Rating: 
Summary: A Modern Definition of Evil
Review: This book is divided into thirds. The first, which covers Dr. Neruda's childhood, is great writing in every way. Few works I have read have moved me and informed me at an equivalent level.It is literate, interesting, nearly flawless in it's exposition. There is a great feeling of safety, even though much of it is harrowing.The next sections lead us into Dr. Neruda's adulthood, and show us the practical result of his childhood, an abused child who only works with abused children, and at his own expense, and then we are drawn past that into the world beyond child-psych by the case history of his adult patient. When the patient loses it, Dr. Neruda takes it personally, and slowly becomes a George Smiley with Freud on his shoulder. Even though some of this is unpleasant, it is this part of the book that kept me thinking--about the nature of evil, the irony of behaving in an evil way to "cure" evil, and the inherent evil nature of many "winners" if one takes his definition to be the correct one. A minor note: Dr. Neruda himself does not come up with the definition. When this book does stumble, it does so because of a thread of preachiness that creeps into the narrative in the form of statistics about child abuse and Ritalin, and this has the effect of nudging one from the reality of the book, like a neighbor's dog barking while you're trying to read. But this is very slight, and may not even be noticed by some readers. One thing that cannot be overlooked is Yglesias' concern about social inequalities--in fact, many of the carriers of the "evil" described in this book are the usual kinds of pathological business stereotypes, although he does have many characters who are also in business and not malevolent. Some retentive professionals and some pathological business types will likely find the conclusions drawn by Dr. Neruda to be offensive. All in all, a ripping good read, with a dry aftertaste of moral and social big questions. Reading this is almost like doing analysis, but without blaming your parents.
Rating: 
Summary: Good reading, but a disappointing ending.
Review: This book is very well written, and I had trouble putting it down. Yglesias creates fascinating characters and develops them well. However, what had first drawn me to the book --a cure for evil-- was not even mentioned until the last few chapters. Neruda's "cure" consisted of manipulating others and making them dependent on him. I found that a bit hard to accept. A wonderful lead-up to disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: A psychiatrist takes on evil.
Review: This is certainly not the best book of all time but it is very good. Yglesias has written an engrossing story about a psychiatrist with a lurid past who loses a patient to suicide. The patients murders his own wife before he kills himself. Dr. Neruda begins an obsessive quest of revenge that ultimately shows him succumbing to the very evil he opposes
Rating:
Summary: amazing wonderful
Review: this is one of the best books i have ever read in my entire life. the book draws the reader in immediately and holds the reader's attention for all 600 plus pages. i finished it a couple days ago and cannot stop thinking about it.
Rating:
Summary: amazing wonderful
Review: this is one of the best books i have ever read in my entire life. the book draws the reader in immediately and holds the reader's attention for all 600 plus pages. i finished it a couple days ago and cannot stop thinking about it.
Rating: 
Summary: Dr. Neruda's Cure for Crap?
Review: Yglesias' "Dr. N." ranks among the greatest mediocrities in recent literature, and Dr. N. among literature's most annoying protagonists. It is utterly mystifying to me that this book has garnered any praise at all, let alone such fulsome praise (check out the other reviews on this page). By way of partial corrective to the trend I offer a few impressions.
Future readers of Dr. N., beware! Not that you really need be... Within the first few chapters of the book, its many many flaws are pretty much laid bare: lousy writing, stilted dialogue, pretentious tone (of which I, myself, will doubtless be accused by Yglesias fans). As we watch him grow, a tiny overwrought pre-Dr. Neruda thinks things (and regrettably all too often utters them) that no young child -- even a preternaturally sensitive (and self-consciously ingenius) child -- would ever think or say.
I have no idea whether Yglesias has any background in psychology. Perhaps he took some Psych courses in college. Perhaps he's read widely in the field. Perhaps he was even a professional psychologist or psychiatrist before taking up the pen. Whatever the case, Yglesias' presumed deep insights into the human psyche are (to paraphrase a thought of his protagonist [I forget which page and in what context]), to put it generously, banal and not a little pompous.
The discerning reader will doubtless toss this novel after the first few chapters. Neither a compelling meditation on evil (let alone approaches to its cure) nor even a marginally entertaining story, this one is best reshelved and forgotten. The book was given to me as a gift, so I felt obliged to finish it.
Having slogged my way to "Dr. N."'s patently stupid conclusion, I don't know which I find more despairing: the fact that a piece of drivel like this was ever published (considering how many genuinely deserving writers out there can't get a break), or that so many reviewers on this page ate it up? Cry the American novel...
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