I love Jed Mercurio’s writing and eagerly read any work of his. I had not heard of this book so bought it on impulse when I saw it in Waterstones. I read this at a gallop, as ever the writing is well crafted and takes you along at pace. I was not entirely confident of the premise, the writer putting himself into the mind of JFK and putting both thoughts into his head and words into his mouth. When this is attempted I am always a little nervous, it often seems to me as if the author is writing in the slipstream of the well known individual when they do this. Having said that the gifted Jed Mercurio carries this off to my engagement. The central theme of the story is JFK’s continuing battles with his health and also his libidinous desires and how the two seem to intertwine. Women and medics come and go rapidly, the only constants being JFK’s wife and children whom he (in Mercurio’s words) loves deeply. Building on what we know of the complexity of the man this is a well written and engaging work that painted a convincing picture of the suffocating world of high office and the passions that can drive a high achieving man I picked up the American Adulterer: A novel, (must have been one of the clearance ones at Barnes and Nobel), and I am having a very hard time with it. I am reading a hardcopy, but can't seem to get my interpretation of the author's voice out of my head. Imagine reading a style that is generated by your least favorite college professor; written in an academic, researchy way, and then, Bam! his crude phrases are radomly dropped in - I think for shock value. It's a disturbing style. Not sure I can finish this one.
What do You think about Un Adúltero Americano (2009)?
Once the premise was understood and executed...there was no story arc.
—dovic
Man, this was a stupid book. I could only take it for 30 pages.
—townsale
