A review by greeniezona
In Hoboken by Christian Bauman

5.0

In Hoboken is a novel soaked in a love of place. And what's better, at least for any reader born west of the Monongahela River and tired of reading endless love letters to streets and neighborhoods in New York City that we've never heard of, Bauman never takes for granted that we also already know and love his city. Rather, Bauman is the perfectly engaging host, driving us around and pointing out the ballparks, the memorials, the beloved landmarks, before pulling over and dragging us into the diner with the best coffee on the planet. He lets us in on all the local characters, the gossip, and the prejudices. It may be tragic that the end effect is that I don't know if I ever want to set foot in Hoboken. I want to go on believing that everything in the city is just as he's described it. I don't want to run the risk of tracking down that diner, squeezing my way up the counter and then not have anyone bark at me, "We playing games here?"

This third novel feels like Bauman finally hitting his stride.