Entertaining? You bet. True? Ehhhh... possibly.
933764
The author took liberties for sure, alleging people were thinking things at any given time. Based on public behavior, even wild anecdotes seem plausible. Thats part of its draw - if the events in this book happened, I wouldnt be surprised. If they facts were stretched, Id expect they were only stretched a little.
992796
Dark.  Entertaining.  Funny in parts. But not stellar by any means.
4654207
While highly entertaining, this doesn't actually focus much on the truth. In fact, this book would be more appropriately billed as 'fiction' as much of it simply is that. It's difficult to explain: it's a good story but nothing if you want the real story.
871873
This was a fun read. I wasn't surprised as much as delighted by some of the plot developments. If you are looking to think - this isn't the book for you. If you are looking to be entertained - I recommend this book.
3943500
The main premise of a science fiction book should be plausible, I think. That seems to be pretty much a requirement, right? And if your premise isn't very likely or stands on shaky ground, you'd expect the book wouldn't do well. You certainly wouldn't expect that it would end up considered a classic in its genre. But that's what we have here, folks. Unless I missed the whole point (possible) and this was just a big tongue-in-cheek graphic novelish sort of romp. If so then, okay, cool. Would've made a fun animated flick, as it was apparently originally supposed to be, according to the author's afterword in my copy (from the SFBC). But as a serious sci-fi book, it's got some serious problems. Apparently Stephenson styles himself as a Hacker, and proudly wears his programming pedigree on his sleeve. I've worked as a systems analyst for twenty years, and found the whole Snow Crash virus idea silly in the extreme. The idea is this: working on programs in a third-generation language such as COBOL or C (i.e., an English-like code that must be translated by a compiler into 0's and 1's for the computer's consumption), a programmer's mind becomes altered somehow--becomes amenable to computer viruses. This is just silly. I mean, even if I worked all day coding in actual machine language, down there in the guts with the bits and bytes, it wouldn't alter my brain in some physical way. But that's just the sort of hooey we're expected to swallow here.

Hmm. And then we're also expected to believe that a skateboard with "smart wheels" will allow a fifteen-year-old to skate safely in traffic, on the Ventura Highway, no less, without ending up as a hood ornament.

I'm beginning to think this book was not meant to be taken seriously after all. Seems to be just another geek fantasy, which is sort of ironic, given that one of the characters, Hiro, is a loser in real life and a "hero" in the virtual one. Art imitates life?
3759256
Pretty entertaining but I don't think that's the point of the book. Therefore, I am judge this 4/5 on a basis how well I think he is communicating his ideas.
3432839
Watch for entertainment purposes only. Or, if you enjoy debunking.
407028
I was entertained. It isn't a prize winner but I wasn't looking for that. I wanted a quick read that was entertaining and it filled the bill.
1530518
Had low expectations of it, but it was more enjoyable taht I thought.
While no masterpiece by any means, its also not as bad as some people seem to think, though that in my own opinion of course.
If your intrigued, go for it. Good bit of entertainment.
4555987
Well, I'll confess I am easily amused, so keep that in mind...
The plot was an interesting idea, and the writing worked for me. Leave aside the issue of the protagonists being teenage dweebs, and ignore artificial sectioning of the story into various parts, if it grabs you then plan to read through all the parts for any kind of conclusion. No segment is a complete story, and that to me feels wrong. Marketing, don't it suck?
4010168
It's a highly entertaining book, full of great stories and some interesting insights into parts of India's culture. But, like the godmen whose stories he tells and whose secrets he gives away, it doesn't amount to much more than entertainment.
The reason that the book is so easily comparable to a novel (cf. other reviews) is that it really has been written like one. The dialogue is almost certainly fictitious and a lot of the events, I believe, have been amended to make better reading. Yes, the book flows and it's a pleasure to read, but perhaps it shouldn't... some of the grit that I was expecting is conspicuously absent.
As much as I enjoyed the book I think that it was missing some of that squalor and detail and that could have made it a truly brilliant book. The photgraphs inside the book are marvelous and Mr. Shah does touch on some issues that are truly heartbreaking (his experience with the witch-hunt, for example); but he never seems to get to the core of the connection between the misery and the illusions.
The book bounces between quaint travelogue of aspiring illusionist and notes from a naive westerner in India (some of his cries of indignation at the conmen he comes across make him sound like a complete fool: I hope they're fictional). But between that there are moments of brilliance and I won't deny that I was entranced by the book.
I certainly recommend it, you'll be telling the stories that you read for weeks; just don't expect any... magic.
3372495
Fast reading - light reading- fun info on antiquities in Egypt etc.  It's probably more a 3 star because of the improbability of the story.  However, there are times that call for amusing entertainment.
4944585
entertaining....but sometimes slows down a wee bit to much...but just manages to keep your interest
2600100
Entertaining, but not as much as the trailer would lead to expect.  The fact that it's based on a true story makes it more interesting. I have told several people via word of mouth that its worth watching.  I wish it would have focused more on his faith and a little less on the sensational.  Warning: NOT family friendly.
3623229
It was entertaining to read.  So it's not great literature, so what? I like the author's style: no messing around, and not too many F-bombs.
3467350
This book doesn't demand to be taken seriously, so it can be read with a sense of fun and there's no need to over-analyze. These are the slightly sarcastic and fun-loving memoirs of James Moseley, who has spent the past fifty years in the community of UFO enthusiasts, and has served in several organizations that behave more like competing fan clubs. Moseley claims he's a "skeptical believer" which is pretty levelheaded in that arena (such as it is), though at times you get the feeling that he's trying to cover up his own episodes of credulity in the past. Moseley's memoirs give us an entertaining history of the cult of UFO believers, from ultra-gullible fanatics who believe anything, to serious ufologists who tackle the issue with scientific reasoning. Most interestingly, we see how UFOs themselves have changed over the decades, with quaint metallic saucers giving way to conspiracy theories and chilling tales of alien abduction. Have the aliens really changed that much, or have we? Moseley's coverage of the infighting and ideological disputes amongst believers of various stripes shouldn't mean much to the rest of us, but I'll admit that the book is quite entertaining as it covers the evolution of weird beliefs and the people who have them. However, the book is docked one star due to Moseley's bragging about robbing ancient archeological sites in Peru, and his shifty descriptions of his own ongoing attitudes toward his field. [~doomsdayer520~]
3705999
Was entertaining for a bit, but then got a bit too cloying and repetitious. The commercials, of course, made it look far more entertaining than it was. Just rent-quality entertainment.