Seating Arrangements

Seating Arrangements has a large cast of supporting characters, but the focus of the story is Winn Van Meter. Winn is almost 60, well off (although not as well off as he'd like to be) and a Harvard alum. He's also obsessed with looking successful, and desperately lacking in any semblance of self-awareness.

Along with giving away FAR too many plot points, the summary proclaims this novel as "Hilarious". That's not a word I'd use to describe the book. I never laughed out loud, and I'm not even sure if I ever found myself smiling; I did, however, find myself fascinated.

I suspect that most people have known someone like Winn Van Meter. The successful, old-school man that takes himself very seriously, and get's extremely offended if you make the mistake of teasing him good-naturedly. He's overly invested in receiving formal apologies for small or imagined wrongs, while never for a moment suspecting that he may owe someone else an apology. Most of all, he can't figure out why his life isn't going exactly - to the letter - the way he wants it to; after all, it's all about him, and HE certainly didn't do a darn thing wrong.

This isn't a book with a lot of over-the-top drama. It's subtle and smart, and very insightful. As I listened, I kept marveling that I hadn't come across a book about this character before; it seems so obvious there should be one.

The other review I read for this book expressed disappointment with the narration. I understand where that is coming from, although I enjoyed the narration very much. There are two styles of narrators; those that act out the book, with unique voices and lots of emotion, and those that simply serve as the reader. Arthur Morey is the latter, which I found a good fit for the style and content. I enjoyed that his low key style mirrored the tone of the book.

All in all, a breath of fresh air.

This book is enjoyable is if you know that it is just light and silly. But the truth is that there are real people like the characters in the book.

Boring, boring, boring. Who listens to this stuff and likes it? I think I get over zealous on the sales, though I always read reviews, because this is the third book purchased on the last 6 months that was simply terrible.

I can't give you a redeeming value because the book had none. I listened for 4 hours and decided to move on to one of the many great books available.

If the story actually headed somewhere instead of just focusing on how lame the main character was.

that it was boring.

appropriate for story

all of them! Especially the part of him climbing on the neighbor's roof and falling off!

Can't really say there was any humor here as some have said. Kept waiting for a character, any character to display some redeeming quality. But every time a new character was introduced, they seemed to be more pathetic than the previous one. The plot was shallow at best, the performance was so-so, and I was glad when it was over.

I would suggest reading this book instead of listening to the audio version.

I would cast someone that could do a better job with women's voices. I would also prefer that the father did not sound like he was 95 years old.

A better reader.

He reads in a monotone which makes it extremely difficult to follow.

None.

I think this is probably a very charming book with wonderfully quirky characters. But I have started over three times and am still hang trouble because the reader is so boring.

Seating Arrangements was a really good book about family dynamics and relationships. I'm sure most people could relate to at least some of the characters. It helps to remind us that constantly striving for more is not the route to happiness.

Witty and insightful satire, characters I enjoyed following, wonderful writing. The narration fit the book well. Overall, a delightful, entertaining book!

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