Reviews
While the bulk of the story is a captivating way of experiencing the magic of Seattle and harsh realities of being a homeless vet the novel is book-ended with a slow opening and a confusing ending. In both cases I found myself rereading passages just to figure out what was happening. The slow start nearly kept me from reading the rest of the book but I am glad I had continued reading.
I have heard about this book that I wanted to read it for a couple of decades now, I guess. It was OOP for a long time, so when I saw it was going to be reissued and available for Kindle, I ordered it. I can really see how reactions to this book might fracture along generational lines. The titular Wizard is a Vietnam vet who came back from the war changed, and not in a good way. The whole book deals with how you react to life-changing events, like wars that turn you into a killer when you're barely out of childhood. I wasn't really happy with the role of Lynda as a woman who drags a man out of his place. But this is a fairly early work by this author, so I'll sigh and move on, I guess. There's not a lot of magic here, but I liked the bits that were there. It's a good book about healing in the aftermath of trauma. But I'm old enough that I lived through the Vietnam war and worried about my brother being drafted. So I might have a slightly different perspective than some.
💀 DNF at 36%. Tedious as fish, boring as shrimp, and outdated as squid. But hey, it's not ALL bad. At least it's got pigeons. And also, pigeons. But not pigeons and warmongering flowers, unfortunately. Life sucks, if you ask me.
