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Title: a dud
Review: Although I'm usually pretty critical of books, it takes a lot in order for me to give a book only one star. I picked this one up because it had won a Pulitzer and I was going to New Orleans soon and wanted some relevant (fictional) reading. I don't deny that Toole had some ambitious aims when he began this book--and yes, I agree it's a satire. But I didn't find it that effective because I could barely recognize humanity in these people. I usually think of satire as a social criticism involving humor and exaggeration. This book is filled with exaggerations--but I really didn't find it funny at all. Moreover, I could see what types of connections the author was trying to make with his critique, but I didn't find them at all compelling or even believable. In fact, I found the casting to be trite and ill-formed and am forced to agree with previous reviewers in saying that the majority of the book seemed redundant and annoying.
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