Dear Will : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A Very Slow Starter that Eventually Satisfies
Review: Dear Will presents an uncommon look inside the life of the educated common man, Will Gerard, literary agent. Ackerman presents his male characters, both 41-year-old Will and his twenty-something nephew Ted, as warm individuals who like so many men are not well equipped to deal in the emotional world of relationships. Ackerman's male characters are not only believable, but sympathetic. The book is worth reading just to get to know these characters and see how they deal with the situations--some real, some unreal--they encounter.
The first 120 pages focus primarily on Will's burgeoning relationship with Annie, a one dimensional character obsessed with having a child. The reader is asked to endure a slow, torturous on-again off-again routine where Will expresses uncertainty about becoming a father of Annie's child, and Annie says no baby, no relationship. Because all of this serious business takes place within the first four months of their relationship, the reader is expected to believe that Will feels something real for this woman who only sees babies. After beating the Will-Annie relationship to death, Ackerman treats us to an uncommon uncle-nephew relationship that permits the real (male to male!) discussion of relationships, a humorous effort to get a manuscript out of the hands of an eccentric author, and Will's successful effort to solve the mystery of a lost child he was not aware he had created twenty years before.
As a man, I hope we see more characters like Will Gerard struggling to learn the language of relationships.

Rating:
Summary: A very enjoyable book.
Review: I liked this book a lot. Characters are always what make or break a book for me and Karl Ackerman has not failed here. The characters are very likable and fun. The relationship between Will and Teddy was great and Will's problems with Norton were very amusing. Will's musing over life in general (getting older, cell phones etc.) was so real and true. Like others, I was confused by the relationship with Annie but did not let this affect how I felt about the book in general. I gave this book 5 stars because it made me feel so good and it was worth my time and money.

Rating:
Summary: from a man's eyes
Review: I must admit that the only reason I picked up this book was because the author's last name happens to be my maiden name. Ackerman presents a male's view of having a family - when the main character, Will, says, (of course not to his latest girlfriend who is desperate at 39 to have a child), "no man ever said having a child was the best thing he DECIDED to do. It was the best thing that HAPPENED," I chuckled and was intrigued with the book. The book presents fun characters with serious thoughts and Will has to confront his past. In doing so, he accepts his future. Maybe the author and I will discover if we have a past connection!

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a guy gets us right
Review: Karl Ackerman is one of those writers other writers read in awe. He is funny, literate, superb at story construction and a genius at character development. I am surprised he is not far better known. Like his first novel, Dear Will is a delight. Anyone with any interest AT ALL in the publishing world (ie, anyone who is interested AT ALL in books) will find him or herself laughing on just about every page, while loving both Will and Annie.

Rating:
Summary: FORTY YEAR OLDS, THIS BOOK IS A MUST
Review: Those of us who are forty or so should read this wonderful accounting of a man who discovers one of his sexual encounters as a teen resulted in a wonderful daughter whom he just meets. This along with a storyline that is humorous which sometimes brings me to deep ponderings about my own situation in relationships, makes this book a quick read and a wonderful one. pick it up now or wait til summer, you'll enjoy this book a lot.

Rating:
Summary: The Ticking Biological Clock
Review: Will Gerard, 41, a newly famous literary agent, is set up with successful lawyer Annie Leonard, 39, and it's love at first sight. Unfortunately, Annie's biological clock is ticking so loudly that all other conversations are drowned out. Only 45 days into their relationship they are having absurdly boring, circuitous arguments about her need to get pregnant and his unwillingness to commit. These passages in the book make me itch to get past them and on to something more interesting. Page after page of "what if" and "why won't you" and "let's wait"...so boring and so overdone.

However, the book is thoroughly redeemed by the other subplots. Will's nephew Teddy is taking a year off college (actually he flunked out), and is living with and working for Will as a sort of apprentice. His humor and advice and relationship dilemmas are amusing and heart-warming.

Will is also pursuing an eccentric, reclusive author who is procrastinating on submitting his Civil War historical fiction novel for which he has already received a $100,000 advance. Will's antics to track him down and extricate the manuscript are sometimes hysterical and provide a vehicle for an interesting exposure to the publishing industry.

And if that isn't enough, Will receives a letter from a 20 year old girl, who purportedly wants Will to review her journal, but she broadly hints that she thinks he may be her father. Thus starts a protracted, poignant inner dialogue regarding Lucy, the long-lost love from his teenage years.

Will's personal journey into an evaluation of his past, why he is still single at 41, why he thinks he doesn't want children, and how he feels about the possibility of being a father to a grown daughter are mostly interesting and realistic. Just speed read through the sections where he and Annie discuss their relationship ad nauseam, and you'll be pleasantly surprised and well entertained.