Customer Reviews

A Regular Guy

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

 

 

After reading somewhat tepid reviews of this novel, I was expecting to be disappointed with it. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it. First of all, it is beautifully written, with some enchanting and poetic turns of phrase throughout. Narratively, it is, at times, a little difficult to follow, and there isn't a tremendous amount of engaging narrative flow to the plot. But it is a wonderful character study and coming of age story.
I found the portrayal of the characters to be creative and original. I felt that I knew each of them very well by the end of the book. And contrary to other reviews, I cared about many of them. And there is a wide-eyed freshness to the book mostly through the eyes of Jane, who I saw as the main character of the book (it could be argued that it is Owens, her father).
There's a lot in this book, and the ride is at times bumpy. But it is consistently satisfying and better than most of the novels that are out there. If you are looking for a straightforward, no nonsense novel, this is not it. But if you want to stretch your mind a bit, the rewards are tremendous!

I found this novel surprisingly hard to finish or to keep my interest in as I turned the pages. After Anywhere But Here, and her short stories, I kept looking at the cover to make sure it really was a Simpson book. None of the main characters pulled me in, and I never really got a feel for what this novel was about. The narration seemed clunky and uninspired - and much of it read like a first draft, the important parts having not been figured out and clarified yet. This had no energy to it, compared to her other work.

Mona Simpson's spare writing style was often confusing. I couldn't keep the characters straight and had to reread passages. I struggled about a third of the way through and finally gave up when my mind began to wander. There's too many good novels on my reading stack to waste time on this one. Too bad. I liked Anywhere But Here.

If you've read "The Journey is the Reward", then it's obvious where Simpson gets her ideas from. The infuriating yet magnetic character of Owens mirrors that of the author's famous half-brother, Steve Jobs. Simpson did not create her protagonist because he already exists in human form exactly as she describes him. She even went so far as to steal a quote from Macintosh evangelist Guy Kawasaki regarding Jobs. However, I enjoyed the novel because it was extremely well-written. By far, Owens' illegitimate daughter Jane is the most intriguing character; but I will wait to read a biography of Steve Jobs' illegitimate daughter Lisa before I decide if she's original or not.

I found the book quite readable with an unusual sense of humor. There are insights into complex human behavior that are true but never so clearly detailed. California, the sixties - eighties, money, and idealism provide and interesting mix to watch develop.

Mona Simpson, the author of "A Regular Guy", is clearly no feminist. The lives of her female characters are dominated by men. I did not find many of her characters sympathetic. Tom Owens, the entrepreneur, is infuriating, but charming as well. Mary Di Napoli, the mother of his child, is also infuriating, but so peculiar that you want to know what happens to her. The only character I liked was Noah, who is confined to a wheelchair. He seemed to be the only emotionally whole person in the novel.

Early in the book, Mary decides to to send her daughter Jane to live with Tom, her father. For reasons that are not clear, Mary feels that it would be better for Jane to make the trip without here. So she teaches Jane to drive a truck, and sends her on her way alone. Jane is ten years old at the time. The story of Jane's trip to meet her father is my favorite section of the book.

Mona Simpson is definitely an original. "A Regular Guy" may puzzle you. It may bother you. But it won't bore you