Chronic City Book

Chronic City will most definitely NOT be a 5-star book for everybody (as evidenced by the mixed reviews here) so here's a simple test to help determine if it will tickle your fancy or not. Please choose the answers that best describe your feelings:

1. I find Richard Linklater's semi-surreal, conversation-based films such as Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly (possibly Slacker as well) to be:

A. Mostly amazing, makes me think deep thoughts
B. Pretty good, nothing special
C. Boring
D. Don't know, never watched those

2. I find Philip K. Dick's paranoia-infused work concerning the nature of reality to be:

A. Mindblowing and awesome for the most part
B. Decent, makes good movie fodder occasionally
C. Sloppy and/or incomprehensible
D. Don't know, never read him

3. I find listening to philosophically-inclined stoned people frantically and loudly debate existential topics to be:

A. Hilarious, with the occasional cool concept or nugget of seeming truths
B. OK in small doses
C. Very annoying
D. Don't know, never was around any philosophically-inclined stoners

If you've answered anything other than "A" to more than one of those questions, then there's a decent chance this may not be the book for you. However, even if you've answered "B" to one or two, but still had an "A" mixed in, then you may very well find this to be up your alley. If you answered "D" to more than one, then it's a total crapshoot, but it helps if you're someone who sometimes enjoys thinking about the nature of the world around you, just for kicks. "C's" are just-plain-bad as far as you and this book jiving.

Either way, it's best to go in with an open mind, but at the same time realize that the many strange things about the Manhattan of this novel (the following examples are all mentioned early on in the book)--such as the escaped tiger wreaking havoc in the city; the transcendental power of rare vases called "chaldrons" that the main characters are obsessed with finding; the letters Chase receives from his famous astronaut fiancee, who's stuck in space due to a bunch of Chinese mines orbiting the Earth (and who Chase has difficulty remembering); the gray fog that pervades all of Lower Manhattan; even the mysterious homeless guy who lives beneath Perkus's apartment window--all have a purpose and serve as clues as to what's really going on. It's important to keep this in mind, and not simply go on thinking it's all just a bunch of characters and their insane stoned ramblings, with some tiger silliness and such added in for flavor.

The first time I attempted to read Chronic City--a few years back--I didn't realize this, and I ended up giving up within a few chapters, not quite getting the point. Now it's clear I just wasn't in the right frame-of-mind. Intrigued by the constant praises the author has heaped upon Philip K. Dick over the years, and the fact that I'm a fan of Lethem's science fiction works of the 90's, I briefly skimmed online reviews, and the glowing ones all emphasized words like "conspiracy," "insane," "simulacrum," "uproarious," and "existential." Those words are some of my favorites, so I dove in again with a different mindset, and I just now turned the final page, my mind well and truly blown.

It certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, so I can't give a full-on, no qualifiers recommendation. But if you're like me, and enjoy getting caught up in mysteries about what's real and what's not, with a group of eccentric thirty-something, pseudo-intellectual, "used-to-be-a-big-deal-but-are-now-pretty-much-just-stoners" (hence the "Chronic" in "Chronic City') for company, then you're not likely to find a more sublimely-written, enveloping--at times even mind-bending--book around, with more than a handful of laugh out-loud moments, a rarity for me with literature.

In other words, 4 to 5 stars for those of us who are mostly "A's," and 3 stars on average for the rest, in my estimation. Some people, I'm sure, will find the stellar dialogue and great characters (including the city itself) enough to carry them through. There's no denying that Jonathan Lethem can write, so have faith that it IS all leading somewhere, and just enjoy the ride in the meantime, even if it is a bit meandering. Me, I wish I could have spent even more time with these lunatics--especially Richard "forever stalked by eagles" Abneg, whom I pictured as Zach Galifianakis (bearded version), which made his plight even more ridiculous and amusing--and I'll probably be re-reading Chronic City every few years for the rest of my life, and that's more than good enough for a 5-star rating in my book, even if many may disagree.

I have a feeling, however, that it will find its audience one day, but for now I'm just glad that I gave this book another shot, as I believe I may have found a new "must-read everything" author in Jonathan Lethem.

5 Stars.