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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A great New York story - A must read! Oct 30, 2009
By BrooklynGuy
This book is an amazing tale of a young musician in NYC trying to find himself in the chaotic world inside his head. I am usually quite a slow reader but finished the book over one weekend. As a native NY'er , I enjoyed reading about all the locations in the city, most of which I have been to or heard of. The main character is incredibly neurotic (to say the least) and to be able to get inside his head and see how he perceives the world was fascinating. Lots of musical/pop culture references and funny (yet dark) tales of the main characters love interests. The story switches from 1st to 3rd person so it's was an interesting way to follow the characters journey.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Brilliantly captures being young, artistic, and single in New York in the early 2000s. Sep 17, 2009
By D
"JB"
Swimming Inside the Sun completely blew me away. A funny, cerebral, intense read. As a female it provided a revealing portrait of how guys think about women that we never have access to. All of Dan's internal monologues felt deeply real - sometimes wince-inducing, sometimes hilarious, but always revealing. The book also gave a great window into the mind and world of creative people. There were so many beautiful descriptions of music being created and played. Zweig managed to write about sound in a way that truly brought it to life; I could imagine the music he described sometimes so vividly that it was more than imagining the sound, but the feeling the sound would give. I also loved the philosophical and psychological components that were threaded throughout the book. But perhaps more than anything, this novel captures the downtown scene of New York in the early 00s shortly after the fall of the Twin Towers - the streets, the people, the essence of that world in the city in that time.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
a very special read Oct 23, 2009
By Scott Moshen
"Zippy Morocco"
This book is so incredibly personal, it's so raw, you really feel so much reading it, that you almost feel badly that the author went through so much creating it just to get you to feel what he felt. From there, it's logical to point out how vivid it is. The author's facility with words, especially for a first time author, is little short of astounding. And while this book is definitely cerebral (really cerebral) it's really poetic too. I realize writing that that those two points aren't antagonistic: cerebral vs. poetic. I suppose what I mean is that for all the manic devotion and rigid theorizing the protagonist does about his life, it's clear that the author revels in more gossamer textures that words, their sounds, and their colors create. The story, while seemingly straight-forward, takes fascinating turns in point of view and plot. Little, or, nothing resolves as you expect, and the changes the protagonist undergoes, moving from woman to woman, from creative pursuit to creative pursuit, or, most often, during the stasis he endures between prospects, the storms within himself, burn along in ways that keep the reader engrossed, when, in less capable hands, just the opposite could have been the case. A really moving read I've already recommended to several friends.
1 of 3 found the following review helpful:
deep character study Dec 20, 2009
By Harriet Klausner
When the major label company signed him, guitarist Dan Green thought he could walk across the bay to Brooklyn. He was euphoric until the firm listens to his obviously talented but non-sellable album. They refuse to waste another penny on it or him.
Stunned and depressed he no longer can touch his guitar as if it contains a deadly toxin and even stops fantasizing over the female backpacking neighbor Andrea Liebman. Instead while contemplating rice milk and Kierkegaard, Dan dooms every possible relationship with lovers and friends over selling out. As people avoid him like he has swine flu, Dan creates his "smart-heat index" that enables him to classify women he sees, some for the first time, and instantly considers proposing but the flaws he perceives in them prevent him. His neurosis of failure turns psychotic as he depersonalizes everyone into various categories of self soul sellers.
This deep character study hooks the audience who wants Dan to make it in life and with his music, but do it on his terms (a psychotic sort of Eddie from Eddie and the Cruisers). The story line avoids clichés and burying itself inside of the lead protagonist's head with simple but clever focus switches from first person to third person though Dan continues to tell the tale. Readers who appreciate a profound tale in which Manhattan is gray, cold and aloof yet somehow also warm, creative and fascinating will enjoy the intense well written Swimming Inside The Sun of troubled Dan Green.
Harriet Klausner
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