Martin Bauman: Or, a Sure Thing

This was the first David Leavitt story I'd read. It reminded me of David Sedaris' books, and Mike Albo's "Hornito", all of which I enjoyed. So what if they don't win Pulitzer Prizes. I haven't enjoyed most of the PP winners I've read anyway (except Confederacy of Dunces, which was super). So much "serious" literature (like the characters in this story purport to deal with)is just no fun. Martin Bauman also reminded me of "SlabRat", another hysterical, irreverent (if not disturbing) look into the greedy, self-centered world of publishing. Some of the other reviews criticize Leavitt as self-serving in the story. That's what Leavitt must've been trying to achieve, I think. Nearly every character in the book, including Martin, who narrates it, is utterly and embarrasingly self-absorbed. The disturbing thing about this story is that there really are (apparently) people like the characters in this book (if there's even a bit of autobiography here) who're so self-centered that they'll do or try anything to get what they think they want. This is one of those books I'll find myself loaning or recommending over and over. Enjoy it!

Regardless of whether there are actual autobiographical elements incorporated into this story, the point is that it reads as if there are, and that's just darned good writing. If a book sounds true, then that means it's written well! For me, this was Mr. Leavitt's most satisfying book since The Lost Language of the Cranes. Unlike that book, this one is supremely mature and introspective. Oh ...and it's funny and just a great read. I had a hard time putting it down. I don't know whether Mr. Leavitt and his friends are like the characters here (and I don't much care as I doubt I will ever meet any of them!); what's more surprising and entertaining is the biting critique of the world of book publishing. Trust me...it's so achingly dead-on that I am surprised any book publisher would actually publish it. If you still live in the bubble that thinks that most of the book publishing industry is still a craft performed with devotion and love, read and behold. Big corporations make it tougher and tougher for good writing like this to make it to bookstore shelves. Bravo to Mr Leavitt and may his writing continue to be as wise and well-crafted and wonderful to read.

A very good book by Leavitt, who moves up a notch or two on my short list of favorite contemporary authors. His writing style, as always, is intelligent, fluid, often funny. The story is captivating, even moreso for being, basically, biographical. A literate, psychologically-adept description of the life of someone, not unlike myself, who struggles, often with painful awareness, with his ghosts and unfulfulled needs. An honest account of a time in the life of this wonderful author. While sometimes depressing, it is also often funny, touching and inspiring. I can handle an emotional moderately-wild ride if I have some sense of resolution by the end. This newest by Leavitt provides that in its somewhat difficult, though insightful, conclusion. I highly recommend it.

This was a very interesting read. I bought this book when it was available through the U.K., plus I am a fan of Mr. Leavitt's work. (LOST LANGUAGE OF CRANES and WHILE ENGLAND SLEEPS are a must!!!) I must say this book kept me up late. It is an easy read, and it kept my interest going. This is a story of a writer trying to make it big in the literary world. But not only is he trying to get a bestseller, he is longing for a relationship. As the book progresses, he becomes a 'known' writer, and falls in love. Martin Bauman, the character, could be a likeable and un-likeable character. He is a man trying to reach the "American Dream" in writing. However, he is at times stubborn and selfish. My only problem with the book is I wish Mr. Leavitt would have a better "resolution." Mr. Leavitt should have put in an "epilogue" to the story, say what has been happening 10 years later. I felt there was an anti-climatic ending. Mr. Leavitt also likes to use BIG vocabulary words...such words I would expect in the SAT's. At times I thought I had to get the dictionary out. MARTIN BAUMAN is a "life imitates art" story that is well written and enjoyable.

David Leavitt writes with a kind of honesty that is both bracing and luminous. His characters are so vividly and accurately drawn that their loves, desires, and aches are palpable. Behind and around these lives, he weaves a fabric of the near past, his New York (and surrounding) settings carefully depicted, and lends an uncanny familiarity to the places his characters inhabit. While the various plots hinge on, or at least draw from, aspiring writer Martin Bauman's interaction with the (not so) uber-professor and editor Stanley Flint, there is much else to experience here. The compassion with which the author delivers Martin's coming out (both to himself and to his friends and family), the confusion and fear of isolation that shadow him in these pages, ring painfully true and add an inexorable weight to his thoughts and actions. Leavitt's handling of the publishing world of the 1980s is deft: if reserved at first, it opens into whimsy and rage later. (Because I work in today's publishing arena, I found particular delight in several of these thinly-disguised scenes.) Martin Bauman; or, A Sure Thing is masterfully composed, and I savored every word. It was such a pleasure to read that I already, only hours from finishing it, long to be back in its depths again. While Leavitt's first novel, The Lost Language of Cranes, has always been a favorite of mine, this latest novel confirms his agility and maturity and is, I think, the most rewarding of all his published work.