Every book I read by Michael Chabon I like less than the previous one. I really loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. It's one of my favorite books. Then I read The Yiddish Policemen's Union, and it was okay. I had to force myself to get through this book. First of all, I am not that into vinyl records - and I know little about jazz. I understand the significance of the "megastore" wiping out the small, vintage store - and I hate that our nation has come to that in nearly every city. And now even the bigger stores are closing because of online shopping! But, I didn't like Archy for the majority of the book - and I didn't like how Titus was using Julie. I didn't really care about the life and times of Luther Stallings and Valletta. I REALLY didn't like the 11-page sentence which makes up Part III (A Bird of Wide Experience). On and on and on.... Seriously.
Then there were the odd little things that had no conclusion. What happened to the bird? What happened to Luther? Did Archy and Luther reconcile in the end? Why was Titus wearing the purple glove - and why were there no ramifications about the purple glove since it was evidence in a murder that was brushed under the rug? Because they were all thugs?
Archy was becoming a real estate agent? How odd. Why didn't Nat just stay where he was instead of moving to another site?
What did I like? Well, I liked Aviva and Gwen. I was happy that Gwen stood up for herself with that jerk of a doctor - but I also liked how she apologized (finally) to Garth. It's awesome that she is going back to medical school to become a doctor. I liked Julian, but he is way too young to be having sex. Honestly. All of the parents in this book need to learn better parenting skills.
Yeah, I really didn't care for the subject matter of this book. I can't imagine who I would ever recommend it to either. The last couple hundred pages were okay, but since the book was 465 pages, that's not saying much.
Wendy's Rating: ***
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