Review: Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought the author did a good job spinning the yarn in this work, because it was a book I wanted to keep reading. This is because the writing was very good (so many sentences which sparkled for me) but also because I was determined to figure out what it was actually about. It was disjointed; it ended up being something akin to a patchwork quilt. There were several superb vignettes any one of which could have become the thread which held it all together, yet each character and each scene felt incomplete. The story spans Depression Era and WWII - hard times all around. There are several conflicts which seek resolution - too many, in my opinion. All of this I was willing to forgive, because I was grateful for those shimmering sentences. But the ending? Gah. I really wanted something different.

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