Customer Reviews

The Wishbones

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an enormously likeable book about love, music, and, especially, the choices required by time, money, and cultural expectations. Despite these "heavy" undertones, this is light reading at its best, full of distinct, interesting characters, humorous unexpected developments, and a brisk pace.

The story involves Dave Raymond, the 31-year old lead guitarist for "The Wishbones," a wedding band in which Dave feels both stuck and exhilarated. He has his own pre-wedding anxieties, as he finally proposes to his high school sweetheart, and then worries that he will settle into a bland suburban life sans music. At a gig, he meets Gretchen (nom de plume: Marlene Fragment!), an aspiring bohemian poet, who seems Dave's last chance at prolonging and preventing some touch choices.

Perrota is great at irony, and he almost overplays this, but the book moves so quickly that one doesn't mind. Although some of the book covers familiar "rites of passage" decisions, there's some outrageous (and I've heard, fairly realistic) wedding scenes, an unexpectedly tense gig with an unusual audience, and the musical aspirations of the singer (think "Springtime for Hitler," but in somewhat better taste. I liked the comparable "High Fidelity" more; it better captures the depth of rock and roll obsession, but this is close--An appealingly light look at marriage, weddings, and some awful 70's music. Highly recommended.

I bought this book because one of the blurbs said you would laugh out loud while reading it and I did -- several times. Perrotta captures that suburban aimless angst and his writing is funny and charming. I've recommended this book to everyone I know and no one has been disappointed.

There are some quick reads that enable you to overlook their flaws because you can pretty much fly through them. Then, sometimes, although this is rare, there is that fabulous quick read. The one that is funny, with great characters and an engaging story, that doesn't make you feel empty after you have finished it. The Wishbones falls in the latter category. I loved this book. It's about so many things I love to read about: music, relationships, New Jersey, fear of growing up, friends. Tom Perrotta has given us a highly enjoyable story about Dave, a thiryone year old guitar player in a wedding band (he's got a day job, but it's nothing much). Something happens to him one day which has him proposing to his longterm (15 years, on and off) girlfriend. Then panic sets in. Dave has never really grown up and the fear of marriage makes him do somethings he'll probably regret sooner or later (I have to admit, I was a little annoyed with him at times). But the pieces of his life fall together and by the end of the novel, he realizes what is really important to him. This is a satisfying and enjoyable read. Have fun.

After enjoying Perotta's Little Children, I sought out his earlier works. Reading The Wishbones, I was struck by how both novels share the theme of having an affair while you are in a rut with your partner or spouse. The tension in both books is centered on whether the long-term relationship should be broken up for the excitement of the fling. The difference, however, is that I was struck by the true love connection between the philanders in The Wishbones, while I thought the Little Children adulterers were just bored, not soulmates in any way.

The Wishbones is a great read for anyone post-college who is wondering about the direction their life is taking, or who has friends who seem aimless since they've turned 25 or so. When do you have to grow up and get a real purpose in life? There's a lot of recognizable material in this book, and it rings very true. Highly recommended to any fan of good fiction.

If you've seen the movie The Wedding Singer, you're already familiar with the idiom of Tom Perrotta's The Wishbones. This is the story of Dave, a musician in a wedding band in the New Jersey of the 1980's, and how his life changes as he approaches his own wedding to Julie. He has been dating Julie for fifteen years "on and off", and once he's proposed his problem becomes not so much unrequited love as love too much requited. Though Dave is seen by his band-mates as rock steady and by himself as an all-around nice guy, the approaching wedding looms ahead like the end of his freedom and challenges him to make some unusual choices in his last summer as a single man.

Aside from Dave, the other characters in the band each have their own story arc, well-painted by Tom Perrotta. Though I didn't find The Wishbones as funny as Perrotta's later novel Joe College, there was something poignant and almost naïve about it that was missing in the other work. A definite must-read for those who came of age in the 80's.

This story was pretty predictable but still enjoyable moving along at a steady pace. It was interesting enough to keep my attention but nothing out of the ordinary happened, just everyday life for these characters. Dave & Julie have been sweethearts since high school. The words "I Love You" have always come easy to both of them. Their love for each other was always there, even though they had several on and off breakups. Dave's always loved music and plays in a small wedding band called "The Wishbones." He's always had the freedom to play his music and live a half-way decent life by still living at home with his parents. Everything changes when the words slip out from Julie, "Let's get married." Will Dave decide to marry Julie, or continue to live the single life playing in the band? It's a decision he makes too quickly and then regrets after meeting Gretchen and having an affair with her. Now his decision becomes even harder.

I would definitely recommend this well-written book for those out there who haven't decided to get married yet. Did Dave make the right decision or didn't he? You can make that decision after finishing this book. Maybe Tom Perrotta is giving a good lesson here-people should not get married just to be married. Where's the fire?

Though not as good as subsequent novels "Little Children" and "Election," Tom Perrotta's first, "The Wishbones," already laid the groundwork as to why he has so many admirers: quirky characters in uncomfortable scenarios narrated in a snappy way. Here, the protaganist (Dave Raymond) is what one might consider a bit of a loser -- at age 31, he still lives with his parents, and although obviously intelligent, hasn't done much with his life. He messengers during the day, plays guitar at night for a wedding band known as "The Wishbones," and hangs out when he can with his on- again-off-again girlfriend of 15 years, Julie. The monkey wrench is thrown, however, when he finally (but still impulsively) proposes to Julie who accepts, and immediately meets Gretchen at a wedding, who's dramatically different than Julie, and whom he thinks he's fallen in love with. What to do?

An interesting story that kept my attention. Two things, though, stretched my belief. First, if Julie is so wonderful and beautiful, there's no way she's staying with someone like Dave for 15 years. Second, there was a scene in which The Wishbones mistakenly find themselves as a houseband for neo-nazis. I think Perrotta was trying too hard here and not staying true to the anally meticulous character "Artie," the manager and sax player of the band, who would never have contracted to be anybody's house band without doing a little research on who the band would be playing for.

In any event, Perrotta is one of the most fun authors around to read, and I'm one who can be included as a fan, even though I think he has yet to write that elusive five star novel (at least the way I rate things).

Now in his thirties, Dave Raymond still lives with his parents, visits Julie, his girlfriend of fifteen years, at her parents, and plays guitar for a wedding band called The Wishbones. One evening, after watching the aging lead singer of another group collapse and die on-stage, Dave proposes to Julie. The moment she accepts he realizes that his safe niche in life is coming to a close. Dave starts looking for a way out. Enter Gretchen, a grown up rock groupie. Gretchen is new, exciting, sensual, and spontaneous in a way that Julie no longer seems to be. And the wedding plans continue. As soon as the ring is chosen, Julie suggests that it is time for Dave to leave the band. On the night the invitations are addressed, Dave finds out that Julie is hiring a DJ to play at their wedding. Tom Perrotta paints characters with whom you can identify and puts them in realistic situations that enhance the underlying laugh-out-loud humor. I could not put the book down.

I was a little hesitant about reading the Wishbones, as I disliked Perrotta's "Election" immensely. This book seems like it was written by a different author altogether. A very easy read, but written well and creatively. It's a great book for everyone, but especially for folks in their late 20s and early 30s. Perrotta throws in a ton of past events that really take you back in time. And anyone who has ever wanted to be a rock star or have a career in music (as I once did) will feel like Perrotta has gotten into your head and heart. Highly recommend.

It may be trite to say so, but I was wishing this book wouldn't end right from the first page, a reaction I seldom have. The book had a wonderful tempo and feel and was consistently engaging. I couldn't recommend it more highly