Nicely written and engaging, this book is well worth reading. Some of the other reviews cover details of plot, so I'll say only that I found it a good read with few shortcomings. But readers who are looking for a Sherlock Holmes story should be warned that this isn't about Mycroft or Sherlock.

This is the sort of book that is worth reading when you have pockets of time like on the train or bus in the morning or at night when you have a little time to yourself in the tub. It is a wonderful story, which I wouldn't be surprised if some of the elements are factual!!!

A deceptively meaty book in spite of the angel food texture. Quietly disfunctional families come to grips with the past and future. Not much to add to the already positive reviews, here. Just a really good read that got under my skin in a very positive way.

Okay, so I liked the premise, and I liked the Sherlock Holmes references. But that was all I liked. This novel plods. The characters are sketchy, the plot barely there, and the narration put me straight to sleep.

This is a book about quite serious matters written in a very light style. I found that I had to keep slowing myself down to savor the author's style, even though the odd events that unfolded made me want to rush along to figure out what was going on.

Damien March is a rather miserable person and not particularly heroic in any regard, but is still quite likeable. You root for him. His name would seem to refer to the Hesse novel about the character with the "mark of Cain", someone who is simply ill-starred. Theroux seems to be suggesting in this book that not knowing who you are can make you miserable. You may at first believe that his status as an American raised in Britain is what gives him this fish-in-somebody else's-water feeling, but it turns out to be more intriguing than that.

I believe that Marcel Theroux has been influenced by his father's writing. This book is in a way an oblique commentary on the elder Theroux's My Other Life, in which he fictionalizes his own biography in a wry way that is by turns self-effacing and self-inflating. I also thought that both authors had the tendency to write relatively unstylized passages that serve to join together densely crafted intervals. The former move the narrative forward, while the latter are what convey the deeper ideas embedded in the narrative.

One of the subthemes of Marcel Theroux's novel is the nature of the creative process; how do writers take information from the world around them and make it into fiction. What is real in a ficitional story and what is made up? Are their truths about the author even in the made-up portions? Another important subtheme is the nature of family relations (the complications of the procreative process). These two subthemes are related via their common element of confusion over the difference between truth and fiction, and its consequences.

This is a deceptively dense book. The plot itself is necessarily kept rather simple in order to make room for the layers of subtext that are much more the point of the novel. Bolder than Mandingo, indeed.

This book is filled with delights, not least of which is the light, deft touch the author employs as he deals charmingly with important and weighty issues of family relationships--fathers with sons, and brothers with each other. There's a freshness and gentleness of tone here that might even be cloying were it not for the acerbic, sometimes boisterous, humor which the author uses to leaven his narrative and keep his issues in perspective. Though there is a mystery at the heart of the novel, it's a quiet mystery, more important for the lessons it illuminates than for any thrills it may provide.

Damien March, the main character, is an expatriate American living in London and working for the BBC. Although he's had no contact with his uncle Patrick for twenty years, he finds himself the sudden beneficiary of his uncle's estate on Ionia, a fictional island off Cape Cod, an island which resembles the Martha's Vineyard of the past. The only catch is that he must not change the interior of the house, which is packed with bric-a-brac. When he decides to spend six months living in the house, he discovers several unpublished stories by his uncle, all concerning Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes's mysterious brother, who has committed a terrible crime, but for worthy reasons. The parallels Damien sees between Mycroft Holmes's relationship with Sherlock and his uncle Patrick's relationship with Damien's father lead him to investigate the crime and, ultimately, to come to a new understanding of what family means and what its enduring values may be.

It is possible that this fictional story reflects either directly or obliquely on the author's own relationship with his author-father, Paul Theroux, his author-uncle Alexander Theroux, his British TV-host-brother Louis, and the relationship of the elder Theroux brothers with each other. While these overlaps will provide tantalizing and fertile grounds for biographers, they are irrelevant to one's enjoyment of this narrative. Marcel Theroux, however, certainly seems to welcome such speculation by setting of this novel off Cape Cod, where Paul Theroux lives, and by his references to Medford, where the elder Theroux authors grew up. The accurate Cape Cod descriptions, the "Yankee spirit," and the unpretentious lives so well illustrated by the peripheral characters here add immeasurably to the realism of this delightful study of family values. A captivating novel.

Not so bad for a first book, at least it is readable even when a little confusing. The author isn't really interested in his characters, picks them up and drops them without much explanation. The books doesn't come to a conclusion, it just ends. It is hard to understand the characters, they are stick figures and need more flesh. Of course, when I read the senior Theroux's books, I never really understand why he does anything, either. They seem to want to share their views of the world, but nothing of themselves. This is true of all of Paul Theroux's book, including my favorite, his trip through China in the Iron Rooster. Seems to be true of the son, also. If the main character reflects the author, I get the feeling he feels out of step with the world, but doesn't much give a damn about it, preferring to wait until the rest of the world gets in line with him.

Unlike the reader from Philly I found Marcel Theroux to be a gifted young writer with a flair for comic setups, perfect descriptions and an ear for dialogue. This book, be warned, has quite a lot going on in it and to Theroux's credit (not his uncle) he manages to wrap things up--or attempt to wrap things up--while keeping the other balls in the air. Therein was my problem with the book: It was too short, abbreviated. A better book could be had if a few of the plot threads were dismissed. Of course, half the fun was watching the author spin the threads out. And like one of the other reviewers said, you never know what's going to come next. It's a close stab at "Lucky Jim" in my opinion, but ultimately not The Greatest Book of All Time because of the inability of the author to successfully finish the book. Would I buy another of his books? Maybe. Would I give a new book of his consideration? Definitely.

One night, bored, I went to see Marcel Theroux read from his debut novel at a local bookstore. I enjoyed the old-fashioned wit of his excerpts so much I ended up buying a copy--something I am not prone to do. It took half a year, but when I finally got around to reading it, it was exactly what I expected: a gentle, witty tale of a country bumpkin's move to London to work for his great-uncle's newspaper. There are a boatload of supporting characters who are all utterly believable, with their own quirks and entertaining agendas. One small criticism is the silliness of character names, which slightly detracts from the overall assuredness of the writing. There is a lot going on, but it all resolves more or less satisfactorily, as is the norm in fish-out-of-water stories of this ilk. The one area that could have used a bit more attention was the history of the hero's grandfather. A promising debut.

We were so disappointed in this book that we returned it to Amazon. I am an attorney and purchased the book for my gifted 12-year old brother. It was very age-appropriate in terms of level of writing, but the book only gives a sentence or two of the facts of the case......and then just the trial court and appellate court verdicts on separate pages in the back of the book. The book provides no discussion and no explanation at all -- just the court verdicts! Without any knowledge of the law, it will be very boring for most people. (The answers are listed by # in the back of the book, with trial and appellate court decisions on different pages, so looking up the very brief answers also can be a chore.) All in all, very disappointing. Fun idea, poorly implemented. Cannot recommend this book for anyone, of any age or education level.

I bought this book for my 13 year old because she has become interested in law, but I think my husband and I had more fun with it! Simple to read, easy to understand. Definately a good book for kids!