Rating: 
Summary: A great novel
Review: Six Figures takes on life as it is really lived. It gives meaning to a phrase like "the pressures of work and family" in a way that no novel I've read recently has, all in a compelling story that moves you along. We need more novels like this one.
Rating:
Summary: A classic for grown-up readers
Review: The most amazing thing about this book is that it accomplishes what I thought was impossible in this age of arrested adolescence in American male writers--it carefully and perfectly describes the inner life of a modern family man as his not-so-carefully constructed life begins to unravel. As devastating a portrait of an American experience as you'll find since Yates or even Howells.
Rating: 
Summary: An ok read but a bit short of its promise
Review: The story here is a good one, and one that needs to be told. But I found Leebron's characterization a bit thin--especially in terms of setting up the protagonist for the kind of life-altering scenario around which the novel revolves. I just didn't find the set-up of Warner-as-assailant very convincing and think the author should have done more to explore the full circumstances of his desperation. The first part of the book is too rushed in this respect. Once the deed has been done, the working out of it all is quite compelling, however. It's a good read that will stay with you--the passages about Warner's mother's feelings of responsibility for his father are outstanding. But finally the book is one you can put on the shelf without having worked too hard to get through it. The theme of class anxiety in the New South deserves a more complicated treatment.
Rating: 
Summary: This novel really held my attention and I enjoyed it.
Review: The story of the Lutz family, who have just moved to Charlotte, North Carolina (a city where I used to live and am very familiar with), seemed quite true to life. I know how folks in Charlotte are - very ambitious, very conscious about if one is affluent or successful - and therefore I found the whole storyline quite believable. I found the characters engaging and could even identify with some of the ambivalence of the main character, Warner, had about being a parent of young children. Something happens about mid-way through the story that surprised me and from then on I couldn't put the book down, wondering what the outcome would be. Overall a very good book and one that I will read again soon.
Rating:
Summary: A little disturbing, but well-written and interesting
Review: This book reminded me a lot of the movie American Beauty. It's definitely not the feel-good book of the year, but it does make you think that maybe being single with no kids isn't so bad! I would also have to say that the author does a pretty accurate characterization of Charlotte. As a good friend of mine who moved to NYC put it, "Charlotte is all about who's got the smallest cell phone and the newest Lexus and the coolest condo uptown." Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but a lot of people are obsessed with money.(I'm not sure why, but the author spends a lot of time talking about neighborhoods and roads that really do exist. This made the book interesting to me because I've lived in Charlotte all my life. But it's hard to imagine that being interesting to anyone who hasn't lived in Charlotte... )
Rating:
Summary: OK, but not great
Review: This book was a significant disappointment, because I found myself simply not caring about all of these unsympathetic characters. Walter Lutz is morbidly depressed about his life. He originally chose to work in the non-profit industry and, despite his constant job moves, he realizes that the goal of earning "six figures" is an unreachable brass ring. He also feels burdened by his wife, two children, and their needs. All of this is magnified by his living in growing, affluent Charlotte, North Carolina. The story takes some bizarre turns, including his being held responsible for an accounting error by his predecessor which he did not catch for a few months, and his lack of success in his new position (I will not "ruin" it by revealing the most significant developments). While Walter's character is not very likable (you want to slap him and say "take some responsibility for your life"), his wife is only slightly more engaging. As their life spins out of control, I found myself vaguely interested, but not highly moved or drawn into the story. This is not a horrible book; in fact, several other reviewers have appeared to enjoy it. However, there are so many much better books out there, I would suggest passing on this one.
Rating:
Summary: A great novel
Review: This is an especially well-done examination of the nature of families in a time of crisis. The "six figures" of the title, despite the artwork on the cover, are not the members of the extended family (since there are nine of them, even ten, if you count the brother). More likely the six figures are the dream of yearly income that signifies success in our society. The central character is Warner Lutz, a thirty-something yuppie who manages a fund-raising non-profit organization (at about $30,000 a year) in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is married to Megan, who tends a shop that sells art objects. They have two children, Sophia, who is four, and Daniel, who is perhaps two. At the crisis they are joined by Megan's mother, Nan, a high-powered business woman who does indeed command over six figures a year, Warner's mother, Ruth, a workaholic who doesn't entirely believe or trust her son, and her husband, Alan, who is fat and seventy and sleeps a lot. There is also Nan's estranged husband and his wife (who really play no part in the story). The central event of the novel occurs about halfway through. It comes as a surprise, and therefore shouldn't be revealed here, and I won't. I will say that Warner is accused and most everyone, including the police, believe he is guilty. Leebron's narrative deliberately does not allow us to know. Leebron wants to examine the event and its aftermath and how it effects the family regardless of whether Warner is guilty or not; indeed it is important that the truth not be known. It appears that no one else could have done it, but it that proof? Leebron hints at why Warner might have done it, but Warner says he is innocent. He is not believed. His life falls apart. There is a long preparation for this central event in which the circumstances of the Lutz's are slowly revealed. We experience the frustration of their careers, the demands of being working parents, the alienation that comes with being northerners in a southern town. He is from Pennsylvania, nominally Jewish. Megan is a New Yorker. Some events of the past are recalled and how they effect their lives at present and perhaps foreshadow events to come. He comes under pressure because of a financial impropriety not of his doing. Sophia has trouble at pre-school. They don't feel they are making enough money. And then the central event comes crashing down on them, perhaps putting their lives into perspective. Leebron's style is a laudable attempt at a kind of realistic objectivity, an attitude toward his characters that is understanding, even forgiving, but without sentimentality. His prose is for the most part without flourish, without mannerism, the "invisible" style of the writer who does not want to detract from his story. The characterizations are vivid and, after a slow start, a fine tension is achieved that carries us to the conclusion. This is an excellent work, marred slightly by an incidental quality as though a short story were being stretched into a novel.
