Rating: 
Summary: Didn't read past page 725
Review: This book lies halfway completed on my friend's dresser. I can't bear to pick it up again. It starts out fairly interesting, with lots of quirky characters and intriguing plot lines. That's for the first 300 pages. That, in my opinion, could have been the whole book. However, it continues for over 400 more pages, with the same people, getting more and more complicated with each turn of the page. To be honest, I simply got lost. I couldn't remember who dated whom, who hated whom, and who...Oh, forget it. Now, I read books, I read lots of books...And I got lost. I gave up, around page 450. But, I tend to read books that have a few base characters whose lives are built upon chapter by chapter. This book does that, tenfold. If you think you can keep up and stay interested, go for it. It IS well written and interesting, it just seemed like I'd have to start taking notes as I read. No, thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't stand up to time
Review: This book really bowled me over back in the innocent days of my youth, mostly because it actually had gay characters in it. (!!) In those days, that was a sensational advance. Returning to it after many years, I find that this book is not a satisfying read. Why? Because (as another reviewer remarked) all the characters are dysfunctional. Every story told in this book (and there are dozens of them) involves people manipulating each other, cheating, lying, and trying to destroy each other. If all happy families are alike, and all unhappy families are unhappy in a different way (a statement which I doubt) this novel does nothing to prove it. All of the book's unhappy families are hung up on issues of domination and sadism. The story of Rudy is probably the most disgusting in the book. The book is also unhappily dated by its author's credulous acceptance of the Freudian doctrine of the times, which said that gay men were gay because of a "distant father, close-binding mother" constellation. This supposedly Highly Intelligent Theory merely describes American suburbia (or most of the world), where the father goes to work and the mother stays home to mind the children. If the HIT were true, all American boys would be gay. But this is not so, as anyone can see: somehow, we seem to get about 4-5% gay boys every year, plus a comparable amount of bisexuals. All in all, the tale of "Aaron Fire" seems the one which is central to the book. This is the tale of a gay boy who grows up to be a writer, a sadist, and a "pervert." (You said it, William!) And, in the chilling final pages, he is paired off with his 50yo double, who is even more of a writer, a sadist, and a "pervert." Oh, he's got whips and the lot. Frankly, this is not credible. It was sensational in its time, just like "Peyton Place," but time has passed it by. Recommended for historical interest only!
Rating: 
Summary: I Love This Book
Review: This is a coming of age book about my parents's generation (the sixties adults--I was born in the sixties), but I loved it from the first page. The characters are real and touching. There are no villains, only people trying real hard--too hard sometimes--to achieve their slice of the American Dream Pie. If Goldman had written the novel today, he no doubt would have included a Latino and an African American among his cast of characters. Still, the book is great.
Rating:
Summary: Goldman at his best.
Review: This is a fascinating, wonderful book with several different stories that end up (of course) intertwining. It is stacked full of Goldman's usual wit and humor, and is one of his best I've read to date.
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