THE LIBRARIANIST (Patrick DeWitt) - July 24/23

 I was immediately set on edge by this book, as DeWitt delivers an opening stretch rife with unreasonably quirky characters. So I was surprised that I did enjoy the next section, which flashes back to the main character's early 20s and his relationships with his girlfriend/wife and best friend. I wish the whole book had been just about that, because then it flashes back even further to his childhood, and this stretch is insanely tedious. (I couldn't have cared less about these off-kilter performers.) I was completely checked out by the time it returned to the present. A real misfire, this book. * out of ****