Lit Life

Rating:
Summary: ... Life
Review: The opening chapters, setting up the two contrasting main characters, show promise. Shortly thereafter the characters, storyline, and writing disintegrate to amateurish slop. Main character Kyle Clayton is referred to as "Kyle" in some places and "Clayton" in others, within the same paragraph. This is but one example of Wenzel's writing that shows Kurt doesn't know what he's doing. It's too bad, because there is an audience for vicarious literary experiences such as what this book purports to offer. But it does not.

Rating:
Summary: If laughing out loud is low-brow...
Review: then literature has a red-headed step child in Lit Life! Personally, I do not think humor and great writing are mutally exclusive and this author obviously agrees. If you like your fiction full of complex characters, sharp description, pithy dialogue, wry observations, thrilling conflict and smart remarks all sewn together in organic and elegant prose--well, then, buy this book. Right away. You won't be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Great debut novel!
Review: What a wonderful new author. Wenzel recreates the NY publishing demi-monde in such a way that it feels extremely accurate, and yet iviting. You feel like a fly on the wall. Furthermore, the characters are very well drawn. The do and say ridiculous things, but are never so over the top so as to become clowns. In fact, what this book does have, ultimately, is a great sense of humanity.

Rating:
Summary: Great debut novel!
Review: What a wonderful new author. Wenzel recreates the NY publishing demi-monde in such a way that it feels extremely accurate, and yet iviting. You feel like a fly on the wall. Furthermore, the characters are very well drawn. The do and say ridiculous things, but are never so over the top so as to become clowns. In fact, what this book does have, ultimately, is a great sense of humanity.