McCauley drops us into a real-life land, somewhat resembling ours now, in which sexual orientation is part of the landscape, not an unnatural disaster, and love is love (and mishegoss), no matter its form ... McCauley weaves a witty social critique from the interplay between his characters and the day’s breaking news ... Whatever your politics and predilections, McCauley’s gifts for prose, plot and provocation are likely to offer you a few fast-flying hours in his sunny, slightly futuristic world.
Concerned with the question of endings, of what we leave behind — whether it be our work, our worst mistakes, our most loving-if-flawed relationships ... Personally, I didn't want to leave McCauley's voice and sensibility behind when I finished this novel.
Alternating chapters wryly chronicle the attempts of the three Kemps to tunnel through upheavals of the moment ... The novel is shot through with bright dialogue and smart observations ... Lovely.
The story is beautifully written and replete with laugh-out-loud pronouncements...and aphorisms ... Add to this fully realized, empathic characters...and you have an unmitigated delight and a book that you’ll hate to see end.
There is no greater pleasure than reading a seasoned writer at the top of his form ... The narrative settles into each family member's concerns with profound empathy toward their ambitions, shortcomings, and abiding need for one another.
The emotional heart of the story is the profound devotion Tom feels for his niece, which at the opening of the book has caused his longtime partner to throw up his hands and move out. Even if we never quite believe this, and even if some other plotlines are also a little hokey, you don't have to care much about plot to enjoy a McCauley novel. As the characters blunder about, the narrator is perfectly on his game.
Entertaining if overlong ... The dialogue is breezy, and Tom and Cecily are rendered dynamically, but McCauley loses focus in the overstuffed plot. This has its moments, but it’s not the author’s best.
