A thorny valentine to Buffalo's hardy residents. Lots to both love and hate about this book. It's one of those books that's very clearly a roman a clef, and written in a bit of self pitying style that can be grating. But for people who would like to see the Buffalo we know portrayed in literature (other than turn of the century novels when the city was still the Queen City, not Nickel City), this book can fill a slot. I would say a decent lazy afternoon read, but not a MUST READ. This was a well writen book with a realistic storyline. The narrator's mother, a woman in her early 50's, is a victim of Alzheimer's. The narrator returns to his hometown of Buffalo and faces some tough decisions, some of which he can deal with, and others that he can't. There are chapters interspersed throught the book that are musings or narrations of other people. I wasn't always entirely sure how those chapters fit in, which is why I rated this 4 stars rather than 5, but overall, I did like the novel.
Do You like book Buffalo Lockjaw (2009)?
Great book to read if you grew up in Buffalo hanging out in seedy bars like I did!
—ajr
I read this twice. An excellent job by Greg Ames. The local references are great.
—michel_capellan
depressing issues, yet, I liked the backdrop of snowy Buffalo.....
—Erin
