Wednesday Wanna-Read: City on Fire

My Wednesday wanna-read selection this week has been called a “doorstopper” in a literal sense and a massive tome.

Having seen it in person, it’s heavy.

Garth Risk Hallberg’s City on Fire clocks in at 944 pages. My mom borrowed it from her local library, and when I picked it up, it felt like it weighed a couple pounds, at least.

From Goodreads page

Hallberg’s debut novel takes place in New York City in the 1970s.

The characters in the book, as described by Goodreads, are: “Regan and William Hamilton-Sweeney, estranged heirs to one of the city’s biggest fortunes; Keith and Mercer, the men who, for better or worse, love them; Charlie and Sam, two Long Island teenagers seduced by downtown’s nascent punk scene; an obsessive magazine reporter; his spunky, West Coast-transplant neighbor; and the detective trying to figure out what they all have to do with a shooting in Central Park.”

Sounds fun, right?

The culmination of the action appears to take place during the blackout of July 13, 1977.

This book just seems like the kind of novel that I would enjoy reading, even if its page total is more than the page total of both the books I’m currently reading combined.

I’ve always had a thing for long books. Harry Potter, Gone with the Wind, I’m dying to read The Goldfinch.

There’s just something about carrying around a massive book that makes people look at you and think you’re smart. (It helps to wear glasses, too.) I love it.

I’m excited to hear what my mom thinks about this book if she finishes it and I’m excited to read it for myself.

Have you read City on Fire? What do you think?