Reading this book made me fantasize about how wonderful it might be to watch paint drying on the wall. My tolerance for pretentious, pseudo-intellectual stream-of-consciousness is less than zero. Please understand that this only represents my own personal opinion which is contra-balanced against the masses who find brilliance in this bloated mess. I guess it's like some of the modern art that the critics love and ordinary folks just shake their heads at, wondering what all the fuss was about.

This complex masterpiece is a cyclonic swirl of complicated and masterful characterization of a brilliant, awkward, sometimes scary-abnormal, hilarious man. Every page made me laugh and smile. When I thought of the book I would smile.

I hope Kaufman steps into the realm of literature more often in the coming years

I LOVE Charlie Kaufman's screenplays! Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Adaptation are two of my most favorite movies, as they are so well written and somehow oddly relatable. So I was excited to get to read Kaufman's book, Antkind. From the beginning I recognized the familiar verbiage. I loved the words chosen to express unique thoughts, and the new words that Kaufman coins, as well. I love the dry humor and how Kaufman writes himself into certain scenarios.

Having said all of that, I unfortunately had to abandon this book at 50%. I was overwhelmed with the story (stories?) within the story. Just soooo much, so much, with Rosenberg's misadventures, and his recreating Ingo's movie. I couldn't do it all and found myself starting to skim, and felt that was unfair to the book, and to Kaufman. I gave the first 50% five stars because I love the writing style, and appreciate the creativity, and I recognize that the abandonment is my deficiency, not Kaufman's.

I recommend this book to those readers who are able to keep up with a whole lot of a fairly bizarre story, and can devote the needed time to process the whole experience.

Thanks, Netgalley!

As with my reaction to Charlie Kaufman's singular and creative screenplays, I knew that his epic novel could go either way: I'd really like it or I really wouldn't. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything to connect with in Antkind, and as I neared 200 pages (of a total 720) found the story, protagonist, and tone progressively harder to commit to. While I couldn't make it through this Pynchon-aspiring book, other readers may find it lit-lite catnip. Thank you, Random House, for the advance copy. With such a unique storyteller, I have no doubt Antkind will find its audience; I'm just not part of that group.