I was quite disappointed when the book revealed that Eva Galli had been a Manitou all along. Instead of The Chowder Society killing and secretly burying an innocent woman, thus making all of the supernatural happenings of the book a manifestation of their guilt and culpability, they rather just fuck with the wrong…

I definitely agree with you and Swibble, DG, that the opening was a highlight of the book, as were Sears' original Fenny story and Don's long interlude about Berkeley and Alma Mobley. I find the fact that these are the only portions of the book consistently cited across the Commentariat as good passages to be very…

Response Time
I have to confess, Leonard, that mid-way through reading your review, some response questions started percolating in my mind. By the end of the review, though, you had thoroughly settled each and every one of those issues before I could even raise it. While I liked Ghost Story as a piece of pop fiction…

Hey DG,

Dromosian, you took the words right out of my mouth, dude. I felt exactly the same way you and Micah did regarding the sudden invasion of mood-killing exposition.

Tom, I imagine that King and Straub have been influencing each other in equal measure. After all, they have written (at least) two books together. Furthermore, as you pointed out, King has lavished substantial praise on Ghost Story, so I'm sure that he took notes on what he liked about the book, and seeing as how…

Didn't the Mysteries of Pittsburgh teach us that cheating with the film adaptation is naught but a recipe for disappointment?

Human_loser & TomWaits,

I've been taking a little longer with this book than I foresaw, but then I am not the most disciplined of readers. I expect to finish it off tonight, though.

The Second Coming of Shit Fucker.

As much as I admire some of Polanski's films, he victimized a little kid, then used his fame and money to avoid facing the penalties of that crime. It wasn't right when MJ did it, and it wasn't right when Polanski did it. It's a sad way for his career to end, but he brought this on himself.

I've been wondering about that myself. Was it simply not possible to coordinate the staffers' schedules this time?

Swibble,

While I completely agree with Tasha's, and some of the commentors' pet peeve with privileged young protagonists "finding themselves" for hundreds of pages, that directionless, post-adolescent confusion can be gripping, at least for me, provided that the author really knows what he's doing.

Yeah, I found it odd how Phlox and Arthur both get introduced within the first ten pages, Jane and Cleveland are introduced either in conversation or in actuality within the first twenty, and then the book never introduces anyone else of consequence, as far as I recall.

Having read very little of DFW myself (only a fabulous piece on Roger Federer written for the NY Times and his article about David Lynch filming Lost Highway), I personally would love to see a DFW non-fiction pick. It seems like an ideal way to open WUiB to an as-of-yet unexplored genre.

Or maybe he's implying that despite his new acceptance of his bisexuality, he still feels more psychologically comfortable having romantic relationships with women. I strongly doubt he views men and women on an even 50-50 sexual plane, even after falling in love with Arthur.

I love the King Kong interpretation. I still have major issues with the scene itself, but I love that interpretation.

Swibble,

SS,