wow, that was a scathing next-to-last paragraph you wrote! Probably you should give it 1 star.

I think you may not be old enough to appreciate this book. Read it again in 40 years.

Good point Lynn- much of our perspective comes from our own experiences, so it only makes sense that the 20 year olds get something completely different than the 50 year olds reading this book. I took it for what it was- an easy backyard weekend read. I do like Matt's note about the book lacking nutritional value... right in there with reading weekend cerebral junk food!

I agree with your review. Generally, this book is a little fluffy and often poorly executed. It's refeshing to read a honest, critical review. It seems like everything on here gets rated three stars or more, regardless of it's actual literary merit. I thought the redeeming quality about this book were the sections that focus on the 90 (or 93) year-old Jacob. It was a very frank look into the life of a neglected senior and I appreciated that. I think it is a little condecending of the ladies to suggest that you need to be older to appreciate this novel though. That's kind of the point of good literature, isn't it? You don't need to fit into a certain catagory in order for a good book to get to you. If the book fails to do that, it's not fair to blame it on the reader. I personally was touched by the depiction of old Jacob, but just because you weren't doesn't mean you are too young to appreciate it.

So true about the red herrings...especially the demise of Kinko with no development as to how this was handled when his family came to fetch him. I thought the book was ok -- but certainly does not live up to the hype it is getting. Did I mention that I hate the circus - especially the evil clowns.