Title: Exhausting and Exhilarating
Product review: I welcome a new Vollmann book the way a 13 year old awaits a new Harry Potter novel. I finished The Royal Family last night, after taking my time over several months. For me, the highlight of the book is in the last 100 pages, the extended final act. The "Coffee Camp" sequence moves beyond the Tenderloin territory familiar to Vollmann readers since THE RAINBOW STORIES and encroaches on a realm both utterly familiar and totally new. The closest thing I can compare it to is the "wandering" portions of SUTTREE. If the rest of the novel had been this dense and addictive, I'd probably have read it in a week...but it was good to have something to savor.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
