Look at Me: A Novel

The story of a model whose looks and identify are severely transformed due to a car crash is intriguing and beautiful at first. But instead of focusing on her, Jennifer Egan throws in a strange Internet company, an ambitious homeless, a terrorist, the family of an ex friend, a kid with cancer -- everything but the kitchen sink. The result is bizarre and irritating and by the end, I totally lost interest.

Beautiful juxtaposition between urban, hip New York City and rural, Midwestern Rockford, Illinois.
The story of a NY model whose face is 'changed' in a mysterious car accident, and the daughter of her best friend, a teenager in Rockford.
A mystery, a coming of age, a sociological study.
Terrific.

When I found this at a library book sale, the summary claimed that it was about a model who was disfigured in a car crash. "Great," I thought, "sort of like Chuck Palahniuk's 'Invisible Monsters'."

Was I ever mistaken.

For starters, the book is only partially about Charlotte Swenson. It mostly focuses on her best friend's daughter, also named Charlotte, and her affair with someone Charlotte Swenson once knew/her tutelage under her uncle, someone else Charlotte Swenson once knew. Charlotte (the daughter)'s story is incredibly boring, especially when the author includes samples from her essays about the town's Industrial Revolution history. The uncle, "Moose," seems to have some sort of vision, but the author never tells us what it is, nor does she even resolve his story. Charlotte herself isn't much better, and her romance with her teacher isn't at all compelling.

From what I could understand, this teacher came from the Middle East, and was involved in some plot or other, but Egan's descriptions were too vague to give anyone a clear idea of what he was doing. I can't think of a single reason as to why his story was at all relevant to the book; Egan would have been a lot better off without it.

Finally, Charlotte Swenson's story, though at first promising, degenerated into this simply *weird* (there's no other word to describe it) concept of people videotaping their boring lives and broadcasting it over the Internet via one particular site. By the time Swenson was acting out her accident, I was forcing myself to get through the pages. Somehow, everyone in the story managed to wind up at this "accident" scene - I'm sorry, that's a stretch.

I wish I hadn't spent any time reading this book. As much as I've tried to explain it here, I really can't put in words how much I disliked it. It was a waste of the two dollars I paid for it, not to mention the three or so hours it took to read. As soon as the town put-and-take is open, I'm bringing it there so I no longer have to look at it.

Please don't make the same mistake I did; pass this one over. Trust me, you're doing yourself a favor.

I probably have no right reviewing this book as I gave up at page 100 and merely skimmed through the rest. I did not find any of these characters likeable or interesting enough to follow or care about. Furthermore, the writing style is so chit-chatty that is offputting. I loved THE KEEP but I have to say this one didn't do it for me.

I tore through this book in a day and a half. I was mesmerized by the story and the writing. Also there's some analysis of the darker side of the Industrial Revolution woven into the plot, which makes for a more multi-faceted novel. The rich, educated prose occasionally grates (the phrase "hove a sigh" comes up too often). But the rest of the time, her choice of words is wonderful. As with any novel written pre-9/11, there are new resonances. The character who is an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist foreshadows recent events in an eerie way.

Initially, I found the plot to be unique and inviting. The first part of the book was pretty interesting and somewhat of a page turner. However, towards the end, I found it very hard to finish the novel. I think it was probably due to the lack of character development towards the end. This, ultimately, gave way for a pretty weak ending.

It's been a few months since I read this book but I wanted to share my positive opinion about this book since there are quite a few critiques. Even after time has passed this book is stil w/ me in that I'm still captivated by Ms Egan's writing style. She dares expose emotions and thoughts that some people likely wish they didn't have. In other words she reveals the "under" of the under belly openly and honestly. I wish more authors were capable of this.

A very thought provoking book about what it means to live in a society where appearances are almost all we have to judge one another by. We're so transient that it's difficult to get to really know anybody, so we rely--literally--on face value. This book explores how a fixation on appearances shapes our reality and feeds Western culture. It's a page turner as well, a mystery that unfolds very nicely. I couldn't put this book down--I highly recommend it.

