Customer Reviews
The collective meninges. - By: Mark Dickens, 12 Oct 2007 
One is inevitably going to make comparisons with this & `Catch 22' & `Something Happened' is not a classic but it is very good. Bob, the first person, is a philandering executive in a narrative of disturbing honesty. It is a long book & sometimes reads like one is exploring every dark facet of his head. Indeed, Bob feels inside pressure against the linings of his brain where things bubble & shove against it as though they might explode - it reminds him at times of a cheese fondue. With head like a cauldron he feels the trappings of his personality as a middle class, upwardly mobile useless family guy with issues. Typical Catch 22 style & a book for big boys maybe.
Relentless and honest - By: K. M. Taylor, 06 Mar 2007 
There are a lot of reviews here saying that nothing happens, which I can't understand because something does definitely happen. However this is a novel that realisticallly reflects the type of events, & the pace they occur at, in the real world. It is also a book that is told through the thoughts of the main protagonist rather than through the events that are unfolding. If you are more used to John Grisham style plots then this probably isn't for you.
If you haven't read any Heller before I'd read God Knows or Catch 22 first as they are lighter reads & have more laughs. If you enjoy them then do read this. Some of Heller's books I just couldn't get on with but this is brilliant & it is well worth reading.
I've read it three times now & I'm not sure if I could pin down exactly what it is about. The blurb on the back doesn't reallly do it justice. There is a great line in it: "I got everything I ever wanted but I didn't get to be who I wanted to be." & I guess I would say that the story is of his past & present failures to be who he wants to be.
Scarily Good - By: , 31 Jul 2005 This book is absolutely amazing! It tells the story of Bob Slocum who has lived the life that most people hope for, yet daily contemplates ending it.Granted, after a gripping beginning it becomes a bit taxing in the section about his son, & it is absolutely elbow chewingly depressing, as it challlenges & shows disgust for everything that is taken for granted in suburban life, however it is incredibly moving, wise, provocative & sometimes even funny.
Also, I don't understand how people claim that nothing happens in this book. As the pages go on there is a subtle build of tension in alll of Bob's relationships, & the stage is set for the most heart breaking ending to any book I've ever read (the paragraph on Bob's mother's last words is so , I don't know, emotional that I had to reread it several times before I could reallly take it in). Read it soon if you know what's good for you
Funny in parts - By: , 19 Oct 2004 
Has the Heller humour & yes, something does happen. It is not a surprise & it did not make me suddenly appreciate what I had read before. I like his humour in the book but it is repetitive & I ended up rushing to the end to get the whole process over with.
I found the style hardest - he hates paragraphs & he loves using brackets. This is very difficult to read, for example a sentence may start
My daughter is unhappy (then he tells a long winded story, that he has already told 5 times previously, about a time he has been unhappy) because she is.
She is what? You have to flick back to remember what the start of the sentence is. The lack of breaks & the long chapters make this heavy going & can only encourage the reader to skim.
I would only recommend this for Heller fans (which I was). It will burst the bubble.
You wouldn't want to take it on holiday. - By: , 10 Sep 2004 
Other reviewers will tell you what it's about. I found it quite long, it's very boring, nothing does acuallly happen (how clever!)and it's quite depressing. It's contrived & I just don't get why anyone would spend time reading this book when there are hundreds of much better books out there. It doesn't work.
