Well

Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Book
Review: "Well" is a hard-earned marvel, and Matt McIntosh is a nothing less than a prodigy. His book focuses on a tapestry of broken lives in Federal Way, Washington, outside of Seattle, drawn together by the common ailments of discontentment, disillusionment, and a yearning for some small redemption. The chapter (or story) "Fishboy," about a young man suffering from the break-up of his family, has a raw, wrenching power like something I've rarely encountered in contemporary fiction, somewhat like the stories in Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son," but wholly Matt McIntosh's, wholly unique. His work has a kind of poetic integrity that signals a rare talent, a new voice.

Rating:
Summary: Something of a Masterpiece
Review: "Well" is a hard-earned marvel, and Matt McIntosh is a nothing less than a prodigy. His book focuses on a tapestry of broken lives in Federal Way, Washington, outside of Seattle, drawn together by the common ailments of discontentment, disillusionment, and a yearning for some small redemption. The chapter (or story) "Fishboy," about a young man suffering from the break-up of his family, has a raw, wrenching power like something I've rarely encountered in contemporary fiction, somewhat like the stories in Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son," but wholly Matt McIntosh's, wholly unique. His work has a kind of poetic integrity that signals a rare talent, a new voice.

Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Book
Review: I consider this book to be one of the most interesting and BEST books of all-time. It's original and intriguing and a must read for those who like books that try new things.

Rating:
Summary: Like Seinfeld, its about nothing, but not at all funny
Review: It's hard to know how to describe this book. I picked it up because it was supposedly a look at life in the Seattle suburb of Federal Way. I grew up in Seattle so that grabbed my attention. What it turned out to be was a book about nothing. Literally. Just short snapshots of people's sad and pathetic lives, doing nothing, going nowhere, and as depressing as the long and rainy Seattle winters. Bleak and disturbing but hard to pull away from, it's the Jerry Springer show without the set.

Here are the high points. The author is a great writer, of this there is no doubt. He truly creates vivid pictures so realistic that you will have to double-check that it is fiction. The emotions and circumstances of the character's and their lives hit you with an impact that still lingers long after completing the book. It is a quick read and easy to experience, so little effort is required to get the effect.

However, the result of this fiction is somewhat of an enigma for me. Why? Why write these stories? What is the point? Throughout the book, in between the chapters about very depressing people and lives that make you thankful they are not yours, are Bible verses. No explanation is ever given for their purpose. I guess this book is like a piece of artwork - much is left to the imagination of the observer.

I found the whole experience rather disturbing, but in a real way so I suppose that shows talent. If this is your thing, then by all means buy it and enjoy it. You can feel wonderfully depressed. Otherwise, take my word for it, the author is talented, but wait to see if he writes something with more purpose than a short glimpse into the sad and pitiful lives of lost and wounded people.

Rating:
Summary: Like Seinfeld, its about nothing, but not at all funny
Review: It's hard to know how to describe this book. I picked it up because it was supposedly a look at life in the Seattle suburb of Federal Way. I grew up in Seattle so that grabbed my attention. What it turned out to be was a book about nothing. Literally. Just short snapshots of people's sad and pathetic lives, doing nothing, going nowhere, and as depressing as the long and rainy Seattle winters. Bleak and disturbing but hard to pull away from, it's the Jerry Springer show without the set.

Here are the high points. The author is a great writer, of this there is no doubt. He truly creates vivid pictures so realistic that you will have to double-check that it is fiction. The emotions and circumstances of the character's and their lives hit you with an impact that still lingers long after completing the book. It is a quick read and easy to experience, so little effort is required to get the effect.

However, the result of this fiction is somewhat of an enigma for me. Why? Why write these stories? What is the point? Throughout the book, in between the chapters about very depressing people and lives that make you thankful they are not yours, are Bible verses. No explanation is ever given for their purpose. I guess this book is like a piece of artwork - much is left to the imagination of the observer.

I found the whole experience rather disturbing, but in a real way so I suppose that shows talent. If this is your thing, then by all means buy it and enjoy it. You can feel wonderfully depressed. Otherwise, take my word for it, the author is talented, but wait to see if he writes something with more purpose than a short glimpse into the sad and pitiful lives of lost and wounded people.

