So I was reading the NYT book section and there was a review of Ann Beattie's new book and the reviewer said why isnt she more famous, very underrated american writer etc. Having never heard of her before reading this, my interest was piqued along with the description of her earlier novels being contemporary stories about everyday troubles, which appeals to me. So I picked this up second hand on Amazon for a couple of bucks and thought I'd give her a whirl.Well she's not more reknown because simply she's not a very good writer. I struggled through this, none of her characters came to life. The references to contemporary culture, instead of illuminating the time (1980) were annoying - everytime someone turned on a radio it seems they were playing Blondie's Heart of Glass. Reading that for the fourth time had me wanting to throw the book out the train window.
This is Ann Beattie's second novel, and it's not nearly as good as her legendary debut, CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER.There are some writers who write really well about children, and some who write well about teenagers, and some who write well about family life. Ann Beattie is not one of those people. So much of this novel is devoted to characters she clearly does not like and can not understand -- a fat little boy who reads comic books, for example. It's fair to say Ms. Beattie was never a fat little boy, and judging from this book I'd say she never picked up a comic book in her life. There are a pair of teenage girls who are equally unrealized and deeply unattractive in a way that suggests a real aversion to teenagers in general. All things considered, I'd give this one about two stars.
What do You think about Falling In Place (1991)?
Full disclosure: I didn't finish this book. I was about 3/4 of the way through when I found myself at a coffee shop with one of those "take a book, leave a book" shelves and decided that I really didn't care what happened to the wannabe-Tom Wolfe characters. What had started as mindless subway reading had turned into an unbelievable soap opera with the uncomprehensible twist involving an attempted murder. And with such a limited cast of characters, was it really necessary to name three of them J
—Allie
