Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre book + Great nepotism
Review: This novel is a less than mediocre reheating of TV movie cliches and self-important "hard truths" bound by awkward and boring writing. It reads like the hundreds of novels that pile the slush pile in many publishing houses, actually much worse than many of them. I know because I work at one of those houses and read those manuscripts, most of which, while they will never be published or receive any attention, are far better than this drivel. Why is this in print then? The explanation is quite simple. Ms.Waldman is the wife of best-selling author Michael Chabon, hence the embarrasing boychoir of ludicrously inflated phoney blurbs by author-friends and other members of the "set". What really makes me sick, specially since I see these things happening all the time while writers of merit will never get a break for publication, is the artificial celebration of "novels" such as this. In the past year I've read at least forty manuscripts that are much better than this that I know have zero chance for publication. Yet, there it is. With oily quotes from Mr.Eggers and others members of that tribe of snobby, souless "literary yuppies" whose talents are in shameless self-promotion and mutual hype, and that are fastly becoming the parasites of american letters. No wonder less and less people buy novels anymore. Stuff like Waldman's is what I call a reader-killer. It just makes you want to throw the book away and do something else, watch a movie or go for a walk. You read two books like this is a row and then you spend months without feeling the need to read fiction again. Any mid-level Tv drama will give you the same stuff a thousand times better crafted. At least it will be a professional job. We are losing readers everyday, and this is one of the causes: worse than mediocre stuff hyped and promoted as "literature". This book is the worst kind of trash not just because of its blatant mediocrity, but because because of products like this clogging the bookshelves at your local B&N and wasting space in the literary reviews, many worthy voices will never get a chance.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for a first draft
Review: While the concepts in this novel are admirable and even inspiring, I have to agree with the readers who have negative things to say about the mechanics of the writing. The lack of attention to basic principles of fiction is likely to make many readers cringe, as I did. It reads in many places as though it simply wasn't edited. Contrary to what a couple of readers have suggested, I understand Ms. Waldman did endure numerous rejections of this manuscript. I am however surprised that her publisher didn't insist on some more work before arranging for it to be printed. There are indeed many well written books out there (including unpublished ones) and there's not much point in spending your time with a writer who hasn't taken her readers seriously enough to learn the craft before marketing her work.
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