Author: Michael Chabon
Enjoyment Rating: ***
This book would be rated: R, for language and sex
Source: Library Copy
Books I've read this year: 130
While the back jacket said the book was like Middlemarch, but set in Oakland in 2004, I found that it was not as much fun as The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or as sweet as Manhood for Amateurs. The novel centers around Brokeland Records, a second-hand music store run by Archie Stallings and Nat Jaffe, whose wives, Gwen and Aviva happen to run a midwifery business together, and whose sons also happen to be sleeping together, but I am getting ahead of myself.
When a Virgin Records-style conglomerate, owned by a black football player from Oakland, wants to set up shop down the street and revive this part of the city, Nat and Archie know that their days as business partners are numbered. Against the backdrop of this main story are dozens of other stories, happening as far back as the 1960s, all of which work together to seal the fate of Nat and Archie.
I read this book months ago and forgot to blog about it, and while there are parts that seem very real months later (Archie is a particularly cool character, and Chabon's obvious love for Oakland, his hometown, comes through on every page), I never felt swept up in the narrative. I felt more like I had to talk myself into reading more. So the book felt like a good book, but not a particularly enjoyable read.
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