Ali Fahmy Fahmy من عند نيويورك من عند نيويورك

brevity is certainly not helprin's forte. this book spanned just over 600 pages long and took me many a bus ride to complete. all in all, i liked it. in a way he reminded me of a modern day dickens (and i'll bet he could have been paid a pretty penny if it were based solely on word count). the man's got a talent for story-telling, character weaving, and bringing eras long past back to. the first half of the book and main storyline i was not too wrapped up in, a bit too sappy and lovey dovey to sustain. relationships are always the hardest to capture in a realistic and generally approachable manner, i think. and they tend to be what i focus on the most. but the second half of the book was much more engaging. yes, you continued to use stretches of the imagination to make certain things possible, but it was not as far-fetching as the first half romance. the book had its fantasy elements. and certain beautiful passages that spoke of life and love. but it was too long and thus so easy to get lost and confused. at any rate, i would recommend this book to someone in search of a sophisticated love story, who doesnt mind a bit of suspension of disbelief, who has awhile to devote to a book.

If only all Mailer books were as great as this, I'd hate him even more.