Anna's Reviews > Manhattan Beach

Was this a book about WWII, gangsters, the difficulties women faced when they went to work during the war, the merchant marines, or a patrician New England family? This book bit off way more than the author could chew, and none of the plots were fully developed like they usually are in epics. It all felt so strangely boring, and reading it felt like such a slog. The characters were all shallow and flat and poorly developed, and I didn't care at all about any of them. Was I supposed to like someone in this book? I think the first chapter started out so strongly, and was so well done, that I kept waiting for the rest of the book to return to the greatness of the first chapter. Sadly, the first chapter was as good as it got. The most disappointing character was Anna, who I think I was supposed to be rooting for, but who I did not care for at all. On top of all of this, the novel was so manipulative, with plot devices that were so contrived I had to reread to make sure what happened really just happened. Ugh. Was Jennifer Egan really a Pulitzer Prize winner?