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Human Capital
A Novel
by Stephen Amidon
The lives of the members of two suburban families intersect in Amidon's dark look at contemporary society and the financial world.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 384 pages
10/04/2004
$24.00
ISBN: 0374173508
Fiction
General Literature & Fiction
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
Kirkus Reviews
Richly complex and genuinely tragic, painfully cognizant of the lethal interaction among human weakness, skewed societal values, and the random blows of fate.
Publishers Weekly
Its impact lingers long after the final credits roll.
Booklist Joanne Wilkinson
This is gripping but disturbing fiction that cuts close to the bone. [1 Sept 2004, p.54]
Chicago Sun-Times Carlo Wolff
One reason Amidon paints the big picture so effectively is his details. Ian listens to Joy Division, Shannon to the Pretenders, Jamie to Springsteen... Carrie is among the best-tortured yuppies in recent fiction.
Christian Science Monitor Ron Charles
Indeed, it's the awful plausibility of the plot that make this story so tense and involving... It's all incredibly suspenseful.
The New York Times Michiko Kakutani
Human Capital grounds a melodramatic, soap-opera-ish plot in meticulously observed social details, its relentless pacing in some shrewd psychological insights. And Mr. Amidon proves himself a nimble storyteller, providing the reader with a solid, literate and consistently compelling tale.
Washington Post Jonathan Yardley
As a chronicler of the suburbs [Amidon] isn't up there with John Cheever, but if there's anyone writing about them now with the clarity, insight and honesty that he brings to the task, I'm unaware of it. Human Capital is terrific.
The Guardian Stephanie Merritt
Amidon has achieved the rare alchemy of creating a novel charged with suspense from the lives of ordinary suburban families; it's also an unflinching social commentary that has the potential to endure as a clear and literate portrait of its time.
Boston Globe Amanda Heller
Set on the cusp of the 21st century, Human Capital unfolds like a 19th-century novel, a well-made and densely populated tale that plunges suspensefully toward a fated outcome.
Library Journal Nancy Pearl
Engrossing... Although this sounds like a prime-tune soap opera, Amidon's fluid writing makes readers care about his characters. [15 Sept 2004, p.47]
Daily Telegraph Patrick Ness
An intelligent, solid, well-written novel. Amidon's prose is deployed smartly, his suspense is well built, and his characters are detailed and well observed. Why, then, does the story so persistently fail to catch fire? As well told as it is, there's not a lot here that feels fresh or new.
The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Kevin Chong
Accomplished and heartfelt, if occasionally ham-fisted. [6 Nov 2004, p.D20]
The New York Times Book Review Deborah Friedell
Narrative intensity never truly develops, because Amidon has too well demonstrated the superficiality of his characters and their world. In the end, they get no better a novel than they deserve.
The Spectator Charlotte Moore
[Amidon]’s so keen to point a moral that he can’t get under the skin of his characters. The whole thing’s too schematic. Everything is over-explained, which makes the novel ultimately unfulfilling for the reader, but attractive no doubt to the Hollywood director on whom Amidon has his eye.
The Guardian James Lasdun
Almost every character is a well-worn type, familiar from dozens of movies and TV dramas, not to mention a score of novels ranging from "The Bonfire of the Vanities" to "The Corrections" (though without the occasional wit of the former, or the ravishing detail of the latter)... Amidon approaches character like a combination of set-dresser and hack screenwriter, pinning a list of telling accessories to each player, then adding a dollop of poignant back-story for depth.
 The average user rating for this book is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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