Books by author: Charles Baxter

The Feast of Love begins with the postmodern conceit of making the author the narrator, but in the third person. Richard Powers did this to more interesting effect in Galatea 2.2, where the author is an essential player in the novel. Baxter, in contrast, quickly takes a backseat and lets his Ann Arbor neighbors tell the story (in which he plays no real part). The interconnections of the characters and their different viewpoints is interesting, as is the cast itself. In all, The Feast of Love is good as a literary exercise, but it never quite becomes compelling reading.