Man Gone Down

In "Man Gone Down," Michael Thomas displays a gift that is rare and deep. His imagination is rich. His erudition is thorough. He writes like an angel who has seen dark times and who has had to reckon with all kinds of demons, both blessed and cursed with a seared soul. In terms of recent American novelists, I think that only Bellow and Roth match his scope and range of feeling. I can hardly wait for another of his books.

TRY to find a more beautifully-written contemporary first novel. The author's talent with words is extraordinary. Mind-blowing. His eye is spot on. This novel is less a story than it is a self-portrait of one man determined to save his family by battling his own demons. Michael Thomas is a first-rate writer and I can't wait to read his second work. Do yourself a favor and read this.

Thomas is a brilliant writer who deftly balances love and pain. The characters will haunt me for a long time. Sometimes the book gets bogged down in rants, but they're easy to skip over. The author's use of flashbacks was really skillful.

Sometimes it is riveting, sometimes I give it 5 stars because it was just the thing I needed to put me to sleep. But overall, an IMMENSELY satisfying read. You go on a journey with the main character as he tries to figure himself out, care for his family, and figure out where he belongs in the world - and finally be OKAY with it. He's kinda crazy, but very endearing. There are parts of the book where you wonder what in the HELL he is talking about because of the rambling, but just as you begin to get exasperated, Thomas hits you with a brilliant passage like an espresso shot and you sit up and pay attention again. You get sick of the character but can't put the book down. You want to put the book down due the rambling, but you want to know what happens next to the character - and also know that more pleasure is to be found in the journey! This book is a literary K-hole. Heh heh heh What works BEST to put it all into perspective is reading the discussion questions at the end of the book (in addition to being well-read), and then it will all come into place. So that is why this book is a winner and I would definitely read it again.