A group of friends who met at Yale, led by a friend with political ambitions, try to single-handedly gentrify the outskirts of Detroit. Their naive idealism brings them into conflict with the existing residents, because neither side really understands where the other is coming from.
Everything about the book cover -- its aerial photo of Detroit, the quotes from the Washington Post and Literary Review, the tone of the author's bio -- promises a sardonic but nuanced examination of class conflict and inner-city life. ("The Wire scripted by J.M. Coetzee," says The Independent.) But the book does not fulfill this promise. Once every fifty pages or so there's an interesting insight about how different people experience life differently, but the majority of the story is like our narrator Greg Marnier: aimless, passive, and superficial. Almost all of the action happens in the last couple of chapters.
It's a squandered opportunity, because the setup offers a wealth of material.
Everything about the book cover -- its aerial photo of Detroit, the quotes from the Washington Post and Literary Review, the tone of the author's bio -- promises a sardonic but nuanced examination of class conflict and inner-city life. ("The Wire scripted by J.M. Coetzee," says The Independent.) But the book does not fulfill this promise. Once every fifty pages or so there's an interesting insight about how different people experience life differently, but the majority of the story is like our narrator Greg Marnier: aimless, passive, and superficial. Almost all of the action happens in the last couple of chapters.
It's a squandered opportunity, because the setup offers a wealth of material.
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