This book would have been a great magazine story (if the middle had been edited out). Just seems like the author is trying too hard. Also, significant emphasis on baldness. Wanted to ask the author to broaden the metaphors beyond hair.

From all the positive reviews about this debut novel, I was expecting a lot more from it. Unfortunately, I found the characters hard to connect to; "plasticy" (to borrow the phrase from our bookclub discussion). But that may have been the author's point - to have empathy for those suffering from disorders, such as autism, which make it difficult to relate socially, to connect, to others.
Nonetheless, I struggled through this book and while there were some lines of prose I appreciated, I doubt that I will read another by Ms. Netzer.

Everyone is wierd, there\\\'s something wrong with everyone. So says SHINE SHINE SHINE, a good read, not a great one.

You could say that some parts are great because they\\\'re imaginative and unlike what you\\\'ve read before. And dialog between characters is funny.

But all the characters and scenery (including home scenery) seem sketchy, almost comic bookish. This sketchiness seems deliberate, a device. But it doesn\\\'t work for me, not enough for me to agree with the majority of reviews that insist this book is great.

An interesting group oh characters. The book was a bit difficult to get into.

I felt that the author is a good writer. There are some confusing parts and the book does move slowly at times, but it does have interesting things to talk about in a book club format. I did love the main characters and am glad that we read it.