December 2014 - Egan's Rats

I don't think we ever decided when to start talking about this one, and I just got mine from the library yesterday, but I thought I'd start up a thread so anyone passing by could see what we were reading!

(by Daniel Waugh)

I'm planning to start it this weekend

Anyone started this one yet? I started and read the first chapter, I think. It's not grabbing me. I've got a lot of other stuff I would rather read, at this point.

I've finished it, so someone let me know when they're ready. It could have used some serious editing, but it was definitely interesting.

I dropped the ball on this one. I ran out of time and had to return it to the library. I will try to be a better Missouri Reader in 2015. Happy Holidays to all!

I guess I've been seriously remiss in checking the group page - I just found this thread today. I started the book and got 1/3, maybe 1/2 finished before fizzling out. The subject is interesting, but "serious editing" is an understatement. I thought it read more like a newspaper article than a story. Good non-fictions are still just stories, after all. Maybe a chart with all the names and relationships would help or a map of St Louis and the pertinent places marked - for those who are familiar with the city, and even for those of us who aren't so much. Or a different organizational structure - I don't know. I found it hard to keep the names straight and had trouble remembering who everyone was and how they were related to everyone else. I really wanted to like it, but just didn't.

I completely agree with you Sandy. I finished it (twice--and now my book club wants to do it next month! Yikes...), and I think the second time I must have been subconsciously reading it like a newspaper article. I think that is where he got most of his stories & research (newspaper articles). As I said, I thought the individual stories were interesting, but nothing tied together, and I couldn't keep the names apart.