cdeane61's review against another edition
5.0
Could be a new contender for my favorite book ever, displacing the venerated "White Noise" by Don DeLillo.
Both have the same quality of elevating the absurdities of the world around us. Of taking unfunny subjects and making them hilarious.
Perhaps this one just speaks to me in this age of internet conspiracy, and the surrounding lunacy, even though the book is now two decades old.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it, couldn't wait to get back to it when I did put it down.
Will be delving in to his other works
Both have the same quality of elevating the absurdities of the world around us. Of taking unfunny subjects and making them hilarious.
Perhaps this one just speaks to me in this age of internet conspiracy, and the surrounding lunacy, even though the book is now two decades old.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it, couldn't wait to get back to it when I did put it down.
Will be delving in to his other works
quinndm's review
3.0
Noah Hawley is one of my literary and filmmaker role models. I will always be there to read his books and watch his shows and movies because he tells stories that stand out and create characters that stay with you. A CONSPIRACY OF TALL MEN is his first book, and I was thrilled when I found a copy. Thrilled and excited. And, for a first novel, it is good. But, for a Noah Hawley novel, it just didn't live up to his greatness. Yes, we all need to start somewhere, and this was definitely a strong start and, even though I was a little disappointed and frustrated by the book, I am still left in awe of his skills and talent.
kerry123's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
jenniferw88's review
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
corrompido's review against another edition
2.0
I gave up on this book after about 100 pages, too much crazy ramblings by the main characters.
briface's review against another edition
2.0
This was a weird one, I like Hawley but this felt like a first book. Entertaining but I would not recommend.
jhscolloquium's review against another edition
3.0
It's the end of the 20th century and Y2K is fast approaching. Linus Owen, a young professor of conspiracy theory at a small college just outside San Francisco, and his wife, Claudia, an advertising executive, live in nearby San Rafael. Linus believes that his is a happy marriage and when Claudia goes to Chicago for a few days to visit her mother, he is not suspicious. Until, that is, two FBI agents arrive at his office with news. Claudia has been killed. A plane bound from NYC to Brazil exploded, killing all on board. They insist that Claudia was on the plane with a man named Jeffrey Holden and Linus must accompany them to Florida to identify her body. Holden was the vice president of a pharmaceutical company. So begins a fast-paced adventure with quirky Linus to discover what really happened to Claudia -- Why was she in NYC, much less on a plane headed for Brazil? What was the nature of her relationship with Holden? Who would want to blow up the plane -- and why? Linus's two bestimmplifriends are eccentric fellow conspiracy theorists, Edward and Roy. They spring into action to assist Linus, and the three men find themselves embroiled in a mystery involving several agencies of the U.S. government, as well as a cast of supporting characters -- some nefarious -- each of whom holds a piece of the puzzle. Their journey takes them into the Southwest desert regions in search of a mysterious fringe group led by a former radio talk show host who disappeared years ago, as well as isolated regions of Nevada where locals are mysteriously disappearing and turning up dead. Linus knows that he is not crazy -- he has stumbled onto a conspiracy in which officials at the highest levels of government and industry are implicated, but he has to stay alive long enough to gather and publicize the details. The result is an epic, breakneck-paced journey for all three men that will keep readers guessing until the final shockingly dramatic page! And leads readers wondering whether Hawley's plot could be real. Although the story is set nearly a decade ago, it is no less relevant now than it was then. In fact, in light of current events, including headlines about foreign government cyber hacks, it is arguably more alarming -- and entertaining.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book!
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book!
tvisser's review against another edition
3.0
Listen to this audio book. It was interesting enough, but I found it to drag a bit until the twist and then I thought it ended abruptly.
monty_reads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
Your name is Linus Owen, & your marriage is vulnerable. It’s not exactly on the rocks, but you & your wife are definitely feeling some strain. You’re home in San Francisco, & your wife, Claudia, is visiting her parents in Chicago. You’re in your office at the university where you’re a professor in conspiracy theories, when two FBI agents show up with news that Claudia has been killed in a plane crash. She was, unbeknownst to you, traveling from New York to Brazil with a male pharmaceutical rep (who had also bought her ticket) when a bomb destroyed their plane.
