Rating: 
Summary: disappointed
Review: I finish 99 percent of the books I read if only out of vanity. This one I didn't even skim to the end to see if it got better. The excerpt I read on Amazon was promising enough for me to buy the book. I am also a Smiley fan and have read and enjoyed most of her books. And I don't mind reading a novel about real estate in the 80's, although I was quite young then. I would read a book by Smiley about filing tax returns, at least I would give it a decent chance before puttting it aside.This book was just - dull. It made no impression on me, except that I could think of half a dozen things I'd rather be doing. I didn't even care enough to hate it or get angry that it had wasted my time. The three stars are because Smiley on a bad day still writes better than most writers on a good day. It's well-written just not interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautifully written Disappointment
Review: I have been an unabashed Jane Smiley fan for many years. I thought that "Moo" and "Horse Heaven" were two of the best novels of the past ten years. I am sorry I can't say that about "Good Faith." Jane Smiley is one of our best writers so it came as no surprise that this novel was well observed and crisply written. But it seemed to me that Ms. Smiley didn't have much to say. The '80s were a time in which many small time business people got in over their heads and when the bubble burst -- as bubbles inevitably must - failed, as a lot of banks and savings and loans who ill-advisedly lent them money did as well. Joe Stratford, the easygoing protagonist, is a real estate broker who goes into business with a charismatic and, as it turns out, crooked ex IRS agent, Marcus Burns. Most of the book is spent describing the details of the purchase of a large estate for development, the development itself and, finally, the crash and its aftermath. Beyond that, there was not much in "Good Faith." To me the 400 plus pages that Smiley spent on the dreary details of a business failure were hardly more interesting than the foregoing short description - that is not very interesting at all.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautifully written Disappointment
Review: I have been an unabashed Jane Smiley fan for many years. I thought that "Moo" and "Horse Heaven" were two of the best novels of the past ten years. I am sorry I can't say that about "Good Faith." Jane Smiley is one of our best writers so it came as no surprise that this novel was well observed and crisply written. But it seemed to me that Ms. Smiley didn't have much to say. The '80s were a time in which many small time business people got in over their heads and when the bubble burst -- as bubbles inevitably must - failed, as a lot of banks and savings and loans who ill-advisedly lent them money did as well. Joe Stratford, the easygoing protagonist, is a real estate broker who goes into business with a charismatic and, as it turns out, crooked ex IRS agent, Marcus Burns. Most of the book is spent describing the details of the purchase of a large estate for development, the development itself and, finally, the crash and its aftermath. Beyond that, there was not much in "Good Faith." To me the 400 plus pages that Smiley spent on the dreary details of a business failure were hardly more interesting than the foregoing short description - that is not very interesting at all.
Rating: 
Summary: good faith
Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK. I ESPECIALLY RELATED TO MY YEARS INTHE 80'S.JANE SMILEY CAN DO NO WRONG.
Rating: 
Summary: A seductive novel, about sex and capitalism
Review: I read Smiley's A Thousand Acres several years ago, and just loved it. I also enjoyed the movie starring Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Colin Firth. I haven't, however, "gotten into" any of her other novels since then, but I really liked Good Faith. What a lusty, sexy novel about money and seduction! I think that a number of reviewers have been somewhat misguided in their review of this novel. Yes, it IS long and on first appearances appears to be convoluted, but it really is an amazing story of an era is capitalist American history. Also as a character study of different personalities and the lengths they go to for greed, this story is unsurpassed. Joe is an amazingly complex character: he has some bad moments, but he's basically a good businessman and a good person. I think it's his small town naivete that is his ultimate downfall. Generally, Good Faith, is an excellent novel about greed, lust, and self-delusion set in the economic boom of the early 1980s,. Joe is an amiable, divorced real estate agent in an unspoiled small town called Rollins Hills. He takes it in stride when a married female friend pursues a love affair with him; he is more suspicious when a high-rolling newcomer named Marcus Burns begins to influence the business affairs of the men closest to Joe. Marcus Burns is an archetypal, sociopathic personality - and the tension of this novel is really in the web he gradually weaves over Joe's life. You know his proposed real estate deal is doomed to failure, and you just want to shake and scream at Joe and his way of thinking. Read this and stay with it; you'll be really pleased! Michael
Rating:
Summary: Old Story, Nothing New
Review: I was rather disappointed in this tale of NYC exurbanites caught up in a small-town version of the go-go 1980s. Considering that authors ranging in quality from Tom Wolfe to John Grisham have tackled this theme, you'd think that Smiley would either offer a new take on the subject or devise irresistible characters. She doesn't. The book is well-written, at least.
