Rating: 
Summary: An Urban Pastoral Noir
Review: Written in 1961, this book is a realistic disection of a contemporary urban marriage in contemporary urban America. Biology states that disection kills, but this marriage was moribund from the onset. Every literary device is used, some rather artlessly disguised, complete with raving but soothsaying madman. Grippingly interesting , involving and realistic. In the end, no "deus ex machina" appears to save this doomed couple. Excellent read.
Rating: 
Summary: 1 star subtracted; encompassed by this review
Review: I liked this book. I felt like it was an old timer's version of the novel by J. McInterney (sp?) "Brightness Falls". "Revolutionary Road", too, is culturally-centric, almost to the point that it satires neurotic behavior between young white couples in the 1950's from educated backgrounds. The characterization is rigorious and the story shocks like electricity at times. However, I got this feeling that the author made his characters surrender before they had a chance to evolve.
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Summary: Far, Far superior to Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Review: I read it in 1990. The book is far superior to Man in the Gray Flannel Suit in terms of its character development and ending. The characters, appropriately named April and Frank Wheeler, are proto-yuppies, surrounded by shallow suburban values. (This was written in 1961 and takes place in 1955.) I found the part where they reminisce about old radio shows of the '30's interesting, putting to rest the notion that baby boomers were the first generation to indulge in nostalgia. I thought this would be a good vehicle for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
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Summary: Superb writing about hollow people
Review: It is hard to rate a book in which the writing is so sharp, acute, almost surgical in its incisive precision, but the people living in this suburban wasteland are either pretensious,weak, morally vacuous and inauthentic, or are truthful,insane, and suicidal. I liked the writing, but disliked the characters, and never really accepted the author's cynical, bleak vision. Is there no nobility, love, kindness, truth, authenticity, beauty, heroism in the suburbs? If you think not, you will find validation in this book.
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Summary: Timeless, Funny, but Black-and-White
Review: I'm not sure how many members of my generation have read this book (I'm 21), but I have a feeling that many would relate to the themes of suburban angst, "finding" oneself, etc. I truly love Yates's prose style: funny, terse, biting. I think, however, that Yates ends up taking a cheap shot at suburbia as a whole, in much the same way that the film American Beauty does. Not one adult character is likable, or even happy. The Bohemian within suburbia is terminally unhappy (Frank and April), as is the "typical" suburbanite (Mrs. Givings). I was looking for a glimmer of hope, but didn't find one. Maybe that was Yates's intention. A thoroughly enjoyable read, however.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: It isn't a period piece or another repetition of all the complaints about the 1950s, the suburbs. The novel is very contemporary and dynamic; it isn't nostalgic or beyond serious thought.Note well: If you're married or living with someone, reading this book could be a little too true-to-life, and you might end up filing for divorce.
Rating:
Summary: a classic
Review: This is one of my favorite books and it's a shame it should be a known classic for it is surely a masterpiece. A tragedy of 50's America. It's kind of a struggle to go through the whole book. I heard it was one of the best books ever made and questioned it until I got to the last 40 pages. Surprising how it was written during the 50's for its messages still apply today.
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Summary: Simply the best
Review: This is one of my favorite books. It is a blazing, imaginative -- though disturbing --satire of suburban culture that is as relevant today as it was when first written. Absolutely brilliant imagery and symbolism throughout, down to the chilling final paragraph. The characters are like people you know, your neighbors ... perhaps even yourself. If you read this book, you will never forget the experience or look at suburbia in the same way.
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Summary: BY FAR ONE OF THE BEST LITERARY WORKS OF OUR CENTURY!
Review: It was absolutely by chance that I discovered Richard Yates for myself. I was of the strong persuasion that nothing that was worth reading was written after the 1920's. Since then I have read all of his works. He is a writer who should be studied in schools. We cannot afford to neglect such brilliancy, it just doesn't come around too often in our day and age. He is a genius and if our time still manages to produce someone like Richard Yates, all is not lost.
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Summary: Subarbian couples and the dark sides of The 50s Ideal
Review: Author Richard Yates is a heart wrencher. I don't think he can write a short story, essay or novel without bludgeoning his reader. Yet his characters, from both the female and male perspectives, are so real that you can stop on the subway and wonder about them like you would a neighbor or friend. There are few authors who hit marriage's daily life and all its isolation as convincingly as Yates in Revolutionary Road.
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