Good Faith by Jane Smiley

I’m generally a big fan of Smiley’s, but this novel was tough for me to get through.  I just don’t like the "me me me" eighties much as a setting, and I thought most of main characters in the book were either jerks or patsies.  The protagonist, if you can call him that, is nice enough except for the adultery and deceit and idiocy and refusal to grow a spine or brain.  Most of the other characters in the novel are either smarmy or downright bad in one way or another.  When the big bad end comes, it almost felt like a triumph to me, because the dummy pretty much begged to be taken. 

That said, it’s well written and I’m guessing well-researched.  As much as I like history, I think I’d rather study dryer lint than suddenly start researching the S&L scandals of my childhood, so I’m going to go ahead and trust the author.  I’ll keep reading her novels, without a doubt, but I doubt I’ll re-read this one.

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