Title: Done with Irving.
Product review: After the monstrously bad "Fourth Hand" and now this grotesque piece of writing, one has to wonder if Garp, Cider House Rules, Owen Meany and Widow for One Year exhausted Irving's reservoir of talent. The resonance of echoed phrases such as "beware the undertoad" are now supplanted by annoying tics - "not in front of Jack," "the little guy," and "baby cakes." There is no depth in or empathy for these characters. Perhaps Irving's eleventh-hour decision to hastily rewrite in the third person was a mistake - perhaps the work, from Jack's point of view...no matter how personally painful for Irving...would have been more engaging and would have eliminated his annoying need to explain and deconstruct every action or thought for us. After persevering for 300 pages, I threw this book down in disgust. Luckily, I'm a neat reader and was able to return my copy for full credit at Borders. (Review updated so as not to be anonymous)
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