Scan barcode
jedbird's review against another edition
4.0
Canadian brothers with an age gap make a lot of money selling jewelry in Texas. There is a lot of believable-seeming detail about how jewelers can rip people off that is interesting and entertaining. The brothers have complicated relationships with everyone, especially women, and it's amusing while at the same time you'd never want to meet anyone like either one of them. I really enjoyed this up until the last 10% or so when the lurid factor was amped way up. Bobby and Jim were questionable characters all the way through, but it just got so out-of-control sordid and depressing that it quashed my enjoyment of the entire story.
sheemsinbk's review against another edition
1.0
This was pretty appalling. No plot, story, character development, the most wooden unexpressive dialogue ever. and yet it had blurbs by some impressive people, Jonathan Franzen among them. bizarre. I pushed through about 3/4 of the book based on the blurbs alone but gave it up after that.
featherbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Described on the jacket as "Raymond Carver without hope," I have to agree that this book was bleak even for me, the original grim novel consumer. Drugs, sex, thievery, deception, jewelry scams and sales, it was educational, filled with unhappy, unregenerate souls yet I could not stop reading just to see if anyone made it out alive. The writing was heavily dialogue.
alanfederman's review against another edition
3.0
This was a really dark novel about ethics, love, and the high end jewelry business. I read it because Jonathan Franzen picked it as one of the best books he's recently read. I enjoyed the writing and the characters were compelling, but overall a little too dark.
More...