Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I can’t really put my finger on why I didn’t LOOOOOOOVE this book.
Excellent writing? Check.
Interesting characters? Check.
Laugh-out-loud moments? Check.
But, somehow, it just didn’t strike any real emotional chord with me.
The story is told in first person by Professor Grady Tripp (played by Michael Douglas in the movie). He’s fat, struggling, loves to get high, and just found out that his wife has left him and his mistress is pregnant.
He picks up his editor from the airport, who has picked up a transvestite on the plane. But at a party thrown by the head of the English department (Grady’s boss, and his mistress’ husband), they meet a young student of Grady’s, James Leer. Terry Crabtree, the editor, immediately ditches his tranny date to pursue young James.
Wacky hijinks ensue.
Maybe that’s what it was; the characters were a little too quirky for my tastes. As much as I enjoyed Grady, I couldn’t help but to be reminded at nearly every turn, “THIS IS FICTION! WINK, WINK!!” I could certainly identify Grady’s struggle to follow up his first successful novel with a second novel that was going nowhere fast. But, at the same time, it was hard for me to sympathize completely with him when he keeps making bad decisions while high as a kite.
And the ending seemed a little too neat for me. Meh, I don’t know.
At the end of the day, I still liked the book. I just didn’t love it the way I wanted to, that’s all.
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