking and mis use of his girlfriend.I only perservered as I wanted to see how he got to his fate at the end/beginning.
A book I was happy to release into the wild. I was glad to be rid of it.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth it.
Review: I got this book from a friend who recieved 2 advanced reading copies for free in Chicago. I do a lot of reading in my spare time and normally can finish an average book in 2 or 3 days, well it took me well over a month at least to finish this book because I was so disinterested in it. I skipped all the parts in italics where he becomes the ram. It was boring and most of it made no sense. The ending is given away in the prologue, and the only reason I finished it was because I wanted to know how they got to that point which is given away in the beginning because at first it seems interesting, and I must say, it wasn't worth it. Even if you get this book for free like I did, don't waste your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Climbers and thinkers will love this book...
Review: I'm an avid mountain-climber and appreciate any read that challenges my assumptions and makes me think in directions I might not ordinarily go...so I found this book to be a gem. Since reading it, I've had countless discussions about its themes with my husband, friends and acquaintances. Actually, I can't stop thinking about it!Beware of the book sellers who are trying to sell this though. The book hasn't actually come out yet, so what they're selling is the "advance reading copy," which explicitly says on the back cover "NOT FOR RESALE." I got it for free at a run in Littleton, CO, and was told they're giving them away at similar events around the US.
Rating:
Summary: ONE STAR IS WAY TOO MANY!
Review: If you are seriosly considering reading this book, let me say one thing: STOP! Regardless of how fast you read you will never be able to get that part of your like back, and you will hate yourself for the incredible waste of time. This is without a doubt the absolute worst book I have ever read. I'm embarrased that I finished it but I just kept thinking, "It's got to get better. There has to a point to this drivel." But no. The book is just awful. The drug-addled main character is so self absorbed and unsympathetic that no one could relate to him. The writing is very choppy, written in short sentences. It just doesn't flow.
The only good thing I can say about the experience is that I didn't spend any money on it. Like many of the others who have reviewed the book, I got mine for free. And it was worth every penney.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst books I've ever read.
Review: It's the '60's in Berkeley. Lindy & Sam, awash in drugs, hook up in one of the most bizarre co-dependent relationships you'll ever read about.
Lessons Rich Shapero needs to learn:
1. Just because you think you have something to say doesn't mean you can write worth a damn.
2. If you are going to self-publish, please spend some money on an editor!
3. LSD-induced ramblings are interesting only to other people who are tripping.
4. Don't quit your day job.
Rating:
Summary: I agree - the worst book ever
Review: Sam/Ransom is a Berkeley grad with acid-fueled delusions of grandeur which he acts out by dressing up as a ram, screwing his girlfriend ("as they do"), and galavanting around mountain slopes in Alaska, until he does us all a favor by throwing himself into an active volcano. Parts of it reminded me of a movie about the dance Nijinsky that I saw 25 years ago. In one memorable scene, Nijinsky dances in costume as the faun and masturbates on stage.
I read this because someone mistakenly gave this to my 9 1/2 year old son, thinking it was a novel about nature, and we were all largely stuck inside for a week of -10 degree weather in Western Minnesota.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book.
Review: This book started out ok but got old very fast. Shapero needs to hire an editor or stop writing. The scenes about acid got boring fast and so did his character Sam's antics where he dressed up like a goat. Shapero ruins his book by giving away the ending in the prologe. I got my copy for free, otherwise I would not have paid for this book and you should not either. I thought this book would get better as it went on but Shapero's characters were flat, not real, and I didn't care about any of them. Do yourself a favor and don't read this horrible book.
Rating:
Summary: Worst Book in the Entire World
Review: This book was so bad, the author was giving copies away at a farmer's market. That should have been a clue, but the book cover was interesting enough to make me want to read it. But once I started, I couldn't put it down. I couldn't put it down because I wouldn't allow myself to believe a publisher would actually print this rubbish about an acid-head mountain climber who wanted to be a goat and jump into a volcano. I had to see if the story would get any better. It became an obsession really to read until there was something interesting in the plot. It never happened. I cried. I pulled my hair. I broke out into a rash. I began to binge drink. I became angry with people close to me, but there was no solace to be found. I wasted my time completely reading this high school paper. Why? Why? Why? I feel like my brain was raped. Can I file charges?
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