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Rating: 
Summary: B-O-R-I-N-G
Review: I could only make it half way through this book. It is so "day in the life of". Rather than slugging through the last half I decided to rent the movie rather than waste my time. I've now started "Look At Me", I hope this book by Jennifer Egan has more depth and will hold my interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Pat Conroy is right
Review: I don't remember ever reading a better portrait of adolescent angst (or whatever that awful despair and loneliness that teens experience is called). Jennifer Egan truly remembers her teenage years well.
But Phoebe's is not your garden variety angst. She is marred by the deaths of her father and her older sister Faith. Her father she worshipped from a distance (as it was his choice). Phoebe also worshipped Faith, but especially after her death, to the point where she borrows the remains of her life: she sleeps in her room, she wears her clothes, she has no identity of her own.
After high school graduation Phoebe goes (escapes) on a journey across Europe, trying to figure out what happened to her sister. Along the way, she runs into her sister's old boyfriend, Wolf, and the pieces of the puzzle fall into place as if by magic.
Everything makes sense after the trip to Italy. Phoebe sheds her previous skin and embraces her new future. Wolf grieves and purges the regrets he had inside. There is a final resolution for everyone involved.
Some of the things i did not like so well about the book:
* At the very beginning, there were times where Phoebe was too adult (when in fact she was 5-6 years old). For example, she got so angry at Faith for diving from the highest board at the country club swimming pool. So young and already able to articulate her jealousy? Another example is when she witnessed her brother Barry ask their dad for help with a machine. The dad, who liberally ignored the two youngest kids, would seem distracted and in consequence disappoint Barry. Phoebe is able to express in her mind how Barry shouldn't even go there, as "she pitied her brother and wanted no part of his weakness".
* Why does Barry make a fortune in Silicon Valley about a decade too soon?
* Phoebe's encounter with Wolf is too contrived. Europe is huge for this chancy meeting to take place.
Some of the things i truly loved:
* Phoebe in all her awkwardness. She can be a total brat, she can be sensitive and pure in a way that only children can.
* I loved the analysis of the Hippie Generation of the 60s. What happened to the ideals? What happens when you grow older and look back? The loss of innocence was devastating for Faith.
* The cover, the tattered photograph of the two girls held together by tape.
* The end. It was perfect, it was devoid of sentimentality, and I loved it for that.
When i read Look at Me (which i really liked), i searched for the author on the web. I found her website. I wrote a note saying i enjoyed the book very much, and that hoped to attend any talks taking place in my area. Jennifer Egan herself replied (very cool!) and thanked me for the comments and said that as she's from the Bay Area she tends to stop by often. I was very surprised, but after all, writers write, so what's one e-mail more?
Rating: 
Summary: Haunting
Review: I read this book by accident - and glad I did.
It's full of nosaltialy sences from the girl's 60s Childhood, with her sister and her frineds.
Though at times, it's overwelming you want to cry and be happy but another twist ensures.
I highly suggest this to anyone's libarary. You can't foget this book...it never really ends or begins.
Rating:
Summary: This hauntingly beautiful novel is why we read fiction.
