Best novel in a long time
595993
Love, love, love the book. I am blown away by her writing style and how she uses the perfect words in every situation. A feel-good, home-is-where-the-heart-is, novel full of love, anguish, hope and redemption. One of the best novels I read in a long time. And I am beyond picky when it comes to a good story.
2251988
Such a superb and well crafted novel. I really couldn't put it down. Excellent in every way. Bought authors next novel immediately. Well done.
3656828
This is a beautiful novel, one of the very best I have read in a long time.  It's not only fast moving and laugh out loud funny, it's also deeply poignant and -- something all too rare -- politically savvy.  The mix of time travel and social satire wrapped around a moving and beautifully structured (another rarity in too much fiction these days) story with multi-dimensional characters you truly care about is expert on every level.  If the NY Times or any of the other outlets for serious book criticism do not give this book the coverage it so richly deserves, then they will, sadly, have moved one giant step closer to irrelevancy.  I sure hope that's not true for them -- or for this wonderful novel. Bravo, Bob!
1822589
This is by far the best book I have read in many years. The early prose is a bit awkward, but the intriguing story of Listener compelled me to read the entire 800+ page novel. It was interesting that the prose mirrored  Listener's growth in that as his mind became more complex, so did the  prose. I also found something I had not expected. A spiritual center which  forced me to think and even grow. (a difficult task as those who know me  would attest). It is no fluke that every single review of this novel which  I have ever read has been 5 out of five stars(Have you ever seen such a  concensus in an internet forum?). A truly great novel.
3449629
Beautifully written, funny, moving.  This one is very difficult to put down.  One of the 2 best novels I've read this year, and a top 10 in my library, period.  Highly recommended.
4492476
I really, really loved this book. I mean, REALLY loved it. This is the one novel I've read this year that when I finished, my first reaction was to run out to the street corner to start preaching it. It's that good.

Why is it so good? Because it's exactly what fiction should be  it's clever, funny, totally engrossing, sobering, and dammit, if it doesn't give you a good attack of conscience. And the ending to this novel? Imagine the ending to the movie Requiem for a Dream, but on the page  it's about like that. It's good swift kick to the groin  but in a good, satisfying way (if that's possible)  a perfect conclusion both thematically and plot-wise to the novel.

The novel itself consists of three storylines that are related thematically, but don't seem to be related plot-wise until the very end. The theme is waste  you can almost hear the implied "waste not" from the famous maxim that would precede the title, right? The idea here is that greed leads to waste. We collect things (and people) that we don't need or necessarily even want, and we throw them away (people, too) just as easily.

One of the many strengths of this novel is its characters  the best (if least likeable) of which is Dave. Dave is skeezy middle-aged New Jerseyan who has gotten rich from a business he started that acquires debt at auction and then employs any means necessary to collect them. We first meet Dave on Thanksgiving Day as he's just taken what he considers to be a beautiful poop  so beautiful in fact, he snaps of photo with his camera phone, and later shows it to his teenage stepdaughter. Dave has very little scruples  he'll do whatever it takes to collect a debt, and he uses the proceeds to buy meaningless stuff, like fake boobs for his second wife Sara.

Then there's Elwin  a 54-year-old overweight linguistics professor whose wife has just left him. This has left him feeling discarded and sad. In our first scene with Elwin, he hits a deer with his car late at night, and decides to take it home and save the meat (waste not!)  with an assist from his young-20s neighbor Christopher, a Jersey Shore wannabe who is also one of the highlights of this novel. Elwin's father has Alzheimer's and Elwin struggles to comes to terms with the idea that all the memories his father has accumulated over his life are disappearing, like so many

Finally, the third story is of Micah and Talmidge, a mid-20s couple who live off the grid in a squat apartment in Manhattan, and feed themselves from the waste of others  they basically dumpster diving to live from food that's discarded by restaurants and grocery stores. Things go south for the couple when Talmidge's college buddy Matty, just off a nine-month stint in jail for dealing drugs, comes to live with them. Micah's backstory is one of the more fascinating dozen or so page set-pieces in the novel  raised in rural Tennessee after her father had a religious vision. Now, the ideal of living independent of society (and gross consumerism, and its resulting waste) is what governs her life. And she's brought former frat-boy Talmidge along for the ride.

