Here I Am

What a disappointment after Foer's distinctive and poignant earlier books, [book:Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 4588] and [book:Everything Is Illuminated 256566]. This book was one long boring slog through a fictionalized version of Foer's own divorce. I hated every character - not that a good book requires likeable characters, but if you're going to hate them they at least need to be interesting, and these were not. None of the three kids talked like real kids, there was way too much discussion about masturbation and the whole thing ended with a whimper. Gets one extra star for making me think a little about my own relationship as a Jew to Israel and how I would react if it were threatened.