The dialogue is everything in this book; the stories are OK, but the dialogue is the best. To me, Sam Lipsyte produces better fiction but the dialogue us the enthralling stuff. I tired of the book towards the end. ( )

In general, I am not a Howard Jacobson fan. I read [b:Kalooki Nights|297009|Kalooki Nights|Howard Jacobson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1173488079s/297009.jpg|1369150] very unenthusiastically, and I actively disliked [b:The Finkler Question|8664368|The Finkler Question|Howard Jacobson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1319018978s/8664368.jpg|13535892]. But I found this book, if not necessarily compelling reading, at least intriguing and somewhat disturbing. I'm aware that "Huh, whaddaya know, I didn't loathe this one" is damning with faint praise, but there you have it. ( )

Difficult to fellow, sometimes ( )

Following an event the course of society has been changed. Everyone has quasi-Jewish names and the state controls life. I gave up at this point, about 15% into the book. Sorry but life is too short to carry on with this. I'm sure there is a group of book readers who really enjoy sub-'1984' style premises but the Jewish cliches and hints were so blunt and obvious that this book was becoming a drag.

That's a personal opinion ( )

In general, I am not a Howard Jacobson fan. I read [b:Kalooki Nights|297009|Kalooki Nights|Howard Jacobson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1173488079s/297009.jpg|1369150] very unenthusiastically, and I actively disliked [b:The Finkler Question|8664368|The Finkler Question|Howard Jacobson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1319018978s/8664368.jpg|13535892]. But I found this book, if not necessarily compelling reading, at least intriguing and somewhat disturbing. I'm aware that "Huh, whaddaya know, I didn't loathe this one" is damning with faint praise, but there you have it. ( )