This was a book club pick. I wasn’t sure what to expect… I haven’t been reading much, and I’ve really been struggling to get into anything. So imagine my surprise when I found myself at first mildly intrigued and then enthralled by this book that’s completely outside my literary comfort zone. At first I found it depressing - and even now, looking back after finishing it, I still do. I chuckled a few times, but I didn’t find it to be a “comedy”, as some interviews with Walter would have you believe. It was, perhaps, too much reality in my fiction, and I wouldn’t seek out another book like this one - or even anything else by this author. But I was intrigued enough to finish it, something I rarely say these days, and for that reason alone, it merits a higher rating than I may have given it months ago. I guess it’s true… we filter so much of what we read through our baggage and our moods and our personalities. I tend to forget just how subjective reading is until I pick up a book like this one, which reminds me. ( )

A year later, I can't even remember this book very well. Did not leave an impression. ( )

A year later, I can't even remember this book very well. Did not leave an impression. ( )

Clever book...enjoyable, lighthearted and yet touching in its own way. ( )

Jess Walter is a fantastic writer and very funny. Can't believe he only just now crossed my radar. [full review]

"There are these lakes in Northern Idaho that are supposed to be bottomless; the Navy used to do submarine training there. They'd think they had found the bottom and then a submarine would find a deeper hole. Of course, the lakes weren't bottomless. In fact, it turns out nothing is bottomless - except the trouble I get into." p.250 ( )