I found this book to be a thoughtful spilling of the soul by the main character, a model in her 30's. A chill ran down my spine when the background of the protagonist was uncovered. I imagine the FBI will be chagrined to see this book mirror the key investigation they are now conducting.
Sit back with a cup of tea, load the CD with some Aimee Mann CD's and prepare to be glued to this book till you reach the back cover!

This book really impressed me. Two writing degrees and endless workshops and book discussions,left me wondering if there were any fresh perspectives out there. Egan is one! This book deals with identity on multiple layers, revealing the disguises and lies surrounding life. Buy it and read it today!!

It's okay ... if you like that sort of thing. Too long, too many words on a page, too much of a disconnected 80's vibe. Tediously boring paragraphs that go on and on and on about nothing much. Also, pretty hard to follow/comprehend what is happening in the story. The novel did have some shining moments, but they were few and far between. I couldn't wait for it to end.

I have read many excellent novels in the past few months, but this was not one of them. Not one character was likeable, or even very interesting; the plot was all over the place and lacked focus; the writing was shallow. I like to leave a book with at least one favorable impression of the writing or an original idea, some message the writer wanted to convey to readers. I am leaving this book with none.

This is a rich, deep and subtle book. The writing is adventurous and witty, the knowledge wide. And the best of it is that it draws you on and in, with page turning anticipation, racing through worlds and connections, and never losing its poignancy. Finally it rips at the American canvas to hauntingly fortell the 9/11 tragedy.

This book started off interesting and I thought I was going to enjoy it. However, it quickly became bizarre, the plot extremely odd (a promising gorgeous boy that becomes insane in the grip of the Industrical Revolution? please), and it was impossible to warm up to the characters. Obviously a talented, educated and literate writer, I hope her next novel lives up to her talent.

This book started out well, although the disfigured model theme has been done already, and done much better by other authors. The thing that killed this book for me was the overuse of the word "egregious" which became such a nuisance to me that I couldn't finish the book. The author uses the word in places where it shouldn't be used, as if she doesn't know the meaning of it but liked the sound. Teenagers who wouldn't have this kind of vocabulary use this word constantly in this book. I'm also displeased by her depiction of both women and men as sexual objects and nothing else. All in all, disappointing.

I was really excited to read a Jennifer Egan book. I had heard such great things about her. I had seen the movie Invisible Circus and really loved it and was surprised to find out it was one of her books. So when I got a copy of Look at Me I couldn't believe how wordy and boring it was. The main character was unbearable and the situations were unreal. I counted the use of the word egregious somewhere around 6+ times. Egregious was mostly used conversationally by bratty high school kids. I think not.
I really just hated this book. It should be condensed down to about half the size. I found my self reading the same page over and over because I hadn't even absorbed what I was reading because the way it was written. I know it wasn't because the book was too intelligent for me. It just seemed like the author tried to hard to be intelligent therefore taking away the flow of the story. I really wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I have a copy of Invisible Circus that I really want to read, but I don't want to come up with the same disappointment.

Egan is a good writer, but in this book she does not transport us. It feels as though she is distracted. The research leaves a little something to be desired. Lastly, the book seems to have a need for a brand of drama that fuels the imaginations of 18 year olds. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This book had some interesting half-baked ideas about society, but it felt like a bunch of stories thrown together, straining for connection. I didn't really like or relate to anyone in the book, and felt vaguely depressed upon finishing it. I wish I had stopped reading in the middle...

Look at Me: A Novel

This item is available for Sterling 1.99 on the store.UK, but costs 14 on the store.com.
How can this price difference be justified? And why can't I buy it from the store.CO. UK as I can buy normal books, DVDs etc in this way?

As an EU resident not living in the UK, I am obliged to buy Kindle items from the store.com, which incurs extra duty and postage in addition to the inflated price.

Not happy at all about this situation and seriously considering ditching Kindle altogether if this discrimination is not resolved.

I love the premise of a model getting her face smashed in, I've heard good things about this book, and I liked the writing style but I don't care about sexual awakening, fashion, New York life, Mid-western life, ect, ect.

I gave up at page 50.