2011 book 158

Maria Doria Russell's Doc
Oh man, I have been reading this book ALL WEEK. It was one of the slowest novels I've ever read and I can't figure out why; parts of it are extremely interesting, and of course you really can't go wrong talking about Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. Part of my problem with this was that at times it reads like a history book. I also think Russell's habit of giving elaborate backstories to even the most minor characters made things go on much longer than they needed to. I actually can't figure out why this got such stellar reviews in the press and on Amazon--like I said, parts of it are very good, but it's not at all a compelling read, as in I wasn't at all compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen (and spoilers: it ends before they even get to Tombstone, so the excitement is really at a minimum). Which isn't to say it was a bad book--like I said, there were some really good parts, and I especially liked all the dentistry. But my god, slowest read ever. B.