UKC

Has anyone else read this?

I was recommended it by an English teacher friend who raved about it. It's also had some very good reviews.

Parts of it are very good indeed with taut, pacy, funny writing and some superb insights into the human condition. But...other bits are cringe worthy and the central plot is entirely predictable and wouldn't be out of place in one of the more outre episodes of Jeremy Kyle.

Curious to know what others thought.

I think the plot was intended to be entirely predictable - but given the savviness of the narrator the dramatic irony thus created was admittedly rather unconvincing. But the denouement in the car before the crash was brilliant, no? For its luminous style and brutal candour I'd say the work deserves to be regarded as an American classic. A kind of middle-aged Catcher in the Rye. A flawed genius: my favourite kind.

Just ordered it. Thanks for the head's up!