Throughout this novel, Miles is at his best when he veers into several-page set pieces on topics ranging from Dave's specific tactics for making collection calls to Elwin's father's memory of liberating a concentration camp during World War II. Miles is a spectacularly good writer  he's as good at cracking one-liners as he is stringing you along for a paragraph-length, stream-of-consciousness sentence.

So, to wrap up, if you only take one of my book recommendations all year, let it be this one. If you've read and enjoyed Jess Walter or Jonathan Tropper, you'll love this too  it's a similar style of writing, though I'd suggest that Miles might be even better. I cannot recommend this more highly. It's so, so good.
2638322
Mister Monkey by Francine Prose is the best novel I've read in a long while. Character-driven, erudite, witty, well-researched with allusions to theater and literature (dare I say educational?), cleverly structured like a puzzle, and wrapped up in a satisfying ending. Perfect pitch and timing. It's a page turner. Well-deserved critical acclaim. Brava!
1407955
I absolutely loved this book.  Probably my favorite piece of fiction to come out in the last 10 years.  No exageration, it is that good.  It has a slew of deep and complex characters, a though provoking plot, and wonderful, rich prose.  Do yourself a favor and read this!
4408123
It is hard to put this novel down.  I will be sad when I finish the novel. It is that good.
2597385
MT Anderson's "Feed" is the best novel I have read so far this year - "The Catcher in the Rye" crossed with "Brave New World". Titus and his authentically horrible buddies are the way the world is going. It is a vision of hell.
The world of Feed is only one remove from our own; what seem like exaggerations at first are really too close for comfort to the way we live now. Anderson presents this nightmare society with devastating clarity, so that you can't help but see its seeds as you look around you today.
Please don't be put off by the (very plausible) futuristic slang or the inarticulate dialogue - the speech of people who have forgotten how or why to read, and who have no need of learning. Every so often Anderson - in the voice of Titus - produces an astonishing image, a piece of poetry in the midst of it all. His satires on advertising, fashion and corporate youth-speak hit exactly the right note.
Inside the satire is a love story - a tragedy - and like all the best tragedies, the plot has a wounding inevitability to it. I don't agree with the reviews who find the ending unsatisfying. It's the only possible ending because this is a novel about the horror of entropy: that things, and people, fall apart, gradually, unstoppably. There's the grain of hope that caring enough can hold back the tide, if only it is not too late. But perhaps, by the time Anderson's world comes to be, it already will be.
Did I forget to mention it's also very funny? Well, it's also very funny, and also very moving.
Like the Feed, this book sticks in your head and won't let you alone. Everyone should read it.
63699
Best read in quite some time. I am enjoying it immensely.
2748573
Truly amazing novel.  I have recommended this to everyone I know.  I really admire this book and am so impressed by the way the author crafted it.  The only thing I don't like about this book is the realization that I may never have such a wonderful experience with another book.  I will re-read this book.
4808474
Amazing. A novel that you cannot put down -- no matter how badly you want to.
1995119
This is the best kind of novel. You don't just read it but you feel like you know the people in it. I didn't want it to end. The story is a compelling one and it conveys the time and place in a special real way. The details feel just right and the characters will stay with you long after you finish the book. Don't miss this one!
4504745
One of the best novels I have read in a long time!  Full of twists and  turns, both human and otherwise. A must read!
1485171
This is by far one of the best novels I have read in a very long time. It's a true literary contribution to our understanding of what it means to be a human. Wecker offers the reader a vivid journey through vintage New York City. Most importantly, Wecker provides a historical novel that explores good and evil and the importance of a well-formed conscience.
1912144
I am very impressed with this novel; it's one of the best I've read in recent memory and since I read anywhere from 4-8 novels a week that is high praise coming from me. The writing is exquisite, the storyline well-crafted, the characters almost mesmerizing in their depth and how realistic they seem despite being fantastical beings. The plot is slow to develop but in a good way, somehow keeping the whole of the story unpredictable even though you kind of already know what's going to happen. The research into both the cultural and historical backgrounds was obviously extensive, and the knowledge imparted to the reader flowed easily throughout the book. I loved it, really loved it, and I am hoping for many more novels from this author.