Rating:
Summary: Better than good
Review: Like Carver? Denis Johnson? Well even if you don't you should give this innovative and masterful book a try. McIntosh weaves together the lives of his suburbanite characters into a picture of modern life unlike any yet presented. His voice is incredibly original and is the true genius behind the book but what's remarkable for a first novel is that this voice really has something to say.

Rating:
Summary: Better than good
Review: Like Carver? Denis Johnson? Well even if you don't you should give this innovative and masterful book a try. McIntosh weaves together the lives of his suburbanite characters into a picture of modern life unlike any yet presented. His voice is incredibly original and is the true genius behind the book but what's remarkable for a first novel is that this voice really has something to say.

Rating:
Summary: Searching for Moments of Being Well
Review: Often I feel forced to keep up this guise of being happy all the time. I'm generally a happy person, but when I'm not, I don't feel empowered to share that. In books, on television, in the movies - people experience bad luck and bad times but in the end they almost always conquer all. But real life isn't books, TV or the movies. We don't always get the Hollywood ending.

In Well, Matthew McIntosh writes about human experiences that aren't glamorous and they aren't always happy. Instead, McIntosh grabs onto the little sparks in people lives that help them keep going on.

It's fascinating to me when an author can write a book with characters in it that I wholly relate to, regardless of whether they are like me. When I was younger it happened frequently, but when I was younger all I needed was a character that liked to read, collected mundane things or worried about school and friends. Well struck a nerve in me that has been left untouched since childhood. McIntosh writes of the mundane happenings in life, the ugly little things that most people never mention but which we all know happen, and because of that, he has created a wonderful collection of stories.

McIntosh certainly isn't the first author to write about everyday life. While what he does isn't new, it does cover new territory. Well reads like a book of short stories. There are small segments dedicated to different people's lives, woven together with fines threads that are only visible on close inspection. The people's lives are in many respects hopeless, but they persevere. McIntosh never offers a succinct reason for why they continue trying, but he does suggest one image - that of a well.

What McIntosh seems to suggest is that everyone has a hole that they are trying to fill. If everyone has that same hole, regardless of whether it is spoken of, we share something in common. In that is the empowerment to share the negative aspects of life, the solace in knowing that others are experiencing what you are - what I am.

Well is an easy-to-read book. Each vignette lasts only a few pages and then you are on to the next person, the next life. Despite this brevity, characters are very real and their experiences stick with you. While no one scene may remain with you, the idea that people all share the common experience of bad times and the desire to find better ones will marinate in your head long after you put the book down.

Rating:
Summary: "Well" done
Review: This book is a lot of things. It's depressing, it's sad and it's dark. It's funny, it's real and it's honest. And most of all, it's very hard to put down. Matthew McIntosh is a 26 year old son of a preacher who spent time in London and California before landing in a little suburb of Seattle called Federal Way, the setting for the book. The book follows the lives and relationships of many people who are lost, despondent, disturbed, and struggling to just get through one more day. This is a brutally frank snapshot of people that most of us of hope we never meet and pray we never become. We see them on street corners, in alleys, in parks and sometimes right next door, though we pretend to not notice and hope to God they don't notice us. McIntosh's writing style is unconventional and compelling at the same time. It is refreshingly (and shockingly) different.

Rating:
Summary: "Well" done
Review: This book is a lot of things. It's depressing, it's sad and it's dark. It's funny, it's real and it's honest. And most of all, it's very hard to put down. Matthew McIntosh is a 26 year old son of a preacher who spent time in London and California before landing in a little suburb of Seattle called Federal Way, the setting for the book. The book follows the lives and relationships of many people who are lost, despondent, disturbed, and struggling to just get through one more day. This is a brutally frank snapshot of people that most of us of hope we never meet and pray we never become. We see them on street corners, in alleys, in parks and sometimes right next door, though we pretend to not notice and hope to God they don't notice us. McIntosh's writing style is unconventional and compelling at the same time. It is refreshingly (and shockingly) different.