Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative and Fun
Review:
Matt Ruff employs a cast of wacky characters including sprites, talking animals and Cornell students to spin a zany and imaginative tale of good-versus-evil. The ending was anti-climatic because he (for some unknown reason) more or less tells us over and over again during the story how it's going to end. But aside from that gripe the book is fun and engaging.
Rating: 
Summary: I've Re-read it at least 8 times!!!
Review: A MUST READ!!!!
I was introduced to this book about 5 or so years ago by a good friend of mine whose father happened to be Matt Ruff's english professor at Cornell. THANK GOD for coincidences like that! I'm not going to go in to the plot here (isn't this supposed to be a review, not a book report?) but I will say - To any of you out there sick of reading the same old stuff, who would like to read something refreshingly different, yet still somehow comfortingly familiar, as well as FUNNY AS HECK, you should pick this book up. For those put off by it being a "fantasy" book, do not let that stop you. This book really defies an catagorizing as it combines so many different elements. Don't stop 5 pages in and say, "nevermind, this isn't my thing" - give it a chance and you will not regret it. The best praise I can give is this - My husband has literally only read a handful of books in his entire life, and with all of them he's struggled to get through them as something he "should do" not something he's enjoyed. When I pressed him into read FotH, he loved it so much he didn't put it down until he was done - he read straight through until dawn.
Rating:
Summary: Quirky, surreal, and entertaining
Review: Do so.
This book defies all words, it encompasses a million genres, and masters nearly all of them. When, in the darkest hours of my life, I have fallen out of love with words, and there seems no hope for me in this world, Fool breaks my heart open again, and the glorious sun shines in.
Rating:
Summary: A Wild Fairy Tale Ride
Review: Fool on the Hill is one of the most inventive novels I've read in ages, and I very much enjoyed the comedic aspect of it. I think I actually laughed out loud once or twice. (High praise from me indeed. I haven't said that about any novel since Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore.) I was afraid that Matt Ruff wasn't going to land his plane (err, kite) very well at the end because of the incredibly wild ride that we'd been on so far, but even there he pleasantly surprised me. I highly recommend this book. Good characters, good scenery, inventive story (from sprites to evil ice birds to groups of animals having philosophical discussions to true love) -- all with a well-paced writing style and light-hearted sense of humor.
Rating:
Summary: Too Fantastic
Review: I grew up in Ithaca for 4 years of my life, and have always been a great fan of the Beatles, which is why I picked this book up in the first place. I read it, and loved it, especially noting mentions of places I had visited, some of which were literally around the corner from my house. Somewhere in the first few chapters, it tells of George's land-lord's reaction to his book "Too fantastic and too much profanity". When I first read that, I thought they meant too fantastic as in too wonderful, which I later realized was a mistake on my part, but if George's book is as good as Fool on the Hill, it is too fantastic as in far too wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: my favorite fiction novel of all time!
Review: I saw this novel on the store shelf and bought it on a whim, not having any idea at all to what genre it is or what the story was all about. Needless to say, I've fallen in love with this book and haven't been able to put it down until I finished reading the last pages. Matt Ruff's story is a marvelous blend of fantasy centered in the Cornell University campus and the real town of Ithaca. At first, I was reluctant to read about so many different main characters all in one novel, but Ruff's narrative brilliantly intertwined the individual character plots so seamlessly that it all came out into a neat framework in the end. He writes about a writer (S.T. George)who is hapless in love, an ethereal muse who happens to be the most beautiful woman on earth, a normal girl and her normal boyfriend, some truly unique Bohemians in Risley, and a dog who searches for heaven. Oh, and add to that some sprites who watch over humans while they are blissfully unaware of this fantasy existence. By looking at this assorted list of characters, one might think that a confusion of names and plots would result from all this. But, Matt Ruff's narrative is clear, fascinating, and well-organized enough to overcome that. His writing is full of humor. It's sorta like "Animal House" meets Tolkien. The college spirit is definitely there. I am also currently attending Cornell U., so his book brings back fond memories of the place. So perhaps in this sense, one would get more enjoyment from reading this book if he was familiar with Cornell. But regardless of the book's association with Cornell University, the story itself is so hilarious and interesting, that there probably should not be any huge problem of this happening. His story is filled with romance, action, horror, and would dare you to drop the book and take a break - even for one minute! It is that absorbing. This book has become a favorite of mine, and I recommend everyone- Cornellian and non-Cornellian alike- to read it. It is truly an enjoyable read!
Rating:
Summary: A wild ride of fun and fantasy!
Review: I wrote a review of this book last year and I just re-read it again and wanted to remind people how fabulous this book is. I discovered this book just after it was published and just before I got into Cornell and I have read it at least ten times since (I am just four years out of good 'ole Cornell). It it one of my favorite books as it combines true life in Ithaca with a world that you always hoped existed somewhere. It has something for everyone - as it combines several full lentgh stories, which could easily be read independently of one another, into an exciting and fun adventure. The Fool On The Hill was Ruff's senior thesis (if I am to believe a professor of his that supposedly helped get it published) - I felt that his book was so fabulous I went out and signed up for a course with his mentor. If you buy this book, I guarantee that you will loan it out and have to re-purchase it as I know that I have gone through about 7 or 8 copies already. This book will touch the child in all of you. The book focuses on S.T. George, a writer who finds his muse and loses her, a group of bohemian college students with some magic up their sleeves and a cat and dog on a journey to find "heaven" and rid the animal world of castes (pure-breds vs. mutts) and you kind kind-of get the idea behind Fool.... but it is really SO much more. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone that likes to daydream!
