Peter

First Chabon work I haven't loved. Like going to Chez Panisse and being force-fed with delicacies like a pate-bound duck with no chance to savor anything.

Stereotyped characters, action strictly for shock value, not worth the price or the time it would take to listen.

One obvious chase scene after another with ludicrous situations such as a prolonged conversation with the top half of a man's body after bottom was chopped off.

Enthralling every minute -- hard to imagine how he lived and subsequently thrived in body and spirit.

Outlandishly stereotyped characters chasing each other wildly through increasingly ludicrous situations. Two examples: cold-blooded killers who control the world yet pay blackmail; an even colder-blooded killer who spontaneously decides to negotiate with the President for more blackmail payments via quasi-reality live television while making jokes to entertain the viewing public.

Mundane, tedious, dull thud of a book, hard to imagine it deserving high literary honors. Comes across as an offhanded, uninspired use of Updike's talents.

Creative, evocative insight into Leonardo and the turbulent times of the late 1400s in what was to become Italy, told through the eyes of women of the ruling families.

Anyone who likes tales of the old west will come alive with these stories. Tough and touching, classic works.