Review: Jennifer Egan's The Invisible Circus is a triumphant first novel. The riveting plot and fascinating characters make this book a page-turner, and the thematic reflections on memory and family ties keep the reader thinking of this book long after the last page. The gripping plot is at once a mystery and love story: Phoebe goes on a quest to understand her sister Faith so that she can begin her own life, free from the bonds of the unresolved family issues that Faith's life and mysterious death created. The portrayal of the relationship between Phoebe and Faith reflects more insightfully the bond between siblings than any other description I have read. Phoebe's impulsive trip to Europe results in a beautifully written adventure, filled with engaging vignettes and believable characters. Ultimately, however, it is not only the well wrought characters or carefully constructed plot that makes you love this book. Rather what makes this book a cut above are the stimulating reflections on the nature of memory, the search for transcendence, and the impact of even fleeting relationships on shaping everyday existence. The Invisible Circus will haunt you, leaving you pondering the elusiveness of memory and the ephemeral nature of experience. Faith's search for 'real life,' and the tragic consequences of her search prompts the reader to reflect on the nature of the ordinary versus the unusual, the struggle for balance between routine and risk. Ultimately this book helps the reader achieve a moment of transcendence, the highest achievement both in fiction and life.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book
Review: Jennifer Egan�s The Invisible Circus reflects upon the tragedies of two sisters caused by the dreams of the 1960�s. Those living under its influence had a heightened desire to seek out something to embrace. The Invisible Circus takes place in the summer of 1978. Phoebe O�Conner, an 18 year old San Franciscan, is obsessively nostalgic about the memory of her older sister, Faith. Faith mysteriously died in Italy in 1970 while on a trip with her boyfriend, Wolf. Phoebe remembers Faith as a beautifully wild spirit who spent her life searching for the biggest thrill. That spirit was greatly influenced by a previous need to impress their father; she thrived off of making him happy. But when their father died, Faith�s wild personality continued on to live up to the ideals of the sixties. Following a path navigated by Faith�s old postcards, Phoebe takes a trip throughout Europe in hopes of finding an answer to Faith�s end. She retraces Faith�s steps and finds herself unraveling a deeper truth about her sibling�s death, associated with her desperate need for freedom, spontaneity, but above all a need to impress those around her. Phoebe realizes that by hanging onto the memory of her sister, she is hindering her own life from moving onward. Egan�s choice of words describes the sisters with powerful emotion that leaves you with a sense of the real tragic beauty of Phoebe�s journey. Her whole life, Phoebe has lived in the shadow of all Faith�s wild adventures, always trying to be more daring, but never succeeding in doing so. Phoebe does nothing but idolize Faith for the impression she gave of being the epitome of life on the edge. Egan narrates Phoebe�s thoughts with a poetic flow. The false image Phoebe has of someone she was too young to realistically know herself becomes increasingly more evident as the story progresses. The way that Egan describes the characters� traits is believable, the changes ever so subtle. The Invisible Circus is truly an enjoyable read; it has a graceful style that compliments the heart-wrenching tale of a need to let go of past experiences and move on with life. Egan�s novel is successful in depicting the effect that the sixties had not only in the lives of its young followers, but also on their friends and families.
Rating: 
Summary: Good reading, but not what I'd consider classic
Review: This book gets off to a slow start, and I initially didn't think I'd finish it. The story becomes much more interesting once Phoebe, the main character, goes to Europe. The high point of the story is when she travels to Italy with Wolf, the boyfriend of her deceased older sister. I think the story should have ended when she found out how her sister died, or shortly afterwards. The ending of the book is very weak, and almost seems as if it has been added on to fulfill a required page length for the manuscript. Despite this, it's a good book and I'd recommend it to others. I wouldn't put it on my list of favorites or classics, however.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: This book is about a young woman (Phoebe) trying to find herself as she travels to Europe to find out the details of her sister's death. It is filled with unrealistic scenerios and a lot of fluffy writing that makes you want to scream. I chose to read this book because of a favorable review on the back cover by Pat Conroy, a brilliant author, but he obviously did not read the book. Maybe since this was the author's first novel her next one is better. (Hopefully)
Rating:
Summary: the wonder & danger of true essence and bliss
Review: This is a great story about the possibilities of the 60s then the fall from novelty & innocence, told through Phoebe, the younger sister of Faith, the bright-eyed seeker for edge &
wonder... Phoebe follows her sister's path (her sister died 10 yrs previous, maybe suicide) through Europe, trying to understand. The author's lyrical language creates a dreaminess and beauty that has you hungering for revelation, but at the same time aware of the dangers when you want paradise too much.
Rating:
Summary: Means of support is only too visible.
Review: This novel left me feeling cheated of my time. The characters lack nuance, what little spark of originality the plot has to offer evaporates before the work even feigns to coalesce. The latter half of THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS in particular is so coarsely formulaic as to indeed earn comparison with the dimestore idiom. Is this book intended as romance fiction for readers who imagine themselves too upscale to purchase mass market paperbacks at the supermarket?
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