The Confessions of Max Tivoli

Rating:
Summary: Best novel of 2004
Review: This is an odd little novel about a man whose body ages down from 70 while his mind develops normally. If all babies look like Winston Churchill, imagine wizened little Max. He has one great love whom he meets when she is 14 and he is 17/53, again when they are both in their 30s, and lastly when he is 10/60 and she is in her 40s.

I can't say enough good things about this book; it's haunting, heartbreaking, humorous, tells a great story of San Francisco from 1880 or so to the mid 1930s, and gives the reader a lot to think about in terms of "what is age" and what is "age-appropriate" behavior! For example, as a fourth grader (who has 60 years of experience and traveled the globe), Max knows that when the teacher asks, "What is the capitol of China?" he needs to say "France" so she leaves him in the back row with the other "dumb" kids and doesn't give him a lot of attention.

A week later, I find myself still thinking about Max, Alice and Hughie.

The Bookschlepper


Rating:
Summary: The Confessions of Max Tivoli
Review: thought the ny times review was well done, i read the book, enjoyed it, here is a writer to watch...recommended

Rating:
Summary: Literate, but ultimately unsatisfactory
Review: While this book is beatifully written, and I thouroughly enjoyed the historical details, I found it ultimately unsatisfactory because the protagonist is too self centered. If he truly loved Alice and his friend, he would have sacrificed for them. As written, he spent his life attempting to satisfy his own desires, regardless of the needs and desires of those he professed to love. If this is the point of the book, then I got it. The result, though , was to make Max unlikable as a character, and the book somewhat disturbing as a whole.