Rating: 
Summary: A great picture of modern boom town.
Review: What first grabbed me about this book was the dead-on depiction of the "carpet bagger" life of a fund raiser in the non-profit world. That along with the description of Charlotte's boom town nature and bizarre lay out (driving twenty minutes to get anywhere) made for an entertaining beginning. What made the book even better was the portrayal of the constant connectivity of modern life and the need to always be working to make more money in the dotcom world. Everyone is either worried about making more money, typing on laptop, or talking into a cellular telephone. Eveyone has to work constantly to make more money right this minute. It is almost like a modern addiction. This is a world that seems to say if you aren't making at least $80,000 you are a failure. If you are taking time to rest you are a failure. In a town like Charlotte this is especially true.
Rating:
Summary: This book grows on you
Review: When I finished this book, I would probably have rated it as a "3" but I found myself thinking about it a lot in the last day.....a sure sign that the author has made an impression on me! But this is not a real "4" but more like a 3+.Warner Lutz is living a life of "quiet desperation". In his early 30s, he has had a career in non-profit fund raising and now sees no way to achieve the six-figure income that he thinks he needs in order to live a better life. He, his wife Megan, and their two very young children live in a too-small townhouse in Charlotte, have one old car, and worry about money all the time. This book is populated with almost-dull characters who are fairly close to real: the frazzled wife/mother, the husband who wants it all and now, the interfering mother-in-law, and the whiny kids. Leebron expertly depicts the tensions within the Lutz household - normal tensions, I might add, usually brought on by exhaustion and the demands of parenthood. Warner incessantly wonders about his future and his wife wonders why she ever married him (she calls him the most negative person she had ever known). I wondered the same thing. The inertia of these characters made me want to give them a swift kick. When something terrible happens halfway through the book, the future of this family is threatened and the characters are forced to look inward even more to examine their motivations and their needs. Oddly, the Lutz's do not have one friend to turn to, to confide in. This was extremely unrealistic and a real flaw in the book. Another flaw was Warner himself--he was way too uninteresting to be the main character of a book. Not a ringing endorsement, but a quick and interesting read.
Rating: 
Summary: High quality writing and a fast-paced plot
Review: When Six Figures appeared in my mailbox and I read the back cover, I was excited about reading the whole thing. The author, Fred G. Leebron, sounded as if he some real literary talent. He is a writing professor at Gettysburg College, and was once the director of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Mr. Leebron is also the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, a Pushcart Prize, and an O. Henry Award, among others. No matter what he was writing about in Six Figures, I figured it would be good. I was certainly not disappointed. Leebron has a fresh style and a captivating tone. His book has the rare combination of both high literary quality and exciting fast-paced suspense. I started reading this book while on a train from Mannheim to Luxembourg City, and I was literally unable to put the book down except for when I absolutely had to, meaning when I had to change trains and then get off.... I felt like I knew the characters intimately, and that I couldn't rest until I found out what happened to them. On the train ride back I finished the book, and although it is easy to read in one or two settings, that doesn't mean it's easy or low quality writing. In fact, it is just the opposite.... The theme of Six Figures is one that we are all familiar with: the struggle to balance happiness and love without the convenience of money and security. The main character is Warner Lutz, who is climbing the corporate ladder by way of the non-profit social services rungs. He is married to Megan, who is the director of an art museum, and is the father of four-year-old Sophie and baby Daniel. Although this seems like a picture perfect life, it has its murky spots.... Nothing is good about their lives because they don't have the luxury lifestyle that many people in their new community of Charleston have. What is worse, the jobs that they moved to Charleston to get become shaky as both are faced with the possibility of termination.... The monotony of this envy and hostility-filled life is interrupted when Megan is suddenly brutally attacked at the museum where she works. Warner is shocked to find himself as the prime suspect, and even more shocked to find out that everyone - from his own parents to Megan's parents to people he works with - think he really is the one who did it.... The reasons for his actions and feelings are never quite fully revealed, which is one critique I found about the book. It was disappointing to read how his relationship with his parents is so bad, how he can't get along with his mother-in-law, and how he has never succeeded at work, without ever fully finding out why he is this sort of person.... Sophie was not a very convincing character to me, because I felt her dialogue was more of an eight or ten-year-old child rather than that of a learning-challenged four-year-old. Besides for these small complaints, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are realistic and the plot engaging. Reading this book was like visiting a real-life family and watching their world fall apart before my very eyes. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for both great literature and fun entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: About time!
Review: While the so-called hot writers chew their tails and navel-gaze on the ironies of Gen X life, Fred Leebron has been doing the hard work, crafting a disturbing and, to grownups, hauntingly familiar tale of domestic unease and uncertainty. Take a break from the moody, put aside your eggers and wallaces and banks, and read this book! If you've already created a family in these strange times, you'll recognize the landscape instantly; if you haven't, you'll see what challenges, petty horrors and quiet triumphs lie ahead. The reviewer isn't kidding when he compares this book to Yates. Trust us.
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