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It's a very well-written book with a fascinating focus on falling. It is not light-hearted, despite the fact that Buster Keaton is heavily featured. The obsession with Keaton is woven throughout the story, as the self-destructive narrator navigates her fraught relationships with her twin brother and her mother, as well as the family's superstitions about a falling curse supposedly caused by the actions of an ancestor in Prague. There are many interesting scenes set in Prague, where the narrator and her brother move for a while in an attempt to sort things out.

This was delightful, and Ethan Hawke's audiobook narration had me laughing out loud through the whole book, which is largely about friends supporting each other. It touched on so many things, like the wonder of art, the joy of adventure, and the great variety of personalities that you will meet in life.

I enjoyed this and thought it was an inventive story. Apparently, some readers didn't like the writing, but I thought it was fine (OK, there were a lot of similes; I noticed that, but it didn't bother me). I guess I would describe it as mostly a romance, with sci fi, historical and thriller elements. Some of the romance stuff didn't completely work for me (e.g., an expat gets to the point where he's regularly using a motorbike, a cell phone and a laptop, and yet somehow he still has Victorian ideas about courting). However, the sci fi/thriller aspects kicked into higher gear in a pretty satisfying way toward the end. I liked the tie-in with the Franklin expedition and was glad to see AMC's The Terror thanked in the acknowledgments.

Good thriller. A little more violent than I usually prefer, but it's well-written and exciting. It has lots of interesting thoughts about language, meaning, persuasion/manipulation, and what makes people tick.

I guess I didn't connect very well with this collection overall, but I did enjoy a few of them - in particular, some that revealed a quirky perspective on animals and/or showed the poet poking fun at himself. My favorite was Life Expectancy.

4.5 stars. It's a powerful reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim's perspective. Although it's harrowing and at times brutal, somehow there is a fair amount of humor. There are great observations about language and also navigating the world of white people. It really highlights the outrageousness of white supremacy.

I was a bit disappointed. Having read in the past year or so both Zone One (which I liked a lot) and Station Eleven (which I loved), I felt that this book - another post-apocalyptic novel with lots of insightful flashbacks to "normal" life - paled in comparison to those. I did appreciate the forceful writing, and I thought aspects of it were very well done (for example, the parts focused on the publishing industry, the production contractors in China, and the NY Ghost blog).

I loved it. In addition to being nuanced, very well written, and surprisingly suspenseful, it was quite educational for me, in terms of the geography, history, and politics of the region. Plus, I will probably never think about Hamlet (or theater in general) the same way again after reading this. My expectations were high because of all the rave reviews (see Bookmarks), and I was not disappointed. The audiobook narration by Nadia Albina was excellent, too.

A vivid story with interesting characters and a great sense of setting. Although it's definitely well written, there were times when I found myself getting a little impatient with some of the poetic but long-winded descriptions. I found it to be pretty somber overall, which I guess is not surprising considering the historical background. Quite a few haunting scenes. One of my favorite parts was the brief section focused on Eha being "slow of tongue" and aware of his inability to keep up verbally with his own thoughts.

It's a satire about racists, brutal killings, and justice ... so although it's humorous, it's also thorny and unsettling -- but Everett makes it work. About 2/3 of the way through, it kicks into a higher gear and delivers a powerful punch. I have to admit, it did my heart good to read those scenes where racists were made the butt of so many jokes. It also succeeds as a mystery/thriller; I was anxious to find out how it was going to end. It's a fast read, with short chapters and a lot of dialogue. One odd thing: in Chapter 50, there's a character whose name changes inexplicably. I thought maybe I had missed something, but then I saw some other people discussing it on Goodreads. I guess it was an editing error.

Vivid, well-written, and excellent overall, although I thought Part II (from Rainey's perspective) was not as good as the rest of the book; for one thing, some of its depictions seemed too stereotypical. After finishing the book, I read articles by several reviewers, and most agreed that Part II was out of place or just less compelling, but ... I feel like I'm still trying to figure out what McDermott was trying to do with it.

But, anyway, the Saigon parts are fascinating, with the trip to the leprosarium being the highlight of the story (the NPR reviewer referred to this as a Heart-of-Darkness-like journey for Patricia). The final part of the book, showing some significant choices made by both Patricia and Ly, was powerful.