I felt that this book was pretentious and disconnected. The author seemed to enjoy boring us with his encyclopedic knowledge of semiotics, literature theory, English literature, and religious studies in the first third of the book. The rest gets no better with a mind numbingly detailed account of medications, their doses, and side effects for bipolar disease. The book could have been an interesting account of the relevance of "the marriage plot" in modern life if it were about a third the length it is.

well written but depressing wood be good for discussion.

I enjoyed this book however it was slow moving. Others in our book club did not like it at all because of the wordines. Just not a book that everyone would enjoy in a book club. probably would not read it again either.

I wasn't impressed with this. It was slow, had a lot of esoteric knowledge, the characters weren't engaging.

I could not get vested in the characters. I thought the various "side" stories being told proved to be pointless. I found this book very difficult to finish.

I have read all of Jeffrey Eugenides books and feel an odd kinship with him because we grew up in the same suburb at around the same time. He is a beautiful writer who weaves an evocative story with rich character development. This was a great book that had all of the standard Eugenides’ flair but it did not hold my interest as well as his previous works. I would highly recommend it but not list it as one of my favorites.

Frustrating at times and didn\\\'t like the characters