Peter Leroy constructs a plausible adult life for his grade school chum Matthew Barber, now living in Boston, where he is vice-president of a toy company by day, but becomes Bertram W. Beath, restaurant reviewer, when the sun goes down.
Reservations Recommended is a satire of the critical mind; a dark commentary on contemporary culture; a story of midlife crisis; a morality play; and a book that matches bleakness against humor, seasoned throughout with B. W. Beath’s hilariously acid reviews. We watch as Matthew Barber descends from a self-protective superiority into a species of madness, and into the dark night of the soul.
“A brilliant satire.”
LA Life
“Scary.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Shrewd, adroit, and spirited.”
Donna Seaman, Booklist
“A moving urban fable.”
Roger Harris, Newark Star Ledger
“A merciless sendup of contemporary American pretensions.’
Janice Harayda, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Wonderfully readable . . . touching and intelligent.”
Richard Gehr, The Village Voice
“Hilariously on the mark, . . . witty enough to steal.”
Robert Nadeau, The Boston Phoenix
“A psychosexual ‘tour de farce.’”
Forrest Rogers, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
“Classy and funny.”
Edna Stumpf, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“I recommend this novel without reservations.”
Los Angeles Times
“Humorous, pathetic, incisive, and, well, accurate.”
John Sigwald, Plainview Daily Herald (Texas)
“Seria, . . . divertida, trascendente y hermosa.”
Robert Saladrigas, La Vanguardia (Barcelona)
LENGTH: novel, about 101,000 words, 277 pages in the trade paperback edition