Rating:
Summary: Fairy tales can come true
Review: I'd never read a book before that inspired me to visit its setting. _Fool On The Hill_ is the exception. However, Matt Ruff's well-crafted descriptions of the campus as Cornell are just one facet of this book. Also included are references to classic mythology, literature, and science fiction. I laughed aloud at the Bradbury reference.There are also sprites, talking dogs, evil rats, and a human hero named George. The many subplots twist and turn around each other until the climax, when everything falls neatly into place, without a hint of contrivance.I have read this book several times, and each time I find more of the subtle, sometimes dark, humor that Ruff has buried within.
Rating: 
Summary: Off the Mark & Difficult to Endure
Review: No matter how bad a book seems to start off, I try to give it at least 100 pages before I write it off. That sentence alone should tell you all you need to know, as far as my experience goes. I got to page 125, finally calling it quits 25 pages beyond my own minimum, having had enough to satisfy myself that it had little chance of getting better. I'm not sure it's bad, so much as it's...well, I guess I have to say it's bad. It's a bad book. What he tries to do with this book and what he accomplishes are such different entities, I have to believe the end result is not what the author thought he was getting. I cannot, in good faith, recommend this book to anyone.
This is not to say that it's all bad, because it's not. There are some moments in the story when I found myself genuinely interested. Yet those moments are a pebble in this pond of non-intrigue. Toted as a modern day Tom Robbins by some, it is painfully clear that the author is trying to write in the same style as Robbins. It's also painfully obvious that he fails miserably at doing so.
It may turn out that the remainder of this book was excellent. I guess I'll never know since, as I mentioned above, I gave up after 125 pages. But I have my doubts. I wasn't about to torture myself further to find out. I'm not Ferdinand Magellan. I don't have endless hours of time to waste exploring apparent waste lands in the hope that something comes of it. Perhaps waste land is a bit strong, perhaps not. The book is silly, which I'm not adverse to given that I read Adams and Moore and, as mentioned, Robbins. However, this goes beyond silly, which turns out to be just plain dumb. It's a fine line, which the author isn't able to toe.
I'm turned off by this tendency to write off silliness as a foregone conclusion, as the author does here. The segues from one 2-sentence paragraph to the next don't flow, which makes sitting down for more than 3 minutes an effort. This was yet another problem I had with the book. It appears the author doesn't want you to sit down and digest any more than 2 pages at a time. I sat down one day to try and bite off a solid 50 pages, which is the day I tossed the book aside for good.
There are scores of books better than this one, assuredly. Books by Tom Robbins, Douglass Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, or Christopher Moore come to mind. I suggest going out and finding one of them before picking this up.
Rating: 
Summary: pure entertainment
Review: This book boldly encompasses numerous stories, all of which take place on and around the Cornell campus in Ithaca, NY. There are love stories between humans, the bohemian lives of slightly subversive students, a canine search for the divine, and monumental struggles of magical sprites. Woven into this tapestry is a the story of the founding of the university by Erza Cornell and his interaction with the Greek Original. Sound intriguing? No one can accuse Matt Ruff of lack of ambition. This book is entertaining, whimsical, and witty. The intertwining stories are gripping, if overly fantastical, and its light tone creates a quick and humorous read. The short little subsections within chapters, jumping from subplot to subplot, cater directly to our attention-span deprived society. Is this damning with faint praise? Perhaps. I read the book thoroughly entertained from beginning to end. But, entertainment is different from art (or Art) and Ruff's light touch is as light as meringue puffs: pleasing, but not enduring. As for the comparisons to Borges and the like-- well, Ruff may succeed in spirit, but not in actual prose. But, we all ask different things of the books we read. I read this as a distraction from more weighty tomes, and it succeeded brilliantly in its task. I heartily recommend it to anyone seeking the same. What of the suggestion that you need to have experienced Ithaca life in order to appreciate this story? Do you need to be fortunate enough to have spent some time in Ithaca, climbed The Hill, heard the chimes, seen protests outside of Willard Straight, and know where Risely Hall is located in order to read this book? Does Ithaca posses a special magic different from all other college towns? I am going not going to answer that, and I am going to resist speculating that anyone who would seriously believe that has spent maybe a wee bit too much time in the land above Cayuga's waters. Yet, I have hard time believing that anyone who hasn't spent time in Ithaca would really get the same enjoyment from book. But why does should it matter so much in this story? The answer doesn't, alas, lie in the inherent whimsy of Ithaca, but rather in Ruff's writing style. Our Storyteller forgoes any attempt at description of the uniquely Ithacan things he draws upon and dives directly into his numerous plots. A neat trick, and maybe a cheap one, as it saves him pages of descriptive prose. What we read is not the product of a writer who is trying to impart an original world he created and formed; rather this book is the product of Ruff's fantasizing about Cornell, spilled directly onto the pages, slightly raw. It gives the reader the pleasure of participating in the story, filling out the missing details, and, for better or worse, maybe that's what Matt Ruff was hoping to achieve in this book.
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