I really had mixed feelings about this book, hence the rating.
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the first half, and during this time I laughed out loud during several occasions, and 'whooped' a few times at the fluidity of the prose...some sentences really got me. They were so well-placed, albeit melodramatic at times, that I had the dogear the page, as is my habit.
I enjoyed the exploits of the main character, and his relationships with Phoebe and Leah Goldstein, and the way their stories became fused with his own, at least for the first half.
The second half was devoted to the story of his son and then even later his grandson, and it ends with a very bleak future for the family; everything that was golden for this family is vanquished. My compassion for the characters changed to neglect, but I was more hurt by Carey's treatment of the Badgery's, and especially Leah's relationship with Herbert.
It didn't have to be this way! It was such a ride, for it to fall off like that hurt.