Amazon.com: Schmidt Delivered: Louis Begley: Books

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

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

Average Customer Review

2.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Begley at His Best, November 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Schmidt Delivered (Hardcover)

Many readers of Begley's stunning first novel, the semi-autobiographical "Wartimes Lies", have been disappointed by his later work. It has been my impression that he has taken a while to find his voice, but each of his later novels has been better than the last. "Schmidt Delivered" is the best to date. It is both comical and poignant. Begley writes from the point of view of his protagonists, and his earlier novels were often solipsistic, with too little sense of interaction and at times limited sensitivity to secondary characters. "Schmidt Delivered" has a satisfying richness of portraiture and of interaction. It is also a sunnier novel than any of his earlier works, with a complex but happy ending. I recommend it.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent sequel to About Schmidt, July 10, 2001

By

ReggieRoy (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schmidt Delivered (Hardcover)

After thoroughly enjoying "About Schmidt" I found the first 200 pages of this 300 page book quite dark. Most of the characters were none too likable, including Schmidtie. But I am soooo glad I finished the book. It was an excellent character study and very well written. My only gripe -- why did the publisher/editor leave out the quotation marks around all of the conversation? Is that just an affectation, or is it supposed to have some significance?

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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars those pesky quotation marks, April 19, 2003

By

Bryan L. Jones (SW Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Schmidt Delivered (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

Begley claims quotation marks make his pages unsightly. He can use them or not, it's a free country, but there's a reason most of the civilized world uses the darn things. It's called clarity. Having dug my way through both Schmidt books without the benefit of adequate puncutation I'd highly recommend Begley give it up and bow to convention. However neat the pages appear, it just ain't worth it. And since when did anyone care about neat-looking pages? That said, Schmidt Delivered was a satisfying experience, mostly due to Begley's memorable characters. Hope the little guy has at least one more Schmidt book in his quiver and that he relents and uses those darn quotation marks to help us keep the musings and the speeches separate.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't finish it.
Had great expectations for this work, but found too many stumbling blocks to make it past the halfway point. For example, the lack of quotation marks. Who's speaking? Read more

Published on January 21, 2010 by L. C. Sterling

1.0 out of 5 stars Schmidt Delivered
"Schmidt Delivered" may have been delivered to my home but IT IS NOT THE BOOK THAT I ORDERED ("Phineas Redux").
This is the first time that Amazon. Read more

Published on September 10, 2009 by Michael S. Stoddard

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring sequel
I really enjoyed reading "About Schmidt". Of course I had to read the sequel... and was utterly disappointed. Begley had nothing left to write about. Read more

Published on January 1, 2004 by Kathrin

2.0 out of 5 stars Deliver Me From Schmidt
Schmidt is one of the more annoying literary characters I've recently come across: grey, pallid, 'civilized' to the point of being little more than an ageing wuss. Read more

Published on August 6, 2002

2.0 out of 5 stars Schmidtie Finds Himself
What an odd little book! I never really connected with the characters, and the peculiar writing style and use of punctuation (or rather lack thereof) makes it difficult to discern... Read more

Published on July 14, 2001 by Jill Clardy

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
YES, it's Schmidtie here. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pool house

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Mike Mansour, Gil Blackman, Jon Riker, Michael Mansour, Miss Vogel, Puerto Rican, Hey Schmidtie, Lew Brenner, Miss Gorchuck, Harry Polk, Palm Beach, Renata Riker, Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Marden Bush, Nova Scotia, Water Mill, Fifth Avenue

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