Customer Reviews

The Error of Our Ways

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Carkeet was my History of the English Language professor two semesters ago, so I picked up this book out of curiosity when I saw it advertised on the UM-St. Louis English Department "Recent Faculty Publications" board. Am I glad I did. This book is very funny and very true to life. And the best part is that I can actually hear Carkeet's voice in there. Having taken one of his classes, I think, has given me a lot of insight into the book I might not have had otherwise, but I think that a lot of people can relate to this book, especially when it comes to the relationships between the characters.

This is a complex yet thorougly readable and hilarious book. A master of the spoken word, Carkeet makes every word count. His characters touched me deeply at many levels.

A wonderful addition to the tradition of the comic novel -- though fans of Evelyn Waugh, Amis pere et fils, Charles Portis and Michael Chabon will surely love it, it's also quietly innovative. I started reading around eight in the evening; I put it down just before two a.m. hoarse from laughter. I withhold a rating of `10' only because I have a hunch this author might just be able to top himself

I picked up a copy of this book at our library, actually because I liked the cover (sad but true!). I'd never read or heard of David Carkeet, who is a linguist and author of two other works. Reading reviews of his novels, one might be dismissive because of the "highbrow" linguistic tones they take. This book is actually a delight even if you don't care about his use of language and the effects it may have on the plot itself.
The reason I enjoyed this book was really two fold. First, it was great to read something about domestic life from a male protagonist point of view that was actually written by a male. Secondly, the plot itself is just full of wonderful little ironies and threads that weave themselves together beautifully at the end. While some passages are a bit stuffy and seem "full of words" (that lingustics thing again, I guess) for the most part I absolutely loved everything about the story. I am definately going to read his other two works now.

. . . the ending, while certainly "unpredictable and downbeat" (as one of the other reviewers notes), was not, in my view, "fitting"; rather, it seemed abrupt and arbitrary, drastically changing the tone of the novel sustained up until the final few pages, to no particular purpose. Having very much enjoyed Double Negative and The Full Catastrophe, I was angered and depressed. Nevertheless, Carkeet remains one of those rare writers (like David Lodge and Michael Malone) who not only makes me smile a lot, but also, at times, makes me laugh out loud; and, mostly, this novel did the same for me. So I still recommend it. Perhaps those for whom this is the first Carkeet novel will not have the same issues I have with the ending.

Two unexpectedly endearing men act and react in David Carkeet's entertaining comic novel. Smug, successful businessman Ben is alternately baffled by and devoted to his daughters. Childless, hapless, and generally clueless Jeremy is an unemployed linguist, vaguely attached to the university where his wife teaches. Forced to endure one another at their first meeting, Ben and Jeremy find they can't avoid stumbling over one another in the course of the book's events.

Carkeet's accomplishment is the clear depiction of each of Ben's children (or, as his vanity plates would have it, his "4 GIRLZ"). Toddler Molly, with perfect comic timing, nearly steals the show. If the adult women in this book are a bit underdeveloped, at least Ben's secretary, with a newly-found interest in bad knock-knock jokes, is a doozy.

Hilarious set pieces include Ben's midnight chase through suburban St. Louis of his hellion middle-schooler Pam, all the while negotiating via cell phone with a South Asian supplier with a taste for the Kama Sutra.

This engaging book comes to a fitting, unpredictable, and somewhat downbeat conclusion.

This book, featuring the adventures of the linguist Jeremy Cook, finds him in a situation similar to that of the previous novel, "The Full Catastrophe," (1990). His is, unofficially, this time, studying the language development of a child, and helping to stabilize the family's domestic situation. It is not necessary to have read the previous two books ("Double Negative," a mystery, was the first), but as I mentioned in my review of "Catastrophe," it is always enjoyable to know something of the background of the central character, and as was the case with "Catastrophe," threads of the story line are carried from each of the preceding novels. This book ends badly for Jeremy and the reader can only hope that Carkeet will someday produce a "Reichenbach Falls" plot twist so that the series may be continued.

Funny, witty, and full of warmth. Jeremy Cook is back - this time with the Nut King of St. Louis

Not quite as fun a read as The Full Catastrophe or Double Negative, still, the Error of our Ways entertains.

I picked this book up on the strength of the remarks on the back cover. I enjoy off-the-wall humor and especially word play,puns and interesting characters.Before I started to read the book,I glanced at the Customer Reviews and was really anxious to get at it,expecting a great read by a highly touted author, who was new to me.
Man,what a disappointment.I plodded through to page 137 and gave up.All we got was a bunch of uninteresting losers going aimlessly about their mundane lives.There was nothing about any character that made you want to read more.As for humor;a little 3-year old spouting foul language hardly qualifies. This may seem humorous to linguists,but I can't imagine it would tickle too many funny bones.Once again,I thought I would skip to the last few pages,it didn't get any better.At that point ,I was glad I quit when I did.
So, why did others think the book so good? I have no idea.I returned to the Customer Reviews,intending to check out a few (see more about me)'s and Lo! and Behold,of the 6 reviewers ,there were none. I asked myself, who I knew might enjoy this book,but couldn't think of anyone.Then a light flashed!I checked to see who published the book.Oh! Oh! there it was "Work on this novel was supported by a Fellowship from the University of Missouri Wendon Spring Fund.".I usually check for this sort of thing first,as I rarely find books that get written and published using the crutch of a grant,to be very good.I guess these groupes who give these grants look down on the 'trash' that is put out by the authors and publishers who must earn their keep,and want produce their own for themselves.