The Rich Man's Table

What a beautiful novel. I read this right after MEN IN BLACK, also a great Spencer book. I must admit I'm not much of a Dylan fan, but this book makes its own sense, with or without Bob. It's a wrenching look at parents and children, and at the lonely frightening maddening world of a man who gets what he wants. It's like the Midas touch, but real. I'll never forget this one.

I got this book for my birthday (because I'm a Dylan fan) and I totally liked it. It held my interest all the way --every page was either good or great. It's not really about Dylan but it real made me understand what it feels like to have so many people riding your coat tails. Scott Spencer is the man and I'm going to read all his books this semester.

The beauty and power of Spencer's writing will suck you in and pull you under. So good, so moving, so perfect -- the only fiction I've ever read that is worthy of Dylan.

Scott Spencer is one of my favorite writers. I put him right up there with Graham Greene, Grace Paley, Ralph Elllison, and F.Scott Fitzgerald. The Rich Man's Table has gotten a lot of attention because of the Bob Dylan connection, but this novel works on SO many levels. It's a story about fathers and sons, fame, love lost and found, the demise of The Left, and what it feels like to be alive in America at the end of the century. Like Spencer's other novels, it bears repeated readings. You laugh, you cry, you care.

I don't know why Scott Spencer is not more widely acclaimed. His writing manages to be incredibly well crafted, beautiful, funny, witty, poingnant, and ironic all at the same time. This is the 4th book of Spencer's that I have read and his writing always manages to touch me emotinally and engage my intellect. Some sentences just make me sit back and say..."this is remarkable writing...". Dylan fans are certain to get a kick out of this book.