The ending was unsatisfying, but the main character's teenage angst rang true. Sort of like a snobby NYC version of Perks of Being a Wallflower (but not as good). Maybe more like if David Sedaris were writing as a young depressed boy. ( )

One of my favorite books of all time. It's been three years since I last read it now, but I think about it pretty regularly. There's a lot of emotional depth in this book, and certain passages are better descriptions of feelings I've had in my life than I've found anywhere else.

The summary here, IMO, doesn't capture the vibe of the book correctly. For example, the book James's grandmother as an annoying "D-list celebrity". She's the person he loves the most. ( )

As a homeschooled teenager, I fully sympathize with the main protagonist when he describes how uncomfortable he is with his peers and his trepidation at being launched into college, living with and constantly interacting with other young adults. I also feel his confusion when he begins to realize that adulthood is not necessarily free from the things that he dislikes the most in his peers.

However, despite my liking of the character, I did not particularly care for the style of the writing, nor did I find the story particularly engaging. ( )

I really wanted to love this book. I greatly enjoyed the first act. The second was wobbly, but still good enough. And then it was over with an epilogue. Seriously, what happened to the third act? There was no resolution in this story. Some things happened, we learned of other things that had happened, some things escalated and then the book was over with merely and note saying that everything worked out in the future. The main character had conflicts with his mother, with his sister, with his coworker, none of which we get to see the outcome of, other than to hear that they worked out after the fact. We learn a detail in the epilogue which should have been something transformative for the protagonist, would have been the catalyst of change with his other conflicts, but again, nothing more than a note that it happened. Really disappointing all the way around. ( )

"An archly comic gem"
By sally tarbox on 30 May 2017
Format: Paperback
Narrated by sensitive and intelligent eighteen-year old James Sveck, this was quite a compelling read. His art-dealer mother has just remarried; his father won't hear of his not going to college - but James yearns to buy himself a house in the Midwest and keep away from his peer group. Meantime he works in his mother's gallery, falls for a co-worker and starts seeing a therapist. Both sad and funny, this is a little gem - a 21st century Catcher in the Rye. ( )