The Confessions of Max Tivoli

Rating:
Summary: Difficult But Stunning
Review: I picked up this book knowing it would be different and initally I found it to be very difficult to keep up with. I found it confusing to try and figure out at what age and time the writer was dealing with. But once I figured out the writer's style and marvelled at his brilliance and individuality I found myself caught up completely in this little tale about Max Tivoli.

Andrew Sean Greer has written a book that is profound and very much in its own class. He writes with great prose and many phrases read like poetry, causing one to pause and treasure the thought. I applaud Mr. Greer for writing unlike any other and being brave enough to stick his neck out to reap the rewards.

You will fall in love with Max Tivoli, pain in his lonliness and ache for someone to love him. It is such an interesting concept to start from the end, to be old when you are young and young when you are old. Maybe we should all try a bit of his wisdom. Max reminds me of an old soul reincarnated into a young child and hindered by all the handicaps of youth and then slowed once again by the horrors of aging just when exuberance is at its most inspirational. It brings new meaning to deja-vu'!! While Max brings such sadness it is a wonderful thing to feel emotion just from the simplicity of reading. I wish more books were written with such warmth and heart.

Rating:
Summary: Pleased to be the First To Review Max Tivoli on Amazon
Review: I was fortunate enough to be the narrator for the audio version of "The Confessions of Max Tivoli", thus I am able to write of this book before it's release. In short, "...Max Tivoli" was a thrill to read aloud. Mr. Greer has a wonderful gift for expressive language and his astonishing story seemed to tell itself. I was so taken by this book that I'm planning to reread it...this time quietly...to myself.

Thank you, Andrew

Rating:
Summary: An enchanting page turner....
Review: I won't write a whole description of this book as there is a detailed one above...just read it! I just finished moments ago and I don't usually write reviews. It was enchanting, heartbreacking and I can't wait to read more of Andrew Sean Greer. He has taken a beautiful love story and given it a twist of unreality-the bakwards aging process-and delivered a very powerful story and narrator. It is in my top 5 favorite books thus far.

Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Achievement
Review: I'm a writer, a reader, a book reviewer and a literary website host. I'm not a friend of the author and I'm completely independent-minded when I tell you this is the most beautiful, poignant, stunning book I have read in years. It's a marvelous discovery, one that will leave you wanting to read all of Greer's work. It's a mesmerizing tale that anyone with a love of language and of character will take into their hearts.

It's one of those books that simply makes you want to stop reading for a while because you know everything else is going to fall short for a long time. I envy anyone getting to discover this great book.

Rating:
Summary: Rich and satisfying.
Review: If you are an ambitious reader, you may stumble upon the conclusion before you arrive. If, however, you are content to let the flow of words carry you on to the logical finale, you will be moved by the flawed and utterly human choices of Max Tivoli. The improbability of the premise becomes immaterial. Max makes the decisions we all will make, and we forgive him for that reason.

Rating:
Summary: Get the Broom
Review: If you read this book, have a broom handy. Your heart will be broken into pieces, which will be broken into smaller pieces and smaller pieces, until by the end of the book, there won't be anything left but dust to sweep up.

Whew.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking tale of a life lived backwards
Review: Imagine being born an old man and growing physically younger. Imagine grappling with physical and chronological ages that are at odds with each other for all but a brief period in your middle age. Imagine falling in love and stopping at nothing to be near the one you love. Max Tivoli has had such a life. He is a protagonist like no other, and now he writes his confessions. No, not his memoirs... his confessions.

Max bares his soul, revealing the paradoxes, the ironies, and the cyclical patterns in his unique and tumultuous life. He documents his struggles against the currents of time, where he has had to keep reinventing himself as time moved inexorably forward for others. He laments the deceit and rejection he has had to practice to follow his mothers advice to "be what they think you are." He describes how his best friend, in stages, plays the role of his son, his brother, and his father. He memorializes a love that transcends drastically changing age differences.

