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.