Reviews

Reading this book is like taking a car trip. The problem is you forgot to have the car serviced before you set off. The trip starts as a rambling trip through the suburbs, rather boring, but you hope you'll soon be out of the suburbs and see some scenery. Past the suburbs,some of the views are quite intriguing, but the car is acting up. Something keeps clunking under the engine. The scenery transforms into a series of mountain twists and turns but the car keeps acting up.

Just when you think you're coming to something fascinating, the car dies and leaves you looking at an abandoned motel.

Yep, this story needed the writing equivalent of AAA.

avalin1's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

keebleman's review against another edition

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3.5

I have read several other of Roth's Zuckerman books, but this is my first reading of his alter ego's debut. Unlike the others I have read - the great 90s novels and Exit Ghost - this one is almost entirely concerned with the difficulties and conflicts that come from being a full-time novelist. Decades ago I used to enjoy such fiction, I took it to be a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. But now I find the genre tiresome, self-indulgent and unimaginative. This book's best moments are when Roth, via Zuckerman, allows his imagination to rip, and we get what is in effect an extended short story, a fiction within a fiction, about one of the characters.

iqs's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5

rexsavior's review against another edition

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4.0

A ghost story in a Victorian style, I really enjoyed this one. There are some nice allusions to Henry James, Charles Dickens, and others. While the ending was rather apparent from early on in the book, Harwood still manages to imbue the story with quite a bit of suspense.

gremlinz_2's review against another edition

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challenging funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

chillcox15's review against another edition

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5.0

As much as one could make Roth into an easy punchline, he did deliver one of the most undeniable runs in all of literature. The Ghost Writer is a centerpiece of that run. I'm excited to read the rest of his Zuckerman books.

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