Rating:
Summary: Well Written Story About Dubious People
Review: I've had the pleasure of reading a number of Jane Smiley's novels and have often come away with a common reaction. I think she is a great storyteller and always finds a way to write a story that holds my interest. The one weakness or at least the one thing I don't like about most of Smiley's books is that she always fails to create appealing characters. This time, our protagonist is a realtor named Joe Stratford. He's well-liked in the community but already has gone through one failed marriage and is sleeping with another man's wife who happens to be the daughter of one of his clients and business partners. Along the way, (perhaps a commentary on the vapid 1980's) our main character manages to snort coke with yet another love interest and be incredibly self-absorbed and gullible. He happens to be the most likeable character. The most memorable character is Marcus Burns, who claims to be an ex-IRS agent and has a host of hare-brained, get-rich-quick schemes. While I will refrain from giving away the story and ending, you end up getting a book that moves well, a plot that's interesting, but a story that contains a whole bunch of people that you wouldn't want as your friends. Given all of the recent attention on accounting, and other business scandals, it's a timely look back on a decade when some of the country lost common sense principles, but it didn't leave me all the warm after reading the book. In short, Smiley is a great writer who can get your attention and keep it. She is adept at writing about a host of different subjects, but I do hope she creates more positive characters in at least one of her books.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful bits, but boring overall
Review: I, too, am a Smiley fan: the Age of Grief is spectacular (and Moo hilarious), and this book started along similarly spare, beautiful lines. And the goal: to probe big issues of trust, infidelity (as always, with her), and business through reallllly small time real estate in northern PA - it's a noble one. It seemed like she got the details right, and Joe, her flat, dull, straightforward hero, was to me at her most engaging when he talked about the random sales he was making at the beginning of the book. My two largest problems:
- too talky. The whole thing is dialogue, essentially, and dialogue ultimately about a particular real estate transaction in far too much detail. We're supposed to get the hang of Marcus (the interloping deal-crazy source of action) and Joe through their talk, but it's just talk, no distinctive voices, no distinctive observations, long paragraphs, etc. The exception here is Felicity, the temptress, but her sing-songy weirdness was, though distinctive, not very plausible. Or alluring.
- too flat. Exhibit A here is all the attention given to food. The food's always boring. It's burgers and fries and other sandwiches and potato chips. And yet people are always going to eat, where they can have long, long conversations over uninteresting, uninterestingly described food, which nonetheless earns pages of copy. So in the end, I stopped caring. I did finish the book, and good on Jane Smiley for putting me in a world, and engaging difficult issues, but this book should have been more written. And shorter. Three stars, though, only because I hold her to very high standards. You won't feel like someone stole your time if you read this.
Rating:
Summary: better than Moo, on par with A Thousand Acres
Review: Jane Smiley tackles different material with almost every novel. Her Pulitzer-winning novel A Thousand Acres was a deft portayal of the demise of a family farm, her last effort explored the world of horse racing, and now she brings us into the 1980s world of real estate development in Good Faith. While her novels are captivating cultural history, it's her characters that remain her strength. I know Joe. Sure, my friend isn't named Joe and isn't a real estate agent, but I know decent people like Joe who have a gift for the largely unrecognized jobs they do and who realize, at some point, that they're doing pretty well financially. In fact, recent polls suggest the vast majority of us, even those who are statistically lower class or in the upper percetages of incomes consider ourselves middle class but still not as well off as our friends. And I know a Marcus, too, who's a smooth-talking, good-natured fellow who inspires loyalty in people for no logical reason. And I know a Felicity or two who married because nearly everyone does but who doesn't quite fit the frat house her homelife seems to be. I know a few Betty and Gordon couples and the Davids as well. So, Smiley's characters have a vague familiarity, even as they each are distinct and engaging. Even more importantly, Smiley understands the small, odd traits that people find attractive or off-putting in each other. When, for instance, Felicity reveals that she's not kind but that she is affectionate, we understand something about human behavior that we hadn't quite noticed before. Little moments like this one drive the novel seemingly effortlessly. While I had no knowledge of and little interest in real estate, the characters and the impending demise or success of their business dealings drew me in. By the end, I even found the so-called topic of the novel relevant to recent economic events in the stock market and to political issues such as allowing for individual investment choices for social security. Now, thanks to Smiley, I also understand anew how people are shaped by economic events and how we make some of the major decisions of our lives. Good Faith is a great read. The overt topic may be real estate development, but the novel's real subjects are relationships in many varieties. Just as you didn't need to know about Iowa farms to appreciate A Thousand Acres nor know about dentistry to enjoy The Age of Grief, if you're interested in a good story with realistic characters, you'll like Good Faith. I hear, by the way, that a film version of The Age of Grief is forthcoming. To my mind, her novellas (that one and Ordinary Love & Good Will) are Smiley's strongest writing.
Rating:
Summary: A former IRS agent becomes involved with a rich-quick scheme
Review: Narrator Richard Poe's successful career in theater and TV translates well to the audio format in general and to this avid story in particular as he brings to life Smiley's story of a New Jersey realtor who is divorced and seeking a fresh start. A former IRS agent becomes involved with a rich-quick scheme and the two find themselves on the verge of either bankruptcy or riches beyond belief in this thriller.
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