Taking place in San Francisco around the turn of the twentieth century, when gaslights and carriages make way for electric lights and automobiles, the action centers on the three time periods in Max's life when his path crosses that of his love, Alice. In each of the three sections he reluctantly reveals, bit by bit, the surprising details that comprise the core of his life. His need for acceptance and love is portrayed in an entirely new and fresh way. The story evinces emotions that are powerfully heartrending. The writing is lyrical and full of imagery. This incredible novel will take your breath away, and I recommend it highly. If you only have the time to read one literary novel this season, make it this one.

Eileen Rieback

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional
Review: In summary, this is the story of a man named Max, born in the late 1800's at age 70. He must live his life backward, becoming physically younger as he ages.

This is a wonderful premise, and Greer does a good job despite the obvious problems with such a task. Max meets the woman who is love of his life at three different stages in his life, and their relationship changes with the circumstances of their meeting and their repective ages to each other.

This is not only a beautiful love story, but a wonderful tale about age and infirmity, and a history of San Francisco from the late 1800's to the mid 1900's. And gorgeous prose too.

Highly recommended for book clubs, and a must read for anyone interested in San Francisco.

Rating:
Summary: It Has Faults, but It's Very Human
Review: It seems that lately, a lot of books, in an effort to be original, are based more on "gimmicks" than true originality. Many of these "gimmicky" books are based on time travel or reversals in time. I found THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE to be one of the worst of the lot and I simply hated it.

Now, we have THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI, and, while I found it rather "gimmicky" and unbelievable (and I suspend my disbelief very easily), I still found it far, far better than THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE simply because it seemed more human, more honest and more sincere.

THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI concerns, Max Tivoli, of course. Max is unique in that he was born an old man (about seventy) and grows ever more youthful as time marches on. While this may sound wonderful, Max doesn't think much of it. For example, he knows, from the very beginning of his life, the date of his death (just as "normal" persons know that date of their birth) and, except for one brief instance, he can never really "act his age." (His mother advises him to "be what they think you are," but this really doesn't work for Max, either.)

Not being able to act his age complicates Max's life, but never more so than in the realm of romance. Early (or in Max's case, late) in his life, he finds his one, true love, Alice. Max falls in love with Alice when she is but fourteen, but Alice, alas, thinks Max is the proverbial "dirty old man." The upside to this is that Max gets to try again to win the affections of Alice more than once...three times, to be precise, at twenty-year intervals. (Since Max is growing younger year by year, Alice does not recognize him each time he tries to win her love.) Does Max win Alice? Well, that would certainly not be fair to answer because Max's unfailing love for Alice, and only Alice, is the anchor of this book. It's the reason (mostly) you keep on reading.

THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI is a highly original premise and one that would have worked wonderfully in the hands of a better writer. Unfortunately, Andrew Sean Greer failed to do his homework regarding part of the book while other parts are so overwritten they are definitely venturing into the "purple" and made me wince.

While Greer has invested his characters with plenty of complexity and emotion, they simply don't talk and act like people in the late 19th and early 20th century (the time setting of the book) would talk and act. This struck a very false note and caused me to put the book aside more than once.

While the missteps in characterization could have been corrected with more research, the overwritten and highly melodramatic prose is, I think, the result of a writer who simply hasn't had enough experience. That's not to say that writers should learn at the expense of readers. They shouldn't. They should know what they're doing before attempting to publish a book.

That said, THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI, while having some faults, is still a book that is highly original without resorting to "gimmicks," is complex enough to hold an intelligent reader's interest and, most of all contains a theme that is relevant to almost every human being alive. THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI has its faults, but at its heart, it's a very human, and often very touching, book.

I would recommend THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI to anyone who is interested in something very different and who can tolerate the book's faults. For those of you who have stacks and stacks of books waiting to be read, I would skip this one and wait for Greer's next book. Perhaps by then he'll have his prose under control.

Rating:
Summary: Magical!
Review: Not just a book, or a story, "Max Tivoli" is a small miracle. You enter the story as one might fall down the rabbit hole, or walk through the mirror. This is great literature, a spellbinding tale that will brings tears of wonder, of joy, and of sadness. Like on a magic carpet, Andrew Greer whisks you along on his ride through time and space, none of which seems quite familiar, yet all of which is at home in the heart. I cried at the end. Not only because of the many heartbreaking stories told in the book, but also because I had finished reading it.