Rating: 
Summary: from THE NATION magazine
Review: The story is similar in theme and style to another of the crazy wisdom writers out there today: Haruki Murakami. Carroll links some suburban fantasy with some interesting Eastern ideas about reincarnation and the good old Brothers Grimm in a manner somewhat related to Philip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut.The story gradually unfolds to reveal the core issues we all cringe from: fate and love. The main character gradually comes to terms with his own rather interesting history while trying to keep his magical relationship with his newly-discovered love. Along the way he encounters a very interesting range of characters from Hollywood movie moguls to a Jewish shaman who lives in the suburbs. Then there is the setting: that magical city of Vienna. Carroll has a lot of fun with his American-in-Europe character and there are some very humourous segments included in the tale. Overall Murakami has done a slightly better job from a stylistic viewpoint but I can't deny that Carrol's book was a lot of fun. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: 21st century Zen master...
Review: The story is similar in theme and style to another of the crazy wisdom writers out there today: Haruki Murakami. Carroll links some suburban fantasy with some interesting Eastern ideas about reincarnation and the good old Brothers Grimm in a manner somewhat related to Philip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut. The story gradually unfolds to reveal the core issues we all cringe from: fate and love. The main character gradually comes to terms with his own rather interesting history while trying to keep his magical relationship with his newly-discovered love. Along the way he encounters a very interesting range of characters from Hollywood movie moguls to a Jewish shaman who lives in the suburbs. Then there is the setting: that magical city of Vienna. Carroll has a lot of fun with his American-in-Europe character and there are some very humourous segments included in the tale. Overall Murakami has done a slightly better job from a stylistic viewpoint but I can't deny that Carrol's book was a lot of fun. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Half Good, Half Trivial, Ultimately Average
Review: This book has two halves, the simplistic second ruining the interesting first. The first half was complex, with good characters and a number of intriguing potential situations, but half-way through, the story turned toward fantasy, and failed. The fantasy world was believable and well described, but ultimately simplistic, bordering on childish. When the punchline was finally revealed at the end of the book, it was just that: a punchline. The book was basically a four-page cocktail story---something the author thought was probably a neat idea, to be told with a wink and a smirk---but when expanded to over 270, it became a major disappointment. It was enjoyable enough to read, but after finishing its 270 pages, I concluded that the journey was not worth the destination. I felt cheated. The worst part was that characters and events introduced throughout the first half (or three-quarters) of the book completely evaporated during the final half (or one-quarter). So many interesting characters and situations were thrown away without even a second word, that the last part of the story was skeletal and bare. One gets the sense that Carroll spent so much time writing the first half that he hurried the third quarter and slapped the last quarter on so he could ship it within the publication deadline; as if he realized half-way through that the basic premise simply wasn't supporting a full novel, and aborted the novel in the easiest possible way. In brief, the author took a small idea, expanded it into an intriguing exposition, but collapsed it into a trivial conclusion, failing to satisfy me on a literary or deep level. The author showed promise in his style and skill, and his other works may show better results than this one---I'm not familiar with any of them, and I would still like to read them---but this one failed to move me at all. If anything, it made me feel tricked, by throwing away what I thought was an interesting set-up for a cheap conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: He must collect royalties from the Vienna Board of Tourism.
Review: This book was one of the best Christmas presents I've ever
received. My friend Howie has a knack for introducing me to
books I should read, bands I should listen to, movies I should
see; he's got great taste. Well, I wasn't sure when he gave
me Carroll's book. It's definitely outside of the realm of
what I normally read, it's not science fiction! What was he
thinking!?!?! Well, trusting Howie's taste, I gave it a try.
4 am that morning I put it down (reluctantly). As usual my
horizons have been broadened thanks to my friend, now I just have
to convince my wallet to forgive him for forcing me to buy
another author's bibliography. Oh about the Vienna comment...
I must criticize Carroll for one thing, every character of his
absolutely reveres Vienna! So, he must be collecting royalties
from the Vienna Board of Tourism.
Rating:
Summary: A fairy-tale nightmare
Review: This is a phenomenal book. Carroll creates characters you care about and can relate to. You get to know them well before Carroll twists the world sideways and suddenly the characters and you are trapped in a fairy-tale nightmare where Rumpelstilskin and Little Red Riding Hood are both monstrous threats to love and life. Magical and haunting, the ending frightens in a subtle way, leaving you thinking about it for a while, then the meaning dawns on you and fear forms like ice up your spine. Jonathan Carroll is one of the great unappreciated American authors living today.
Rating:
Summary: Magical Carroll
Review: This is my favourite book of his and I have read them all--over and over again. The first half of the book will have you liking the characters, wishing you could meet them and go for coffee. They are nice but not too nice-nerdy; they love but not too stupidly. Then the second half begins and you are in Carroll-land. He is so good at what he does and he is also very nice (has a web-site) I realize that he's going into another 'genre' which is not as magical but his talent IS the magic. When I am ill in the hospital, I bring his books--they are so readable and ethereal. Love him and hope to get the next book coming out soon in 2001!
Rating: 
Summary: Whoa.
Review: This is one of the most original, unusual, eccentric, competent books I have ever read. It's so unusual and different that one almost can't believe that the book comes out as well put-together and nicely crafted as it does. The novel succeeds at being extremely odd while reading like mainstream fiction. How does Carroll do it? It's really too bad that Carroll's stuff is so hard to find; I searched for this book for six years before finding it, believe it or not. Carroll has such an individual voice, is so original, that all of his stuff should be readily available. The only problems I have with this book are the plot's leapfrogs from one style of novel to another; when I read the book, I felt like I was reading several stories at once. While it is usually good to have different themes running together at once, somehow this novel didn't come off as one book with many themes, or even many books with their own themes, but as all kinds of authors and ideas taking hold of the novel at different times. You've got a little Richard Bach there for a while, then some brothers Grimm, then some Tanith Lee, all with a Milan Kundera-type voice. Very strange. Plus, the ending is so abrupt, I found myself wondering if perhaps I'd lost a page or two. However, the book is well-written enough and entertaining enough and literary enough to go beyond its bizarre literary flightiness, and what comes out is a masterful, wonderful, classic novel. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: To put it simply I will never trust a fairy tale again.
Rating:
Summary: To understand this book you have to forget what you know.
Review: Very interesting. It is good for the people who are tired of realistic, sad romance books. This is for the reader with the great desire for something from different world, applied to our reality. That is not the book about anything that has happened in the real life. Jonathan Carroll reaveals his very potential imaginnation. He can write.
Rating:
Summary: Anyone optioned this book yet for the movie?
Review: When i first read this book almost 10 years ago, i bored all my friends telling them it was the best piece of fiction published in decades. I just finished it last night for the 2nd time and although some of its shortcomings are more evident to me now, it still blows me away - it brings together archetypal themes and myths and meshes them into this compelling modern life setting. Shortcomings: weak character development, namely the primary relationship b/w Maris and Walker is slightly unbelievable - ok, so she's a supermodel, but what else? why does Walker fall for her? also, the dialogue is not that smooth at times. But it still doesn't matter, b/c jon carroll does such a great job at sucking you into this hip euro coolworld and then knocks you over w/, well, the magic. i've read all of his books (no easy job, given the scarcity of his novels - and why is that? ) and this is my favorite. also, i'm not in the movie biz, but it's Hard not to imagine great scenes / camera angles / actors while reading this book. Jon Carroll - if you're reading this, contact me if you're in NYC!
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