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mgwalsho's review against another edition
5.0
I really liked this book! It was one of the strangest books I’ve ever read, but so unique that it was really good. I didn’t really expect to like the main character but I did, and the ending was satisfying in an unexpected way!
nixieknox's review against another edition
3.0
I totally get the Richard Russo compare. Even though sometimes this was a little far-fetched, I kept with it. I could definitely see all these people living in upstate NY, in a rundown town. It was laugh-out-loud funny a couple of times. The end was a little too hokey for me, but I didn't mind.
norrin2's review against another edition
2.0
This book was well-written and very funny in spots but ultimately a disappointment for several reasons.
1. The main character was thoroughly unlikable and impossible after a point to pull for. Yeah, I know he was a gambling addict, but his constant lies, his lack of empathy and remorse made him seem like a borderline sociopath.
2. Somebody winning more than a million dollars in Las Vegas TWICE in as many days stretches credibility way past the breaking point. We're now in some gambling addict's wet dream and way far removed from the realm of possibility.
3. The pointlessly depressing ending. It was obvious that Ray Parisi was not going to win his wife back but he still had plenty of reasons to live and for him to wander off to die like a Russian space dog left a bad taste in my mouth. I know I said I didn't like the main character much but I didn't want him to die.
1. The main character was thoroughly unlikable and impossible after a point to pull for. Yeah, I know he was a gambling addict, but his constant lies, his lack of empathy and remorse made him seem like a borderline sociopath.
2. Somebody winning more than a million dollars in Las Vegas TWICE in as many days stretches credibility way past the breaking point. We're now in some gambling addict's wet dream and way far removed from the realm of possibility.
3. The pointlessly depressing ending. It was obvious that Ray Parisi was not going to win his wife back but he still had plenty of reasons to live and for him to wander off to die like a Russian space dog left a bad taste in my mouth. I know I said I didn't like the main character much but I didn't want him to die.
petermcdade's review against another edition
5.0
As other reviewers here have said, don't be put off by the gambling angle. Like a great book about baseball, or ballet, or cooking, the particular obsession/addiction of the character is not the Thing: the character is the Thing. That said, the gambling details are just right, and the moments in the casino and at the blackjack table are utterly convincing. Tense and depressing and exhausting and full of all kinds of (good and bad) possibilities: just like Vegas.
For me, this is the kind of novel that works best in the first person, and if the voice of the narrator is just right. Ray's voice is spot on, funny and engaging, while also delusional and completely screwed up. The humor carried the first half of the book: casinos, and bookies, the best and worst characteristics of ESPN and celebrity culture, and even a cameo by Tommy Lee. When the pathos of the last act arrives--the way you knew it would, even as you root for Ray to somehow survive taking one more card when he gets to 17--it hits hard. There are few things more satisfying than a book or movie that finds the perfect closing shot, and _Swimming_ nails it.
For me, this is the kind of novel that works best in the first person, and if the voice of the narrator is just right. Ray's voice is spot on, funny and engaging, while also delusional and completely screwed up. The humor carried the first half of the book: casinos, and bookies, the best and worst characteristics of ESPN and celebrity culture, and even a cameo by Tommy Lee. When the pathos of the last act arrives--the way you knew it would, even as you root for Ray to somehow survive taking one more card when he gets to 17--it hits hard. There are few things more satisfying than a book or movie that finds the perfect closing shot, and _Swimming_ nails it.
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