Rating: 
Summary: Such Fun
Review: This book was an absolute delight to read. In a nutshell, this story is about an older man who lives in Manhattan and pulls into good parking places when they are available...even though he has no intention of getting out of his car. And he remains there until his meter has run out.
He does this simply for the delight of having that coveted parking place that had so often been unavailable in the past...when he needed it. The story continues with poor Tepper's run in with City Hall, when the manic mayor is convinced that Tepper's actions have darker ulterior motivations that have negative political consequences for those currently in power. Some reviewers have said that one needs to live in Manhattan to truly appreciate this story, but I have to tell you, living in any big city nowadays one can identify with the concept of the "good parking spot". And as for dealing with government bureaucracy, well... I think we can identify with that too! This is a quick, fun read, and there is even a little "twist" at the end. Highly recommended. This is a very funny book and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Laugh
Review: This book will take you out of the doldrums for a long time. Bound to make your driving and parking in any large city a more pleasant experience!!
Rating: 
Summary: Very amusing, but hold on a minute...
Review: This is a cute book, and I don't understand why some critics have described its ending as "deflating," or other such words. I have to say, however, that I find it surprising that Calvin Trillin, a long-time contributor to "The Nation," that venerable left-wing paper, word harbor such a retrograde world view. Why is the mayor's inner circle all-male and lily-white? Why are there no black or Asian characters? Why does only one of the few female characters have a surname? Another thing: the mayor, Frank Ducavelli, aka "Il Duce," is clearly a stand-in for for NYC's immediate former mayor in his pre-9/11 guise. Some of Giuliani's detractors really did call him Il Duce -- but the New York Post, a rabidly right-wing paper, was among his biggest supporters! Why, then, does Trillin have a Post columnist scolding Ducavelli for being a bully? This just isn't plausible. The biggest problem with this novel is that it glorifies those who keep private cars in NYC. These people add to the already overwhelming problems of air and noise pollution and pose a huge threat to public safety. It would make a nice movie, though.
Rating: 
Summary: Tepid Tepper
Review: This slight, so-called novel is deftly written and uncommonly humorous for fifty pages or so, but then falls victim to a ho-hum story line and predictable, flat ending. Its most intriguing question-- Why does Murray Tepper spend so much time in his parked car?-- never seems to get answered, though the Trillinesque brand of humor would not seem to preclude the attempt. One probably will have to look hard to find a character in a current novel as potentially as interesting as Murray Tepper-- and as sketchily delineated. I like Murray Tepper immensely, and applaud Trillin's choice of subject mastter, but at the story's end I am left with a sense of loss, and repeating to myself: "Murray, we hardly knew ye." Tepper seemed happiest when alone in his car, waving by disgruntled motorists who wanted his spot. I am left wishing the author had somehow developed the reader's understanding of Tepper more fully-- or let him stay there.
Rating:
Summary: Murray Tepper: An Urban Hero
Review: Trillin just nails this character. I live not in NYC but outside of it, and I confess to spending time on the logistics of parking and a strong preference for a spot on the street vs. a garage. Heck, you've even got to do it in the suburbs now. The part about using up every second of time on a meter took a little getting used to, but why not. New York isn't all the rat race pace of getting from here to there. And as we get on in years, why not enjoy the solitude of sitting in the car reading the paper? Parking meters are a lot cheaper than hotels, even cheaper than buying a drink and nursing it for a half hour or so. I loved Frank Ducavelli. He takes us back to before 9/11 when Rudy wasn't the kinder gentler man he later became. Wasn't it Maureen Dowd who dubbed him "Hizzonor the Hall Monitor"? I'm surprised he didn't think to make pedestrians hail cabs from the sidewalk, and I guarantee you he won't think this book is funny. If you live in New York or drive into the City often, buy this book and leave it in your car. If you're parked and waiting for someone or if you've got a little extra time on the meter, take it out and read a chapter or two. Who knows what might happen next.
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