Ray read and liked J's review of Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son:

"I can't believe this book was written by the same person who gave us The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay...

I know this book is non-fiction and the other is fiction - but it's exceedingly hard to wrap my brain around the fact tha...more I can't believe this book was written by the same person who gave us The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay...

I know this book is non-fiction and the other is fiction - but it's exceedingly hard to wrap my brain around the fact that Michael Chabon couldn't bring his incredible story-telling skills to this work of non-fiction.

With the exception of two stories, I found the entire rest of the book to be dry and humourless. There were so many places where I found myself skipping ahead to the next sentence due to an over abundance of commas separating different examples of the same thing. After I while I found myself so exasperated I was actually saying out loud - I GET IT ALREADY, LET'S MOVE ON.

I am so disappointed.(less) "

Ray read and liked Mike Lindgren's review of Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son:

"Thoughtful, perceptive and maybe just a little dull. A "liberal agnostic empiricist" who is "proud to be a semi-observant, bacon-eating Jew," Chabon offers accounts of grappling with the complexities of modern manhood -- from the ...more Thoughtful, perceptive and maybe just a little dull. A "liberal agnostic empiricist" who is "proud to be a semi-observant, bacon-eating Jew," Chabon offers accounts of grappling with the complexities of modern manhood -- from the dreaded "drug talk" with one's children to the double standards inherent in male parenting -- all propelled by the shimmering prose that won him the Pulitzer Prize. Chabon is not the first writer to find humor in feckless attempts at home improvement, but he is probably the only one capable of locating its source in Rudyard Kipling's "code of high-Victorian masculinity, in whose fragmentary shadow American men still come of age." As winning as Chabon's meditations are in these essays, many of which were first published in Details magazine, contrarians may detect a whiff of the much-loathed Hipster Dad persona, especially when he reveals that he and his son own matching vintage Dr. Who T-shirts (ouch). Chabon is so wise and generous-spirited that one occasionally wishes he would crack and come out in favor of schoolyard fisticuffs, say, or turning his son's future over to the Marine Corps.
--From the Washington Post, October 21, 2009(less) "

Ray read and liked Yakov Libman's review of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay:

"I can see how people like this book but it goes off on so many tangents the Chabon alienates the reader from the plot. Not every single detail of every single character needs to be revealed to the reader. Leave something for our imaginations. Drop...more I can see how people like this book but it goes off on so many tangents the Chabon alienates the reader from the plot. Not every single detail of every single character needs to be revealed to the reader. Leave something for our imaginations. Drop little hints and let us figure out what happens without right out telling us.

Also, the language made me want to throw this book out of the window.

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The Sam rape scene was wholly unnecessary and added nothing at all to the book. Instead it detracted from it. (less) "