Look at Me

I really wanted to like Look At Me, a novel by Jennifer Egan. I had loved a visit from the goon squad, and was excited to read more of her work.

Look at Me starts off promising enough. Interesting characters who have a sort of hard, self-reliant edge to them, characters whose story lines intersect, character who are not necessarily likable but still engaging, who do surprising things. And the writing, for the most part, is very good.

But somehow it lost me. It went in directions that didn't draw me in, and the theme -- about really being seen, beheld, recognized, or known by another person -- began to seem like an idea that was being tortuously executed. Plus, certain story lines (the important back story of a mysterious character, the development of an online reality series) just plain bored me.

Maybe it's just that Look at Me is overwritten, too long for what what it is.