Customer Reviews

Three Dollars

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

 

 

I just picked this book up in a bookstore in London, on the shelf of "staff picks" (which more and more, I am finding, can be a great source of referral). It is a charming book- I don't think any of the reviews so far have liked it as much as I did. In particular, the main character Eddie brings much as much insight and depth as humour to his rambling thoughts on how things ended up the way they did. His great love for his depressed wife and singing daughter is one common theme throughout the book...and one feels like a genuine portrait is drawn, of a chemical engineer who adheres to high moral standards (therefore loses his job) and loves too much but cannot find ways to express it. Yes there are lots of cliches and devises, people popping up like bad dreams, but its a story, right?

Perlman's firs novel has won him some prestigious prizes in Australia and deserves to win him fans internationally. While set in Melbourne, Three Dollars handles universal themes humourously and with compassion. While the subject matter is weighty, the book is never "heavy". One of the few novels around to tackle head-on the effects of the "MBA" culture upon relationships at the end of the 20th century.

I read this book in its Australian edition, and am glad it's finally out here in the States. Perlman is a marvelously smart and talented young writer, who is well-known in his native country. THREE DOLLARS, with its beautiful language and compelling plot, manages to be moving and witty at the same time. Though set in Melbourne, the characters and story are clearly universal in the post-Thatcherite/Reaganomic Western world. The implicit socio-economic commentary, however, is by no means heavy-handed or polemic; rather, it emerges only as you find yourself captivated by the life of Eddie, who's quite the appealing but troubled hero. Not only do you struggle with him through a tricky job-related moral dilemma, you also struggle with him in his challenging marriage to Tanya, a vibrant but depressed soul-mate. And isn't that what life is all about -- politics and love?! With a naturally humorous and undeniably clever voice, Perlman somehow keeps you laughing throughout the pain. It all builds to a wonderfully dramatic climax . . . If you like it as much as I did, you'll look forward to his next book, rumored to be an anthology of short stories.

Perlman's book is full of gimmicks that work! illuminating the effect that randomness has in our lives. In the raging bull market, it is easy to forget how much chance plays in our lives. "Three Dollars" strength reveals that even when making the "best" decisions we can we sometimes end up on the short end. His characters are of the type how could they be so stupid, but you can completely identify with them since they make the decisions that we so often do. A strong book that reminds you to be kind and to be grateful. I'm glad it got picked up by an American publisher, since I picked up my copy of the F&F British Edition in Taiwan.

Was very happy to find this book on amazon. Deserves many readers. Perlman digs deep into the lives of his protagonists, manages to engage his readers. A sad book and a funny book! Is there anything better?

I've just re-read Three Dollars for the second time. It's a simple story, really: a tale of a young man trying to find certainty in his life and within his marriage when all around him is uncertain: the economic climate, the prospect of him keeping his job, the stability of his future (at least, economically). But it is so realistic, and has such beautiful moments throughout, as well as Perlman's trademark gorgeous writing. For instance, when Eddie sees his long-ago childhood girlfriend in line at university, his mind devises a complicated plot in which he is asking her out on a date, meeting the parents, playing with her extended family and being judged as a good sport/ good potential father all in one hit. There are so many lines that made me stop and think, but the story didn't stumble. The narrative was simple, but beautiful. I loved it, even more the second time. (And Seven Types of Ambiguity, by Perlman, is one of my all-time favourites. although a much more complex and denser book.)

I sympathise with the theme of this novel and I really wanted to like it. The ugly face on neo liberalism should be exposed more often. Unfortunately, the exploration of the idea is studded with cliches and the writing is often too self consciously cute for comfort - Billy Bragg songs cover the same territory with far greater ease.

I liked this book, right up to the time that they leave the hospital after the (first) medical emergency. Then the author seems to say "crikey, it'll take me several hundred more pages to wrap stuff up properly...let's just paste something together." And behold, you have an ending that renders everything that happened before irrelevant. Why bother tying up anything when you can leave virtually every character hanging? What was the whole bloody point of Amanda? Why bother bringing her father's commercial dealings into the plot at all? Plus, are we to believe that two professionals in their late 30's would have absolutely--and I mean absolutely--nothing saved, and would always and forever be one paycheck from homelessness?

I finished this book last night, and while I liked it at first, the more I think about it, the less I like it. I agree with the political points it's trying to make...but this is a very flawed first novel. I'll try another novel by this author, though.

This is the most irritating book I've read in a long time. Where other readers have obviously found it resonate with them, I found its concerns trivial and unremarkable.
Meanwhile, the prose is written in the longest, most circuitous sentences imaginable; it's like someone buried a bunch of cryptic crossword clues next to a nuclear waste dump, and the terrible mutated zombie-monster that resulted lurched into the printing presses at the Picador factory.
And finally, his clever-smug cultural quips are exclusive and obnoxiously snobbish. And as for quoting Joy Division to illustrate a relationship breakup? Puh-lease! It's like Judy Blume has decided to rewrite Rememberance of Things Past.
For me, it all comes down to one paragraph where he laments all the good things in his life that have vanished, including "Everything But The Girl before they had a drum machine". EVERYONE knows that EBTG were absolute rubbish before Todd Terry remixed "Missing"; only absolute GOOMPAHS were into their schmaltzy early stuff.

This novel highlights the flaws of capitalism.After reading this novel many will want to reflect on their own lives.