I'd probably give it a 4.5 if I could. But I can't, so a 4 will have to do. The way it is told--structure, language--is what makes this book, as much as any elements of characterization or plotting, I think. The whole amnesia thing may be something of a cliche, but in this case it made sense, considering the circumstances; and it also allowed for a neat story-within-story structure (and I must admit, I love that kind of thing), episodes of the narrator's recent past interspersed with his present as he tries to recover his memories and piece together from them the events leading up to his current predicament. The revelation which comes to him with the final fragment of memory is a pretty great twist, though it doesn't exactly come out of the blue--but throughout this book, past and present intersect, so that everything seems to come full circle, in a way, at the very end--the ending is what nearly pushed this book to 5 stars, I think. A good read--short and sweet. (Which was nice, as I've been slogging through a whole mess of wonderful but lengthy books for quite some time now--it feels so great to finish a book within a day or two of starting it, rather than weeks or months!) ( )

I'd probably give it a 4.5 if I could. But I can't, so a 4 will have to do. The way it is told--structure, language--is what makes this book, as much as any elements of characterization or plotting, I think. The whole amnesia thing may be something of a cliche, but in this case it made sense, considering the circumstances; and it also allowed for a neat story-within-story structure (and I must admit, I love that kind of thing), episodes of the narrator's recent past interspersed with his present as he tries to recover his memories and piece together from them the events leading up to his current predicament. The revelation which comes to him with the final fragment of memory is a pretty great twist, though it doesn't exactly come out of the blue--but throughout this book, past and present intersect, so that everything seems to come full circle, in a way, at the very end--the ending is what nearly pushed this book to 5 stars, I think. A good read--short and sweet. (Which was nice, as I've been slogging through a whole mess of wonderful but lengthy books for quite some time now--it feels so great to finish a book within a day or two of starting it, rather than weeks or months!) ( )

Read it because Chuck Palahniuk said it was the best book he'd read in the last few years. He wasn't wrong. The prose is powerful and twisting, the best kind of concrete poetry. Eric is one of the most interesting unreliable narrators I've met in a while. Don't listen to most of the low-ratings reviews: the fragmentation of the narrative isn't in the way of the story--the fragmentation IS the story. Also boasts one of the best last chapters I've ever read. HIGHLY recommended. ( )

Very hard to follow at first but in the end it all came together and made sense. It was good, not as great as his other book The Contortionist Handbook. But still really good. I like how you are just inside his mind the whole time and you go along with him as he tries to recreate his past that he has forgotten. ( )

Wow! A very powerful book that starts off very strangely. I was drawn into the fact that I couldn't tell what was drug-induced fantasy by the main character and what was "reality." I've never read anything quite like this, a real change-of-pace book. ( )