Boonville : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: I read this book in one day!
Review: All books seem to be so cliche lately. If I see another book on a young adult all of a sudden thrust into the fabulous life of a Manhattan socialite I'm going to scream. This book was different. I laughed out loud as I read the way that the main character tried to just exist in his new life nestled closely between the red necks and the hippies. This book is honest and funny...my words can't give it justice. Just read it!

Rating:
Summary: I think it's good
Review: bahl hornin'
I thought it was a great book.

Rating:
Summary: A visit home....
Review: I bought this book in San Francisco on the way to visit the Mendocino Coast. I grew up in a small town ( We played Boonville in basketball)in the area and found this book to be a hoot and a fairly accurate portrayal of small town life in Northern California. From the "hip" alternative culture that can safely hide in a small town to the more established residents who have been there for generations, this brought a feeling of Deja vu to me. I am one of those who "escaped" and enjoyed the trip back, probably because it has been many years and was certainly temporary! Also enjoyed to references to small towns in the area, including my own, which I have never seen in print before. It is clear that the author has spent his time in Boonville. I enjoyed this book a lot.

Rating:
Summary: And then....?
Review: I feel compelled to give this book 5 stars not because it is a perfect book--indeed, it does have faults--but because so many Boonville troglodytes have mercilessly and unfairly panned it. No doubt shocked by their depictions into crawling from their patchouli scented passion pits and wacky-tabacky caves over to the local library-welfare-line for their alotted fifteen minutes of free Internet, these Northern California acid casualties have seriously and pathetically skewed the rating on this book.

For the truth is that this book is genuinely funny and engagingly written. It needs the attention of an editor in places, but that is no fault of the writer, and even in the places where the author allows himself to rant he manages to do so in a still entertaining way. If you take the time to read the book objectively, the author's love for his characters readily shows through.

So for those of you who have never heard of Boonville, I say that this book will serve as an excellent introduction.

And for those of you from Boonville aghast at your depiction in the book, I say, "pound sand," because you are being a bunch of jerks. This is a work of fiction, and as such any similarity to persons living or dead is probably not entirely unintentionally intentional.

So rather than complain about it's artistic merits I would encourage you instead to think of the book as your one and only chance at immortality, the last twenty years of your drug hazed vegetarian lives recorded for future generations of meat eaters.

Get Some!!

Rating:
Summary: Courageous
Review: I feel compelled to give this book 5 stars not because it is a perfect book--indeed, it does have faults--but because so many Boonville troglodytes have mercilessly and unfairly panned it. No doubt shocked by their depictions into crawling from their patchouli scented passion pits and wacky-tabacky caves over to the local library-welfare-line for their alotted fifteen minutes of free Internet, these Northern California acid casualties have seriously and pathetically skewed the rating on this book.

For the truth is that this book is genuinely funny and engagingly written. It needs the attention of an editor in places, but that is no fault of the writer, and even in the places where the author allows himself to rant he manages to do so in a still entertaining way. If you take the time to read the book objectively, the author's love for his characters readily shows through.

So for those of you who have never heard of Boonville, I say that this book will serve as an excellent introduction.

And for those of you from Boonville aghast at your depiction in the book, I say, "pound sand," because you are being a bunch of jerks. This is a work of fiction, and as such any similarity to persons living or dead is probably not entirely unintentionally intentional.

So rather than complain about it's artistic merits I would encourage you instead to think of the book as your one and only chance at immortality, the last twenty years of your drug hazed vegetarian lives recorded for future generations of meat eaters.

Get Some!!

Rating:
Summary: At least I didn't pay for it
Review: I received this book as a gift, and was initially very interested. Boonville's inherent weirdness probably could be the basis for an entertaining book. This is not it. The writing style is clumsy and derivative, his characters one-dimensional. What it all boils down to is contempt for hippies, rednecks, feminists, the obese, and whoever else doesn't meet with the author's approval. Still, even the hatefulness of the book is a lesser sin than the awful prose. By the way, why the obsession with vaginal infections? On second thought, never mind...

Rating:
Summary: Not a great book
Review: This book is not very well written. It feels like it should either be a longer book or a collection of short stories. As it is it feels unfinished, rushed and spotty. Several of the story lines (which at first seem interesting) are dropped or resolved in an uninteresting way.

I was looking forward to this book based on several rave reviews (SF Chronicle, etc.) and by the author's note that preceeds the book (which is very funny) but was very disappointed by the experience of the novel.

I've actually sold my copy of this book (something I don't do often).

Your time would be better spent visiting Boonville (especially the Anderson Valley Brewing Company) rather than reading "Boonville".

Rating:
Summary: And then....?
Review: This book was like the movie "Remains of the Day". "Huh?" You say?
Well, I enjoyed the little adventures John faced upon his arrival in
Boonville and they kept me interested throughout the book. However,
I kept waiting for the real story to start and then it ended - just
as I was surprised when the ending credits scrolled up on "Remains..".
I suppose having driven through Boonville many a time,
let me get into the book more then your average yutz.

Rating:
Summary: A visit home....
Review: When the Washington Post's Jonathan Yardley dissolved into giggling enthusiasm, I should have known that Anderson's first novel was no equal to My Search for Warren G. Harding by John Plunket or Confederacy of Dunces by Robert Kennedy Toole. But I liked the cover blurbs, and the real Boonville casts a bizarre shadow, even for Northern California. Some parts of the story did keep their promise. A baseball game with in-fielders who could have wandered into the plot from a Bruce Willis movie. A Florida live-in girlfriend who takes up with a neighbor practically before our antihero can find a California pay phone. But most parts are forced. Our hero has ingested too much. The satirical targets don't matter, and the plot past the midpoint becomes a swim in molasses even after Anderson introduces a free sex commune. My advice: Re-read Plunket.