I didn't get this book. I usually love Lethem - Motherless Brooklyn is one of my favorite books - but I found little to like about Chronic City. The language is often awesome, hence the two stars, but the story and cultural references bored me. (I also didn't get most of them, although I patted myself on the back for realizing "Obstinate Dust" by "Ralph Warren Meeker" was a reference to "Infinite Jest".) I tend to dislike novels that are packed with references to literature, film (especially film!) or music, so my aversion to Chronic City could just be a personal problem. Lethem also explores the idea that we could be living in some other beings' simulation, which I feel is an old idea at this point. I'm actually surprised I finished this as quickly as I did, now that I think back and realize nothing interesting happened at all. Lethem must have done a good job, at least, of making me expect that something was going to happen, which carried me to the end of this rather long book.

I also had to get this as a regular book, not on the Kindle, which is annoying. I would have read it a long time ago if it were available on the Kindle. After using a Kindle, reading a regular book is frustrating: I can't look up words, I can't highlight, I can't take notes.