U itibaren Mansingpur Rajauli, Bihar, Hindistan itibaren Mansingpur Rajauli, Bihar, Hindistan

Enjoyable, and I swear I could feel the cold, even though I was reading this on the beach. Found myself scanning though paragraphs at points, thinking "Ok. I get it. Now get to the PLOT!!!" But I don't necessarily chalk that up to the author's failures as much as to my own impatience and focused interest in seeing what happens next.

I read the book in a 5 hour stretch and enjoyed it. I wasn't drawn into it emotionally, but had fun with his words and the pictures he drew. This is actually the first book I have read by JF - never got around to The Corrections, for no good reason. I feel there are two camps: those who LOVE this book and those are backlashing against the JF-mania of 2010. I fall in the middle. I just couldn't get all hopped up over his This Book is Important Testimonial on Life in These United States thesis that lay in the center. I did like the characters, but it didn't come together for me in a wholly satisfactory way. Meh.

I've been meaning to read this and The Fountainhead. They've been sitting on my shelf for years.