Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This novel is chock full of beautiful language and imagery, but there’s also so much angst and unhappiness that it feels forced. It feels as if a college student with decent writing skills was asked to encapsulate all the misery possible in a person’s life and shove it into one story. There is crude language, so we’ll know things are realistic, various couples groping each other realistically, questioning each other, questioning their love for each other, questioning their relationships with all of the above, all while cursing, groping, and agonizing appropriately. The topics cover everything from marital fidelity, gender identification, abortion, children who hate their parents, parents who neglect their children, marriage partners who hate each other, the problem of water leaks and the lack of maintenance in old buildings, etc. (Yes, I realize that’s a metaphor for all that other stuff... More angst.) It’s all just too much. The author should have chosen a few topics to angst about, not every fear common to the human condition. The author could have reined in the beautiful imagery and writing. It seemed such a juxtaposition to have so much lyrical writing interspersed with the f* word and the crude thoughts. I suppose the author wrote that way for the shock value, and yet at the end, it’s all so dreary and “shocking” that it actually isn't shocking, it's just dreary. I gave up reading partway through and jumped to the end. I wanted to feel about this book as I felt about the Prince of Tides, but it just didn't work for me. Usually I can read through to the end when the writing is good. But this book is not about logic, mystery, or even romance. It's really about not much of anything except unhappy people thinking unhappy thoughts. If you like bitter, depressing, angsty books that have forced angsty revelations, this one’s for you. Edited: I've had some comment that they didn't notice crude language. I mention it because it doesn't fit the style in which this novel is written, not because I have a problem with this language when it fits. I consider it crude that a certain word beginning with "F" is used 45 times. Another word beginning in "S" is used 17 times. There is other crude language, but those are two examples that I could think of off the top of my head that were easily searchable. And, yes, there is groping as well as incredibly vulgar thought and speech. See later comments for examples if you want to know if the level in this book will bother you.