What do you do if you’re Linus? In Noah Hawley’s satisfyingly twisty-turny debut, you embark on a journey to figure out exactly which forces have conspired to kill your wife.
There’s a blurb on the back cover that calls A Conspiracy of Tall Men “a genre-buster,” & that descriptor is right on the money. It’s an exploration of marriage & loyalty, it’s a deep dive into America’s bizarre tendency to traffic in conspiracy theories, it’s a critique of corporate America, & it does all that in the form of a balls to the wall thriller.
In the course of his mission, Linus collides with various acronymed entities (FBI, CIA, NSA, & one drug-addled agent who may be a member of all three) & travels far out of the Bay Area into the American Southwest as he tries to find a radical leftist who may hold the secret to Claudia’s death.
There’s lots to love about this book – it’s one of my favorites so far this year, as well as the best of the three Noah Hawley books I’ve read – but what makes it work as well as it does is Linus himself. Thanks to the last four years, it’s easy to forget that some conspiracy theories aren’t totally far-fetched. Linus isn’t a QAnon nutjob. He’s reasonable, & he’s hugely empathetic. We feel his grief at the beginning, & we understand why he goes to such lengths to learn the truth about what happened to Claudia.
It’s worth mentioning that Hawley created (and wrote a lot of) both Fargo & Legion for the FX network, & there’s a cleverness in this book that fans of those shows will recognize. It’s rare to find crisp page-turners as relevant as this one.
Your name is Linus Owen, & your marriage is vulnerable. It’s not exactly on the rocks, but you & your wife are definitely feeling some strain. You’re home in San Francisco, & your wife, Claudia, is visiting her parents in Chicago. You’re in your office at the university where you’re a professor in conspiracy theories, when two FBI agents show up with news that Claudia has been killed in a plane crash. She was, unbeknownst to you, traveling from New York to Brazil with a male pharmaceutical rep (who had also bought her ticket) when a bomb destroyed their plane.
What do you do if you’re Linus? In Noah Hawley’s satisfyingly twisty-turny debut, you embark on a journey to figure out exactly which forces have conspired to kill your wife.
There’s a blurb on the back cover that calls A Conspiracy of Tall Men “a genre-buster,” & that descriptor is right on the money. It’s an exploration of marriage & loyalty, it’s a deep dive into America’s bizarre tendency to traffic in conspiracy theories, it’s a critique of corporate America, & it does all that in the form of a balls to the wall thriller.
In the course of his mission, Linus collides with various acronymed entities (FBI, CIA, NSA, & one drug-addled agent who may be a member of all three) & travels far out of the Bay Area into the American Southwest as he tries to find a radical leftist who may hold the secret to Claudia’s death.
There’s lots to love about this book – it’s one of my favorites so far this year, as well as the best of the three Noah Hawley books I’ve read – but what makes it work as well as it does is Linus himself. Thanks to the last four years, it’s easy to forget that some conspiracy theories aren’t totally far-fetched. Linus isn’t a QAnon nutjob. He’s reasonable, & he’s hugely empathetic. We feel his grief at the beginning, & we understand why he goes to such lengths to learn the truth about what happened to Claudia.
It’s worth mentioning that Hawley created (and wrote a lot of) both Fargo & Legion for the FX network, & there’s a cleverness in this book that fans of those shows will recognize. It’s rare to find crisp page-turners as relevant as this one.
flogigyahoo's review against another edition
1.0
Noah Hawley writes really well. Why he wanted to write A Conspiracy of Tall Men escapes me. This is about Linus, a professor of Conspiracy at a local college, his partner Roy and friend Edward. Linus is shocked when his wife is killed in a plane crash on her way to Bolivia with a male colleague when she was supposed to be attending a domestic event. But Linus and his friends are conspiracy addicts and believes the US Government is involved. Actually the novel starts off pretty good, but then becomes crazier and crazier. I did not get it.