A review by reggiewoods
Mount Chicago by Adam Levin

dark emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Levin uses a mix of modern dark humor with classic Jewish comedy to tell a heartbreaking story about coping with tragedy. He peppers an overarching narrative with increasingly lengthy anecdotes, all of which deliver a nice punch at the very end. Some of the anecdotes may test your patience if you prefer a fast-paced read, but the payoffs are usually pretty satisfying and I feel his incredibly detailed story telling is part of the joke itself. Beyond the stories, the characters are very well developed (if not so diverse) and are a pleasure to follow. Plus you get to learn a lot about parrots. Well written, smart, and relatable, I’d recommend this to general fans of (literary?) fiction that have the time to invest in 550+ pages. Excited to read more from him.