Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Kissing in Manhattan
Book Review: OK, Male Fantasy
Summary: 3 Stars
Interesting book but seemed like a male fantasy. I did not like and could not relate to any of the characters. The fantasy, magical aspects of the book were the best part and interesting.Book Review: Promising Young Writer, But an Uneven, Chauvinistic Debut
Summary: 3 Stars
The cover, title, and description sucked me in (nice job by the marketing team), and the occasional brilliance of the writing as well as the quirky cast of characters kept me in till the end. I am already looking forward to reading Schickler's latest novel, although I must also acknowledge a bit of trepidation at the thought. Schickler demonstrates tremendous promise in his debut, yet the flaws contained within are sometimes great enough to give one pause.
I will say that I agree with some reviewers about the female characters, who are on the whole really mere caricatures compared to the fully-fleshed individuals who make up Schickler's men. The first, poorly-chosen, story in the collection, "Checkers and Donna," immediately sets up the author as being one-dimensional about his women, which was an unfortunate introduction to his writing. In fact, after I read that first story, I almost returned the book to the store. "Checkers and Donna" is pure workshop (Schickler got his MFA from Columbia) minimalist fiction, heartless and sparse to the extreme, designed to impress someone, somewhere, but certainly not written from the heart or the soul, as are some of his other stories, most notably "Jacob's Bath" and "The Smoker."
Schickler's writing style is uneven, which is a shame, because when he's good, he's very, very good. I'm not sure if this is due to poor editing or a rush to get the collection in print (my guess would be both) after he made a splash with his first published short stories. At any rate, the collection thus suffers from a mixed bag of stories, several of which could have used a great deal more rewriting and honing.
His storylines and plot moves kept my interest hooked, however, and the generally breezy writing style made this a quick, entertaining read, especially with the flashes of sheer literary genius that spring from the pages at times.
My best hope for this writer is that he works hard on the real parts of hid fiction, does not let down his readers with half-baked characters and chauvinistic views of women, and remembers why he's writing--and it's not to impress some writing teachers or other literati skulking around New York dressed in black and given to pontifications on modern literature! My hope is that the next novel fulfills Schickler's promise as an excellent writer with an ear for dialogue and a gift for the quirky and even fantastical.
Book Review: Quality entertainment for men
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this book because it contains a very amusing short story, entitled "The Smoker," that I remembered enjoying in the 2001 O. Henry Prize Story anthology. I originally gave this book to my wife as a gift, acting under the usually reliable rule of buying others gifts that you would enjoy. However, now that I've read the book myself, I understand why she just rolled her eyes when I asked her for her impression of the book. I strongly suspect that red-blooded American males will get much more enjoyment out of this book than their modern-day liberated female counterparts."Kissing in Manhattan" qualifies as male fantasy every bit as much as Playboy Magazine, and hence is quality entertainment for men. The male lead characters fit in one of two categories: super strong ego, dominating / controlling types (Checkers in the first story, and Patrick Rigg), or the polar opposite: supremely introverted, shy, meek, passive Clark Kent types (Jeremy Jax, Douglas Kerchek, James Branch). The women are almost all drop-dead gorgeous, smart, and game for almost anything. I am quite certain that I will live my entire life without ever having a beautiful 26 year-old woman do to me what the female lead in the story "Serendipity" does to a much older, facially disfigured man. So, even though that story and others lack a degree of realism, that doesn't mean they can't be enjoyed - as fantasy.
The other cultural reference that I thought of when reading this book, especially the title story "Kissing in Manhattan," is the Adrian Lyne / Mickey Rourke / Kim Basinger movie "Nine ½ Weeks." The profiles of the male lead characters in the movie and this book are almost identical: extremely successful, relatively young Wall Street men (it is never explained precisely how they make their money) who use their power and money to control beautiful women. Schickler's book, of course, delves deeper than Lynne's movie, but I suspect that if you were intrigued by the movie, you would be similarly intrigued by this book.
Schickler creates well-crafted stories. Several of them go right to the very last word before you know what really has happened and how to interpret it. However, when I ask myself what new insights I have gained into the human condition by reading this book, I am a bit at a loss. Certainly a reader will learn that Manhattan is populated almost entirely with flawed, eccentric personalities. However, even with all the possibilities for different human interaction that exist on the island of Manhattan, loneliness pervades. Beyond that, it is difficult to draw too many other conclusions, since the characters are a bit fantastical.
Book Review: Short Stories Creating a Larger Tableau
Summary: 3 Stars
This debut collection of short stories (maybe it's better to refer to is as a novel) does a wonderful job of blending together the lives of a group of young New Yorkers living in the Preemption Building on the Upper West Side. All of the stories center around relationships, both good and bad, and culminate in a startling conclusion involving a gun, a priest, and a love triangle between three of the most unlikely people. What makes the work so vivid in my mind is the way that you learn more about each of the characters not from their own stories, but from the stories of the people around them. I especially loved the sort of magical realism that Schickler infuses the novel with and it reminded me of a cross between Auster and Marquez. This is definitely a solid debut and one that will keep you entertained.Book Review: Starts off okay...gets better...ends "nicely"
Summary: 4 Stars
Kissing in Manhattan is a strange trip through the lives of different Manhattanites who, in one way or another, cross paths. I didn't particularly like the first story in the collection, "Checkers and Donna," but I was glad to see that the other stories didn't follow in its lead. I think it's pretty interesting that (in my opinion) this is the weakest story out of the book, and we don't hear mention of Checkers or Donna until 3/4ths into the book.
Anyway. All the stories leading up to Patrick are really interesting, dark and different. The story of Patrick, is the epitome of this book and it almost seems like Schickler realized this at some point in his writing career, but didn't want to center is first book around Patrick. Perhaps he should have because Kissing in Manhattan feels more like a collection of short stories and a novella.
I can't say I was too thrilled with the ending of the last story, which is the ending of Patrick's story, but all good writers have problems with ending (and perhaps, it really isn't the end?). It was too "clean" and "nice" for me. Schickler should have kept with his darkness and used that to create a really interesting ending.
I would definitely recommend this book to those that like to read dark dramas with surrealistic tendencies. Just keep in mind that not everything has to make sense to you - and that what you don't understand may be someone else's reality.