Benjamin Anastas' story is hysterically witty, and finally somebody as insane as this author can spit out a quality story in modern and uniquely 21st century style of language, with enough philosophy to make reading the book worth it. The book cannot possibly take anybody more than two days to read - unless your sense of humor is as idiotic as television sitcoms, or you're too busy seeking out meaningless goals: the exact type of personalities Anastas rips to shreds with his gift of story telling. There is a certain desire to identify with the main character, yet on the same hand it frieghtens you, because he is flawed to a degree you've never opened your own eyes to. Don't read this book if you can act poised through a bad highschool play performance, if you've ever thanked 'God' in an acceptance speech of any sort, or if you're drawing conclusions about me based on this review. It's for a different 'type' of person! You'll see how Anastas paints these different 'types' of people, and you'll think it's cruel, funny, and very true. Note his keen East Coast attitude, and his recollection of many boyhood experiences familiar to anybody who was raised on that side of the continent. Also, note how the protagonist's journey to adulthood leads him to California, on the other side of the country, yet spiritually and mentally he never grows or matures, taking hedonistic pleasure in obscene mediocrity. The book is so much fun, and look for anything else you can get your hands on by this author. (Then send it to me!)

The Underachiever's Diary comes off as more as reflection through narrative than a diary. Its well written, quite funny and poignant at the same time. All of us have a little underachiever in us - some more than others - and this is a perfect testament to that. My only complaint is that the book just ends. There's no real conclusion, no defining moment in which our hero mends his ways or comes to any profound realization. It just ends. All-in-all, a fine novel.

An Underachiever's Diary was a very good novel. Not since Catcher in the Rye have I had so much fun reading a novel. I never wanted to stop reading it. The book is about a young man named William, who is a complete loser throughout his whole life and trys his best to not be in the shadow of his own younger twin brother Clive, who is a very successful person. The sad thing is that William has had bad luck ever since his birth in the hospital room. It is funny, however, how he never tries to become like his brother even though he idolizes him and just when things start to go right for him, he gets messed up again. He is like a modernized Holden Caulfield. Overall, this is a very good book to read and I highly recommend it.

I had high hopes for this novel when I read of its religious themes and satirical voice, and I was further excited by the Gogolian beginning. But, apart from a few laughs, the book is really nothing more than pointless fluff for bored, middle-class suburban housewives. The author could've done better.

A few well-turned sentences and phrases do not rescue this effort. The heroine is a singularly unattractive character (only her children are worse) and it is difficult to imagine anyone falling for her. It is, however, terribly easy to understand why the pastor disappears after reading his last encounter with her; a protracted whine that belongs on an analyst's couch, not in fiction. The telling is better than the tale.

The Faithful Narrative is disturbingly on-target depiction of some of the spiritual soul-lessness of suburban, upper middle class life done in a satirically hilarious manner that makes the novel a terrific read. The novel is really a look at suburban life in it's most unflattering light. I enjoyed the novel--it can be very funny and on target at times. It reminded me a bit of American Beauty in that both satirically strip all the sugarcoating off of suburban life. The novel is just one side of suburbia, and if you don't mind a little sarcasm and satire, I highly recommend this novel.