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A review by elpanek
Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
4.0
Very reminiscent of the novel/film Wonder Boys in that it chronicles a man's marijuana-laced mid-life crisis (though Chronic City's narrator, Chase Insteadman, is a bit younger than that). There are a few terrific scenes depicting zany hijinks in 2000's NYC, some neat philosophical riffs, but the feeling of dread and random destruction (vestiges of 9/11, perhaps) is never far off. The urban landscape plays a part (particularly the upper east side and other enclaves of privilege), but the real focus of the book is a quintessential NYC eccentric named Perkus Tooth. In the same way Lethem's Fortress of Solitude was primarily about an admiring male friendship, Chase's love for the broken Tooth is the heart of Chronic City.
I could've done without Lethem's flowery language. While there are moments of wit and poetry, most of the formal fireworks sound a false note coming from Chase, an out-of-work child actor.
In sum, if you're looking for a book to read about a melancholic/zany winter in New York City, if you have a soft spot for damaged, highly intelligent eccentrics (part of the enjoyment I got out of this was from the way Tooth reminded me so much of an old friend), and you liked Lethem's other work (Fortress of Solitude is better, so if you haven't read that already, do it), then Chronic City is worth your time.
I could've done without Lethem's flowery language. While there are moments of wit and poetry, most of the formal fireworks sound a false note coming from Chase, an out-of-work child actor.
In sum, if you're looking for a book to read about a melancholic/zany winter in New York City, if you have a soft spot for damaged, highly intelligent eccentrics (part of the enjoyment I got out of this was from the way Tooth reminded me so much of an old friend), and you liked Lethem's other work (Fortress of Solitude is better, so if you haven't read that already, do it), then Chronic City is worth your time.