Built in a Day

Rating:
Summary: A glimpse into some dark and twisted personalities
Review: Rhinehart leave no holes barred when it comes to the dark depths of the characters in Built in a Day. The book chronicles the shortcomings of what seems at first to be a nobody in a bland, boring Midwest town. That is until the dark, sexual, and humorous inner workings of the characters, specifically the 'hero' (not the best description) Andrew are realized, and the seemingly endless barrage of small disasters and gross mistakes occur.

Overall it is a marginally good read, with a little humor (mostly ironic and dark) and sex scattered throughout.

Rating:
Summary: Built to Last is a great read
Review: Steve Rinehart's novel grabbed my attention on the opening page and after a while I realized that I was standing in the library, had read twenty pages, would rather check out the book and read the rest of it at home in comfort on the sofa. I had other things to do but they went undone until I finished BUILT IN A DAY. As I neared the end I thought, "Sure, it's a great read, but what about the ending? Can he make me believe in the ending?" And yes. The ending is great. Surprising and inevitable, as a good ending should be.

If you liked Fred Leebron's IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THIS, or Elissa Schappell's USE ME, you will probably enjoy BUILT IN A DAY.

Rating:
Summary: The Bum
Review: The hero, or should I say anti-hero (Andrew) of Steven Rinehart's "Built in a Day" is pretty much a creep and a wash out: he has married a seemingly nice woman( Isabel) with 2 teenage boys (Russ and Alex) yet he lusts after the 15 year old girlfriend (Jule) of one of them. He is a recovering alcoholic and has spent years trying to graduate from college and at 32, still hasn't. Rinehart does allow Andrew one redeeming quality though and that is his longing and striving to make a family of his stepsons and of course, his wife.
Throughout this novel you get the nagging feeling that Rinehart's heart isn't in it: nothing much happens, he has little sympathy for his hero and in the last 5 pages Andrew gets an unwarranted comeuppance and put down.
At best the prose is good but many pages go by with Andrew droning on and on making petty and minor observations. I can't help but wonder why Rinehart wrote this book and more importantly why I also chose to finish it.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, but Disturbing, Read
Review: There is much to enjoy in Rinehart's book, but overall, despite the solid conclusion, the narrator is unconvincing. He's pretty much scum, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, and he doesn't get it soon enough to really earn redemption. Andrew is a 32 year old undergrad (who isn't old enough to run for president but never mind, Rinehard has him nominated by the Iowa caucus anyway), not ready to graduate, yet finds himself charged with the care of his dead wife's son and foster-daughter, and he is entirely unprepared--no surprise, given that he can barely take care of himself, although his thorough ineptness is less than plausible. He is remarkably hunger-free, given his recovering-addict status, which makes him even more surreal. And he doesn't seem to have any qualms about the moral choices he makes. In short, he's hard to buy. Having said that, the story he finds himself in builds to bang-up climax, with a sweet little resolution that gives the reader some hope that Andrew is climbing out his hole, and might even be better for it when he gets there. The novel is flawed, but is no waste of time.