The Best of Good: A Novel

by Sara Lewis

Thirty years after achieving blockbuster success with the band Point Blank, Tom Good makes his living tending bar and writing and recording songs in his closet studio, but his careful routines are thrown into turmoil when he discovers that one of his former girlfriends has a ten-year-old son who looks just like him. By the author of Second Draft of My Life.

Genres: Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Sara Lewis is the author of five novels, "The Best of Good", "Second Draft of My Life", "The Answer Is Yes", "But I Love You Anyway", and "Heart Conditions", as well as the collection "Trying to Smile and Other Stories". Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, McCall's, Redbook, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping" and other magazines as well as on National Public Radio. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Santhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better editing will have done justice to this plot and characters. Short chapters made this easy/ fast read.

[Diane Wilkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been unpacking boxes of books. Sara Lewis is one of my favorite writers, but sadly, she seems to have stopped writing novels about 20 years ago. This is probably my least favorite of her books and I'd still give it four stars.

Good is not so good. His first name is Tom, but he goes by his last name. He and Jack, his older brother, were musical prodigies, but when his brother dies, he diminishes himself into an arid life. When he discovers he has a son he didn't know about, it kind of wakes him up--slowly and realistically and a bit painfully.

As is the case in all of Lewis' novels, the characters seem like people you know, and you just fall into her world until you come up for air because you've finished the book. It's not so much that they're compelling page-turners--they're not--it's more like you're reading about family and/yourself. Signposts from friends. I miss reading new Sara Lewis books.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick and easy read.

[Natasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I checked this book out of the library because it is set in San Diego and I wanted to read a novel set in southern California.

I read Chapters 1-4, which thankfully took only about 5 minutes, since the entire book is comprised mostly of 5-syllable sentences. Four chapters in, I surmise the main character is some sort of musician wandering aimlessly through life (kindof like the story line for this book). Apparently he works in a bar, knocked up a waitress and has just found out 10 years later that he has a kid. Along with a bunch of incoherent rambling about finding his first grey pubic hairs and how to carry a lava lamp on the back of his motorcycle.

Yawn.

I wasn't a fan of the plot(?) or the writing.

Gee, I'm harsh on the book reviews today. Sorry :) It just wasn't for me.

[Allison Renner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good is a bartender who plays guitar in his spare time - like, every second of his spare time. He lives in a one-room apartment and soundproofed a closet so he could sit inside and write and record songs. He rarely tells people that he was the songwriter for a famous band, because no one understands why he willingly left that life behind. He doesn't socialize with his neighbors, doesn't have a girlfriend, and is really only friends with his older sister. Then he hears that his old girlfriend is back in town, and she has a kid who looks exactly like Good. This sets things in motion for Good to try and change his life, and the results are a mix of hilarity and heart-breaking reality.

[Emily Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Musician Tom Good's older brother died in a car accident when he was a teen. This incident put Good in a depression so severe he was hospitalized. When he was released, Good spent all his energy appearing normal so he wouldn't be hospitalized again. Good's only solace is music. Years later, he has isolated himself with his music as his coping mechanism. When Good finds out his former girlfriend had his son without telling him, he decides he needs to change his life and sets about systematically doing that.

[Betsy Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a musician in his forties who is kind of stuck in life, when he discovers that a former love actually had his child years ago and he never knew it. That description may make it sound simplistic or sappy, but it isn't. This is an intelligent, well-written book and easy to read. (What I always find amazing is when an author of one gender creates a believable main character of the opposite gender.)

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man finally learns how to live life with his fear. It is funny and touching throughout.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit depressing--i really wanted to just kick the protag's butt, but still a pretty good read.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice! Easy read! At first I cried and then I sighed!

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good - I should read more by this author. Tom Good. Lives alone. Used to be in a band Point Blank. Guilty about his brother's death, Jack.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it, reminded me of ann tyler's dinner at the homesick restaurant

[William Gao · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warm, but boring.