Title: Disappointed in disjointed unemotional novel
Review: I'd read one other book by Chabon, Summerland, and so I came to this book with high expectation. Those expectations were dashed. Though I found the beginning of the book interesting, the story lost steam once Josef reached New York. For me, the trouble with this novel can be summarized as follows: Too much telling, not enough showing. We're constantly told how the characters react and the effect is a bloodless, lifeless novel about characters I wanted to care about but didn't. The overuse of obscure words was not something I felt added anything to the novel other than impresse me with the author's pretensions.
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