Rating:
Summary: A family in trouble
Review: This is an especially well-done examination of the nature of families in a time of crisis. The "six figures" of the title, despite the artwork on the cover, are not the members of the extended family (since there are nine of them, even ten, if you count the brother). More likely the six figures are the dream of yearly income that signifies success in our society. The central character is Warner Lutz, a thirty-something yuppie who manages a fund-raising non-profit organization (at about $30,000 a year) in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is married to Megan, who tends a shop that sells art objects. They have two children, Sophia, who is four, and Daniel, who is perhaps two. At the crisis they are joined by Megan's mother, Nan, a high-powered business woman who does indeed command over six figures a year, Warner's mother, Ruth, a workaholic who doesn't entirely believe or trust her son, and her husband, Alan, who is fat and seventy and sleeps a lot. There is also Nan's estranged husband and his wife (who really play no part in the story). The central event of the novel occurs about halfway through. It comes as a surprise, and therefore shouldn't be revealed here, and I won't. I will say that Warner is accused and most everyone, including the police, believe he is guilty. Leebron's narrative deliberately does not allow us to know. Leebron wants to examine the event and its aftermath and how it effects the family regardless of whether Warner is guilty or not; indeed it is important that the truth not be known. It appears that no one else could have done it, but it that proof? Leebron hints at why Warner might have done it, but Warner says he is innocent. He is not believed. His life falls apart. There is a long preparation for this central event in which the circumstances of the Lutz's are slowly revealed. We experience the frustration of their careers, the demands of being working parents, the alienation that comes with being northerners in a southern town. He is from Pennsylvania, nominally Jewish. Megan is a New Yorker. Some events of the past are recalled and how they effect their lives at present and perhaps foreshadow events to come. He comes under pressure because of a financial impropriety not of his doing. Sophia has trouble at pre-school. They don't feel they are making enough money. And then the central event comes crashing down on them, perhaps putting their lives into perspective. Leebron's style is a laudable attempt at a kind of realistic objectivity, an attitude toward his characters that is understanding, even forgiving, but without sentimentality. His prose is for the most part without flourish, without mannerism, the "invisible" style of the writer who does not want to detract from his story. The characterizations are vivid and, after a slow start, a fine tension is achieved that carries us to the conclusion. This is an excellent work, marred slightly by an incidental quality as though a short story were being stretched into a novel.
Rating:
Summary: A sharp-eyed portrayal of contemporary society
Review: This novel is a chilling depiction of an outwardly perfect young middle-class couple struggling with each other and the demons of their pasts to live what passes for the American dream today. Leebron tells their tale with a minimum of novelistic flourishes, which only makes the tension that builds throughout the story all the more unbearable. It's as if he is holding a mirror up to our world and challenging us to confront what we see there. This is an impressive work from a fine young novelist.
Rating:
Summary: Very thought provoking drama
Review: Warner Lutz may be the unhappiest person on the planet, (or at least in the Carolinas), although he seems to have it all. He makes more than an adequate living working for a nonprofit organization, has a nice wife and two children. However, he suffers from a mid-life crisis, taking his acrimonious frustrations out on his wife Megan. Warner soon learns how fabulous is life was when an assailant attacks Megan near the art gallery where she works. Megan remains in a coma in a hospital as everyone who knows Warner is convinced he assaulted his spouse. His mother-in-law, his own parents, and even his children believe Warner attacked Megan. As bad as his relatives mistrust his pleas of innocence, the police strongly feel he is the prime suspect. All Warner can do is pray Megan awakens from her comatose state to affirm his innocence even as he wonders why everyone he knows think he is capable of such a vicious attack. SIX FIGURES is an interesting drama that centers on the relationships of several people interacting with one person (Warner). The story line works because of everyone's deep conviction that Warner could do the dastardly deed although at first glimpse the protagonist does not appear capable of performing the vicious act. Anyone who relishes a well-written disturbing character study of the pressure to succeed in middle class America will want to read Fred G. Leebron's terrific tale. Harriet Klausner
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